Vanessa Fisk

Vanessa Fisk
Vanessa Fisk Art by John Romita, Sr.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	The Amazing Spider-Man #70 (March 1969)
Created by	Stan Lee (writer) John Romita, Sr. (artist)
In-story information
Full name	Vanessa Fisk
Partnerships	Wilson Fisk
Supporting character of	Daredevil Spider-Man

Vanessa Fisk is a fictional comic book character appearing in publications by Marvel Comics. As the wife of mobster Wilson Fisk, the so-called Kingpin of Crime, and the mother of Richard Fisk, she appears as a supporting character in stories featuring those villains, usually those starring Daredevil and Spider-Man.

The character has appeared in media adaptations, including the Netflix television series Daredevil, in which she is portrayed by Ayelet Zurer.

Created by writer Stan Lee and artist John Romita, Sr., she first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #70 (March 1969).

Little is known about Vanessa Fisk's personal life and early years. No maiden name has ever been revealed. As the wife of Wilson Fisk, the "Kingpin" of New York's criminal underworld, Vanessa did not approve of her husband's criminal activities. At one point their son Richard Fisk became involved in a plot to overthrow his father's criminal syndicate after discovering he was the Kingpin.

After the Kingpin had a near-death experience, Vanessa gave him an ultimatum; he had twenty-four hours to get out of crime, or she would leave him. The Kingpin was about to kill Spider-Man when the deadline passed, and Vanessa forced him to choose between Spider-Man's life or their life together. He chose his wife and spared Spider-Man as a result.

The two went into retirement in Japan. Kingpin prepared to settle his remaining business with his fellow mobsters by cooperating with the authorities and leaving the world of crime forever. This infuriated one of Kingpin's closest advisors, Lynch, who believed that Vanessa was a liability and had turned the once mighty Kingpin into a henpecked husband. When Fisk's former lieutenants in New York caught wind of his plans to sell them out in exchange for immunity, they kidnapped Vanessa, who was in town to secure the legal services of Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson.