THE VULTURE

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Human ghost magic user (circa 17th century to Pre-Modern Era)

Occupation: Pirate

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Sebastian

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: The Atlantic Ocean near South America

First Appearance: Tales to Astonish I#41/3 (March, 1963)

Powers/Abilities: The Vulture was a ghostly, supernatural being who could hover in mid-air. He carried a cutlass and his left hand had been replaced with a hook. His existence was evidently bound to a curse he'd placed upon a chest of gold using black magic which caused disaster to strike anyone other than himself who attempted to claim the chest.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 6'1")
Weight: None; in life, unrevealed (approximately 190 lbs.)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black

History:

(Tales to Astonish I#41/3 (fb) - BTS) - The Vulture was a pirate who sailed in the Atlantic Ocean hundreds of years ago (possibly in the 17th century). When he buried a chest of gold in South America he placed a black magic curse upon it should anyone try to steal it.

(Tales to Astonish I#41/3) - In the 1960s, the gold was found by a digging crew employed by the dictator Sebastian. Sebastian claimed the chest for himself by telling the workers the gold had been cursed by the Vulture, not realizing there was an actual curse upon the gold. Sebastian loaded the chest on to his yacht and set off to find another place where he could live in luxury but the cursed gold caused a storm to capsize his yacht. The Vulture's ghost then appeared and claimed the chest, he was please as he'd vowed one day the gold would be his again. When Sebastian begged the Vulture to help him, the Vulture accused him of trying to steal his gold and refused; the Vulture vanished with the chest of gold, abandoning Sebastian to the mercies of the open waters.

Comments: Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.

    Yes, this is the other Vulture created by Lee and Ditko!

Profile by Prime Eternal.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Vulture should not be confused with:

• VULTURE of the Hyborian era (Mikhal Oglu) - Turanian soldier/assassin under Yezdigerd, sent to kill Conan, beheaded by him--Shadow of the Vulture; Conan the Barbarian I#24
• VULTURE of the 16th Century (Mikhal Oglu) - Turkish soldier, agent of Suleyman the Magnificent, sent to kill von Kalmbach, beheaded by he and Son-Ya of Rogatino--Shadow of the Vulture
• VULTURE (Hugh Bradley) - Mojave Indian Agency trader & Japanese operative, leader of the Native American Vultures/Black Hawks, opposed by Captain America (Steve Rogers) and Bucky (James Barnes)--Captain America Comics I#14
• VULTURE (Ottokar Meltzer, aka Ricardo Bellski) - Nazi scientist, mutated by chemicals into super-strong bat-like winged scientist, served by mutated Batmen, worked for Axis, kidnapped officials, thwarted by Captain America (Steve Rogers) and Bucky (James Barnes)--All-Select Comics I#1
• VULTURE (Harrison Klein) - used trained vulture in crimes, enemy of Human Torch (Jim Hammond) + Toro (Thomas Raymond)--All-Winners Comics I#10
• VULTURE ( ) - Nazi slaver, battled Captain America (Steve Rogers) and Bucky (James Barnes)--Captain America Comics I#32
• VULTURE (Dr. Isidoro Scarlotti) - leader of international criminal organization, commanded robots, enemy of Human Torch (Jim Hammond) + Toro (Thomas Raymond)--Young Men I#26
• VULTURE (Rudy Rudolph) - costumed foe of Lorna--Lorna the Jungle Queen I#4
• VULTURE (Adrian Toomes) - Sinister Twelve, Sinister Six, winged enemy of Spider-Man--Amazing Spider-Man I#2
• VULTURE (Raniero "Blackie" Drago) - stole Toomes' costume--Amazing Spider-Man I#48
• VULTURE (Clifton Shallot) - A former Empire State University professor, when his funding was cut he mutated himself to physically take on the appearance and powers of the Vulture (Toomes)--Amazing Spider-Man I#127
• VULTURE of Earth-928 circa 2099 A.D. ( ) - cannibalistic criminal in downtown, ally of Goblin, leader of Wildboys--Spider-Man 2099 I#6
• or any other 'Vulture'

SEBASTIAN

Sebastian was the dictator of an unidentified South American nation who had led a coup to overthrow the existing government and install himself as supreme leader. When a crew of laborers unearthed a chest of gold, Sebastian attempted to claim the gold for himself and tried to scare the workers by inventing what he thought was a false story about the gold being cursed by the Vulture, a pirate. The ruse was successful and Sebastian took the chest. As the country's resources had been drained, Sebastian brought the chest aboard his yacht and sailed away, abandoning the country and intending to use the chest of gold to live in luxury. However, the Vulture truly had cursed the gold and the curse caused a storm to capsize the yacht. The Vulture's ghost appeared to claim the treasure; Sebastian begged the Vulture to save him but the Vulture refused because Sebastian had tried to steal his gold; the Vulture disappeared, leaving Sebastian stranded mid-ocean upon a piece of the yacht and very little chance of being rescued.

--Tales to Astonish I#41/3

images: (without ads)
Tales to Astonish I#41/3, page 5, panel 3 (main)
Tales to Astonish I#41/3, page 1 (ghostly form)
Tales to Astonish I#41/3, page 5, panel 2 (Sebastian)

Appearances:
Tales to Astonish I#41/3 (March, 1963) - Stan Lee (writer, editor), Steve Ditko (artist)

First posted: 11/02/2026
Last updated: 11/02/2026

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
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