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Billy Connors | |
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![]() Billy Connors as Lizard Jr. as seen in The Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 5) #16 (April 2019). Art by Alberto Jiménez Alburquerque (penciller/inker) and Laura Martin, Brian Reber, and Carlos Lopez (colorists). | |
Publication information | |
Publisher | Marvel Comics |
First appearance | The Amazing Spider-Man #6 (Nov. 1963) |
Created by | Stan Lee (writer) Steve Ditko (artist) |
In-story information | |
Alter ego | William Connors |
Species | Human Mutate |
Team affiliations | New U Technologies Sewer Enclave Sinister Six |
Notable aliases | Lizard Jr. Lizard Boy |
Abilities | As a lizard:
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William "Billy" Connors is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is usually depicted as a supporting character of Spider-Man, and the son of Dr. Curt Connors, also known as the Lizard. Much of his character's story deals with the trauma of his father's uncontrollable powers. Billy was later injected with Curt's Lizard Formula to cure him of a deadly virus, which also mutated him into an anthropomorphic lizard.
The character was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #6 (November 1963).
Billy was born in Florida to Curt and Martha Connors, the former of whom is a biologist. The family move to New York City so that Curt can continue his research in limb regrowth. Curt's research leads him to transform himself into a reptilian creature called the Lizard, who attempts to kill Billy. Billy is rescued by Spider-Man, who returns Curt to normal with an antidote to the Lizard formula. [1]
Curt eventually chooses to leave his family, saddening Billy and Martha. [2] Curt later returns and turns Billy into another lizard creature dubbed Lizard Jr., but the two are captured and returned to normal by Spider-Man. [3] [4]
Sometime later, Martha and Billy contract cancer after being exposed to carcinogenic chemicals. Martha dies while Billy survives and is forced to live with his aunt. [5] [6] [7] During The Gauntlet and Grim Hunt storyline, Curt loses custody of Billy, who the Lizard kills in an attempt to suppress Curt's personality. [8] [4] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]
In the Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy storyline, Ben Reilly resurrects Billy and Martha in clone bodies. [14] They are later infected with the Carrion virus, which threatens to degrade their bodies, and are transformed into lizard hybrids to save their lives. [15] [16] [6] [7] [10] [13]
While Billy and his family live peacefully in the sewers, getting occasional friendly visits from Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson, he longs to return to the surface and attend a regular school. Despite this, his father angrily rebuffs his pleas and he, in turn, has started to rebel. [17]
During the Hunted storyline, Billy is captured and used as a hostage by Kraven the Hunter as part of Kraven's efforts to test his clone, the Last Son of Kraven, and provoke Spider-Man into becoming the "hunter" Kraven feels his enemy should be. When trapped in a cage with Curt, Spider-Man learns that Curt took Billy to Doctor Strange after his resurrection. Strange confirmed that the resurrected Billy is the original Billy's soul reborn in a cloned body rather than a separate individual. [18]
An amnesiac Billy later appears as a member of Squid Kid's Sinister Six as Lizard Boy. [19] He and Martha are later recruited into the Sewer Enclave by Miles Morales' clone Shift. [20]
An alternate universe variant of Billy Connors from Earth-1610, renamed Timothy Connors, appears in Ultimate Marvel . [21]
An alternate universe variant of Billy Connors who became a separate incarnation of the Lizard appears in What If? vol. 2 #53. [22]
Billy Connors appears in a deleted scene that was cut from The Amazing Spider-Man , portrayed by Miles Elliot. [24]
Billy Connors, Dr. Connors' son, eventually gained the powers of The Lizard after a long and tragic sequence of events. Billy initially got cancer from exposure to toxic chemicals from a lab where Dr. Connors worked. His mother died, but Billy lived and was eventually mutated into a form of The Lizard.
Billy Connors is the son of Dr. Curt Connors who possesses all the powers and abilities of his father. These include superhuman agility and reflexes, making him as fast and deadly as the original Lizard... Billy Connors acquired his powers when he was injected with the same special Lizard formula that his father developed and used on himself, after a series of tragic events that included Billy developing cancer.
Zeb Wells and Chris Bachalo's "Shed" storyline took place in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man #630 and #631. Taking a deep dive into the mind of Dr. Curt Connors and what it means for him to share his psyche with the Lizard, we watch as the mild-mannered scientist is eventually overwhelmed by his other side, and murders his son in the process.
Nonetheless, pity only goes so far, and fans were pushed to their limit with Zeb Wells' disturbing storyline, Shed. In this arc, the Lizard became more animalistic than ever, murdering and eating Billy Connors, his own son.