| Rose | |
|---|---|
 Cover ofThe Amazing Spider-Man #253 (Jun 1984). Art byRick Leonardi. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | The Amazing Spider-Man #253 (Jun 1984) |
| Created by | Tom DeFalco |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | -Richard Fisk - Sergeant Blume - Jacob Conover - Philip Hayes |
| Species | Human |
TheRose is an alias used by several fictional characters appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. The original Rose first appeared inThe Amazing Spider-Man #253 (June 1984), and was created by writerTom DeFalco.[1]
Tom DeFalco recounted:
When I created the Rose, I wanted a character inmiddle management. We had all the bigcrimelords, and then the second-tier crimelords, and this guy was supposed to be second-tier. He doesn't fight, he hires people to do the fighting. I put him in a mask to make him distinctive. It was not a plan that he would have asecret identity. But at some point later on, I was reading something about the big mystery of "Who is the Rose?" I didn't realize there was a mystery! So I realized I'd have to come up with something for the Rose, and I figured I'd useRoderick Kingsley, because we'd already eliminated him asthe Hobgoblin but he fit perfectly as the Rose.[2]
DeFalco was fired fromThe Amazing Spider-Man by editorJim Owsley before he could reveal the Rose's identity.[2] A subsequent issue ofWeb of Spider-Man, written by Owsley, revealed the Rose to beRichard Fisk.
The character of Rose is depicted as a well-dressed, calm, calculating and gentleman-like crime lord who favorsroses and wears a leather, lilac-colored mask.
The first version of Rose was Richard Fisk, the son of Wilson Fisk, who sought to overthrow his father after learning the latter was theKingpin of Crime. He later became aPunisher-likevigilante, calling himself Blood Rose. He was eventually shot dead by his own motherVanessa Fisk.[3] However, he is later brought back by his father using the tablet of life.
The second version of Rose wasSergeant Blume (first name unrevealed), a police officer seeking revenge on the Kingpin for the death of his brother, another policeman. While Blume allied himself with Richard in hopes of doing good by breaking the Kingpin's hold on the city, he ended up implicated in several crimes while in the Kingpin's service. He ultimately was shot and killed in a confrontation with Richard's men in theCatskills after he had kidnappedPeter Parker'sAunt May and wifeMary Jane Watson, mistakenly thinking that Peter had discovered information that would blow the lid off of the Kingpin's organization, thus revealing Blume as a double agent.[4]
The third version of Rose wasJacob Conover, a reporter at theDaily Bugle, who took up the Rose identity as payment for saving the life of crime lordDon Fortunato many years earlier. He was loyal solely to Fortunato, as the Kingpin had not returned to power at the time, and his principal enforcer was the cyborg powerhouse known asDelilah. Conover faced a repeated threat to his territory from theArgentinian crime lord known as theBlack Tarantula, eventually being present without his Rose disguise when the Tarantula launched a direct assault on Fortunato's home. Preparing to gun down the Tarantula and a roomful of witnesses, Conover was stopped by Spider-Man and carted off to jail.
The fourth version of Rose was Dr.Phillip Hayes. He took up the Rose persona after he lost his funding in gene-therapy research after an accident in the Phelcorps laboratory, a result of which was the new heroineJackpot. He deals in "Ebony" shipments, a synthesized drug created fromCorruptor's sweat glands. He managed to slip under the superhero radar for a while, but Jackpot was getting closer to discovering his involvement. After he discovered the secret identity of his opponent (through a coincidence resulting from beingSara Ehret's co-worker), he hiresBoomerang to track Sara down at her house and murders her husband in front of her and her daughter. He is later arrested and unmasked, much to Sara's shock.[5]
The various interactions of Rose have no superhuman powers. Richard Fisk is trained in the use of guns and has some martial-arts training; Sergeant Blume is a trained police officer; and Jacob Conover is trained in the use of firearms and has a number of criminal contacts. The versions of Rose always carries a handgun and often carries a variety of mini grenades.
AnUltimate Marvel equivalent of Rose is a maskless associate of the Kingpin. He was present in theUltimate Knights storyline where he auditionedRonin to be a part of the Kingpin's organization and was ordered by the Kingpin to blow upMidtown High, but was arrested by the cops.[7]
InMarvel Adventures continuity, the Rose is a criminal with enough financial resources to bid a fortune on highly sophisticated battlesuits.[8]
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