Who’s the Crime-Master, you ask? That’s kind of hard to explain, for you see, the Crime-Master isn’t just any one criminal; it’s a criminal legacy that seems to have spanned quite a large number of years. But don’t worry, you’ll have a much better understanding of this nefarious character by the time we’re finished.
The first Crime-Master we’re introduced to in the comics is Nick Lewis.; he first appeared in “The Amazing Spider-Man” Volume 1, #26.
Lewis, whose identity was secret to everyone but the original Green Goblin, Norman Osborn, sought to unite all of the independent gangs not associated with the Maggia. Green Goblin and Crime-Master had agreed to become allies, and, as extra added insurance, decided to reveal their identities to each other. However, as revealed in the short-lived “Untold Tales of Spider-Man” comic, a series set during Spider-Man’s early career, when Green Goblin unmasked, Norman was sporting a J. Jonah Jameson mask.
While it was a neat way for Norman to deceive the Crime-Master, it didn’t quite fit in with the original story, where the Green Goblin still showed concern over Crime-Master’s knowledge over his true identity. If Lewis in fact believed that Jameson was the Goblin, there would have been no need for Noman to worry. I guess this is something fans will have to figure out and decide for themselves.
After finding little success in their joint venture, Crime-Master had decided to end their partnership. Lewis then began trying to force the other mobs under his thumb, but before he could succeed completely after calling together a meeting, the Green Goblin returned to confront the gangs with a beaten and unconscious Spider-Man.
Web-Head had been plaguing the mobs for months, and everyone in attendance, save the Crime-Master, was now ready to follow the Green Goblin; that is, til Spidey broke free and held the mobsters at bay til the cops could arrive. Spidey, Green Goblin, and the Crime-Master had, however, all escaped. Not long after, Crime-Master arrived a rooftop away from the Daily Bugle, ready to kill Spider-Man, Jameson, and reporter Frederick Foswell, the latter of whom planned to write an exposé on the Crime-Master. The cops arrived just in time to save anyone from getting shot in the Daily Bugle; a shootout ensued, ending in Nick Lewis Sr.’s death.
That’s right, Nick Lewis, Sr. You see, Nick had a son, later revealed to be the second Crime-Master. Nick Jr. had grown up with a burning desire to kill Spider-Man, blaming him for the ruination and death of his father. In the meantime, he’d fallen in love with Janice Foswell, daughter of the aforementioned Frederick Foswell, the former Big Man. Neither Janice nor Nick Jr. suspected that the other had taken up their fathers’ villainous identities. Both argued over who should be the one to finish Spider-Man off, and their incessant quarreling ended with the second Crime-Master shooting the second Bigman. Upon discovering he’d shot and killed the love his life, Nick Jr. surrendered to the police and hasn’t been since. Nick Jr. first appeared in “Marvel Team-Up” Volume 1, #39.
Years later, the third Crime-Master first appeared in “Venom” Volume 2, #1 (the series with Flash Thompson as the Venom host), and was the most sadistic of the three masked criminals.
This new Crime-Master ran a worldwide criminal organization and once Flash Thompson as Venom began interfering in his operations, the then-new Crime-Master began focusing his resources on taking out the symbiote-powered government agent. He sicced his personal enforcer Jack O’Lantern on Venom several times; Jack was a twisted child Crime-Master had kidnapped and molded to his liking. For more on this Jack O’Lantern, be sure to check out the Spider-Tracer article I did on him back in October. This Crime-Master went so far as to even form the first Earth-616 version of the Savage Six in order to take Agent Venom down.
It was soon revealed that this Crime-Master was the brother of Flash’s girlfriend Betty Brant; her brother Bennett had first appeared and seemingly died in a shootout between Doc Ock, Spider-Man, and several gangsters way back in “The Amazing Spider-Man” Volume 1, #11 after pushing Betty out of harm’s way. Betty had blamed Spider-Man for Bennett’s supposed death for quite some time, his passing having left quite a mark on her.
However, Bennett woke up in a morgue with a Crime-Master outfit presented to him, his wounds completely healed. He soon was shown that the Crime-Master guise had been around for decades, perhaps even centuries.
The origins of this Crime-Master organization were never further explained, leaving it open for future writers to explore. Before Bennett could further elaborate on any of the previously mentioned revelations, Betty shot and killed him in order to save Flash.
A short time later, Roderick Kingsley, the original Hobgoblin, sold the Crime-Master identity to an unknown Maggia member. The latest Crime-Master first appeared in “Superior Spider-Man” #22, but didn’t last long, having met his end in “Civil War II: Kingpin” #2.
It’s also worth noting that in the “Spider-Man: Spiral” storyline, one of Mr. Negative’s Inner Demons briefly impersonated this Crime-Master.
And there you have it, the villainous Crime-Master legacy. If anything is certain, we’ll surely see another Crime-Master before you know it. Which of the previous Crime-Masters was your favorite? What are your theories on the secret Crime-Master organization? Be sure to let me know in the comments section below.
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@William
Yeah, I feel like that original Crime-Master story was one of the best Ditko-era stories. Green Goblin was very fun; wild, crazy, and unpredictable and always enjoyable to read.
@Hornacek
You know, that whole premise from ASM#14 would make for a cool Spider-Man movie; a movie within a movie.
@William – “the Goblin is always in serious, epic stories these days, I kind of miss when he could be in fun ones”
I like how on the Amazing Spider-Man Classics podcast Josh described the Green Goblin’s plan in ASM #14 as “Lure Spidey out into the desert by making him think he was making a movie, and then … throw a big rock at him.”
@Bill – “there only ever seems to be one Crime-Maste at a time” That sounds like the Crime Master is more like the Dread Pirate Roberts.
The initial Crime Master story with the Goblin is one of the best stories of the Lee/Ditko run in my opinion, the Goblin is always in serious, epic stories these days, I kind of miss when he could be in fun ones. Ditko is great at making characters memorable with little details, the Crime Master could easily have been a generic mob boss character, but the memorable mask design alone seems to have secured him as a recurring idea.
@Hornacek
Yeah, that unknown son showing up for revenge thing has been going on for so long; some being handled better than others. A few that come to mind are the Zemos, Kravinoffs, and the Gremlin, whose father was the Hulk enemy known as the Gargoyle.
And it makes you wonder if the Crime-Masters and Scriers ever encountered each other. The major difference I can see is that while several Scrier appear at one time, there only ever seems to be one Crime-Maste at a time. I have to admit that might be possible that Bennett Brant and Nick Sr may have been using the identity simultaneously when you consider that Bennett “died” in ASM #11 and Nick Sr. first showed up in ASM #26.
Nick Lewis Sr. and Jr. reminds me of Frank Grimes from The Simpsons. They brought back his son (who I believe was also a Jr) to get revenge on Homer for his father’s death.
The league of Crime Masters going back centuries sounds like the Scriers.