Spider-Tracer: Legacy of Sin

Ask any fan of Spider-Man comics what their favorite Spider-Man story is, and one you’ll hear mentioned quite often is “The Death of Jean DeWolff”. Not only is the story well-known for the death of a supporting character and a much darker Spider-Man tale than readers were used to at the time, but it also introduced us to the villainous legacy of the Sin-Eater. While many readers will remember the unrelenting killer’s appearance in this story, did you know that his story did not end there, and that there have been two more men since then to bear the Sin-Eater name? It’s true, and it’s a villainous legacy we’ll be taking a closer look at in this month’s “Spider-Tracer”.

The Sin-Eater identity begins its origins in “Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man” #107 when the aforementioned Jean DeWolff is murdered by a masked assailant calling himself the Sin-Eater. This murderer would go on to kill a judge, a priest, and even an innocent bystander while battling Spider-Man. We eventually find out that this madman is really Police Sergeant Stan Carter, which makes the reveal all the more painful for Spider-Man, as it was Carter who was “helping” Spider-Man to catch Jean’s killer.

 

 

 

Sin-Eater nearly murdered Betty Brant before he was finally stopped.  It turned out that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time, as Stan had been looking to kill J. Jonah Jameson; he had been killing those that he felt weren’t properly using their power of authority, though he claimed to have killed Jean because he “felt like it!” (More on that a little later).  He also flipped out after his former partner on the force had been murdered; you see, years before, Stan had undergone experimental drug treatments while working for SHIELD, but they had caused him to become quite violent before joining the police force.

 

 

Stan returned in “Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man” #’s 134-136. Spider-Man had apparently severely injured Carter during his beat down the last time they fought, which resulted in Stan walking with a cane. While the drugs that created Sin-Eater appeared to be out of Stan’s system as far as experts could tell, the Sin-Eater himself had manifested as a split personality that only Stan could see, mocking and torturing him.

 

 

Finding it tough to get a job after his release, Stan gave in and began to write a tell-all book for the money, which only served to upset Spidey even further. We also find out that Stan had been romantically involved with Jean, which more than likely had something to do with him taking the police captain out first before the others; it just makes more sense than Sin-Eater simply doing it on a whim.

 

 

Stan finds it increasingly hard to silence the sinister voice in his head, puts his old costume on, and takes a young child hostage in a standoff with the police. Sin-Eater ends up getting killed in the ensuing shootout, but it’s only after he’s dead that it’s discovered the gun had no bullets in it.

 

 

 

It’s also worth noting that while Stan was going around on his original spree, a compulsive confessor, Emil Gregg, was claiming to be the masked killer. It turns out that he could hear Stan’s ramblings from his apartment as he made audio recordings about his crimes, convincing himself that he was the true Sin-Eater. It was during this time that Gregg began claiming to be the killer in interviews with Daily Globe reporter, Eddie Brock. Brock was making a name for himself when he began publishing his stories on the confessions, but was publicly humiliated when Spider-Man brought the real killer to justice. And, as most fans know, this led to the birth of Venom.

 

 

Speaking of Venom, years later, another Sin-Eater turns up in the four issue mini-series “Venom: Sinner Takes All”. This Sin-Eater was Michael G. Engelschwert, a Gulf War veteran. He’d taken residence in a homeless shelter near everyone’s favorite compulsive confessor, Emil Gregg. Gregg’s late night ramblings, ironically, inspired Engelschwert to become a new Sin-Eater. During an attack on a court house, Venom’s ex-wife Anne Weying is severely injured (which resulted in her temporarily becoming She-Venom to save her life), thus making things personal for Venom to go after the new Sin-Eater. Engelschwert later tries to finish Anne off in the hospital, but is stopped by Venom. The new Sin-Eater is ultimately shot and ends up blowing himself up with a bomb before his wound could do him in.

 

 

Years later, Emil Gregg is discovered dead shortly before a new, supernatural Sin-Eater appeared, even alluding to actually being the spirit of Gregg. This third Sin-Eater kept newspaper clippings of the original Sin-Eater attacks, even going so far as to claim that Stan Carter was a fake. Whether this was true or not is unknown, nor is it revealed, though if it was true, it would raise more questions than answers.

 

 

 

The third Sin-Eater could detect evil and absorb the sins of his victims. He decides to go on his killing spree during the “AXIS” event; it was during this time that a moral inversion spell caused the murderous Carnage to become a good guy (if you can believe that). With all of the evil still within Carnage from before the spell was cast, the new Sin-Eater became overwhelmed, exploding and seemingly ending his reign of terror, at least until someone else decides to take up the villainous identity. In case you were wondering, Carnage eventually returned to his old ways, his turn at heroism being quite short-lived.

 

 

Which was your favorite Sin-Eater? Do you think he worked best as a villain for Spider-Man, Venom, or even Carnage? And do you believe that Carter was an imposter; furthermore, do you feel that Gregg was the third Sin-Eater? Be sure to let me know in the comments section below!