| Massacre | |
|---|---|
 Massacre as seen on the cover ofThe Superior Spider-Man #4 | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | The Amazing Spider-Man #655 (April 2011) |
| Created by | Dan Slott Marcos Martin |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Marcus Lyman |
| Species | Human |
| Abilities | Lack of emotion Genius-level intellect Use of guns and bombs |
Massacre is asupervillain appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. He primarily appears in Spider-Man related publications. The character is responsible for the murder ofAshley Kafka, a supporting character in various Spider-Man comic books and adapted media.[1]
The character's first appearance was inThe Amazing Spider-Man #655 (published April 2011), during theBig Time storyline and was created byDan Slott andMarcos Martin. The character also appeared in the following issue.[2][3] Massacre would go on to make his return in the fourth issue oftheSuperior Spider-Man series.[4][5] He was killed by the eponymous character in the next issue of that series,[6][7] before being "reanimated" byBen Reilly in a cloned body (with hissoul intact) duringDead No More: The Clone Conspiracy, being one of the few reanimated to survive the event.[8]
Marcus Lyman was an ordinary man until a failed assassination attempt nearly claimed his life. He and his wife Judy Lyman were successful traders for a local Wall Street firm inNew York City until an unhappy client planted a car bomb on their vehicle. The bomb killed Judy Lyman but Marcus survived with a piece of shrapnel from the explosion stuck in his forehead, penetrating his brain. The shrapnel was successfully removed but not without consequence: the damage had caused certain connections in Lyman's brain to no longer function. As a result, he lost his ability to feel emotion. He was sent to the Ravencroft Institute For The Criminally Insane, where he was treated byDr. Ashley Kafka. Dr. Kafka was disturbed by Lyman and she found that there was nothing she could do to help his mental state, advising that he be held under observation indefinitely.[9]
Now calling himself "Massacre", Marcus Lyman escaped the Ravencroft Institute and began kidnapping hostages. He held the hostages in a building, killing one of them to prove that he was willing to do so. The police began attempting negotiations with Massacre.[10] Having temporarily lost his Spider-sense,[11] Spider-Man arrived on the crime scene in an attempt to free the hostages, but was barely able to do so due to Massacre's heavy artillery. Massacre managed to escaped the scene, though not before Spider-Man secretly placed a Spider Tracer on him. Massacre resurfaced not long after, kidnapping another set of hostages at his former Wall Street firm but Spider-Man arrived on the scene prepared. Now donning a bullet proof costume and magnetic webbing, Spider-Man was able to defeat Massacre and rescue the hostages. When asked about his motivations, Massacre admitted that he had no particular reason for committing the crimes he did. Massacre was sent back to the Ravencroft Institute.[12]
At the Ravencroft Institute, Dr. Kafka became increasingly afraid of Massacre, believing him to be her most dangerous patient. Her fears were realized when Massacre once again escaped Ravencroft, killing Kafka in the process.[13] Massacre then went on a killing spree, threatening to murder anyone who crossed his path. Massacre soon took hostages at a Burger Town restaurant and, in retaliation for an employee pressing an alarm button, murdered them. Massacre then tracked down the manager of the Phizzy Cola company (Burger Town being one of its subsidiaries) and offered to help fix Phizzy Cola's public image after the killings by continuing to murder innocents wearing the logo of Phizzy Cola's rival company in exchange for a large sum of cash. Fearing for her own life, the manager agreed to Massacre's offer. Because of all of the harm Massacre has caused to innocent civilians, theSuperior Spider-Man (Doctor Octopus's mind in Spider-Man's body) decides to end Masacre's killing spree by killing him with his own gun. Just before his death, Massacre claimed to feel a spark of emotion.[14][15]
During theDead No More: The Clone Conspiracy storyline, Massacre is among the villains "reanimated" byJackal and his company New U Technologies (Ben Reilly: The Scarlet Spider seeing theembodiment ofDeath herself confirm those reanimated to have had their souls intact on being brought back). Although New U Technologies is supposed to revive individuals without any defects, Massacre assumedly retains the shrapnel in his brain as he is seen with the metal plate over his head.[8] He was involved in a fight with the other cloned supervillains until it was broken up by a clone ofProwler.[16]
During theDevil's Reign storyline, Massacre was seen as an inmate of the Myrmidon.Moon Knight fought him in one of the prison matches and defeated him.[17]
While Massacre does not have any traditional super-powers, an accident made it nearly impossible for him to feel any emotion. Massacre also has a genius level intellect.
Massacre uses guns and bombs.
Spider-Man characters | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spider-Man family |
| ||||||||||||
| Supporting characters |
| ||||||||||||
| Antagonists | |||||||||||||
| Alternative versions |
| ||||||||||||
| In other media |
| ||||||||||||
| Other topics | |||||||||||||
