History:
PETER SPALDING
Real Name: Peter Spalding
Identity/Class: Human
Occupation: Psychiatrist
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Mr. Bates, Byron J. Benjamin, Dr. Oliver Braodhurst, Gears Garvin, Hiram Goldstein, Mr. Grover, Hal, Harry, Jocasta, Colonel Kragg, Jack Kubrick, Machine Man (Aaron Stack), Mary, Midnight Wreckers (Bags, Brain, Hassle, Swift), Otomo, Mr. Price, Ralphie, Fred Sloan, Jill Spalding, Tracy Warner, Barry Witherspoon
Enemies: A.I. Army, Baintronics, Binary
Bug, Senator Miles Brickman, Corporation
(Curtiss
Jackson, Konik),
Failure Five,
Hiram
Girk, the Hellfire Club, Hulk (Bruce Banner), Sentinels, Ten-For
formerly Otomo, Fred Sloan
Known Relatives: Jill Spalding (wife)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Valhalla, New York, USA
formerly Manhattan, New York, USA
formerly Central City, California, USA
First Appearance: Machine Man I#1 (April, 1978)
Powers/Abilities: Peter Spalding was a trained psychiatrist and specilalist in human behavior. Due to his medical training he had some experience in surgery and was able to apply those principles in repairing Machine Man's robotic systems.
Height: Unrevealed
(approximately 6')
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 180 lbs.)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blond
History:
(Machine Man I#1) - Peter was returning from vacation and driving his van through a forest when he encountered a fallen tree on the road. Suddenly, the robot adventurer Machine Man appeared and moved the tree. Peter invited him to ride with him in his van and began to discuss Machine Man's present state. Machine Man quickly surmised that Peter was a psychiatrist and asked to be let out when they reached Central City. Peter offered to help him if he needed it and told him his name was in the telephone directory.
(Machine Man I#2) - Back at work at the Central City Sanitarium, Peter's session with Mr. Grover was interrupted by the distress of another patient, Mr. Price, who was somehow receiving transmissions from space sent by the extraterrestrial Ten-For. Dr. Spalding helped sedate Mr. Price, whose strange dialogue was believed to be merely a psychosis. Dr. Spalding worked the night shift at the hospital that evening and started to ponder whether Mr. Price was actually receiving his transmissions from someone else. Suddenly, Machine Man entered the office, having taken up Peter's offer to help him. Machine Man admitted he needed a friend and asked if he could stay with Peter for a few days. Peter agreed when suddenly Machine Man identified Ten-For's interstellar transmissions inside the hospital. Spalding brought Machine Man to Mr. Price to confirm his suspicions.
(Machine Man I#3) - Peter and other psychiatric staff observed as Machine Man made contact with Ten-For by using Mr. Price as a conduit. Peter observed as Machine Man tried to rescue Ten-For by building a device that opened a space-time portal but Machine Man closed the portal when he realized Ten-For intended to access Earth by taking Machine Man's place. Finally, Machine Man safely brought Ten-For through the portal and into the mental hospital but Ten-For immediately demonstrated his contempt for humanity and attempted to kill Mr. Price. When Peter tried to stop him, Ten-For paralyzed him. When Peter awoke, he found Machine Man had been rendered unable to move by a vertigo inducer Ten-For planted on his forehead.
(Machine Man I#4) - Guided by Machine Man, Peter removed the vertigo inducer and Machine Man left the hospital in pursuit of Ten-For.
(Machine Man I#5) - Colonel Kragg confronted Peter in his office, accusing him of being an accomplice to Machine Man, whom Kragg was charged with destroying. Peter advised Kragg that destroying Machine Man wouldn't grant him the peace he was looking for. When Kragg accused Peter of helping Machine Man to bring the extraterrestrial Ten-For to Earth, Peter admitted they'd been in error but thought they were helping a stranded astronaut. Peter went on television and made an urgent appeal to Machine Man to help Central City against the galactic fleet Ten-For had summoned. Peter and Kragg visited Ten-For in his cell, where Ten-For confirmed his fleet were coming to Earth.
(Machine Man I#6) - Peter and Machine Man's reporter friend Tracy Warner both confronted Colonel Kragg to criticize his attempts to destroy Machine Man rather than seek his help against Ten-For's fleet. Ten-For soon broke out of the Army's custody and Machine Man defeated him. Peter and Tracy both helped convince Kragg to stand back and let Machine Man deal with Ten-For; Machine Man sent Ten-For back to his people's fleet where he exploded, decimating the invasion fleet.
(Machine Man I#7) - When Machine Man was brought before a congressional hearing chaired by Miles Brickman to determine his statue, Peter accompanied him but the congressional panel told Spalding to hire Machine Man a lawyer. As Peter took Machine Man back to his home they were briefly menaced by Hiram Girk's robot Paratron but Machine Man easily defeated it. Machine Man started reading books at Peter's house. That night, agents of the Corporation kidnapped Peter and brought him to one of their bases to bait a trap for Machine Man. Machine Man came after Peter, despite Peter's warnings that the Corporation wanted to create duplicates of him.
(Machine Man I#8) - With Machine Man in their clutches, the Corporation sent Spalding away in a helicopter piloted by one of their men. Kragg found Spalding and he offered to show Kragg where the Corporation's base was located. Kragg and Spalding flew to the location just as it was destroyed by the Corporation.
(Machine Man I#9) - Kragg and Spalding went over the destruction of the Corporation's base and Kragg started to admit he admired Machine Man when Machine Man appeared, having escaped the base's destruction. Peter accompanied Machine Man as he toured Kragg's Army base and played baseball with soldiers. At Peter's office, Peter attempted to hire a lawyer for Machine Man's congressional hearing but the Corporation's agent Konik posed as a lawyer in an attempt to recapture Machine Man. After Machine Man defeated Konik, Peter examined a monocle Konik had worn and discovered it was a solar ray, starting a fire that enabled Konik to escape Peter's office.
(Incredible Hulk II#235) - Peter and Kragg went to the Hotel Mariposa in Central City and retrieved Machine Man so he could attend Congressman Brickman's hearing. Tracy Warner sat with Peter and Kragg in support of Machine Man. Brickman ultimately decided to postpone a ruling on Machine Man's status and instead placed him in Peter's custody. Peter noted that this meant Aaron was a "defacto" human being. Peter brought Machine Man back to his house but they found the Hulk waiting for them, as the Hulk had been tricked by the Corporation into thinking Machine Man had kidnapped his friend Trish Starr. The Hulk's ally Fred Sloan took a gun he found in Peter's house and held it on Peter, demanding he reveal where Trish was.
(Incredible Hulk II#236) - Peter surmised Fred wouldn't shoot him and disarmed him. When Fred explained what had happened, Peter immediately realized the Corporation was pitting them against each other. Then Peter revealed the gun Fred found was a replica, not a real gun. The Hulk and Machine Man tore through Peter's house. Peter drove away with Fred to find Colonel Kragg for help. Kragg summoned the Hulkbusters from Gamma Base.
(Incredible Hulk II#237) - Peter watched as Kragg spoke to Clay Quartermain at Gamma Base, when Machine Man radioed Kragg's base, warning him the Hulk was headed to the heart of Central City. The Hulk ultimately tore apart the Corporation and rescued Trish Starr. Machine Man drove the Hulk away but suffered extreme damage from fighting him.
(Machine Man I#10) - Peter assisted Dr. Broadhurst in making repairs upon Machine Man, although Broadhurst was forced to remove some of Machine Man's weapons, upsetting him. When an agent of Kublai Khan attempted to destroy Machine Man at Mount Vasco, Peter and Dr. Broadhurst came to his aid.
(Machine Man I#11) - Peter brought Machine Man to see Byron J. Benjamin at Delmar Insurance in Manhattan when they found the building being robbed by the Binary Bug. The Binary Bug stunned both Peter and Machine Man as he escaped. When Byron arrived for their meeting they explained the robbery to him then revealed the reason for their appointment was to set up a job for Machine Man at Delmar Insurance under his human alias Aaron Stack. Benjamin agreed to hire Aaron. Peter brought Machine Man to tailor Hiram Goldstein to be measured for the suit he'd wear in his civilian guise.
(Machine Man I#13) - When Aaron collpased at the Delmar Insurance office due to sonic attacks masterminded by Kublai Khan, Peter took care of him.
(Machine Man I#14) - When Senator Brickman accused Machine Man of comitting recent robberies, Peter had Machine Man make a public appearance to help combat people's negative perceptions about him. When the robberies continued, the police arrested Peter, accusing him of being Machine Man's collaborator. Peter refused to be broken out of prison so Machine Man surrendered to the police as well. When another robbery by the Machine Man impostor occurred the police released Peter and Machine Man. Machine Man finally caught the actual thief, Barry Witherspoon, who had been under the control of others and Peter and Machine Man brought Barry to Dr. Broadhurst, who restored Barry's free will.
(Machine Man I#15) - Peter watched as Machine Man got ready for his job at Delmar Insurance.
(Machine Man I#17) - After one of Machine Man's arms was stolen by agents of Sunset Bain, Peter and Machine Man's new friend mechanic Gears Garvin tried to help him. Peter believed Machine Man was too tightly-wound and needed to relax but Machine Man remained to determined to recover his missing arm.
(Machine Man I#18) - Peter hosted Gears at his house but was irritated by Gears' uncouth manners. Machine Man soon arrived to prevent them from fighting. Peter realized he had behaved childishly, as though he needed to fight for his friend's attention.
(Machine Man I#19) - After Machine Man's face was melted in battle, Peter tried to console him but Aaron wanted to be on his own. Fortunately, Gears was able to repair his face and Peter watched as he set back to work at Delmar Insurance.
(Marvel Team Up I#99) - Peter checked in on Aaron to ensure he knew his enemy Baron Brimstone had been active again.
(Machine Man I#19) - Peter wondered what had become of Machine Man, not realizing the repairs Gears had made to his face had worn off. Machine Man finally returned to Gears to receive repairs the fire that had melted his face had done to his interior circuits. With his face still unrepaired, Aaron told Peter he wasn't certain he'd return to Delmar Insurance.
(Marvel Two-in-One I#93) - When Machine Man told Peter he intended to help fellow robot Jocasta against Ultron, Peter warned him that Ultron was too powerful for the two of them and they should get help but Machine Man insisted on facing Ultron immediately. Peter accused Gears of putting the idea into Machine Man's head.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#10/3 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, Peter took Jill as his wife.
(Marvel Comics Presents I#10/3) - Peter and Jill were attacked by underlings of the robot Failure Five, who had wanted to bring Machine Man into the open. Machine Man rescued Jill but Peter was taken as a prisoner. Colonel Kragg ultimately rescued Peter while Machine Man defeated Failure Five.
(Iron Man Annual I#11 - BTS) - Someone impersonating Peter was killed by one of the Termini, creatures that were evolving into the being Terminus.
(X-51 I#6 (fb) - BTS) - Peter and Jill's marriage began to crumble and Jill stopped living with him. Jill asked Peter for a divorce.
(X-51 I#6) - The Japanese superhuman Otomo kidnapped Peter as bait to entrap Machine Man. When Peter saw Otomo suddenly begin convulsing, rather than escape, Peter helped him take his medications. Otomo told Peter his origins and how he needed the drug to keep himself from dying. Otomo revealed he'd been sent by Sebastian Shaw to capture Machine Man because Shaw could synthesize the drug. Peter observed that Otomo had willingly enslaved himself to Shaw. Otomo scoffed at Peter's emotional bond to Machine Man, seeing him as nothing more than a sophisticated machine. Machine Man came to rescue Peter and when Aaron saved Otomo's life by giving him his medications, Otomo called off his mission. Peter was reunited with Jill, who had summoned Aaron to save Peter.
(X-51 I#7) - At her offices at the Unitech Corporation in Valhalla, New York, Jill performed a diagnostic on Aaron, discovering Sentinel nanotechnology had affected his brain, causing him to attack mutants. Jill suggested Aaron should purge his systems to remove the coding. Peter asked Aaron how he felt about doing that. Aaron admitted he was reluctant to do it, but the facility was suddenly attacked by Sentinels sent by the Hellfire Club to get Machine Man. Aaron sent Peter and Jill away while he fought the Sentinels.
(X-51 I#8 (fb)) - Peter and Jill watched from a distance as Machine Man and the X-Men fought the Sentinels, ending with an explosion that seemingly destroyed Machine Man.
(X-51 I#8) - Peter and Jill were interviewed by Jack Kubrick of the Commission on Superhuman Activities and told him what had happened to Machine Man.
(Marvel Comics I#1001/26 (fb) - BTS) - Aaron finally reached out to Peter and invited him to visit Gear-Tech, the new start-up he was running with Gears Garvin.
(Marvel Comics I#1001/26) - Peter visited Gear-Tech and wanted to verify that Aaron was the same person he'd known before, since the last time they'd met Aaron had seemingly been destroyed. Aaron noted Peter had himself survived seeming death before. Peter was surprised by this, having no idea he'd been impersonated by someone who wound up being killed. Peter mentioned he'd heard rumors about Aaron wearing a trenchcoat and fighting zombies then asked what it all meant. Aaron started to explain that he'd been among the Celestials and gained a gift of cosmic awareness.
(2020 Machine Man I#1/2) - After Baintronics started a war between humanity and A.I.s, Peter assisted Gears Garvin and his robot friend Ralphie in running a repair shop for robots, assisting scavengers such as the Midnight Wreckers. Gears refused to take sides in the conflict, offering his services to any robot in need. Peter disagreed with Gears' choices, fearing the robots Gears rebuilt might harm them. Soon, the facility was attacked by members of the A.I. Army who mistook Gears as an enemy and they were followed by robots sent by Baintronics.
(2020 Machine Man I#2/2) - As Gears and Peter fought the Baintronics robots, the two men continued to argue about the politics of robotic life. The Baintronics robots were beaten and the A.I. Army stood down after Ralphie argued on behalf of Gears, Peter and the Midnight Wreckers.
(2020 Iron Age I#1) - Gears, Peter and Ralphie relocated to a farmhouse but they were tracked down by the same A.I. Army robots who had attacked the previous hideout, now led by Machine Man himself. Peter noted how Aaron's recent actions were against the principles he'd previously claimed to champion. Although Gears offered to repair Aaron's allies, Aaron claimed he couldn't trust humans anymore. Aaron permitted them to remain in operation but promised to seek vengeance if they interfered with the robot rebellion.
Comments: Created by Jack Kirby and Mike Royer.
His surname is frequently misspelled "Spaulding."
Marvel Comics I#1001/26 finally addressed Peter's death in Iron Man Annual I#11, which X-51 had simply ignored. Aaron states that Peter had been impersonated by someone but we still don't know who or why. Frankly, who cares? It's nice to have him back.
Peter appeared as a figure in Aaron's mind during the events of X-51 I#9. He also appears in the recap of Machine Man's life in X-51 I#12.
This profile was completed on 11/24/2025 but its publication was delayed, as it was intended for the Appendix's 25th anniversary celebratory event.
Profile by Prime Eternal.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Peter Spalding should not be confused with:
Mr. Bates was a patient at the Central City Sanitarium. He complained to Dr. Spalding about suffering from headaches.
--Machine Man I#2
Mr. Grover was one of Dr. Spalding's patients at the Central City Sanitarium. He was just about to tell Dr. Spalding about his childhood when Spalding was summoned away to tend to Mr. Price.
--Machine Man I#2
Harry was an orderly at the Central City Sanitarium who worked on the case of Mr. Price, assisting Dr. Spalding in sedating the patient. Harry was present as Machine Man became involved and exposed the extraterrestrial Ten-For was the being behind Mr. Price's strange ramblings.
--Machine Man I#2 (3
Mary was a nurse at the Central City Sanitarium. She alerted Dr. Spalding when Mr. Price began speaking in messages that proved to be transmitted by Ten-For.
--Machine Man I#2
Mr. Price was a patient at the Central City Sanitarium, placed in Room Zero. When the extraterrestrial invader Ten-For attempted to invade Earth, he transmitted messages to Earth that were received by Mr. Price. Mr. Price would repeat Ten-For's messages and was wrongly thought to be insane. Machine Man proved Mr. Price's messages were actually broadcasts from space and followed Ten-For's instructions in order to bring him to Earth. This apparently ended Mr. Price's connection to Ten-For.
--Machine Man I#2 (3
images: (without ads)
2020 Iron Age I#1, page 2, panel 4 (main)
Machine Man I#2, page 14, panel 6 (face)
Machine Man I#2, page 8, panel 2 (Bates)
Machine Man I#2, page 8, panel 1 (Grover)
Machine Man I#2, page 9, panel 3 (Harry)
Machine Man I#2, page 7, panel 4 (Mary)
Machine Man I#2, page 17, panel 5 (Price)
Appearances:
Machine Man I#1-9 (April-December, 1978) - Jack Kirby (writer, penciler,
editor), Mike Royer (inker)
Incredible Hulk II#235-236 (May-June, 1979) - Roger Stern (writer), Sal
Buscema (penciler), Mike Esposito (finishes), Al Milgrom (editor)
Incredible Hulk II#237 (July, 1979) - Roger Stern (writer), Sal Buscema
(penciler), Jack Abel (finishes), Al Milgrom (editor)
Machine Man I#10-11 (August-October, 1979) - Marv Wolfman (writer,
editor), Steve Ditko (artist)
Machine Man I#13-14 (February-April, 1980) - Marv Wolfman (writer,
editor), Steve Ditko (artist)
Machine Man I#15 (June, 1980) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Steve Ditko
(artist), Denny O'Neil (editor)
Machine Man I#17-19 (October, 1980-February, 1981) - Tom DeFalco
(writer), Steve Ditko (artist), Denny O'Neil (editor)
Marvel Team Up I#99 (November, 1980) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Jerry
Bingham (penciler), Mike Esposito (inker), Denny O'Neil (editor)
Marvel Two-in-One I#93 (November, 1982) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Ron
Wilson (penciler), D. Hands (inker), Jim Salicrup (editor)
Marvel Comics Presents I#10/3 (Early January, 1989) - Steve Ditko
(writer, penciler), Mike Rockwitz (scripter), Dave Cockrum (inker),
Terry Kavanagh (editor)
Iron Man Annual I#11 (September, 1990) - Roy Thomas (writer), Dann
Thomas (writer), Tom Morgan (penciler), Randy Emberlin (inker), Howard
Mackie (editor)
X-51 I#6 (January, 2000) - Karl Bollers (writer), Michael Higgins
(writer), Joe Bennett (penciler), Bob Wiacek (inker), Ralph Macchio
(editor)
X-51 I#7-8 (February-March, 2000) - Karl Bollers (writer), Joe Bennett
(penciler), Bob Wiacek (inker), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Marvel Comics I#1001/26 (October, 2019) - Roger Stern (writer), Jerry
Ordway (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
2020 Machine Man I#1/2-2/2 (April-May, 2020) - Tom DeFalco (writer),
Mike Hawthorne (penciler), Andriano di Benedetto (inker), Darren Shan
(editor)
2020 Iron Age I#1 (May, 2020) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Nick Roche
(artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
First posted: 09/02/2026
Last updated:
11/24/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel
Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you
should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to http://www.g-mart.com/ for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!