First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man IV#20 (December, 2016)

Powers/Abilities: Burke has no superhuman powers but he is quite skilled in illegal transactions on the black market, as well as the handling and care of a corpse.

    During purchase meetings, Burke often carries a handgun in his jacket.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 6'0")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 165 lbs)
Eyes: Green
Hair: Black

History:
(Amazing Spider-Man IV#20 (fb) - BTS) - Burke and his associate Hare robbed several criminal graves in a potter's field, absconding with the corpses for later sale on the black market. Burke soon became associated with the clone-creating New U company.

(Clone Conspiracy#3 (fb) - BTS) - As Burke and Hare began providing corpses for use by New U and its head, the Jackal, they unearthed the grave of the Kingpin's wife, Vanessa Fisk. Angry that his wife's resting place had been disturbed, the Kingpin began secretly observing Burke and his activities with New U, gathering data in a file folder.

(Amazing Spider-Man IV#20 (fb) - BTS) - After an Octobot housing the consciousness of the deceased Otto Octavius discovered that his corpse had been stolen, it accessed the internet and used the company New U's connections to seek out and phone Burke among the black market bio-mass dealers. When Burke answered, the Octobot asked about Burke's Otto Octavius specimen and Burke refused to lower the price of the corpse, claiming that a buyer in Symkaria was very interested in acquiring the corpse to stuff. The Octobot assured Burke that New U would meet his price and arranged a pickup of the corpse that very night.

(Amazing Spider-Man IV#20 (fb)) - In preparation for the sale of Otto Octavius' corpse, Burke and Hare placed the corpse into a coffin within Serenity Funeral Home and when Hare asked if they should remove the pieces of metal and cable on the corpse, Burke ordered Hare to leave the metal pieces there, noting that it was up to the buyer to do what they wanted with the corpse. As Burke and Hare closed the coffin, they neglected to notice the Otto Octavius Octobot creep into the coffin with the corpse. Burke and Hare then flew across the country with the corpse to a private airstrip outside of San Francisco, California, where they met with several clones of Miles Warren, who were representing New U. When one of the Warren clones admitted they had no idea who Burke had talked to and New U had no record of placing the order for Otto Octavius' corpse, though New U was intrigued with everything but the price. Grumbling, Burke accused New U of making Hare and himself fly across the country just to pull a bait-and-smith on them. When Burke began to pull out a gun, the Miles Warren insisted there was no need for violence and he soon got approval for the corpse purchase. The other Warren clones then loaded the Octavius corpse into the New U van and the main clone paid Burke, warning against trying to pull a similar scam in the future. Accepting his payment, Burke remarked that he was about the say the exact same thing to New U, noting that it had ultimately all worked out in the end, completely unaware that they were being watched from afar by an agent of the Kingpin.

(Clone Conspiracy#3 (fb) - BTS) - The Jackal arranged for Burke and Hare to provide him with the corpse of Ben Parker.

(Clone Conspiracy#3) - When Spider-Man and Earth-65's Spider-Woman arrived too late to Horizon Labs to assist their allies against clones of Rhino and Electro (Francine Frye), the Kingpin appeared on the scene and offered Spider-Man a folder on Burke and his associates in exchange for a favor. Spider-Man refused to provide a favor, noting that Burke had disturbed the Fisk family graves and that the Kingpin would owe him for taking down New U, and the Kingpin relented, providing Spider-Man the folder anyway and informing him that Burke would be meeting with the Jackal in one hour.

    Burke and Hare soon met up with the Jackal face-to-face at New U's private airstrip to provide the Jackal with another corpse. Noting that it was a first for them to be meeting with the top dog in their clientele, Burke commented that the shipment must be quite special and when Hare remarked that the corpse appeared to be a nobody, the Jackal claimed the corpse was important to him. As the Jackal handed Burke a suitcase full of money and admitted that he wanted to handle the transaction personally, Burke commented that perhaps they should have charged more to provide the corpse. Hare remarked back that the Jackal should not have come alone, Spider-Man appeared on the scene and hit Burke and Hare with impact webbing. The Jackal claimed he was just about to take care of Burke and Hare himself but Spider-Man attacked the Jackal. During the battle, Jackal referred to Spider-Man as Mr. Parker and when Spider-Man yelled for the Jackal to shut up, the Jackal assured Spider-Man that both Burke and Hare were unconscious.

Comments: Created by Dan Slott, Christos Gage, Giuseppe Camuncoli and Cam Smith.

    Burke's eye color was impossible to determine, as he was only really seen leaning over or facing sideways. In the one decent shot of him facing forward (the headshot image above), his eyes appear white with no visible irises.

    This profile was completed on 09/18/2026 but its publication was delayed, as it was intended for the Appendix's 25th anniversary celebratory event.

Profile by Proto-Man.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Burke should be distinguished from:

• BURKE - precognitive External seemingly slain by Selene--X-Force I#10
• BURKE - English policeman, used Gamma Blaster to destroy robot--Tales of Suspense I#8
• BURKE of Earth-1191 - criminal, joined Trevor Fitzroy in escaping to Earth-616, only to be executed by the pursuing Bishop, Malcolm & Randall--Uncanny X-Men I#282
  
• BURKE, DR. - Burke Wellness Center, examined Violet Lightner, associated with Henry Gyrich--Avengers: The Initiative I Annual#1
• BURKE, MR. - Upper West Side Community Association member--Bizarre Adventures I#25
• BURKE, MR. - former head of security at Metro Stadium, attempted to convince his employers of his usefulness via terrorist acts, exposed & defeated by Paladin--Marvel Comics Presents I#86
  
• BURKE, MR. of Earth-38126 - stable hand for the Clennons, pretended to be deaf, sought to sell info on Myles to Portia, killed by agents of the Kingpin--Kingpin II#4
• BURKE, MRS. - Upper West Side Community Association member--Bizarre Adventures I#25
• BURKE, PROF. - acted as the Head of the Quintronic Man--Incredible Hulk II#213
  
• BURKE, ANNE - wife of Henry, pleaded with him to help stop the threat of Sserpo--Amazing Adventures I#6
• BURKE, CLARA - sister of Jason, whom she lived with in Elmview, frightened by X-13 robot built by Jason & accused Jason of ruining her reputation--Strange Tales I#93
  
• BURKE, ELTON - former boyfriend of Amy Pope--Howard the Duck I#19
• BURKE, GWYNETH - wife of Jack, adoptive mother of Job--Man-Thing III#1
• BURKE, HENRY - 1950s archaeologist--Tales to Astonish I#2
  
• BURKE, HENRY - great-grandson of Thomas, stopped threat of ever-growing lizard Sserpo by having Jupiterians take it away--Amazing Adventures I#6
• BURKE, JACK - husband of Gwyneth, adoptive father of Job--Man-Thing III#1
• BURKE, JASON - created robot X-13--Strange Tales I#93
• BURKE, DR. JENNY - see SUNSTREAK--Nightwatch I#5
  
• BURKE, JOB - child of Ellen Brandt & Ted Sallis, given up for adoption, later abducted by Mr. Termineus--Man-Thing III#1
• BURKE, KEVIN - former marine serving in Iraq--Battle Scars I#3
• BURKE, DR. MARY ALICE - nuclear researcher, Dr. Octopus lover--Spider-Man Unlimited I#3
• BURKE, THOMAS - 19th century biochemist, great-grandfather of Henry, developed growth formula much later ingested by lizard that became Sserpo--Amazing Adventures I#6
• BURKE, TOM - encountered "Martian"--Spellbound I#27
  
• BURKE, TOM - werewolf circa 1973--Chamber of Chills I#7
  
• BURKE, TRACY - editor of Tech Support magazine, photojournalist & former co-worker of Carol Danvers--Ms. Marvel I#8
• BURKE WELLNESS CENTER - examined & detained Violet Lightner--Avengers: The Initiative I Annual#1
• other "Burke" characters, groups, items, races or events
  

Serenity Funeral Home

Appearances:
Amazing Spider-Man IV#20 (December, 2016) - Dan Slott, Christos Gage (writers), Giuseppe Camuncoli (pencils, inks), Cam Smith (inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
Clone Conspiracy#3 (February, 2017) - Dan Slott (writer), Jim Cheung (pencils), John Dell (inks), Nick Lowe (editor)

First posted: 09/23/2026
Last updated: 09/18/2026

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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