Death-Stalker

Death-Stalker
Death-Stalker. Art by Steve Gerber and Bob Brown
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	(as The Exterminator) Daredevil #39 (April 1968) (as Death-Stalker) Daredevil #113 (September 1974)
Created by	(The Exterminator) Stan Lee, Gene Colan; (Death-Stalker), Steve Gerber, Bob Brown
In-story information
Alter ego	Philip Wallace Sterling
Team affiliations	Unholy Three
Notable aliases	Exterminator, Death's-Head
Abilities	Interdimensional travel Death grip gloves grant ability to kill a person upon contact

The Death-Stalker is the name of two fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

The first Death-Stalker was Philip Wallace Sterling. An enemy of Daredevil, he first appeared as the Exterminator in Daredevil #39 (April 1968); he first appeared as the Death-Stalker in Daredevil #113 (September 1974).

Philip Wallace Sterling was born in Riverdale, Bronx, New York. He was a wealthy man prior to embarking on a career as a professional criminal. When he first appeared as the Exterminator, he recruited the Unholy Three. He constructed a "time displacer ray" ("t-ray") which could teleport its target into another dimension (possibly the Limbo from which Immortus hails). The Exterminator led the Unholy Three in a series of criminal activities and battled Daredevil. When Daredevil defeated the Exterminator and his agents, he also destroyed the t-ray, accidentally bombarding the Exterminator with its strange energy, and seemingly killing him.

Sterling found himself trapped between two dimensions, able to return to Earth at will but only for a few hours at a time; furthermore, the mutation caused his skin to become chalk-white. He stole a pair of gloves from AIM that gave him a "death-grip," and began calling himself "Death-Stalker." He tried several times to kill Daredevil and build a new t-ray machine, but most of his battles with Daredevil ended in a draw.

He was allied with Gladiator against Daredevil. The Death-Stalker traveled to the Florida Everglades in search of papers relating to Ted Sallis's experiments, and encountered the Man-Thing. He later stole a set of ancient Lemurian mirror lenses from various museums, and used them to create a powerful gun in order to destroy Daredevil. However, Daredevil destroyed the gun, and in the midst of their battle, Death-Stalker was mysteriously discorporated by the Sky-Walker. He reappeared in a third costumed guise as the new Death's-Head, gifting an enforcer called Smasher with super-human powers, and kidnapping Karen Page in order to force her to give him the original Death's Head's research. He was defeated by Daredevil and the Ghost Rider, killing Smasher with his touch during the battle.