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Background
Nick "Lucky" Lewis was a known gangster before ever taking on the guise of the
Crime-Master. Using Gordon Savinski, known as The Terrier, as his messenger,
Lewis tries to coerce J. Jonah Jameson into selling the Daily Bugle to
him. This plan fails when Jameson refuses and the Terrier is defeated by
Spider-Man.
After one of his defeats to Spider-Man, the Vulture is sprung from prison by
Lewis. Though he feels himself "master of the most successful crime
organization in the city", Nick still fears certain challengers. In exchange
for the release from prison, Lewis asks the Vulture to murder an up-and-
comer named Wilson Fisk, later to be known as the Kingpin. This attempt is
thwarted by the web-slinger.
With the "advent of costumed villains like Doctor Octopus, Electro and
the Green Goblin", Nick believes that a criminal must flamboyantly stand
out from the pack in order to take control of the mobs. Responding to this, he
puts on a mask and calls himself the Crime-Master. In his first scheme as a
mystery villain, Nick kidnaps the daughter of a neuroscientist named Carson who
has invented a device called the cerebra-chip. The chip was intended as a cure
for damaged pathways in the brain but could also be used to turn people in
mindless, super-strong zombies. Crime-Master uses his hostage to force Dr.
Carson to create a Super-Squad that he can use to commit crimes for him. Spider-
Man rescues Dr. Carson and his daughter while also figuring out that a rewiring
of his spider-signal receiver would jam the signal to the cerebra-chip. The
Super-Squad is stopped but the Crime-Master remains at-large, his identity
unknown.
When the Green Goblin unwittingly causes the complete capture of the Lucky Lobo
gang, the Crime-Master tries to step into the void. The Goblin figures out the
Crime-Master's true identity and the two force an alliance. As part of the
deal, the Goblin agrees to reveal his true identity to the Crime-Master but he
uses a mask to make his partner think he is J. Jonah Jameson rather than Norman
Osborn.
The Goblin and Crime-Master plan a caper in which some of Lewis' thugs
(Straker, Michaelson, and Jonson among them) go to Empire State University to
steal the experimental Seismic Ray Device. When Spider-Man steps in, the Green
Goblin decides he must lend a hand. This grandstanding by the Goblin makes the
Crime-Master rethink their alliance. First he tries to kill the Goblin with
Spider-Man. When that fails, he decides to cut the Goblin out of his action.
For his part, the Goblin knows that the Crime-Master's exposing of J. Jonah
Jameson could lead to his friend Norman Osborn. He vows to deal with the Crime-
Master very carefully.
In the end, the Crime-Master takes matters into his own hands, recruiting all
the top mob bosses through threats and coercion. He takes on various hoods
directly, using his gun and his fists. Realizing that Daily Bugle reporter
Frederick Foswell is onto him, Lewis tries several times to eliminate him.
Instead he runs into Spider-Man who he defeats with a hidden tube containing a
noxious gas. Thinking the web-slinger dead, the Crime-Master starts to move
out of the shadows. He organizes a meeting of all the top mob men down on the
waterfront and splits with the Goblin, trying to kill him in the process. The
Goblin not only survives the attack but also captures Spider-Man. He brings
the unconscious web-slinger to the waterfront meeting, showing up the Crime-
Master at his own gig. When Spidey comes to and breaks free, a melee erupts
involving the web-slinger, the Crime-Master, the Green Goblin, the mobsters and
the police. When the Crime-Master makes a break for it, Spider-Man follows but
he is again stymied by Lewis' nerve gas and the villain makes good his
escape.
Later, the Crime-Master takes to a rooftop across the street from the Daily
Bugle in yet another attempt to murder Frederick Foswell. But, by this
time, Foswell has tipped off the police. The Crime-Master shoots it out with
the police and is gunned down. The cops remove his mask to reveal Nick "Lucky"
Lewis. With his dying breaths, the Crime-Master tries to reveal the Green
Goblin's identity but dies before he can get the name out.
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