JUAN
Real Name: Juan (last name unrevealed)
Identity/Class: Human conventional weapon user
Occupation: Criminal; former revolutionary
Group Membership: None; former member of Condor's group of revolutionaries (Carlos, Domingo, Hidalgo Rodriquez, around 100 in total)
Affiliations: Hidalgo Rodriquez, Tarantula (Antonio Miguel Rodriquez);
formerly Condor
Enemies: Liz Allan, Keith Bayard, Daredevil (Matt Murdock), Chino Guardio, Punisher (Frank Castle), Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Eugene "Flash" Thompson, Jerome Villiers, Mary Jane Watson
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: A tenement in the West One Hundreds in New York City, New York;
formerly Delvadia
First Appearance: Daredevil I#76 (May, 1971)
Powers/Abilities: Juan is a normal human in good physical shape. He uses bolas in combat, but is also a capable gunman.
Height: Unrevealed (5'11; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed (170 lbs.; by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Brown
History:
(Daredevil I#75) - Juan worked for Condor in Delvadia,
seeking to overthrow the government in rebellion. Juan posed as the
driver of an ambulance to pick up the wounded Jerome Villiers then he
delivered Villiers to Condor even though he was afraid what the Americans would do to them if they discovered what they had done.
(Daredevil I#75 - BTS) - He was presumably one of the men attacking Bayard, Chino and the other renegades alongside Condor.
(Daredevil I#76 - BTS) - He was presumably one of the men joining Condor's attempted assault on the capital (or he stayed behind as a guard for Daredevil and Bayard; see comments). Condor was later seemingly killed and the rebellion fell apart.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#134 (fb) - BTS) - Juan and Hidalgo left Delvadia at some point went to the US.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#135 (fb)) - Antonio Miguel Rodriquez put together a team to hijack a tour ship. He met with Juan and Hidalgo at a bar and they joined forces with him.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#134) - Tarantula and his henchmen Juan and Hidalgo came aboard a dayline ship (see comments) in civilian clothes. When the ship began its voyage Peter Parker's spider-sense went off and he noticed them watching other passengers from above.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#134 - BTS) - They put on their costumes and attacked the crew.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#134) - Juan was holding his bolas while Tarantula declared via megaphone that he and his men had taken command over the ship. He promised that nobody would get hurt as long as they followed their instructions. When the crew from the engine room attacked they were quickly taken out by Tarantula.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#134 - BTS) - Tarantula demanded one million dollars ransom from the city.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#134) - Juan started collecting the wallets from the passengers, but "Flash" Thompson was not having it and fought back. Hidalgo knocked him out, but then Spider-Man arrived, hanging from a police helicopter, to take away Hidalgo's whip. Juan swung his bolas, but Spider-Man hit Juan's hand with his web and Juan accidentally got tangled up in his own bolas.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#135) - Tarantula and his henchmen escaped the ship with the help of a helicopter with some loot while Spider-Man got into a fight with the Punisher.
The Punisher knew exactly where Tarantula's hideout was and after Spider-Man webbed up the guard (presumably the pilot from earlier in the issue), they jumped through a window and attacked the three costumed criminals. The Punisher took down Juan and Hidalgo while Spider-Man took care of Tarantula. The Punisher later caught up with Spider-Man, who had webbed up Tarantula. The Punisher was carrying one of the henchmen while dragging the other around by his leg.
Comments: Created by Gerry Conway, Gene Colan & Tom Palmer. Costumed identity by Ross Andru & Frank Giacoia.
James Cope pointed out that Tarantula's henchmen Hidalgo and Juan were identified as former henchmen of el Condor in Tarantula's handbook profile, but this actually goes back way further. I did some digging and this information was actually first revealed in the Official Marvel Index to the Amazing Spider-Man#5 (August, 1985) by George Olshevsky.
Daredevil's memory flashback in #76 to the previous issue showed Juan without a beard. It also showed another character calling a guy Juan even though that character was previously called Carlos. Daredevil clearly has the memory of a blind man...and apparently he is deaf as well...or he got hit in the head a few times too often.
There was a redheaded guy in #76, who claimed to just be in el Condor's crew for the money and didn't care about the revolution. He only had a three-day stubble, but maybe the beard was fake in #75. His attitude would absolutely fit Juan's later association with Tarantula in his criminal endeavors.
The name of the ship in Amazing Spider-Man I#134 can partially be seen on page 2. I looked it up and the ship was probably the Benjamin B. Odell, which was named after a former New York governor.
In Spectacular Spider-Man I#1 (December, 1976) "Flash" Thompson quickly pointed out that Tarantula's henchmen in this story were not the same he had previously encountered in Amazing Spider-Man I#134.
Profile by Markus Raymond.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Juan should not be confused with:
images (without ads)
Amazing Spider-Man I#134, p6, pan1 (main)
Daredevil I#75, p6, pan1 (head shot)
Amazing Spider-Man I#135, p12, pan2 (Juan and Hidalgo meeting with Tarantula)
Daredevil I#76, p16, pan1 (possibly Juan)
Appearances:
Daredevil I#75 (April, 1971) - Gerry Conway (writer), Gene Colan (pencils), Syd Shores (inks), Sam Rosen (letterer), Stan Lee (editor)
Daredevil I#76 (May, 1971) - Gerry Conway (writer), Gene Colan (penciler), Tom Palmer (inker), Artie Simek (letterer), Stan Lee (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man I#134 (July, 1974) - Gerry Conway (writer), Ross Andru (penciler), Frank Giacoia & D. Hunt (inks), Artie Simek (letterer), L. Lessmann (colorist), Roy Thomas (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man I#134-135 (July-August, 1974) - Gerry Conway (writer), Ross Andru (penciler), Frank Giacoia (inks), , Artie Simek (letterer), L. Lessmann (colorist), Roy Thomas (editor)
Official Marvel Index to the Amazing Spider-Man#5 (August, 1985) - George Olshevsky (compiler/designer), Tony Frutti (typographer/production), Mark Gruenwald (project editor)
First Posted: 05/30/2018 (as sub-profile)
Last updated: 04/13/2022
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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