Enemies: Man-Monster/Smasher, Spider-Man, George Stacy

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Disruptor I (identity used only in retelling in Amazing Spider-Man (see below))

Base of Operations: townhouse, Manhattan, New York City

First Appearance: (Spectacular Spider-Man I#1 (July, 1968)(retold with modifications in Amazing Spider-Man I#116-118 (January-March , 1973))

Powers: None. Raleigh was very charismatic and skilled at manipulating the public. He engineered numerous events to foster sympathy and support for himself. He thought of himself as virtually unstoppable, and above all others. He held a remote control which could cause excruciating pain in the Man-Monster via his headband. He used the deivce to control the Man-Monster, but he took great pleasure in using it at every possible opportunity.

History: Raleigh has a sordid, if not criminal past, as well as ties to the underworld, although minimal detail was given on this subject. He sought the position of mayor of New York City as a stepping stone to greater power and eventually world takeover. He hired Dr. Thraxton to create for him a superhuman pawn, the Man-Monster. He used the Man-Monster and other criminals to foster the illusion that the underworld was against him, in order to gain further support from the public.

(SpecSpdm I#1)-Raleigh had the Man-Monster rampage through Manhattan, destroying billboards and other images of Raleigh. Spider-Man encountered the Man-Monster, and seemed unable to make a dent in the rampaging brute.

Raleigh next spoke at a public forum, in which he engineered events to cause the room the collapse, again in order to make him appear as an enemy of the underworld. That this involved death and injury to his supporters didn't bother him in the least. However, Spider-Man sensed the cracking ceiling in time to stop it from collapsing.

Raleigh had Thraxton empower the Man-Monster even further, and make him more easily controlled. Thraxton gave the Man-Monster a head-band that enabled Raleigh to give the Man-Monster excruciating agony at the touch of the button.

Jonah Jameson, an avid supporter of Raleigh, and an associate of George Stacy, casually mentioned to Raleigh that Stacy was looking into his background. Raleigh sent the Man-Monster to kill George Stacy, to prevent him from discovering his criminal past. Spider-Man prevented the murder, and realized that the Man-Monster was Raleigh's agent after seeing the hatred in his eyes when he saw Raleigh's billboard.

Spider-Man led the Man-Monster back to Raleigh's townhouse. Raleigh, infuriated that his plans were at risk of discovery, began pushing the Man-Monster's pain-stimulator, incessantly, attempting to push him to destroy Spider-Man. However, Raleigh overloaded and short-circuited the headband, freeing the Man-Monster from Raleigh's control. The Man-Monster took his revenge, crushing Raleigh's skull and killing him wiht a single blow.

Comments: Created by Stan Lee and John Romita, sr.

In case you didn't know, there were two issues of a magazine called Spectacular Spider-Man in 1968. This was a separate book from the series which ran from Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man, which ran from 1976-1998.

I'm not quite sure why they revised and retold this story. The original was in black-and-white. Attempts were made to update the story into the chronology of the time, such as eliminating all references to Captain George Stacy, and even having Spider-Man wear his costume shop mask from Amazing Spider-Man#113. For the continuity buffs, this story EITHER takes place between AmzSpdm59+60, or 155+119, depending on the version. However, the second version doesn't really fit, as Richard Raleigh was dead at the time of the re-telling (not that that ever stopped anyone before).

The box containing Daredevil I#42 is the last one I have to relocate to my new house. I'll add in anything signficant when I re-read it.

Clarifications: Disruptor I has no known connection to:

The Disruptor energy cannon used by the Deviants of Lemuria, @ Eternals I#2, or any other similarly named weapons.

Smasher is not to be confused with:

Smasher, a dim-witted strongman who led a gang that looted new york city after using a blindness formula in the city reservoir, @ Daredevil I#74

Smasher, Vril-Rokk, of the Imperial Guard, @ X-Men I#107

Smasher, a pawn of Death-Stalker, @ Daredevil I#138

Smasher, another(?) pawn of Death-Stalker, @ Daredevil I#149

Last updated: 07/23/04

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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