Tarantula (Marvel Comics)

Tarantula
First appearance of Tarantula in Amazing Spider-Man #134. Art by Ross Andru
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	The Amazing Spider-Man #134 (July 1974)
Created by	Gerry Conway (writer) Ross Andru (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	- Anton Miguel Rodriguez - Luis Alvarez - Maria Vasquez
Team affiliations	(Rodriguez) Brand Corporation Boca Del Rios Revolutionist Forces Boca Del Rios Fascist Government (Vasquez) Heroes for Hire
Notable aliases	(Rodriguez) Mr. Valdez (Alvarez) El Arana
Abilities	(Rodriguez): Great athlete Excellent hand-to-hand combatant Skilled martial artist Incredible agility and leaping Finger claws and toe blades incorporated into his costume, usually envenomed As a tarantula-like creature: Superhuman strength Wall crawling Ability to shoot organic webbing from his backside (Alvarez): Excellent hand-to-hand combatant Skilled martial artist Peak-level strength, agility, stamina and reflexes Wears retractable blades in his gloves and retractable spikes in his boots, anointed with drugs and poisons

Tarantula is a fictional character, a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He acts as a patriotic enforcer for the oppressive dictatorship of the fictional South American country of Delvadia, essentially a Delvadian equivalent to Captain America. Visually, his defining marks are his red stretch costume with a black tarantula on its chest and the poisonous stingers attached to his boots. The character was killed off in the early 1980s, but the Tarantula identity has been carried on by a series of successors.

The character was introduced in The Amazing Spider-Man #134 (July 1974). Writer Gerry Conway recalled how he created the character:

During the political upheavals in South America during the 1970s, there was a real sense that we, the United States, were somewhat culpable, both for supporting the repressive regimes that were in power, and in the case of Chile, actually assisting in the overthrow of the democratically elected government. So, in that environment, a character like the Tarantula was inherently political. But the real reason I wanted to write that particular story was something said by my good friend Don Glut, who was also writing for Marvel at the time. Don once asked, "Why aren't there international heroes from smaller countries, a third-world, or old-world Captain America, like say, Captain Serbo-Croatia?" We laughed, but I really liked that notion: Just because the United States came up with their guy, why stop there? Why stop with the larger countries, the superpowers?

Prior to the Delvadian Tarantula's debut, a character with the alias Tarantula appeared in Ghost Rider #2 (April, 1967). There is no connection between this character and any of the other Tarantulas.

As a revolutionary terrorist in the small fictional South American republic of Delvadia, Anton Miguel Rodriguez was expelled from his small organization after murdering a guard without reason during a robbery. Anton then went over to the side of the repressive fascistic-dictatorship government, where they created the Tarantula identity for him to serve as a government operative and his country's counterpart to Captain America. After alienating his masters, Tarantula embarks on a criminal career in the United States. He hijacks a Hudson River dayliner to rob the passengers and hold them for ransom; his plan is disrupted by Spider-Man and Punisher. He escapes prison with the help of Jackal who sought revenge on Spider-Man; however, Tarantula is defeated by Spider-Man. He is then hired by Lightmaster to assist Kraven the Hunter in committing various kidnappings and murders, but is again thwarted by Spider-Man. Tarantula then joins forces with Senor Suerte to steal the "Mad-bombs" and use them for extortion, but is defeated by Captain America.