Fictional character biographies
Anton Miguel Rodriguez
| Tarantula | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | The Amazing Spider-Man #134 (July 1974) |
| Created by | Gerry Conway Ross Andru |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Antonio "Anton" Miguel Rodriguez |
| Species | Human |
| Team affiliations | Brand Corporation Boca Del Rios revolutionist forces Boca Del Rios fascist government |
| Notable aliases | Taranty, El Tarántula, Mr. Valdez |
| Abilities | Skilled martial artist Enhanced agility Finger claws and toe spikes incorporated into the costume, usually envenomed As Tarantula-like creature Superhuman strength Wall-crawling ability Organic webbing shot from buttocks |
Antonio "Anton" Miguel Rodriguez is the first character to use the Tarantula codename.
He was a revolutionary terrorist in the small fictional South American republic of Delvadia, and was expelled from his small organization after murdering a guard for no reason during a robbery. Anton then went over to the side of the repressive fascist-dictatorship government, where the Tarantula identity was created for him to serve as a government operative and his country's counterpart of a patriotic symbol. After alienating his masters, Anton 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, however, is disrupted by Spider-Man and the Punisher. [4] Anton escapes prison with the original Jackal's help who sought revenge on Spider-Man; however, is again defeated by Spider-Man. [5] Anton is then hired by Lightmaster to assist Kraven the Hunter in committing various kidnappings and murders, but is again thwarted by Spider-Man. [6] Anton then joins forces with Senor Suerte to steal the "Madbombs" and use for extortion, but this time is defeated by Captain America. [7]
Anton is hired by the Brand Corporation to silence an informer, but is again thwarted by Spider-Man. The Brand Corporation then orders him to kill Spider-Man. In an attempt to bestow him with spider-powers, Anton is injected with a mutagenic serum and placed in an electrolyte bath. The Will o' The Wisp disrupts the mutagenic process, causing him to start transforming into a gigantic, monstrous, spider-like being. He falls into Jamaica Bay, but survives the plunge and continues to mutate, and then battles Spider-Man atop a tall New York City building. Horrified and disgusted with what he has turned into, he leaps off the building, begging for the police officers gathered below to kill him. Hit by a hail of gunfire, Anton strikes the street below and dies. [8]
During the Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy storyline, Anton is among those supervillains "reanimated" in cloned bodies (with their souls intact) thanks to the new Jackal's New U Technologies. [9] He was involved in a fight with the other cloned supervillains until it was broken up by a clone of the Prowler. [10]
In a prelude to the "Hunted" storyline, Anton is among the animal-themed characters captured by the Taskmaster and the Black Ant on Kraven the Hunter's behalf. He is among those whom Arcade publicly reveals as the Savage Six. [11]
Luis Alvarez
| Tarantula | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Web of Spider-Man #35 (February 1988) |
| Created by | Gerry Conway Alex Saviuk |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Luis Alvarez |
| Species | Human |
| Notable aliases | El Arana |
| Abilities | Skilled martial artist Enhanced agility Finger claws and toe spikes incorporated into the costume, usually envenomed |
Luis Alvarez is the second character to use the Tarantula codename. He was a special government operative and a former captain in the Delvadian militia, but not given to terrorist activities. Acting more as a death squad/government enforcer, Alvarez is chosen by Delvadian government officials to be the second Tarantula, and undergoes a mutagenic treatment to increase his already-considerable physical abilities, wearing an identical costume. [12] He is sent to the United States by the Delvadian government to eliminate political refugees from that country, and to kill Spider-Man for what happened to his predecessor, but Spider-Man and Captain America defeat him. [13] Working as a mercenary, Alvarez teams up with the Chameleon to eliminate Spider-Man where he nearly kills Flash Thompson, [14] but this plan failed and he is defeated by Spider-Man and the Black Cat. [15] Alvarez later battles the Punisher and Batroc the Leaper. [16] Eventually, Alvarez is caught and murdered by the Jury. [17]
Third version
| Tarantula | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Spider-Man: Get Kraven #1 (August 2002) |
| Created by | Ron Zimmerman Al Rio |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Unknown |
| Species | Human |
| Abilities | Skilled martial artist Enhanced agility Finger claws and toe spikes incorporated into the costume, usually envenomed |
An unnamed character is the third individual to use the Tarantula codename.
A patron at the Bar With No Name, he and several other villains get into a brawl with Spider-Man and Kraven the Hunter. [18] The Tarantula later fights the Runaways in Van Nuys, and is defeated by a "debugging incantation" cast by Nico Minoru. [19]
Years later, the Tarantula resurfaces as an ally of the Black Cat, and as one of the villains taking advantage of the gang war raging in the Third Precinct. [20] [21] [22]
The Tarantula was among the supervillains fought by Old Man Logan for Mysterio's location, and Miss Sinister telepathically took the Tarantula's information then killed him. [23]
Jacinda Rodriguez
| Tarantula | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Agent X #6 (February 2003) |
| Created by | Gail Simone Alvin Lee |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Jacinda Rodriguez |
| Species | Human |
| Abilities | Skilled martial artist Enhanced agility Finger claws and toe spikes incorporated into the costume, usually envenomed |
Jacinda Rodriguez is the fourth character to use the Tarantula codename and the daughter of Anton Miguel Rodriguez. [24] She and Marie Batroc were hired by the East Winds to go after Agent X, the Taskmaster and the Outlaw, however, the Taskmaster surprised both Jacinda and her partner and gunned down the two women. [25] Jacinda is later seen as an operative of Delvadia alongside the Devil-Spider, assisting Spider-Man and Mockingbird in confronting El Facóquero (a.k.a. the Warthog), Delvadia's drug lord and Norman Osborn's body double. [26]
Maria Vasquez
| Tarantula | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Heroes for Hire #1 (October 2006) |
| Created by | Justin Gray Jimmy Palmiotti Billy Tucci |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Maria Vasquez |
| Species | Human |
| Team affiliations | Heroes for Hire |
| Notable aliases | Skilled martial artist Enhanced agility Finger claws and toe spikes incorporated into the costume, usually envenomed |
Maria Vasquez is the fifth character to use the Tarantula codename and a member of the Heroes for Hire.
Maria acts alongside the Heroes for Hire as the Superhuman Registration Act's enforcers for Iron Man. [27]
While the Heroes for Hire investigate a black-market operation, a hit gets put out on the entire team; Maria experiences this when visiting the gravesite of her sister Rosa Vasquez that was killed in the Stamford Incident while arguing with her father Fernandez Vasquez preferring a safer profession of putting her intelligence to good use. After her father is killed by ninjas, Maria killed the ninjas herself and personally confronts Ricadonna but was also unable to avenge her father as desired. [28]
The Heroes for Hire are next paid to put a stop to a dangerous group of thieves who had been using advanced exoskeletons to aid in robberies regardless of collateral damage or death left behind; the group's investigation resulted in Maria, Misty Knight, the Black Cat and Colleen Wing stopping the Grim Reaper and the Man-Ape with the Statue of Liberty's destruction. [29]
The Heroes for Hire are hired by S.H.I.E.L.D. thanks to Paladin to capture Moon-Boy and Devil Dinosaur at the Savage Land for study before getting recruited into something else, resulting in Maria's confrontation with the Scorpion. She gets tortured due to Humbug turning on the Heroes for Hire for the Brood queen (which resulted in one of many reasons behind the group's disbanding). During this time, Maria's relationship with Shang-Chi turned intimate. [30]
Kaine
Kaine, a clone of Peter Parker, used the Tarantula alias for his hulking Man-Spider form during the "Spider-Island" storyline among the various Man-Spiders controlled by the original Jackal and Adriana Soria. [31]
