One of the unrated delights of being a comic book reader is encountering “lame” villains. While The Joker or the Green Goblin might terrify readers and heroes alike, there is something undeniably fun about the villains who never seem to come within miles of winning, never mind earning the title of arch-nemesis.
Spider-Man may be the king of fighting these kinds of villains. In particular, he’s made a college industry of taking on villains who seem like they should be so much more dangerous villains — Hydro-Man or Shocker, for instance — but who always seem to get in their own way. Given that The Spot stands out amongst even those kinds of Spidey villains as having a reputation for lameness, we’re talking quite the ineffective, quite unscary bad guy.
That’s undoubtedly what Carnage has on his mind as he works his way down a path towards taking on The Spot beginning in Carnage #2 (by Ram V, Francesco Manna, Dijjo Lima, and VC’s Joe Sabino). He’s expecting to take on another pushover, a glass jaw sure to fold as easily as Hydro-Man did earlier in the issue. Another quick bloody victory for Spider-Man’s most violent villain. However, Carnage may have bitten off more than he can chew this time.
While The Spot might have a reputation for an easy mark, reality runs a bit counter and a lot stranger. For one thing, while the Webslinger laughed at the bad guy the first time they met, it was a short-lived chuckle. The Spot handled the Spidey fairly thoroughly and without much of a sweat. Subsequent encounters often featured Webhead outthinking his antagonist, but it was never quite the walk in the park people seemed to expect.
Additionally, The Spot has increasingly proven himself quite willing and able to kill when he sets his mind to it. After his son was the victim of a drive-by shooting, The Spot set to work taking apart the Russian mafia he held responsible. He murdered members and blinked out of the scene before the criminal could even mount a defense. Still, it wasn’t until The Spot traveled across town a bit to Hell’s Kitchen that he revealed exactly how dangerous, deadly, and outright creepy he could be.
For weeks, Daredevil has seemed to be losing his grasp on reality. Objects that he’d swear were literally in his hand one second would disappear entirely the next. When Murdock looks in on his estranged wife Milla Donovan at her locked mental health facility, she seems to have escaped. Yet when the hospital investigates, she’s right where she’s supposed to be in her private room. Even Foggy Nelson is beginning to suspect Matt has finally succumbed to the pressures of his life.
However, in Daredevil #19-21 (by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, Javier Rodriguez, and VC’s Joe Caramagna), readers learn the truth. The book’s creative teams has dreamed up yet another interesting and creative way to demonstrate the range of a superpower. This time, however, is not at all delightful or heartwarming. No, this was a far darker take on superpowers, indeed. This time made it impossible to so much as let out a stifled giggle about the “lame” Spot.
It turns out Hornhead isn’t suffering from a delusional disorder or several hallucinations. Instead, a villain by the name of the Coyote has targeted the hero. A smuggler who had been subjected to experiments by his employer, The Coyote now wielded the same powers as The Spot. However, he did not use them for mere heists or revenge killings. Instead, he had weaponized The Spot and his powers in mix of greedy, mundane and truly inhuman ways. These horrible actions suggest that the heroes and — perhaps Carnage himself — only have a fraction of an idea about The Spot’s powers capacity for frightening acts.
He begins simply enough, with creating tunnels to run guns in and out of countries without detection. Next, he contracts his “skills” to cartels. Using his portals, he turns pregnant woman into drug mules, teleporting kilos of illicit drugs into their abdomens so they can sneak them into the United States without notice. Lastly, and most disturbingly, he used the powers to create collars that separated people from their heads. Alive but docile, the Coyote would keep the people’s heads like hostages while their bodies were sent into a diamond mind to mindlessly work without any chance to protect themselves or escape.
Yet, somehow, what follows is even more disturbing. When Daredevil finds and releases The Spot, the antagonist is not quite himself. Coyote’s “use” of him was both painful and humiliating and has left The Spot in a decidedly unhealthy state of mind. No longer presenting as a man in a while costumed with black dots, the villain is. Instead, he had become a writhing mass of limbs, hands, and feet emerging from all angles on his body.
While the Man Without Fear does what he can to save Coyote from a horrifying, though perhaps karmically designed, fate, The Spot simply cannot be outrun. Emerging from seemingly everywhere at once, the villain feels less like a lame Spidey villain and more like a supernatural monster that might give your favorite slasher film bad guy the heebie-jeebies. In the end, not even Daredevil can save the Coyote from being pulled into darkness by the vengeance-hungry Spot.
Comics being what they are, the Spot Carnage has his eyes set on seems much closer to the platonic ideal of the character. Great simple look, considerable potential, infrequent, at best, delivery. For sure, he isn’t the many-limbed nightmare creature that chased Daredevil through underground tunnels. So maybe the symbiote slasher will handle Spot with ease.
On the other hand, readers now know both the terrifying inhumanity The Spot’s powers can be used for and that the villain can be pushed into becoming a literal monster. If Carnage fails to end a fight in a hurry, he may well end up like The Coyote. Screaming as he sinks into the darkness with no one to save him.
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