 | This article has multiple issues. Please helpimprove it or discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these messages) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
|
| Frederick Foswell | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | The Amazing Spider-Man #10 (March 1964) |
| Created by | Stan Lee andSteve Ditko |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Frederick Foswell |
| Species | Human |
| Team affiliations | Daily Bugle Enforcers |
| Notable aliases | Patch Big Man |
| Abilities |
|
Frederick Foswell, also known as theBig Man andPatch, is a fictional character appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics.[1]
Frederick Foswell first appeared, as the Big Man, inThe Amazing Spider-Man #10 (March 1964), and was created byStan Lee andSteve Ditko.[2]
The character subsequently appeared inThe Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 (1964),The Amazing Spider-Man #23-27 (April–Aug. 1965), #29-34 (Oct. 1965-March 1966), #37 (June 1966),The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #3 (1966),The Amazing Spider-Man #42-47 (Nov. 1966-April 1967), #49-52 (June–Sept. 1967). The Big Man also made appearances inMarvel Team-Up #40 (Dec. 1975) andMarvels #2 (Feb. 1994). The character died inThe Amazing Spider-Man #52 (Sept. 1967).[3]
The Big Man received an entry in theOfficial Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #16, and inThe Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Spider-Man #1 (2005).
Frederick Foswell was born inQueens, New York. He worked as a reporter at theDaily Bugle for evidently quite a number of years, though the sliding timescale puts some of the hints of this into question: in the Night Raven story inMarvel Super-Heroes (UK) #394 (Feb. 1983), Foswell is referred to as a friend of Scoop Daly and as having attended Scoop Daly's funeral. A man named Fredrick was shown working for the Bugle inSgt. Fury #110.
Foswell begins leading a double life as the Big Man, head of New York's crime and the boss of the notoriousEnforcers. Frail and diminutive in stature, Foswell conceals his identity by wearing a mask, oversized coat, and giant platform boots whenever he appears as the Big Man. Although he has a considerable run of success as a crime boss, a confrontation withSpider-Man ends with his Enforcers being apprehended, and shortly afterwards the police deduce his identity and arrest him.[4]
After Foswell serves his sentence, his Daily Bugle bossJ. Jonah Jameson rehires him, an act of trust which immediately earns Foswell's gratitude.[5] When another masked crime lord called theCrime Master arises, working in collusion with theGreen Goblin, Foswell again begins wearing a mask - aneyepatched face that he uses as the alter ego Patch. Acting as a stool-pigeon, he tips off the police to planned crimes while getting scoops.[6]
Hoping to learn how his co-worker Peter Parker (Spider-Man's alter ego) always gets great photos of Spider-Man, Foswell follows him, and witnesses a (faked) conversation between Parker and Spider-Man indicating they've been conspiring to ensure that Parker is always present when Spider-Man goes into action. Parker and Foswell occasionally work together, with Peter tipping off Foswell as Spider-Man before a major bust and then taking pictures to go with Foswell's stories.
Following a crime war, theKingpin takes over New York's underworld. Foswell, his ego smarting at seeing another man in his place, tries to reinstate himself as the Big Man, but the Kingpin outwits him, instead forcibly enlisting him as a lieutenant.[7] When Kingpin kidnaps Jameson because of his editorials on the new crime wave, Spider-Man tries to rescue him, but is beaten by Kingpin.[8] Kingpin tries to drown both Jameson and Spider-Man, but Spider-Man uses his webbing to create an air bubble that keeps them both alive. The attempted murder of Jameson turns Foswell against Kingpin, who, sensing this, tries to kill him. However, Spider-Man enters and stops him. While Kingpin and Spider-Man battle, Foswell runs into the basement of the Kingpin's building to try to help Jameson. When he finds Jameson, Foswell protects him from the thugs trying to kill him, and takes a bullet meant for him. The Kingpin escapes, and Foswell dies from the bullet wound.[9] Jameson memorializes him as a hero in theDaily Bugle.[10]
Frederick Foswell was revealed to have a daughter named Janice. Adopting the Big Man mantle, Janice teams up with a newCrime Master, theSandman, and theEnforcers to seek revenge on Spider-Man, battling him, theHuman Torch and theSons of the Tiger. However, when Janice and Crime Master get into an argument about who is in charge, Janice is shot by her erstwhile partner, who is subsequently revealed to beNick Lewis Jr., the son of the original Crime Master and - ironically - her fiancé.[11] Many years later, his younger prodigy - Frederick Jr. - would also attempt to avenge his father and sister's death on Spider-Man, only to be defeated by him and Jameson, who felt remorse for his own role in leading Frederick Jr. to his revenge road.[12]
During theDead No More: The Clone Conspiracy storyline, Frederick Foswell as the Big Man is "reanimated" byBen Reilly's company New U Technologies,[13] before he apparently dies again to the Carrion Virus.[14]
Spider-Man characters | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spider-Man family |
| ||||||||||||
| Supporting characters |
| ||||||||||||
| Antagonists | |||||||||||||
| Alternative versions |
| ||||||||||||
| In other media |
| ||||||||||||
| Other topics | |||||||||||||
