DONALD MENKEN

Donald Menken

Real Name: Donald L. Menken

Identity/Class: Human

Occupation: Director of Personnel, One Osborn Plaza;
   formerly unidentified positions with Osborn Manufacturing and Osborn Chemical

Group Membership: The Order of the Goblin;
   formerly the Cabal of Scrier

Affiliations: Norman Osborn, unidentified Osborn Industries employees, unidentified personal driver, unidentified police officers, unidentified TriCorp security guard;
   formerly Liz Allan-Osborn, Dr. Albert Bendix, Kolina Frederickson, Roderick Kingsley, David Lowell, Harry Osborn

Enemies: George Vandergill

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "Don"

Base of Operations: One Osborn Plaza, New York;
   formerly Norman Osborn's Adirondack estate;
   formerly Norman Osborn's family estate;
   formerly a safe house used by the Cabal of Scrier;
   formerly his boat, "Menken's Retreat"

First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man I#239 (April, 1983)

Powers/Abilities: Donald Menkin is a fiercely loyal and, when the occasion calls for it, ruthless businessman; his educational background is unrevealed. He appears to have the strength and agility of an average man his age.

History: (Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives I#2/Amazing Spider-Man '97 Annual (fb) - BTS) - Donald L. Menken was hired to work for Osborn Industries by company founder Norman Osborn. Menken became unquestionably loyal toward his employer.

(Amazing Spider-Man '97 Annual (fb)) - A meeting between Menken and Osborn was interrupted by research scientist David Lowell who wished to tell Osborn about his Photogenesis Process. Telling Lowell his research was nonsense, Osborn called for the project to be shut down and Lowell reassigned; Menken was sent to oversee the destruction of Lowell's notes and formula. When asked to preserve his work, Menken replied to Lowell that he had his orders and would see them through, going as far as to struggle with Lowell over a beaker. In the struggle Lowell fell back, dousing himself with, and ingesting the formula the beaker held.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#239) - Responding to a incident at an Osborn Manufacturing plant, Menken spoke to police officers on site and revealed that this was only the latest in a series of break-ins. Contacting Osborn Manufacturing executive Harry Osborn, Menken explained that the break-ins were at properties Harry's father, Norman, had a hand in constructing or purchasing and hoped Harry might have an idea as to why they were being targeted.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#260) - Menken met with Harry Osborn to remind him of his meeting with the Osborn Corporation's board of directors. Adding that he left reports Harry had asked for on his desk, Menken was complimented on his efficiency.

(Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives I#2 (fb) - BTS) - Harry introduced Menken to his friend Peter Parker.

(Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin#1 (fb) - BTS) - Menken was recruited into the Cabal of Scrier, an organization Norman Osborn assumed control of during his time in Europe. (see comments)

(Amazing Spider-Man '97 Annual (fb) - BTS) - Menken rose to the position of Osborn Industries Director of Personnel.

(Sensational Spider-Man I#10) - Called to the office of Osborn Industries Executive Director Liz Osborn, Menken was asked for the personnel files of several employees of Osborn subsidiary Multivex. Menken agreeably told Liz he'd have the files transferred within an hour, but was secretly angered by her interest in Multivex's business.

(Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives#1/Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives#2 (fb) - BTS) - Working with Roderick Kingsley of Kingsley International and Kingsley Limited, Menkin plotted a takeover bid of Osborn Industries using dummy companies he'd set up, intending to have Kingsley step in to "rescue" Osborn. (see comments)

(Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives#1) - Watching coverage of Jason Macendale revealing that late Daily Bugle reporter Ned Leeds was the original Hobgoblin, Menken wondered what effect this might have on the Bugle's stock. Answering a telephone call, Menken snapped when asked about takeover bids against Osborn Manufacturing. Hanging up, Menken smiled that word of the bid was circulating.

(Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives#2) - Calling in sick to work in order to discuss his takeover plans with Kingsley, Menken received a phone call from Norchem Board Chairman George Vandergill who told Menken he knew about his dummy companies and would report him to the SEC if he stood in the way of his takeover of Osborn. Slamming his phone down, Menken vowed that Vandergill crossed the wrong man.
   Hearing the news that Vandergill was killed during the Hobgoblin's attack on Norchem, Menken sat back with a satisfied smile. Later, watching "NYC Live" on his boat "Menken's Retreat", Menken saw Betty Leeds discussing her late husband's ill-fated investigation into corrupt business practices.

(Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives#3 - BTS) - As he drowned following an attack by the Hobgoblin, Spider-Man saw a vision of Menken, among others, as a suspect for his longtime foe's true identity.

(Amazing Spider-Man '97 Annual) - Menken arrived outside New York State Penitentiary to pick up David Lowell, recently released after his Photogenesis Process-fueled rampage years earlier. Offering Lowell a lift in his town car, Menken asked Lowell if he remembered him from their days together at Osborn Chemical. When Lowell's memories of Menken flooded back, he asked Menken's driver to pull over and he left, taking Menken's business card with him.

(Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin#1 (fb) - BTS) - Menken and three other members of the Cabal of Scrier freed Osborn from the psychiatric ward he'd been placed in after suffering madness following the Gathering of Five.

(Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin#1/Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin#2 (fb) - BTS) - Taking Osborn to a safe house, Menken saw that Osborn was restrained and hired Dr. Albert Bendix to restore Osborn's sanity.

(Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin#1) - Tending to Osborn, Menken grew concerned by the amount of time Osborn spent watching the news footage of his last defeat by Spider-Man but was reassured that he was watching the footage in acceptance of his failure. Continuing the discussion, Menken became furious by the sudden entrance of Nurse Kolina Frederickson. Calmed by Osborn who found himself drawn to Frederickson, Menken stood by as Bendix followed his nurse and gave Osborn an update on his PET Scans.

(Amazing Spider-Man II#10/Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin#1 (fb) - BTS) - Menken obtained the TriCorp security footage of Spider-Man's fight with Captain Power.

(Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin#1) - Accompanying Osborn to his family estate, Menken questioned the wisdom of Osborn bringing Frederickson with them. Osborn told Menken he knew what he was doing and to not interfere.

(Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin#2) - After watching Osborn's inaugural address to the Order of the Goblin, a reorganized Cabal of Scrier, Menken joined him back to his private lab, complimenting Osborn on his speech. As the conversation turned to Osborn's recent thoughts of his own mortality and lack of an heir, Menken reassured him he still had plenty of life left in him, but that he could count on his attendance all the same.

(Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin#3) - Menken brought Osborn his medication, while questioning the wisdom of having members of the Order in his estate and the implications of Frederickson's discovery that Osborn was the Green Goblin. While Frederickson's discovery drove Menken to panic, Osborn threateningly told him he had plans to deal with her. Alarmed by Osborn's temper, Menken mused over the state of Osborn's medication and his own need to prove to Osborn he was worthy of being his heir. Deciding it best to humor Osborn, Menken accompanied him into Frederickson's room and attempted to persuade her to hear Osborn out, all the while believing she was playing an angle against Osborn.
   As Osborn's temper flared while he told Frederickson about his past, Menken attempted to push him to eliminate the good nurse, telling Osborn she knew too much to live. Coming to his senses, Osborn stood down, prompting Menken to pull a gun on Frederickson to "handle" the situation himself. Furious, Osborn grabbed Menken's throat and pushed him to the ground. Talked down just short of killing Menken, Osborn stepped back while Order of the Goblin members, responding to the commotion, were told to tend to Menken's injuries and take him and Frederickson to Osborn's Adirondack estate.

Comments: Created by Roger Stern and John Romita Jr.

Menken may have appeared as part of the Osborn Industries crew handling the mess left following David Lowell's transformation into Sundown in Untold Tales of Spider-Man '97 Annual.

It's unclear when Menken was recruited into the Cabal of Scrier (his membership was confirmed in the Cabal of Scrier entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Hardcover#2), but given his suggested knowledge of Norman Osborn's activities with Multivex it's likely it occurred prior to Sensational Spider-Man I#10 (which in turn imply Menken was informed of Osborn's survival following his presumed demise in Amazing Spider-Man I#122).

The true reasons behind Menken and Kingsley's takeover bid of Osborn Industries are unrevealed, but were likely at Norman Osborn's behest as part of another plan, possibly having to do with Osborn's takeover of Kingsley Ltd. (which occurred in Spectacular Spider-Man II#261).

Norman Osborn's failed bid for power and descent into madness occurred in Amazing Spider-Man I#441, Peter Parker: Spider-Man I#97, Spectacular Spider-Man II#263, and Peter Parker: Spider-Man I#98.

Menken's current status with Osborn Industries is unrevealed, but Roger Stern noted in an interview with the now-defunct Spider's Web fansite that he'd planned on concluding Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin with Menken's death, only to be asked to keep him around by editor Ralph Macchio.

It's unrevealed is Menken was aware that Harry Osborn survived his apparent death in Spectacular Spider-Man II#200 prior to his public return (as shown in a flashback in Amazing Spider-Man II#582), but given Menken's close association with Osborn, the Cabal of Scrier, and the Order of the Goblin, it's likely he knew. All the same, Menken seemingly lacked awareness when last seen, so it's possible Osborn sr. neglected to tell him.

An unidentified Osborn Chemical director of personnel appears in Spider-Man: Legacy of Evil#1. Presumably Menken assumed his position shortly after the events of that issue.

Profile by G Morrow.

CLARIFICATIONS: Donald Menken has no known connections to

CLARIFICATIONS: Dr. Albert Bendix has no known connections to

Dr. Albert Bendix

(Amazing Spider-Man I#248/Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin#3 (fb) - BTS ) - Dr. Albert Bendix was involved in a major malpractice trial that occurred at the same time as Spider-Man's Long Island battle with Thunderball of the Wrecking Crew.

(Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin#1/Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin#2 (fb) - BTS) - After Norman Osborn went mad during a failed power grab, Donald Menken and Osborn's followers in the Cabal of Scrier hired Bendix to treat Osborn's insanity. Hiring European Nurse Kolina Frederickson for assistance, Bendix created a cocktail of drugs to improve Osborn's mental condition, seeing progress within weeks.

(Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin#1) - Checking on Osborn, Bendix presented him with his latest PET scans. Attempting to get Osborn to slow down while he recovered, Bendix was chastised for his supposed patronizing tone.
   As Osborn's condition continued to improve, Bendix replaced his intravenous drip with dermal patches.

(Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin#2) - Once Osborn was well enough to return to his family estate he saw Bendix as a loose end. Dressing Bendix in a Spider-Man suit, he threw him to his Order of the Goblin (formerly the Cabal of Scrier), and despite unmasking himself and claiming he wasn't Spider-Man, Bendix was beaten to death.

(Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin#3) - The Green Goblin (a brainwashed Peter Parker) was spotted by a homeless man dumping Bendix's body into the East River, just off the Brooklyn Bridge.
   The New York Police Department, following up on a tip from the homeless man, scoured the area for Bendix's body. Eventually finding Bendix, the officers and Daily Bugle staffers Peter Parker and "Robbie" Robertson were stunned to learn the recovered body was Spider-Man. As an officer removed his mask, Robertson identified the body as Dr. Albert Bendix and claimed he couldn't be the real Spider-Man because of the timing of Spider-Man's fight with Thunderball years earlier.

--Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin#1 (2,3

unidentified personal driver

(Amazing Spider-Man '97 Annual) - Donald Menken's personal driver drove him to New York State Penitentiary to pick-up released super-criminal and former Osborn Industries employee David Lowell, aka Sundown. When Lowell's memories of Menken came back to him, the driver made a sudden stop to let an embittered Lowell out of the town car.

--Amazing Spider-Man '97 Annual

images: (without ads)
Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin#1, p4, pan2 (main image)
Amazing Spider-Man '97 Annual, p5, pan5 (close-up, as young man)
Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives#2, p8, pan3 (close-up)
Sensational Spider-Man I#10, p22, pan5 (at Osborn Industries)
Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin#1, p6, pan3 (Dr. Bendix)
Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin#2, cover (Bendix as Spider-Man)

Other Appearances:
Amazing Spider-Man I#239 (April, 1983) - Roger Stern (scripter), John Romita Jr. & Frank Giacoia (artists), Tom DeFalco (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man I#248 (January, 1984) - Roger Stern (writer), John Romita Jr. and Ron Frenz (pencils), Brett Breeding and Terry Austin (inks), Bob DeNatale (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man I#260 (January, 1985) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Ron Frenz (pencils), Joe Rubinstein & Brett Breeding (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
Sensational Spider-Man I#10 (November, 1996) - Todd Dezago (writer), Mike Wieringo (pencils), Richard Case (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives#1 (January, 1997) - Roger Stern (writer), Ron Frenz & George Perez (artists), Glenn Greenberg & Tom Brevoort (editors)
Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives#2 (February, 1997) - Roger Stern (writer), Ron Frenz, Jerome Moore & Scott Hanna (artists), Glenn Greenberg & Tom Brevoort (editors)
Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives#3 (March/April, 1997) - Roger Stern (writer), Ron Frenz & Bob McLeod (artists), Glenn Greenberg & Tom Brevoort (editors)
Amazing Spider-Man '97 Annual (July, 1997) - Roger Stern (writer), Kurt Busiek (unindicted co-conspirator), Tom Lyle (pencils), Robert Jones (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin#1 (October, 2000) - Roger Stern (writer), Ron Frenz (pencils), Pat Olliffe (inks), George Roderick Jr. (ink assist), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin#2 (November, 2000) - Roger Stern (writer), Ron Frenz (pencils), Pat Olliffe (inks), George Roderick Jr. (ink assist), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin#3 (December, 2000) - Roger Stern (writer), Ron Frenz (pencils), Pat Olliffe (inks), George Roderick Jr. (ink assist), Ralph Macchio (editor)

Last updated: 01/24/10

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