Burglar (comics)

The Burglar is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was left unnamed in most of his appearances. He is best known as the first criminal faced by Spider-Man, and as the killer of the hero's uncle and surrogate father figure Ben Parker. The Burglar first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962), and has since been featured in all versions of Spider-Man's origin story.

"Burglar"
Interior artwork from Amazing Spider-Man Annual vol. 1, 1 (October, 1964 Marvel Comics)
Art by Steve Ditko
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceAmazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962)
Created byStan Lee (writer) Steve Ditko (artis)
In-story information
Alter egoDennis Carradine (from Spider-Man 3)
PartnershipsMysterio
Flint Marko (Spider-Man 3 only)
AbilitiesGun

The character has been substantially adapted from the comics into various forms of media, including films, television series and video games. He was portrayed by Michael Papajohn in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, and by Leif Gantvoort in the 2012 film The Amazing Spider-Man.

Name

In comics

The Burglar's name remains unrevealed in the comics. He was completely unnamed in Amazing Fantasy #15, and it was only in 1996, 15 years after his second and final appearance in the comics,[1] and the introduction of his estranged daughter Jessica,[2] that the possibility arose that he might share her last name of Carradine. However, it remains unconfirmed whether this is the Burglar's surname, as his daughter may be using her mother's maiden name, or that of her adoptive parents. In addition, the Burglar happens to have a nephew named Jimmy Costas, in which Jimmy wears hand-me-downs from his uncle, and even said that his "Uncle" may have run into Spider-Man once or twice, which shocked Spider-Man when he found out.

In the Ultimate Spider-Man series, the name Carradine appeared in a list of known cat burglars, although it is never identified as the Burglar's last name or being connected to him in any way.[3]

In other media

Throughout most of his appearances in various Spider-Man animated series, the Burglar's real name is not revealed. In The Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon, the character's identity is Walter Hardy, and he is an amalgam between Hardy and the classic Burglar from the comics.

In the Spider-Man film trilogy, the Burglar's real name (originally credited as the "Carjacker" in the 2002 film) is Dennis Carradine, as revealed in Spider-Man 3. However, in this version, the Burglar is not Ben Parker's killer, and was Flint Marko's partner, who actually killed Ben by accident. In the 2012 film The Amazing Spider-Man, the Burglar's name is never revealed, and he is credited as "Cash Register Thief."

In his appearance in the 2002 Spider-Man video game based on the film, the Burglar's name is not revealed, and he is depicted as the leader of the Skulls gang, who calls himself "Spike." In The Amazing Spider-Man 2 video game, set in a different continuity from the film, the Burglar's name is again Dennis Carradine.

Publication history

The Burglar first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962).

Following the Burglar's first one-off appearance, there have been multiple successors to the Burglar identity. In Marvel Comics Presents #49-50 (May 1990), Spider-Man battles a man who is explicitly described as having the same attire as the burglar who shot Uncle Ben. At one point the man cryptically states, "I owe [Spider-Man] for what he did to my brother." In Spider-Man #26 (September 1992), Spider-Man encounters another man in the Burglar's attire, minus the pistol. It is heavily implied that this Burglar's maternal uncle was the original Burglar.

Fictional character biography
The Burglar in Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962).

Little of the Burglar's early history is known, but it is mentioned that even in his younger years he was a criminal. Caught at some point in his life, the Burglar became the cellmate of an elderly gangster named Dutch Mallone. The Burglar learned from Dutch, who talked in his sleep, about a large possession of money the aged gangster had hidden in a suburban home, which the Burglar planned and schemed to get (ironically as Peter Parker's Uncle Ben and Aunt May would accidentally discover, the possession had since been devoured by silverfish).[1]

Wanting to find out the location of the home where Mallone's possession was, the Burglar successfully robs a television station for information. Peter Parker, who had become a minor celebrity as Spider-Man, did not bother to stop him despite having the opportunity to do so. Learning that the house where Mallone's money had been hidden was the Parker house, the Burglar breaks into it searching for the money, killing Peter's uncle Ben Parker when he surprised the Burglar. Fleeing the scene, the Burglar is chased by police to an abandoned warehouse. A police officer outside Peter Parker's house told Peter Parker what happened and that his Aunt May is with a neighbor next door. Upon being told where the Burglar is, Spider-Man heads to the abandoned warehouse. Wanting to avenge the death of his Uncle Ben, Spider-Man attacks and knocks out the Burglar. It is then that Spider-Man realizes that the man is the thief he had encountered earlier at the television station. The Burglar was later left to be captured by the authorities by Spider-Man who upon realizing that he could have prevented Ben's death by simple humanitarian behavior in the earlier encounter decided to use his powers more responsibly, never again ignoring a crime if he could help it.[4]

Years later, the Burglar has served his time and is released from prison despite being deemed mentally unstable by psychiatrists.[5] Still searching for Mallone's treasure, the Burglar rents the old Parker home. After tearing it apart and finding nothing, instead decides to interrogate Ben Parker's widow May Parker who now resides in a nursing home. The Burglar partners with the nursing home's owner and head doctor Ludwig Rinehart, who is actually the supervillain Mysterio. The two take May captive and fake her death. The partnership later sours and the two criminals turn on each other, with Rinehart revealing his true nature before beating and imprisoning the Burglar. Escaping Mysterio, the Burglar retreats to the warehouse where he was first captured by Spider-Man—and where he has been holding May Parker captive. Spider-Man soon tracks and confronts the Burglar to whom he reveals his true identity as Ben Parker's nephew. Believing that Spider-Man is about to kill him as revenge for murdering Ben, the Burglar suffers a fear-induced heart attack and dies.[1]

The Burglar had a daughter named Jessica Carradine, a photographer who has a brief relationship with Spider-Man's clone Ben Reilly. She believes the murder her father committed was an accident—that the gun Ben Parker was shot with was his own, which went off by accident during a fight—and that Spider-Man had murdered him to stop him from revealing the truth about his "innocence." After learning that Ben Reilly is Spider-Man,[6] she first threatens to expose him with a photograph she took of him unmasked. Having witnessed Ben risk his life to save innocent people in a burning skyscraper, Jessica decides against it and gives him the photograph. She later visits Ben Parker's grave to apologize for her previous poor perception of him.[7]

Other versions

Ultimate Marvel

In Ultimate Spider-Man, a reimagining of the Spider-Man mythos, the origin story from Amazing Fantasy #15 is reinterpreted over the course of seven issues. Ben Parker's death at the hands of the Burglar does not occur until Ultimate Spider-Man #4. The name "Carradine" appears on a list of "known cat burglars", but nothing else is said about it;[3] it is unclear whether Carradine is actually the burglar who killed Uncle Ben in this universe or is simply another criminal. Spider-Man has a copy of the Burglar's driver license but the name is always hidden when viewed by the readers; this was done intentionally by the artists.

The man named Carradine is also believed in Ultimate Spider-Man #8 to be a part of the Enforcers, a group working for the Kingpin.

What If...?

Various alternate versions of the Burglar appear throughout the What If...? comic line, most often in stories dealing with Spider-Man's origin being reimagined.

  • One issue saw Betty Brant (here Spider-Girl after she was bitten by the radioactive spider) failing to stop the burglar, retiring from her career and allowing Peter to synthetically duplicate her powers.[8]
  • In an issue where Peter Parker is paralyzed by the spider-bite, he acquires the powers of Nova and returns home to visit Ben Parker just as the burglar arrives. The burglar's attempt to shoot Peter results in the bullet ricocheting off his chest and killing the burglar, prompting Peter to abandon his costume out of guilt at his role in the death, even if it is acknowledged as an accident.[9]
  • One issue features Spider-Man actually stopping the burglar simply for the publicity. In this case, Spidey destroyed the life of J. Jonah Jameson by linking Frederick Foswell back to him unaware that J. Jonah Jameson had no idea of Frederick Foswell's double-life as Big Man.[10]
  • One issue features Peter throwing the burglar out of a window and killing him after the burglar kills May instead. Ben takes the blame for the crime to spare his nephew.[11]
  • One issue features Peter fighting the Burglar where he is accidentally killed by Spider-Man. After failing to resuscitate him, Spider-Man flees.[12]

Spider-Verse

During the Spider-Verse, a six-armed Spider-Man and Spider-Man Noir visit a world where Peter had an allergic reaction to the spider-bite and was left in a coma. Because of this, the Burglar never killed anyone as he broke into the Parker house while Ben and May were visiting Peter in hospital.[13]

Chapter One

In Spider-Man: Chapter One, the burglar saw Peter leaving his house wearing his costume for the first time and thought that Spider-Man was a fellow burglar after the Parker treasure as well. Confronting him, he offers a partnership with the web-spinner only to be instead punched and thrown in jail.[14]

In other media

Television
  • The Burglar appeared in the 1967 Spider-Man animated series episode "The Origin of Spider-Man".
  • The Burglar appeared in a flashback in the 1981 Spider-Man animated series episode "Arsenic and Aunt May".
  • The Burglar appeared in a flashback in the Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends animated series episode "Along Came Spidey".
  • The Burglar appeared in the Spider-Man: The Animated Series episode "The Menace of Mysterio".
  • The Burglar appears in the opening sequence of the Spider-Man Unlimited animated series, which depicts Peter Parker letting him escape and later being captured by Spider-Man following Ben Parker's death.
  • A variation of the Burglar amalgamated with Walter Hardy appears in The Spectacular Spider-Man animated series, voiced by Jim Cummings in the episode "Intervention" and James Remar in "Opening Night".
  • The Burglar makes a non-speaking appearance in the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series. In the episode "Great Power", a flashback depicts Spider-Man cornering him on a street after Ben Parker's death, intending to kill him, though he is unable to bring himself to do so and leaves him for the police. In "Kraven the Hunter", Spider-Man reveals his history to White Tiger to persuade her not to kill the eponymous villain to avenge her predecessor.
  • The Burglar appears in the 2017 Spider-Man animated series, voiced by Benjamin Diskin. In a series of shorts re-telling Spider-Man's origins, this version is caught by Spider-Man at an abandoned warehouse. Spider-Man attacks him, but stops upon recognizing him. Using the opportunity to break free from Spider-Man's grip, the shaken Burglar quickly runs out of the warehouse and immediately surrenders to the police that were waiting outside.[15]

Film
  • The Burglar appears in Sam Raimi's live-action Spider-Man film trilogy, portrayed by Michael Papajohn.
    • In the film Spider-Man, the Burglar (credited as "Carjacker") robs a fight promoter who had cheated Peter Parker out of a cash reward. Wanting to get even, Peter lets the robber go despite having the chance to stop him. After his Uncle Ben is murdered by a carjacker, Peter pursues the criminal and discovers it was the robber he let go earlier. The Carjacker attempts to shoot him, but ends up tripping and falling to his death.
    • In Spider-Man 3, the Parker family learn the Carjacker, now identified as Dennis Carradine, was not Ben's killer. Instead, it was Carradine's partner, Flint Marko, whom the former startled into accidentally shooting Ben before escaping.
  • The Burglar, credited as "Cash Register Thief", makes a non-speaking appearance in the live-action film The Amazing Spider-Man, portrayed by Leif Gantvoort. He distracts a deli clerk after he refuses to let Peter Parker buy a bottle of milk so he can steal money from the till. The thief gives Peter the bottle, who allows him to escape in return. On his way out, the thief runs into Ben and kills him in the ensuing struggle. After Peter finds Ben's body and eventually realizes it was the thief he allowed to escape, he works to track down his uncle's killer.

Video games
  • The Burglar appears as the first boss in the Spider-Man video game based on the 2002 film of the same name, voiced by Dan Gilvezan. This version is called "Spike" and is the leader of the Skulls gang. Wanting revenge for his uncle's death, Spider-Man chases Spike to his warehouse hideout and fights through the other Skulls before eventually reaching Spike. The gang leader is defeated and tries to shoot Spider-Man, only to fall through a window to his death in a manner similar to the film.
  • The Burglar appears in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 video game, voiced by Chris Edgerly. Two years after Uncle Ben's death, Spider-Man resumes his search for the murderer and interrogates Herman Schultz, one of his contractors, who reveals him to be Dennis Carradine, a low-level thug who has been selling advanced weaponry to gangs. Spider-Man later tracks down Carradine, who hijacks a car and takes the driver hostage. After Spider-Man rescues the hostage, Carradine crashes the car and is killed by the "Carnage Killer" shortly before Spider-Man finds his dead body in an alley.

References
  1. The Amazing Spider-Man #200
  2. Sensational Spider-Man #0
  3. Ultimate Spider-Man #53 (2004)
  4. Amazing Fantasy #15
  5. The Amazing Spider-Man #170
  6. Sensational Spider-Man #4
  7. Sensational Spider-Man #6
  8. What If? Vol. 1 #7
  9. What If? #15
  10. What If? #19
  11. What If Aunt May Had Died Instead of Uncle Ben? #1
  12. What If? Vol. 2 #72
  13. Spider-Verse Team-Up #1
  14. Spider-Man: Chapter One #1
  15. "Origins". Spider-Man. Season 1. Episode 0. Disney XD.
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