TIMESPINNER
TIMESPINNER
Real Name: None
Identity/Class: Extra-temporal (Limbo/Chronopolis) robot
Occupation: Agent of Kang
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Kang the Conqueror (master, creator), Iron Boy (mistaken for Kang)
Enemies: Avengers, Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Spider-Man (Ben Reilly)
Known Relatives: Inapplicable
Aliases: Spider-Man, Spider-Man robot; el Arana del Diablo <The Spider of the Devil, or Devil's Spider>
Base of Operations: Temple of Tirod, Mexico
First Appearance: Avengers I#11 (December, 1964)
Powers/Abilities: The robot's powers and
abilities were virtually identical to those of Spider-Man: Class
10 strength, superhuman speed, agility, reflexes, healing, etc.
It possessed web-spinners able to create webs of comparable
construction. After its revival, it even mimicked his sense of
humor.
Most significantly, after its revival, its webs possessed a
certain form of temporal energy, such that they sped up time in
those wrapped within them, causing them to age very rapidly.
Fortunately, this process was 100% reversible. In addition, the
webs could also cause people to relive nightmarish versions of
past events.
Like any good 1960's robot, it came with a handy main control
stud, on its neck, with which it could be deactivated with a
touch. This may have been removed in its second incarnation.
History:
(Avengers I#11) - Kang sought a means to defeat his foes, the
Avengers. Via a convoluted path of semi-logic, and a little bit
of plot-device, he came upon the idea of creating a robot
duplicate of Spider-Man. He used his advanced technology to make
the robot a perfect replica:
Kang then transported his robot to Earth, at
the scene of an impending battle between Captain America and a
group of Kang's robots, disguised as normal human criminals.
After helping Cap defeat the seeming criminals, Robo-Spidey
petitioned him for membership in the Avengers. Cap brought him to
the group (Giant-Man, Thor, and the Wasp), but they were
reluctant to accept him on the spot. The robot then told them he
knew the location of Iron Man (who was at the time MIA,
coinciding with the apparent death of Tony Stark in Tales of
Suspense I#61). Knowing of their encounters with Heinrich Zemo and
his Masters of Evil, the robot told them that that group had
taken him to the Temple of Tirod. The Avengers left
"Spidey" behind as they took off (each of their own
methods) to Mexico, but Kang instantly teleported the robot to
the Temple to set up traps for them. One by one (or two, in the
case of Giant-Man and the Wasp), the Robo-Spidey defeated each of
the Avengers--even Thor, by keeping him away from his hammer for
60 seconds. However, unbeknownst to the robot, the real
Spider-Man had noticed the appearance of the imposter, and had
followed him to Mexico. The real-deal Spidey tangled with the
robot, and they were evenly matched until Spidey found the
robot's control stud and deactivated it, allowing it to drop to
the ground.
Kang, having witnessed the defeat of his invincible creation,
hung his head as he dejectedly walked down the hall. If there
were a can on the ground, he would have kicked it!
(Avengers:
The Crossing - BTS) - The temporal energies released during the
events of the Crossing reactivated the Spider-Man robot, which
began acting on its back-up programming and created a device that
could drain the temporal energy from others and use it to wipe
out all other timelines/potential futures/whatnot except the Age
of Kang.
(Spider-Man Team-Up#4) -The Spider-robot caught
a young couple, Teddy and Cheryl, who sneaked into the Temple of
Tirod in its web, adding their temporal energy to its machine. It
then did the same to the guards who discovered them. It next
traveled to America and stopped a bunch of gang-bangers--draining
their energy, too. A group of Avengers--the same four who'd
fought it before in Mexico--bumped into the robot in Brooklyn and
wound up victims of its temporal web as well.
Ben Reilly/Spider-Man, had followed the trail of the ersatz
Spidey and attacked it in the Brooklyn warehouse where it found the
Avengers. The robot, however, warped Reilly's perceptions,
causing him to suffer from delusions. The robot then escaped,
while Reilly stayed on the scene to take the blame--and a beating
from the remaining Avengers--Black Widow, Crystal, Hawkeye,
Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and the Vision--who showed up,
wanting to...avenge their teammates.
Meanwhile,
Robo-Spidey sought out its master, and locked on to the closest
thing it could find on Earth: young Tony Stark/"Iron
Boy," who had seemingly been manipulated by Kang and was
imbued with remnants of the temporal energy from its trip to an
alternate past (you'll have to go read this stuff--it can't
be explained so well). The temporal tin-Spidey took Tony to
the Temple of Tirod (that one's for you, Stan!), suited
him up in his armor, and twisted his perceptions so that he
believed himself to be Kang. It then kicked up the power of its
machine, causing a temporal wave to sweep outward from the
Temple. The remaining Avengers and Reilly, having worked things
out as heroes usually do, headed to the Temple, but most of them
were aged into incapacitation by the temporal energies. Only the
Vision, Crystal (with a longer than human lifespan), and Reilly
(who was apparently spared b/c the robot believed itself to be
the real Spidey, and so refused to accept the existence of any
other Spider-Man) were spared. When they arrived at the Temple,
their presence allowed "Iron Boy" to shake off the
robot's influence. The four fought the robot, and the Vision
managed to materialize his hand within its head, causing it to
explode.
The temporal energy released by the destruction of the
Spider-robot and its machine somehow reverted things and time to
the way they were before it took its first victims. As the
headless robot sat nactive in the grass somewhere, Teddy and
Cheryl entered the Temple just as before, but this time, they
only saw a real spider, spinning its web inside.
Comments: Created by Stan "The Man" Lee and Don Heck.
Excellent use of obscure characters. As of Spider-Man Team-Up#4 (September, 1996), it had been 32 years since the Spider-Man robot had shown its face.
A new power of Spidey's in Avengers I#11...the ability to follow the trail of a robot who teleports from Manhattan to Mexico. We don't see it often, but boy did it come in handy in this instance.
If you paid attention in SpdmTU#4, you would have been able to identify which Spidey was the "real" one and which was the robot. Spidey/Reilly wore a different costume, similar to the one worn by May Parker as Spider-Girl in Earth-MC2, whereas the robot wore the classic costume...that, and the fact that Reilly's webs didn't age everyone 100 years!
And, it has since been revealed that it was NOT Kang who was behind the Crossing, but rather Immortus. Nonetheless, I'm voting an alternate temporal counterpart as "close enough for government work."
Iron Man showed up on the cover of Avengers#11, as seen above, but was strictly BTS in the issue itself.
Kang's advanced computer (31st or 41st Century technology, by way of 1964) was about the size of a house.
Thanks to my IrishEgyptianPolishDutchAfricanAustralianBabylonianPortuguese
friend Henrique Ferreira (and Luis Olavo Dantas, of Brazil) for
the definitive translation on el Arana del Diablo.
CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to any of the dozens of other Spider-Man
robots, androids, duplicates, clones, or imposters over the years.
These issues are this robot's sole appearances.
Spider-Man, Ben Reilly, was the clone of Spider-Man created by the Jackal, who was briefly believed to be the real deal, he should be distinguished from:
"Iron Boy," the college age Tony Stark/Iron Man brought from an alternate past during the Crossing, and then wiped out of existence for the most part by Heroes Reborn/Return/yaddayaddayadda, should be distinguished from
The Temple of Tirod
The Mexican base from which the Spider-Man robot operated.
--Avengers I#11 (SpdmTU#4
images:
(Spider-Man robot main image)
Avengers I#11, Cover (Spider-Man robot VS Avengers)
Appearances:
Avengers I#11 (December, 1964) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Don Heck (pencils), Chic Stone (inks)
Spider-Man Team-Up#4 (September, 1996) - George Perez (writer), Steve Geiger (pencils), Chris Ivy (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
First Posted: 11/09/2002
Last updated: 10/17/2013
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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