CARLO BOCCINO

Real Name: Carlo Boccino

Identity/Class: Human;
    presumably of Italian ancestry (see comments);
    active in pre-modern and modern/heroic time periods

Occupation: Professional criminal

Group Membership: Presumably the Maggia, Mafia and/or some other organized crime syndicate)

Affiliations: His own criminal associates, bodyguards, enforcers and hitmen; his guard dogs;
    formerly Eric Simon Payne;

Enemies: Devil-Slayer (Eric Simon Payne), Brian Fate, Gloriana Fate, Ian Fate

Known Relatives: Family (presumed wife, children, one son- or daughter-in-law, and either grandchildren or great-grandchildren)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: His estate in California

First Appearance: (Unidentified; referenced only) Defenders I#104 (February, 1982);
    (identified; full appearance) Defenders I#110 (August, 1982)

Powers/Abilities: Carlo Boccino had no superhuman powers.

    As a mobster, he had numerous gunmen, guards, enforcers and hitmen to do his bidding.

    He was at least reasonably experienced in hand-to-hand combat, and he was likely experienced knives and firearms.

    Even in his senior years, he was physically fit, and he was sufficiently skilled and bold enough to punch out a superhumanly-powered man confronting and disrespecting him (especially in front of his family).

    He had no compunctions with sending men to kill others, and he was almost certainly experienced with other forms of crime, although other such experiences and skills were neither detailed nor shown.

History:
(Defenders I#104 (fb) - BTS / Defenders I#110 (fb) - BTS) - Ex-marine Eric Simon Payne -- spiritless, alcoholic and had a talent for killing -- approached mobster Carlo Boccino, begging for work. Giving Payne a  chance, Boccino hired him as a hitman, paying him good money and (at least by Boccino's perception) treating him as a brother. Boccino marked the victims, and Payne eliminated them. Payne at least told himself that he was only killing other criminals.

(Defenders I#104 (fb) - BTS / Defenders I#110 (fb) - BTS) <Apparently 9 years before the main story> - Boccino sent Payne to kill Ian Fate, a newspaper reporter whose crime expose had made him uncomfortable, telling Payne his target was a "a worthless little informer." Payne planted a pipe bomb in Fate's car, but Fate's wife and son, Gloriana and Brian, got in the car first and were killed.

(Defenders I#104 (fb) - BTS) - Having murdered innocents, Payne retired as a hitman and sought to put that life behind him.

(Marvel Spotlight I#33 (fb)) – Payne was eventually recruited by the Cult of the Harvester of Eyes to become a Reaper of Souls and eventually Devil-Slayer.

(Defenders I#104 (fb) - BTS) - Emotionally broken by the death of his wife and son, Fate learned of Payne's progression, and he trained in the mystic arts to be able to facilitate vengeance.

(Defenders I#104 - BTS) - Ian Fate targeted Devil-Slayer, threatening to kill his wife, Cory Payne; ultimately unable to kill the innocent Cory, Fate instead substituted Eric's delinquent associate Ira "Sunshine" Gross, who perished in her stead.

Defenders I#110) - After Devil-Slayer smashed down Boccino's door, startling his family, and called out his name, Boccino's gunmen (see comments) pulled their guns. From the floor above, Boccino immediately told his men to put their guns away, as "Carlo Boccino will have no violence in his house."

    Undaunted by the costumed man with a spiked mace, Boccino stated, "You -- in the absurd suit -- who are you?" When Devil-Slayer replied, "The past," Boccino recognized and identified him as Payne. As Boccino descended the stairs, Payne confirmed his identity and blamed him for the deaths of Gloriana and Brian Fate.

    Glaring at Devil-Slayer for a moment, Boccino surprised Payne by punching him off of his feet and calling him an idiot. Boccino then reminded Payne how he had come crawling to him, begging him for work, and that he had given Payne a chance, paid him well and treated him like a brother. "And this is your thanks?"

    Boccino continued, "You were a killer, Payne, nothing more, nothing less. And now you come back to me, dressed like a clown and bearing the burden of some twisted morality, expecting...what? Do you expect me to take on your sins, Payne? Well, I won't. I've got enough blood on my hands without washing in yours. Get out of her, Payne -- you've shamed me in front of my family."

    Payne reached into his shadow cloak and pulled out a gun and started to ran about he had only killed hardened criminals, like Boccino, but had never set out to take the life of innocents...however, upon looking upon Boccino's terrified family, Payne felt the weight of his own guilt. Wrapping himself in his cloak and teleporting away, Payne asked Carlo to forgive him, telling him, "You have your road to walk -- and I have mine."

Boccino is an Italian surname, rooted in the Veneto region of northern Italy, with historical ties to Venice. It likely originated as a local Venetian name, possibly from a patronymic or place name, and spread to other countries through migration.

    Carlo previously had a sub-profile under Devil-Slayer, originally published 10/05/2005.

   This profile was completed 07/01/2026, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25^th anniversary 's celebratory event to represent the Devil-Slayer's stories and characters.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Carlo Boccino should be distinguished from:

• other "Carlo" and/or "Boccino" characters, groups, items, events, races or places...
  

(Defenders I#110) - Distraught over his life's progression and seeking to blame someone, Devil-Slayer teleported to Boccino's estate, fought his way past his guard dogs and then broke into his home, startling his family      After Boccino denied blame for Payne's actions and forced him to appreciate his own guilt, Devil-Slayer teleported away. --Defenders I#110

(Defenders I#110 - BTS) - Distraught over his life's progression and seeking to blame someone, Devil-Slayer teleported to Boccino's estate. (Defenders I#110) - Sensing an intruder, Boccino's guard dogs charged him, growling.      As the growls turned into wild howls, Devil-Slayer considered that Boccino had protected himself.      Summoning a spiked mace via his shadow-cloak, Devil-Slayer considered, "But, then -- so have I."      After receiving a sufficient amount of pain, the dogs ran away swiftly, shrieking. (Defenders I#110 - BTS) - Devil-Slayer then broke into his Boccino's home. --Defenders I#110

It's a little hard to tell because some of the people are likely Carlo's gunmen, but the woman in green is a little older and would seem to be Carlo's wife.      The man in green holding the woman in lavender would likely represent Carlo's son or daughter and daughter- or son-in-law.      The smaller boy in the orange shirt and the girl in yellow are likely grandchildren.      The woman in blue is likely a daughter of Carlo and his wife, although it's also possible that embracing couple are the parents of the woman in blue, making the kids great-grandchildren of Carlo and his wife. --Defenders I#110

First posted: 09/16/2026
Last updated: 07/01/2026

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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