Massacre (Marvel Comics)

Massacre
Publication information
First appearance	The Amazing Spider-Man #655 (April 2011)
Created by	Dan Slott Marcos Martin
In-story information
Alter ego	Marcus Lyman
Abilities	Lack of emotion Genius level intellect

Massacre is a fictional supervillain in the Marvel Comics Universe and is primarily distinguished as an enemy of both Spider-Man (Peter Parker) and the Superior Spider-Man and primarily appears in Spider-Man related publications. The character is responsible for the murder of Ashley Kafka,^[1] a supporting character in various Spider-Man comic books and adapted media.

Publication history

The character's first appearance was in The Amazing Spider-Man #655 (published April 2011), during the Big Time storyline. The character also appeared in the following issue.^[2][3][4] Massacre would go on to make his return in the fourth issue of the the Superior Spider-Man series.^[5][6] He was killed by the eponymous character in the next issue of that series.^[7][8]

Fictional character biography

Origin

Marcus Lyman was an ordinary man until a failed attempted assassination attempt nearly claimed his life. He and his wife, Judy Lyman, were successful traders for a local Wall Street firm. That is, until an unhappy client planted a car bomb on their vehicle. The bomb killed Judy Lyman but Marcus somehow survived with a piece of shrapnel from the explosion stuck in his forehead. The shrapnel was successfully removed but not without consequence: the damage had caused certain connections in Lyman's brain to no longer function. He not only lost his conscience and morality but also his ability to feel emotion. He was sent to the Ravencroft Institute For The Criminally Insane, where he was treated by Dr. Ashley Kafka. Dr. Kafka was disturbed by Lyman and she found that there was nothing she could do to help his mental state, advising that he be held under observation indefinitely.^[9]

Spider-Man: Big Time

Now calling himself "Massacre," Marcus Lyman escaped the Ravencroft Institute and began kidnapping hostages. He held the hostages in a building, killing one of them to prove that he was willing to do so. The police began attempting negotiations with Massacre.^[10] Having temporarily lost his Spider-sense,^[11] Spider-Man arrived on to the crime scene in an attempt to free the hostages but was barely able to do so due to Massacre's heavy artillery. Massacre managed to escaped the scene, though not before Spider-Man secretly placed a Spider Tracer on him. Massacre resurfaced not long after, kidnapping another set of hostages at his former Wall Street firm but Spider-Man arrived on the scene prepared. Now donning a bullet proof costume and magnetic webbing, Spider-Man was able to defeat Massacre and rescue the hostages. When asked about his motivations, Massacre admitted that he had no particular reason for committing the crimes he did. Massacre was sent back to the Ravencroft Institute.^[12]

Return and Demise

At the Ravencroft Institute, Dr. Kafka became increasingly afraid of Massacre, believing him to be her most dangerous patient. Her worst fears came to light when Massacre once again escaped Ravencroft, killing Kafka in the process.^[13] Massacre then went on a killing spree, threatening to murder anyone who crossed his path. Massacre soon murdered innocents at a restaurant in retaliation for the restaurant not giving him the Phizzy Cola soft drink he requested. Massacre then tracked down the manager of the Phizzy Cola company and offered to help fix Phizzy Cola's public image after the killings by continuing to murder innocents wearing the logo of Phizzy Cola's rival company in exchange for a large sum of cash. Fearing for her own life, the manager agreed to Massacre's offer. Because of all of the harm Massacre has caused to innocent civilians, the Superior Spider-Man decides to end Masacre's killing spree once and for all. During Massacre's attack on innocents, the Superior Spider-Man defeats Massacre and kills the murderer with his own gun. Just before his death, Massacre had a brief moment of fear and sadness before feeling joy that he can feel emotion. These are last emotions he will ever feel.^[14][15]

Powers and Abilities

While Massacre doesn't have any traditional super-powers, an accident made it nearly impossible for him to feel any emotion. Massacre also has a genius level intellect.

See also

• Doctor Octopus
• Ashley Kafka
• List of Spider-Man enemies

References

External links

• Marvel Wikia character page
• Comic Vine character page