Burglar (comics)

Burglar (comics)

The Burglar is a fictional character in Marvel Comics, left unnamed in most of his appearances. He is best known as the first criminal faced by Spider-Man, and as the killer of the hero's uncle and surrogate father figure, Ben Parker. The Burglar first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962), making him directly responsible for Ben Parker's death and Spider-Man's existence.

The Burglar's name was never revealed in the comics. He was completely unnamed in Amazing Fantasy #15, and it was only in 1996, 15 years after his second and final appearance in the comics, and the introduction of his estranged daughter Jessica, that the possibility arose that he might share her last name of Carradine. However, it remains unconfirmed whether this is the Burglar's surname, as his daughter may be using her mother's maiden name, or that of her adoptive parents.

The name Carradine also appeared on a list of known cat burglars in Marvel's Ultimate Spider-Man series, but has yet to be formally connected to the Burglar character in the Ultimate Marvel continuity. In the first Spider-Man film, the burglar character is replaced by a carjacker, referred to only as Carjacker in the film's credits. In the film Spider-Man 3, Captain Stacy revealed that the carjacker's full name was Dennis Carradine, though this does not necessarily make this full name canonical in the comic's continuity. In the Spider-Man video game based on the first film, he is called "Spike". He also appears in the reboot of the film franchise The Amazing Spider-Man but is slightly different from that of the comic origin.