The Burglar is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962). The character was left unnamed in most of his appearances. He is the first criminal faced by Spider-Man. The Burglar is the killer of the hero's uncle and surrogate father figure Ben Parker.
The character has been substantially adapted from the comics into various forms of media, including television series, feature films, and video games. In live-action, he was portrayed by Michael Papajohn in the films Spider-Man (2002) and Spider-Man 3 (2007), and by Leif Gantvoort in the film The Amazing Spider-Man (2012).
Publication history
The Burglar debuted in Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962), created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko.
Following the Burglar's first one-off appearance, there have been multiple successors to the Burglar identity. In Marvel Comics Presents #49-50 (May 1990), Spider-Man battles a man who is explicitly described as having the same attire as the burglar who shot Uncle Ben. At one point the man cryptically states, "I owe [Spider-Man] for what he did to my brother." In Spider-Man #26 (September 1992), Spider-Man encounters another man in the Burglar's attire, minus the pistol. It is heavily implied that this Burglar's maternal uncle was the original Burglar.
Fictional character biography
Little of the Burglar's early history is known, but it is mentioned that even in his younger years he was a robber. Caught at some point in his life, the Burglar became the cellmate of an elderly gangster named Dutch Mallone. The Burglar learned from Dutch, who talked in his sleep, about a large possession of money the aged gangster had hidden in a suburban home, which the Burglar planned and schemed to get (ironically as Peter Parker's Uncle Ben and Aunt May would accidentally discover, the possession had since been devoured by silverfish).
Wanting to find out the location of the home where Mallone's possession was, the Burglar successfully robs a television station for information. Peter Parker, who had become a minor celebrity as Spider-Man, did not bother to stop him despite having the opportunity to do so. Learning that the house where Mallone's money had been hidden was the Parker house, the Burglar breaks into it searching for the money, killing Peter's uncle Ben Parker when he surprised the Burglar. Fleeing the scene, the Burglar is chased by police to an abandoned warehouse. A police officer outside Peter Parker's house told Peter Parker what happened and that his Aunt May is with a neighbor next door. Upon being told where the Burglar is, Spider-Man heads to the abandoned warehouse. Wanting to avenge the death of his Uncle Ben, Spider-Man attacks and knocks out the Burglar. It is then that Spider-Man realizes that the man is the thief he had encountered earlier at the television station. The Burglar was later left to be captured by the authorities by Spider-Man who upon realizing that he could have prevented Ben's death by simple humanitarian behavior in the earlier encounter decided to use his powers more responsibly, never again ignoring a crime if he could help it.
Years later, the Burglar had served his time and was released from prison despite being deemed mentally unstable by psychiatrists. Still searching for Mallone's treasure, the Burglar rented the old Parker home. After tearing it apart and finding nothing, he instead decided to interrogate Ben Parker's widow May Parker who now resided in a nursing home. The Burglar partnered with the nursing home's owner and head doctor Ludwig Rinehart, who was actually the supervillain Mysterio. The two took May captive and faked her death. The partnership later soured and the two criminals turned on each other, with Rinehart revealing his true nature before beating and imprisoning the Burglar. Escaping Mysterio, the Burglar retreated to the warehouse where he was first captured by Spider-Man—and where he has been holding May Parker captive. Spider-Man soon tracked down and confronted the Burglar to whom he revealed his true identity as Ben Parker's nephew. Believing that Spider-Man was about to kill him as revenge for murdering Ben, the Burglar suffered a fear-induced heart attack and died.