F.A.Q. : Spider-Man Encyclopedia

Compiled by Henrique Ferreira, with thanks to the SMB posters: Harrison Demchick, Comp, Gerard, Somebody, Jackal, Nick Akrivos, and CloneSaga/Spidergirl Fan; Class of 1998, as well as the Spiderfan and Appendix staff.

Please Mail Us with additional entries!

Inclusions/Exclusions

A - I beg to differ. [X] sucks. Really, [X] is a poor character, and doesn't really come close to [Y] in terms of depth and/or potential. Therefore, you are wrong.

Q - Where's Peter Porker, the Spider-Ham?

A - Alas, we're sorry, but there was not enough room for him.

Q - Onslaught is listed in the Index. However, on the page it says he is on, he is not.

A - Onslaught was one of the the guys who got cut for spacial constraints. He shouldn't have been on the index. That's a little boo-boo.

Q - Where is Titania's entry? Surely you didn't forget about her?

A - We didn't. Titania ended up getting squeezed under the Absorbing Man's appendix entry.

Q - Where is Captain Universe's entry?

A - Ah, it's under Cosmic Spider-Man. We should have made an index entry on Captain Universe, pointing to Cosmic Spider-Man's page.

Q - There is no Scarlet Spider entry in the Costumes section.

A - Oooops... it was an unintended omission. Crap.

Q - Who chose the picture for [name of character]? Something by [random artist] would have been much better.

A - Some pictures we chose, some we didn't. We are pleased with the great majority of them.

Debatable Ratings

A - Tom Brevoort disagrees with you.

Q - The Gibbon (Martin Blank) is not a smart man, but he is not any less intelligent than Grizzly, and is definitely not less intelligent than the alien symbiote.

A - Yes, you're right about that.

Q - The Shocker (Herman Schultz) must be a pretty smart man to be able to come up with such ingenius devices. He also was able to improve them dramatically in several occasions. He should be ranked higher in intelligence.

A - You make a very good point.

Q - In ASM #371 Black Cat details what she has got from Tinkerer, and that includes a power-enhancing costume. In Black Cat L.S. #3 she manages to easily throw an partially armoured android that must weigh at least 200 lbs, probably much more. Hence she must have super-human strength.

A - Well, maybe. She does have judo skills, which would help her throw an android that is running towards her. More likely, the enhancers probably give her "peak human" strength, say bench-press 250 lbs. So, she should really have been one notch further up the strength scale, peak rather than normal.

Q - Venom has a durability of 4, Regenerating. Yet in his first ever adventure, "First Kill" (Spectacular Annual #12) he is shot, his costume spits the bullet out and Brock "barely felt a nudge". Hence, he should absolutely have a rating of 5, Bulletproof.

A - *GACK* you have us dead to rights. Indeed, Venom should have a durability rating of 5. And yes, the same goes for Carnage, as demonstrated as early as ASM #362.

Q - Kraven the Hunter is listed at 6'3" 240 lbs. But the 1980's Deluxe Handbook says 6' 235 lbs.

A - Yes, this was a housekeeping error. Those are actually Alyosha Kravinoff's stats (he's bigger than his dad). The original Kraven is indeed only actually 6'3" 240 lbs.

First Appearances

A - You're right. Our bad.

Q - Equinox first appeared in an issue of Marvel Team-Up featuring The Human Torch and Iceman sans Spider-Man, while his entry makes it sound as if he were triple-teamed.

A - In all the early stages of the Encyclopedia, we had the right information, which is, Equinox first appeared in Giant-Sized Spider-Man #1 (1974). Apparently, it got changed to Marvel Team-Up #23 afterwards somehow, which is incorrect.

That, combined with the sentence, "Terry found himself fighting Spider-Man, Iceman of the X-Men and the Human Torch" (if you know MTU #23 but don't know GS SM #1) can lead one in error, just like you have been.

So, you're right in saying that is what happened in the MTU issue, but despite what it says in the Pedia, Equinox's first appearance was not in MTU. The entry mentions his real first appearance, in the GS SM issue.

Q - Mac Gargan first appeared in ASM #19, but you have #20 listed.

A - That's a fair cop. ASM #20 is the first time he is seen as the Scorpion. In the Handbook, we list both issues.

Q - Glory Grant first appeared in 1975, not 1985.

A - Bother. A dumb typo presumably.

Q - Betty Brant first appeared in 1963 (September), not 1964.

A - Double bother. Quite right.

Q - Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) first appeared in 1977 (February), not 1976.

A - Triple bother.

Q - Annex actually first appears in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #27 (1993), not #26 (1993).

A - Quadruple bother.

Q - The year the original Kraven the Hunter made his debut in was in 1964. The Encyclopedia lists it as 1967 instead.

A - Dang, you're right. This is getting really embarassing!

Q - The year the original Harry Osborn made his debut in was in 1965. The Encyclopedia lists it as 1966 instead.

A - Dang, you're right again. Gwen Stacy first appears in the same issue, and we got it right for her!

Wrong Names and Wrong Numbers

A - Ah, that's on purpose. In the Marvel Universe, it's Ryker's Island, though occasionally writers who don't know that use the real world name.

Q - The Beetle was known as Mach-1 through Mach-5, not just through Mach-3.

A - Nope. The Beetle never got past Mach-3. In his final appearance in Thunderbolts he said he'd become Mach-5 as a throwaway joke.

Q - I thought Scorpia's name was Elaine Coll, but you only have her first name mentioned.

A - Our bad. Miss Scorpia is in fact Elaine Coll. I don't know how that slipped past through our radar.

Q - Wasn't the Burglar's last name Carradine? His daughter is Jessica Carradine.

A - Her father may not be Carradine. We can't assume she was named after him.

Q - Drom should have been called "Drom, the Backwards Man" That's his full name, and it helps the entry make sense.

A - You're right.

Q - Deathlok should ideally be referred to as Deathlok, the Demolisher to differentiate him from the other 4 or 5 versions.

A - Jeff C. actually caught this one on time during the 'Pedia development, but unfortunately it fell through the cracks. Crap.

Q - In the Moon Knight bio, it's Khonshu, not Konshu. Also, his frequent aliases (Jake Lockley and Steven Grant) are omitted.

A - Right on both accounts.

Q - Goldbug used the alias "Jack Smith" in the past.

A - Yes, he did. We forgot to mention it.

Q - Albert Malik, the communist Red Skull is not Red Skull II. He's at least the 3rd and possibly the 5th. He is more correctly referred toas the communist Red Skull, or Red Skull (Malik).

A - Yeah, you're right.

Q - In the Power Pack, you didn't include either of the new code names of the characters in the more recent series. Alex is most currently known as Zero G, and Julie as Starstreak.

A - Yes, you are correct.

Q - This is REALLY picky, but I feel the need to defend the name of artificial beings: the Parker, Richard & Mary imposters weren't actually robots, but replicoids (probably closest to androids). I guess I've read the Vision correcting that statement enough times that it's just second nature. I do understand that the word robot is more recognizable tot he public, it's just not as technically correct.

A - Yes, you're right on both accounts. They are replicoids. This is really picky. :-)

Q - About Delia and Meru: they're from Cherron, not Charron.

A - Right you are.

Q - In the GARID appendix entry, it's Galannan, not Galannon.

A - Yes it is.

Q - Shouldn't Baron Helmut Zemo be properly addressed as "Baron Zemo", or "Helmut Zemo".

A - We're Americans. We don't do titles very well. But yes, we should have called him Baron (Helmut) Zemo.

Q - Since little Normie's father is Harry, why do you call him Norman Osborn, Jr.?

A - Well, that's just what he's called in the comics.

Artwork Errors

A - Yes, you're right. Our bad.

Q - Hey! The picture in Man Mountain Marko's profile is actually Mister Hyde's, from a Daredevil issue!

A - Yes, you're right about that. Our bad.

Q - In the Sinister Six/Seven entry, why is Electro wearing a blue and white costume?

A - It's a printer mistake, honestly. We thought we had noticed it in time, but ended up not getting the picture replaced.

Q. - It is key to Professor Power's character that he used to be an advisor to the president of the USA. Also, shouldn't the picture have him in costume instead of in civilian clothes?

A. - We forgot to include that. And yes, it should.

Q - The Carnage art is credited to Mark Bagley, but isn't it Joe Bennett's work from ASM #430?

A - Yes, it's from page 7 for ASM #430. Sorry Joe.

Other Mistakes

A - Nope. The mini-series is unfinished, so no hardcover has been put for sale yet.

Q - In the Guardians of the Galaxy entry, the last sentence says "later became heroes." They were heroes before that already.

A - Point taken.

Q - In Spider-Man's bio, it says that he moved to Portland when he lost his powers.I thought he moved out there when he thought he was the clone.Had he temporarily lost his powers at that time, too?

A - Okay, it did not happen in that order. Peter gave Ben Reilly Spider-Man's mantle, abandoning his career for his greater responsability towards his wife and daughter to be. He moved to Portland so he could have a quiet life. He temporarily lost his powers in a lab accident.

Q - In the Punisher bio says he embarked on his vigilante career after his first meeting with Spidey, but he had started long before that.

A - Ooopsie.

Q - In the Spidercide bio, it says he can stretch his body, turn members into blades and in addition has all of Peter's powers. He's actually a full shape-shifter: he got shattered by Ben Reilly and pulled himself back together again, saying he had total control over his body's molecules in the process, and turned himself into a liquid substance with only a distinguishable head. And - oh yeah - that wasn't a costume he wore?

A - Full shape-shifter... yes, that would have been a more accurate way to describe his powers. Thank you. And about the costume, it was a costume at first, but then he decided to just shape-shift into it, instead of changing clothes all the time.

Q - The Green Goblin entry doesn't make it clear that he had actually unmasked himself in front of Peter in their first "final showdown".

A - Yeah, you're right.

Q. - Under Big Wheel, it is stated that he survived and has since has returned to action. When did that happen?

A. - Big Wheel briefly resurfaced (and caused Spidey less than 5 minutes of trouble) in Spider-Man: Secret of the Sinister Six novel.

Q. - You say Tigra (Green Nelson) first joined Spidey to battle Zabo, but didn't Spidey meet Greer in MTU #8, when she was known as "the Cat".

A. - Yep, you're absolutely right!

Q - It was never revealed in the comics that Seward Trainer was hired by the High Evolutionary to spy on Miles Warren.

A - All I can say is: crap! Crap, crap, crap. That one was my fault. This doesn't contradict the original story (Spider-Man: The Osborn Journal), but there's no evidence in there to support this.

The Journal just says Trainer was caught by Scrier stealing stuff from Warren, it never says it was for the Evolutionary. I supposed the Evolutionary would want to keep tabs on Warren, and he'd have someone keeping an eye on him. Somehow that jumped into Trainer's bio. My bad.

Q - If Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil that Men Do mini-series is unfinished, then why do you say Mister Brownstone was brought to justice?

A - Well... we thought the mini would be over by the time the Encyclopedia would be for sale. We were wrong, obviously. And we took a bet. Brownstone would meet justice, Earthly or Divine, so we went for it. On the bright side, if the mini is never finished, we provided the closest thing to an official conclusion.

Q - I thought the Grizzly had gone straight, but in his bio and in the Legion of Losers' says he returned to crime. What gives?

A - Actually, the book that had him return to crime after a first try at the other side of the law should be seen as if it happened before the story where he became a crime-fighter, not after. Our bad.

Q - Dr. Ashley Kafka and John Jameson began dating just before they were fired from Ravencroft, not after.

A - Ooops... our bad, yet again.

Q - Morbius no longer has the control over his hunger he once had.

A - Alas, apparently he doesn't. In a quick cameo in his last appearance to date, he had been the subject of scientific experiments, trying to reproduce his condition, which left him very unstable. Our bad.

Q - Harry Osborn did not launch a bomb at the Osborn Foundation. The Foundation itself was in fact set to explode the next day, killing enemies of Norman Osborn. With Spider-Man trapped inside, Harry decided to set the bomb off early, killing the both of them. Upon seeing Mary Jane and Normie Osborn inside the building, Harry saved them, then returned and saved Peter.

A - Yes, you're right. Our bad.

Q - Prowler (Hobie Brown) did not turn to a life of crime as the Prowler. His plan was a bit more innocent. He developed the Prowler identity to be a criminal who would be stopped by Hobie, making Hobie a hero and bringing publicity for his inventions. Additionally, Mindy at that time was not his wife, but his girlfriend.

A - Again, you're right.

Q - Razorback (Buford Hollis) is a mutant with the ability to understand instantly how to control any vehicle perfectly. This is not mentioned in his profile.

A - True, we forgot about that one too.

Q - The Silver Sable profile is missing a little bit at the end.

A - Bother, this was a layout error. It should end with "While she publicly presents the image of a hardened mercenary with flexible morals, Silver Sable occasionally reveals a softer side - although perhaps we will never know which is the true Silver Sable.

Q - Edward Mulhare wasn't the voice of Alistair Smythe on the "Spider-Man" FOX cartoon. Maxwell Caulfield ("Grease 2") was.

A - I'm not an expert, but if you say so, we'll believe you.

Q - You say Norman Osborn's motives for kidnapping Aunt May weren't revealed, but they were. He kidnapped her because [SNIP].

A - La la la la la... I can't hear you!