VULTUREVULTURE
Real Name: Clifton Shallot
Identity/Class: Human mutate, technology user (unconventional)
Occupation: Former professor at Empire State University
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Christine Murrow
Enemies: Formerly Christine Murrow, Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Mary Jane Watson
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Place of Birth: Sheepshead Bay, New York
Base of Operations: New York, NY, USA
First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man I#127 (December, 1973)
Powers/Abilities: Enhanced strength, sharp talons and teeth capable of ripping Spider-Man's web, fly. After the transformation the wings were part of him, when he attacked he usually made a screeching sound, and his face was very similar to that of Adrian Toomes'.
Height: 5' 11"
Weight: 175 lbs.
Eyes: Blue; (as Vulture) black
Hair: Black, balding; (as Vulture) bald
History:
(Amazing Spider-Man I#128 (fb) - BTS) - Dr. Clifton Shallot and his
assistant Christine Murrow worked at the Empire State University. Shallot taught a
course about Biochemical and Organic Mutations, but it was cancelled by the
University's administration.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#128 (fb)) - Something snapped in Shallot's mind, and he decided to become the Vulture! Shallot and Murrow stole the Vulture suit from the prison, and Shallot wore the costume and underwent a bio-transformation in his machinery. The suit and the wings became part of his body, he could fly, his strength increased, and his hands transformed into dangerous talons. To keep the secret, Shallot, now the Vulture, decided to kill his assistant and went to her house.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#127 - BTS) - Around midnight, Shallot mistook Christine Murrow's room teammate, Gloria Jenkins, for his assistant and killed her. Mary Jane Watson saw the murder from her flat but the Vulture saw her. He went away form the crime scene, but remained in the neighborhood.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#127) - Flying above Mary Jane Watson's
apartment, Vulture noticed Spider-Man and attacked him. Spider-Man linked
his presence to the recent murder, and this infuriated the Vulture, who smacked Spider-Man down from the top of a building,
leaving him for dead.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#127 - BTS) - Vulture searched for the means to reverse the transformation. He had to use some particularly expensive chemicals in big doses. He stole the products he needed from the Dusseldorf, a ship anchored at the dock 20, on the 23rd Avenue. While he flew there he was noticed by Moylan, a boozer and common informer.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#127) - The morning after, Vulture was
going to Murrow's lab. He was flying towards the E.S.U. Campus
and spotted Mary Jane on a car. He dove towards the car and grabbed Mary Jane. Some minutes
later he was approached in the sky by Spider-Man, but
he immediately let Mary Jane drop. Spider-Man had to save her, allowing the Vulture
to reach
the Biology Laboratory.
He attacked Dr. Murrow, but Spider-Man arrived and defended
her. Using his talons and his teeth, the Vulture managed to rip Spider-Man's web. Their struggle
continued outdoors: Spider-Man spun his web over the Vulture's eyes, blinding him, and the cops threw a
net on the two super-beings.
The Vulture proved to be too strong for the net; he freed himself from the web and, still blinded by
the Spider-Man's web, grabbed the hero and flew into the sky. Shallot believed
he had grabbed his assistant Christine with him, and when he saw it was
Spider-Man he let the wallcrawler drop.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#128 - BTS) - The Vulture went back to his lab and transformed back into Dr. Clifton Shallot.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#128) - Some minutes later he found Peter Parker in the lab looking for Dr. Murrow, but the girl had fled. Shallot and Parker talked for a while.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#128 - BTS) - Shallot had an agreement with Christine Murrow, if he didn't kill her, she would not betray his secret.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#128) - That night, the Vulture went back to Dock 20, wounded a man, and stole other chemical products. But after a few minutes he saw Peter Parker and believed Parker had followed him all night. The Vulture lifted Peter Parker into the sky and dropped him into the waters; the Vulture believed Parker to be dead.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#128) -
The Vulture flew above Mary Jane
Watson's apartment and saw her on a Taxi. He attacked the taxi and kidnapped Mary
Jane, but Spider-Man interrupted him again and he fled. He reached his lab where
Christine Murrow was also present. An hour later Spider-Man arrived in the lab and
surprised Christine Murrow there. The Vulture attacked him, they tangled, and
eventually Spider-Man forced the Vulture to drink the antidote taken from the Dusseldorf.
The Vulture reverted to Shallot and fainted.
Comments: Created by Gerry Conway, Ross Andru and Frank Giacoia/Dave Hunt.
The Vulture threw Peter from a great height 3 times. He kidnapped Mary Jane 2 times, and 4 times he was interrupted by Spider-Man while trying to kill a woman. We can't say he didn't try!
Shallot received a profile in the Spider-Man - Back in Black Handbook.
Clarifications:
Vulture is connected but is different to
and has no known connections to
Gloria Jenkins has no known connections to
Christine Murrow was Dr. Shallot research assistant. She lived in the same building as Mary Jane Watson, and her roommate was Gloria Jenkins. When Christine didn't wear her glasses and both Christine and Gloria wore pants, they were virtually twins.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#128 (fb) - BTS) - When Dr. Shallot's Bio-Transformation course was cancelled, she helped him to transform into the Vulture. She was lucky when Vulture went to her home to kill her, because he found her roommate instead, and killed Gloria Jenkins.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#127) - The morning after, she was in the lab and was assaulted by Vulture, but she managed to run away thanks to Spider-Man's entrance.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#128 - BTS) - However, she didn't go to the Police; instead she reached an agreement with Shallot: He wouldn't kill her, and she would not revealed his secret.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#128) - The evening after, Vulture and Christine went back to the lab, probably to reverse the transformation, but Spider-Man entered again and a struggle begun. After Spider-Man had Vulture transform back into Shallot, Spider-Man blamed her for her silence, which risked the life of other innocents.
--Amazing Spider-Man I#127 (Amazing Spider-Man I#128(fb) -BTS, 127, 128
Images:
Amazing Spider-Man I#128, page 10, panel 5 (Vulture)
Amazing Spider-Man I#128, page 5, panel 6 (Clifton
Shallot)
Amazing Spider-Man I#127, page 15, panel 4 (Vulture, head shot)
Amazing Spider-Man I#127, page 15, panel 5 (Chamber of Bio-transformation)
Amazing Spider-Man I#128, page 17, panels 6,7,8
(Vulture-Shallot)
Amazing Spider-Man I#128, page 19, panel 3 (Christine
Murrow)
Appearances:
Amazing Spider-Man I#127-128 (December, 1973 - January, 1974) - Gerry Conway (writer), Ross Andru (pencils), Frank Giacoia & David Hunt (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
First Posted: 04/29/2005
Last updated: 01/07/2014
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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