TABLET OF LIFE AND TIME
Classification: Mystic tablet
Creator: Unidentified Homo mermani during the Hyborian era
User/Possessors: Dr. Stephen Strange, Lizard (Dr. Curt Connors), Spider-Man (Peter Parker), presumably others over the millennia;
fragments only: Boomerang, Caesar Cicero, Vinnie DeGliato, Eel (Edward Lavell), Hammerhead, Kingpin (Wilson Fisk), Man Mountain Marko, Billy Neuhaus, Science Foundation, Silvermane, Shocker (Herman Schultz), George Stacy, Louis Wilson, presumably many others over the millennia;
used incomplete Lifeline Formula: Lizard, Silvermane;
used true Lifeline Formula: Hammerhead, Antonia (Hammerhead's sister)
Aliases: Lifeline Tablet
First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man I#68 (January, 1969)
Powers/Abilities/Functions: On the tablet was a biochemical formula for a serum, the so-called Lifeline Formula, which could rejuvinate, heal and grant its user the chance to reach the full evolutionary potential of its race turning the user into an immortal near omnipotent being. Though healing effects were permanent, the additional powers it granted were only temporary as most people were not prepared to use these powers properly. If this protective element was active for worthy users stays unrevealed.
History:
(Spider-Man: Lifeline#1-2 (fb) - BTS) - The Tablet of Life and Time (named in Amazing Spider-Man I#547) was created during the Hyborian age in the language of the sister cultures Lemuria and Atlantis (see comments).
(Amazing Spider-Man I#68 (fb) - BTS) - Over the millennia countless men died to get their hands on the Tablet of Life and Time.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#74 (fb) - BTS) - Legends told of the tablet when it got lost.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#74 (fb) - BTS) - Experts were already aware that the secret of the tablet had something to do with the mystery of life. Publications about the tablet talked about it and its biological background.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#68 (fb) - BTS) - The Science Foundation sent the tablet to different universities in hope that someone would be able to translate it.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#68) - The tablet was exhibited at Empire State University at the Exhibition Hall. Archaeologist Louis Wilson told the Kingpin about the tablet. That evening the Kingpin and a few of henchmen stole the tablet and Spider-Man couldn't stop them.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#69) - Kingpin returned to his base and stashed the tablet in his vault. Spider-Man defeated Kingpin and his henchmen and then followed Louis Wilson to Kingpin's vault. He took the tablet from the vault and tried to give it to the police, so they could return it to ESU, but they shot at him.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#70) - Spider-Man took the tablet with him because he couldn't return it to ESU after the police was ordered to shoot him on sight. Eventually Spider-Man got tired and took the tablet to his apartment where he stashed it in his private closet. After a day Spider-Man got the idea to decipher the tablet by bringing it to the greatest expert on hieroglyphics in town, but the police already waited there for him. With the tablet webbed to his back Spider-Man took out several of Kingpin's men to lure out the Kingpin, who had escaped prison. When they finally met Kingpin was able to escape and Spider-Man got into a fight with J. Jonah Jameson, who had a heart attack in the process. Spider-Man then left with the tablet still on his back.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#71) - With the tablet in his apartment Spider-Man looked through his photographs to proof that Spider-Man was not in league with the Kingpin. He sold these photographs to Joe Robertson, who ran in Jameson's absence the Daily Bugle and then took the tablet to Captain George Stacy.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#72) - The Shocker stole the tablet from Stacy and contacted a crooked pawnshop owner, but he told him that nobody wanted anything to do with tablet since Spider-Man took it from Kingpin.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#72 - BTS) - The Shocker stashed the tablet away in a hidden vault in his girlfriend's apartment before he was caught by the police after several fights with Spider-Man.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#73) - Man Mountain Marko broke broke into the apartment and threatened Shocker's girlfriend if she didn't hand over the tablet. While fighting Spider-Man Marko found the vault and soon escaped with the tablet when Spider-Man had to save Shocker's girlfriend from falling to her death. Marko soon arrived with the tablet at Silvermane's house and Wilson, who had been bailed out, identified it as the real tablet. Caesar Cicero had Dr. Curt Connors, an expert in biology, brought in to help reveal the secrets of the tablet.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#74) - Connors and Wilson worked together on translating the tablet. Connors discovered that the hieroglyphs were biochemical symbols and not words. It was a formula for a powerful rejuvenation serum, which Connors created for Silvermane. The serum worked and Silvermane was a young man again.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#75 - BTS) - Silvermane continued to grow younger while Connors, who didn't tell Silvermane the true results of formula, escaped as the Lizard. The serum made Silvermane regress beyond birth.
(Spider-Man: Lifeline#1 (fb) - BTS) - The tablet was used as evidence to convict Wilson and was placed in police storage afterwards.
(Spider-Man: Lifeline#1 (fb) ) - Six additional fragments of the tablet were found by Louis Wilson.
(Spider-Man: Lifeline#1 (fb) - BTS) - The tablet was stolen from storage.
(Spider-Man: Lifeline#2 (fb) - BTS) - The thief was a crooked cop, who was bribed by Vinnie DeGliato, one of Hammerhead's men, to bring him the tablet.
(Spider-Man: Lifeline#1) - They were presented to the public by Wilson at a museum opening. Man Mountain Marko tried to steal the fragments, but he was stopped by Spider-Man. Wilson took the fragments within after the opening party, but Marko and the Eel worked together to steal them this time for real. They brought it to Caesar Cicero, but Boomerang stole it from Cicero and his men Eel and Marko couldn't stop it.
Spider-Man brought the formula (with the additional hieroglyphs from the originally missing parts) to Dr. Strange, but he wasn't able to decipher them on his own. He left in his astral form to find help.
Boomerang brought the missing fragments to his employer Hammerhead. Once again Dr. Curt Connors was forced to help with the formula and he was sure the additional fragments would improve it.
(Spider-Man: Lifeline#2) - Hammerhead held the tablet in his hands while Connors worked on improving the formula. Hammerhead was angered by Connors slow progress and hit him.
Dr. Strange's astral form arrived in Atlantis to talk with Namor, whose vizier knew more about the tablet. He revealed that the formula on the tablet could grant its user the power to reach the evolutionary peak of humanity, but that the use of the power granted was limited to the character of the user.
In New York City Arthur Stacy visited Louis Wilson and saw him hiding another part of the tablet in his vault. Meanwhile Connors created the enhanced version of the serum, but he tried to use it himself. Boomerang stopped him, but during a fight between Spider-Man and the villains, Connors managed to drink a drop of the serum and it turned him into the Lizard.
(Spider-Man: Lifeline#3) - The Lizard planned to use the serum to make reptilians the dominant species on Earth again and fled without the tablet and the notes on the formula. At a meeting with Arthur Stacy and Louis Wilson, Spider-Man received the missing part of the tablet Wilson had kept back. Not long after that Dr. Strange's astral form informed Spider-Man of the power the serum could grant.
Lizard was caught by Boomerang when he tried to get back Connors' notes from Hammerhead. Spider-Man handed over the missing piece of the tablet to Lizard at St. Mercy Hospital, where Hammerhead was visiting his sick sister. Lizard created the serum, Boomerang took it away and Hammerhead drank it to become a powerful being. He turned the Lizard back into Connors and offered Spider-Man to bring back everyone he had loved, but before he could do that, Hammerhead's powers faded. Spider-Man had already created a small dosage of the serum and gave it to Hammerhead's sister Antonia, who was cured by it.
After everything was over Spider-Man took the tablet to Dr. Strange, who sent it to another plane of reality.
Comments: Created by Stan Lee, John Romita & Jim Mooney.
The Tablet of Life and Time was first named that way in Amazing Spider-Man I#547 where its evil counterpart the Tablet of Death and Entropy was named as well. In Spider-Man: Lifeline#1 the reader was informed that the tablet was created during the Hyborian age with connections to Atlantis and Lemuria. In Amazing Spider-Man I#547 the Tablet of Death and Entropy was revealed as Lemurian. The Tablet of Life and Time was before that revealed as a creation of the Homo mermani in the Appendix of Mystic Arcana: The Book of Marvel Magic.
BTW Billy Neuhaus, the crooked cop, who gave the tablet (the big part from the original story) to Hammerhead's goon, was a Hostess villain. You don't believe me? Just look at what he is carrying around on the image in his sub-profile. And that bastard Spider-Man ate his Hostess donuts. Not nice!
Profile by Markus Raymond.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Tablet of Life and Time has no known connections to
Billy Neuhaus has no known connections to:
Louis Wilson should not be confused with:
(Spider-Man: Lifeline#2 (fb) - BTS) - Billy was sick of his work in evidence lock-up. He either worked double shifts or went to a bar. One day he was approached by Vinnie DeGliato, who paid him to steal the tablet from evidence lock-up. Billy did his job and was paid.
(Spider-Man: Lifeline#2) - After another double shift Spider-Man waited for Billy outside and asked him who bribed him to steal the tablet. Billy told Spider-Man everything after he threatened to drop him from a building. During the struggle Spider-Man disarmed Billy and took his Hostess Donuts, which Spider-Man ate himself upon leaving Billy.
--Spider-Man: Lifeline#2 (Spider-Man: Lifeline#2 (fb) - BTS, 2
(Spider-Man: Lifeline#1 (fb) - BTS) - Wilson became the preeminent scholar on the tablet after it was discovered.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#68) - Wilson informed the Kingpin about the value of the tablet and told him that it was currently at the Exhibition Hall at ESU in New York City. He was afraid that Spider-Man would stop the theft, but Kingpin wasn't afraid at all and showed his power in a fight against several of henchmen. Wilson was impressed at how aggressive the mere mention of Spider-Man made the Kingpin.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#69) - Kingpin returned with the stolen tablet and Wilson didn't understand why he allowed Spider-Man to follow him. Wilson watched Spider-Man defeat Kingpin and tried to get away with the tablet, but he couldn't even open Kingpin's vault. Spider-Man webbed Wilson up and then took the tablet himself.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#69 - BTS) - Wilson was arrested.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#73) - Wilson was bailed out by Silverman's lawyer Caesar Cicero to help reveal the secret of the tablet. When Marko arrived at Silvermane's house with the tablet, Wilson identified it as the real tablet.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#74) - Dr. Curt Connors was assisted by Wilson in solving the tablet's secret. Connors didn't tell Wilson that he had solved the secret and was surprised as Silvermane when he heard it. Wilson later watched Silvermane drink the serum created from the formula.
(Spider-Man: Lifeline#1 (fb) - BTS) - Wilson was arrested for his crimes and the tablet was used as evidence against him.
(Spider-Man: Lifeline#1) - After his time in prison Wilson continued his work on the tablet and discovered additional pieces of it in Egypt. Working on the pieces he linked it to the Hyborian age and the civilizations of Lemuria and Atlantis. He also realized that the formula didn't work for Silvermane because important parts of the formula were missing.
(Spider-Man: Lifeline#1) - At a museum opening Wilson showed the six fragments he had found to the general public. After a failed attempt by Man Mountain Marko to steal the fragments, Wilson took them with him. His car was attacked by Man Mountain Marko and his partner Eel stole the fragments from Wilson. Spider-Man saved Wilson's life and learned what Wilson was up to since he was out of prison. He assured Spider-Man that he had nothing to do with the theft and the criminals behind it.
(Spider-Man: Lifeline#2) - Arthur Stacy visited Wilson and saw him stash a part of the tablet into a vault. Stacy told Wilson that he needed to know the truth as the tablet endangered the whole world.
(Spider-Man: Lifeline#3) - Wilson and Arthur met with Spider-Man. Wilson handed over a part of the tablet he had held back all the time. He explained that he only did it to make sure humanity was safe.
--Amazing Spider-Man I#69, 73, 74, Spider-Man: Lifeline#1 (fb), 1,3
images: (without ads)
Spider-Man: Lifeline#3, p24, pan3 (main)
Amazing Spider-Man I#68, p1 (incomplete tablet)
Amazing Spider-Man I#74, p18, pan4 (Silvermane drinking incomplete formula)
Spider-Man: Lifeline#3, p20, pan1 (Lifeline Formula empowered Hammerhead)
Spider-Man: Lifeline#2, p2, pan2 (Billy Neuhaus)
Amazing Spider-Man I#73, p9, pan1 (Louis Wilson)
Appearances:
Amazing Spider-Man I#68-71 (January-April, 1969) - Stan Lee
(writer/editor), John Romita (plot/layouts), Jim Mooney (pencils/inks)
Amazing Spider-Man I#72 (May, 1969) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), John
Buscema (plot/layouts), John Romita (pencils), Jim Mooney (inks)
Amazing Spider-Man I#73 (June, 1969) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), John
Buscema (plot/layouts), John Romita (plot/, Jim Mooney (pencils/inks)
Amazing Spider-Man I#74-75 (July-August, 1969) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), John Romita (plot/layouts), Jim Mooney (pencils/inks)
Spider-Man: Lifeline#1-3 (April-June, 2001) - Fabian Nicieza (writer),
Steve Rude (pencils), Bob Wiacek (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man I#547 (March, 2008) - Dan Slott (writer), Steve
McNiven (pencils), Dexter Vines (inks), Stephen Wacker (editor)
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
First Posted: 12/06/2008
Last Updated: 12/06/2008
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