Post by Z451 on Sept 15, 2014 0:29:27 GMT
Black Spider
The original Black Spider first appeared in Detective Comics [HASH]463 (September 1976) and was created by Gerry Conway.
Eric Needham is a small time crook who is addicted to heroin.
Desperate for money to buy more drugs, he robs a liquor store.
He kills the owner, who turns out to be his father.
After being arrested, he kicks the habit out of remorse and begins a war on the drug trade.
Donning a costume, he becomes a self-styled vigilante and begins killing those suspected of dealing drugs.
This brings him into conflict with Batman.
Needham believes that the two should be allies, as he sees common purpose in their war against criminals.
His murderous methods, however, continually put him at odds with the Dark Knight.
Needham's paraphernalia and missions as the Black Spider were bankrolled by a man who is secretly involved with narcotics and wants to take out the competition.
Despite his professed desire to fight criminals, the Black Spider occasionally allies himself with costumed villains (most notably in the gathering of super-villains in Detective Comics [HASH]526 and Batman [HASH]400).
Ostensibly, Black Spider's goal in this is to seek revenge against Batman, or at least, this is how he attempted to justify his actions in his own mind.
Needham also faced King Faraday and Nightshade in a brief flashback in Secret Origins [HASH]28.
During his war, Needham's wife and son are killed by a drug lord who discovers the Black Spider's identity.
In a rage, the Spider prepares for one final assault.
After being shot multiple times, Needham invades the drug lord's headquarters and detonates explosives strapped to his back, killing the drug dealers in the process.
Eric Needham later turns up in Neil Gaiman's critically acclaimed fantasy comic The Sandman, dating supporting character, Lyta Hall.
No explanation was given for his resurrection.
Whatever the case, Needham's survival has since been confirmed and the character has made subsequent appearances as the Black Spider, such as in the miniseries Underworld Unleashed.
He was seen in Identity Crisis as an ally of Deadshot, Monocle, and Merlyn.
He is later a member of The Society.
He is one of the villains sent to retrieve the Get Out of Hell free card from the Secret Six.
In The New 52 (a reboot of the DC Comics universe), Eric appears as a member of the Suicide Squad, though he resents being forced to work with criminals despite not being one himself.
Despite his holier-than-thou attitude towards much of the team, he does not view himself as a hero, just as a man who kills criminals, even willing to smother them in their hospital beds.
He is also slightly overconfident of his abilities, getting himself injured multiple times while assuming he could easily defeat several armed opponents.
Amanda Waller eventually offers him an opportunity to quit the team, stating that he is not a monster like the others.
Eric declines, stating that he "needs" the team after losing his family.
However, this turns out to be a ploy, as Needham was actually a double agent working for Regulus of the terrorist group Basilisk.
A double of Black Spider had accompanied the team to Basilisk's hideout, only to be shot by Deadshot, who realized it wasn't the true Spider because he would've dodged the bullet.
The real Black Spider had invaded Amanda Waller's grandmother's home in order to kill both of them.
However, he underestimates the cunning of both the senior Waller and the younger Waller, and is defeated.
He was then locked away in maximum security at Belle Reeve.
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