Masked Marauder

The Masked Marauder first appeared in Daredevil #16-19 (May-Aug. 1966), and was created by Stan Lee, John Romita Sr., and Frank Giacoia.^[1]

The character subsequently appears in Daredevil #22-23 (Nov.-Dec. 1966), #26-27 (March-April 1967), Iron Man #60-61 (July-Aug. 1973, Werewolf by Night #42-43 (Jan., March 1977), and Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #25-28 (Dec. 1978-March 1979). The character appears again many years later in Punisher War Journal #4 (April 2007).

The Masked Marauder received an entry in the All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z: Update #3 (2007).

Discover more about Publication history related topics

Daredevil (Marvel Comics series)

Daredevil (Marvel Comics series)

Daredevil is the name of several comic book titles featuring the character Daredevil and published by Marvel Comics, beginning with the original Daredevil comic book series which debuted in 1964.

Stan Lee

Stan Lee

Stan Lee was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which would later become Marvel Comics. He was the primary creative leader for two decades, leading its expansion from a small division of a publishing house to a multimedia corporation that dominated the comics and film industries.

John Romita Sr.

John Romita Sr.

John V. Romita is an American comic book artist best known for his work on Marvel Comics' The Amazing Spider-Man and for co-creating characters including Mary Jane Watson, the Punisher, and Wolverine. Romita is the father of John Romita Jr., also a comic book artist and husband of Virginia Romita, for many years Marvel's traffic manager.

Frank Giacoia

Frank Giacoia

Frank Giacoia was an American comics artist known primarily as an inker. He sometimes worked under the name Frank Ray, and to a lesser extent Phil Zupa, and the single moniker Espoia, the latter used for collaborations with fellow inker Mike Esposito.

Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe

Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe

The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe is an encyclopedic guide which details the fictional universe featured in Marvel Comics publications. The original 15-volume series was published in comic book format in 1982, followed by sporadic updates.

Versus Daredevil

Frank Farnum was the manager of the Manhattan building in which the law offices of Nelson and Murdock reside. How and why he became the Masked Marauder has never been revealed. He first appeared as an already successful crime leader with men, money, and resources at his command.

The Masked Marauder first came to the public's attention in a confrontation with Spider-Man; Spider-Man foiled his plans, but the Marauder himself escaped.^[2] He later clashed with Spider-Man again, with the same result, when he launched a big attack on the World Motors Building in order to steal a new auto engine design, the XB-390, intending to modify it into a weapon.^[2]

In order to prevent Spider-Man from stopping him a third time, he ordered a half dozen of his men to impersonate Daredevil and attack Spider-Man, hoping to draw the two superheroes into conflict. When he heard of a fight between Spider-Man and Daredevil through a live news broadcast, he executed a fresh assault on the World Motors Building and stole the XB-390.^[2] However, J. Jonah Jameson set a trap by announcing the XB-390 is useless without the formula for fueling it. Falling for the deception, the Masked Marauder attacked the World Motors Building again, and his plans were yet again foiled by Spider-Man. Enraged, he defeated Spider-Man and tried to kill him, but was stopped by Daredevil. Once again, all of his men were captured. While fleeing the scene he overheard Foggy Nelson, a lawyer working out of an office in his building, insinuating to Karen Page that he is really Daredevil.^[3] Days later, he noticed Page going into the law office late one evening; his suspicious aroused, he confronted her in his civilian identity in the hope she would let slip some of Nelson's secrets (due to an editorial oversight, he is referred to as "Mr. Dunn" in this scene). However, Page gave nothing away and collapsed into a faint during their conversation.^[4] During this time he employed Nelson to draw up new leases for his building;^[5] it is never revealed if this was genuinely a matter of business, or an excuse to more closely study the man that he believed to be Daredevil.

Taking on new men, culled from the New York City underworld, the Marauder arranged to have the Gladiator sprung from prison. He intended to use him as glorified muscle, but the Gladiator proved very hard to tame, and the Marauder was forced to take him on as his partner. Meanwhile, he ordered his men to attack Foggy Nelson in his office. Though they failed, their attack revealed that Nelson was not in fact Daredevil.^[6] With the Gladiator, he hatched a plan to take over the Maggia by publicly defeating Daredevil, and sent an android called the Tri-Man against him. When this failed, he transported the Gladiator and Daredevil into a Colosseum movie set controlled by the Maggia. However, the Gladiator refused to continue fighting Daredevil after he saved him from the arena's lions. Bemused by his repeated failures, the Maggia told the Masked Marauder they "wouldn't even want you for a mascot".^[7]

Still convinced there is some connection between Nelson and Daredevil, the Marauder teamed up with the Stilt-Man and kidnapped Nelson, his partner Matt Murdock (Daredevil's alter ego), and Karen Page, holding them captive in a helicopter surrounded by a force field that disintegrates anything it comes in contact with. Murdock told them Daredevil is his twin brother Mike and, while Stilt-Man searched for the non-existent Mike, changed into his costume. He fought the Marauder and unintentionally knocked him into the lethal force field.^[8]

Battling other heroes

The Masked Marauder was presumed dead until he re-appeared in Detroit some years later. He revealed that his force field disintegrator was actually a teleportation device that allowed him to escape and start over again elsewhere.^{[Note 1]} With his henchmen Steele and Hacker, he stole Tony Stark's experimental space shuttle and ran afoul of Iron Man, who defeated him.^[10]

Later, the Marauder again encountered Iron Man along with Jack Russell, the Werewolf by Night. His plans (with his new henchmen Pardee, Creach, and Strenk) involved creating the Tri-Animan (an android created by the merging of three animals instead of three men) to aid in his revenge against the Maggia. He failed.^[11]

When the Marauder next appeared, he had somehow become Big M, the leader of the Nefaria "family" of the Maggia. In battle with Spider-Man and Daredevil, he "permanently" blinded the web-slinger and threatened New York with his "bombdroid", a Tri-Man carrying a nuclear device. As a blinded Spider-Man succeeded in defusing the bomb, Daredevil defeated the Marauder.^[12][13]

Post-Civil War

The Masked Marauder, along with a number of low-level supervillains, was attending a viewing/funeral/barroom brawl for the Stilt-Man (killed by the Punisher), when the Punisher (posing as a bartender) poisoned their drinks before blowing the bar up.^[14] They all had to get their stomachs pumped and be treated for third-degree burns.^[15]

Secret Invasion

During the Secret Invasion storyline, the Masked Marauder was seen helping the Hood fight the Skrulls.^[16]

Discover more about Fictional character biography related topics

Daredevil (Marvel Comics character)

Daredevil (Marvel Comics character)

Daredevil is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Daredevil #1. Writer/artist Frank Miller's influential tenure on the title in the early 1980s cemented the character as a popular and influential part of the Marvel Universe. Daredevil is commonly known by such epithets as "Hornhead", "The Man Without Fear", and "The Devil of Hell's Kitchen".

J. Jonah Jameson

J. Jonah Jameson

John "J." Jonah Jameson Jr. is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in association with the superhero Spider-Man. The character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, and he first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man issue #1.

Foggy Nelson

Foggy Nelson

Franklin Percy "Foggy" Nelson is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character has been depicted as part of the supporting cast of Daredevil ; Foggy is Matt's best friend and, for most of the series, his law partner. The character was created by Stan Lee and Bill Everett.

Karen Page

Karen Page

Karen Page is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She serves as the original love interest for Daredevil, under Matt Murdock's employ as his legal secretary. In 1999, Page was killed by Bullseye, and since the 1980s her role as primary love interest has been superseded by Elektra Natchios.

Gladiator (Melvin Potter)

Gladiator (Melvin Potter)

Gladiator is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Potter was initially depicted as a supervillain and one of the first enemies of the superhero Daredevil. In civilian life, he is a costume designer at the Spotlight Costume Shop in New York City. He eventually reforms and became a great supporter of Daredevil.

Maggia (comics)

Maggia (comics)

Maggia is a fictional international crime syndicate appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The organization exists in Marvel's main shared universe, known as Earth-616, as well as other Marvel universes. Its structure is somewhat similar to the real-world New York Mafia, but the Maggia differs in that it frequently hires supervillains and mad scientists to work for them. Some of the prominent Maggia members are supervillains themselves, such as Hammerhead, Silvermane, Count Nefaria and his daughter Madame Masque. The Maggia has come into conflict with various superheroes, including Spider-Man, Daredevil, the Fantastic Four, and the Avengers.

Colosseum

Colosseum

The Colosseum is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world, despite its age. Construction began under the emperor Vespasian in 72 and was completed in 80 AD under his successor and heir, Titus. Further modifications were made during the reign of Domitian. The three emperors who were patrons of the work are known as the Flavian dynasty, and the amphitheatre was named the Flavian Amphitheatre by later classicists and archaeologists for its association with their family name (Flavius).

Count Nefaria

Count Nefaria

Count Luchino Nefaria is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Punisher

Punisher

The Punisher is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru. The Punisher made his first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #129, originally depicted as an assassin and adversary of the superhero Spider-Man.

Gastric lavage

Gastric lavage

Gastric lavage, also commonly called stomach pumping or gastric irrigation, is the process of cleaning out the contents of the stomach. Since its first recorded use in early 19th century, it has become one of the most routine means of eliminating poisons from the stomach. Such devices are normally used on a person who has ingested a poison or overdosed on a drug such as ethanol. They may also be used before surgery, to clear the contents of the digestive tract before it is opened.

Secret Invasion

Secret Invasion

"Secret Invasion" is a comic book crossover storyline that ran through a self-titled eight-issue limited series and several tie-in books published by Marvel Comics from April through December 2008. The story involves a subversive, long-term invasion of Earth by the Skrulls, a group of alien shapeshifters who have secretly replaced many superheroes in the Marvel Universe with impostors over a period of years, prior to the overt invasion. Marvel's promotional tagline for the event was "Who do you trust?".

Skrull

Skrull

The Skrulls are a fictional race of extraterrestrial shapeshifters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Skrulls first appeared in Fantastic Four #2 and were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. They originated from the planet Skrullos and their empire is located in the Andromeda Galaxy. Their infiltration of Earth was a major event in the Marvel Comics universe as shown in the crossover event Secret Invasion.

The Masked Marauder is a costumed criminal scientist whose helmet projects "opti-blasts" which can temporarily or permanently blind a victim. He is an engineering genius, and his inventions include the Tri-Man, the Tri-Animan, the Bombdroid, a truck with a "hydraulic hoist", a helicopter with a force field, and a teleportation device which can affect even unwitting targets who are far away. He also has modest training in the martial arts.

His planning abilities and knack for inspiring trust have allowed him to command well-trained teams of henchmen. However, his plans are often spoiled by his mental quirks. He suffers from obsessive–compulsive personality disorder and insists that his men execute his plans according to timetables that schedule each step down to the second. Even a few seconds' deviation from one of his timetables causes him to become extremely agitated. He is also excessively arrogant, and always assumes that his opponents will be rendered completely helpless by his opti-blasts, despite being repeatedly proven wrong on this point.^[17]