Mystery writer Jonathan Law happened to see the Golden Age Sandman in action, which gave him the idea to give costumed vigilantism a try. Putting together a costume, suction cups for climbing walls, and a cable-shooting web gun; Law took the identity of the Tarantula. He would become a member of the wartime All-Star Squadron, and unlike a goodly portion of DC's Golden Age characters, Law would get old and eventually die in the pages of Nightwing. (Maybe. Even that was left open...)
The Tarantula's never had a huge presence in comics, but it's a cool costume and a good hook. I just picture him at the All-Star Squadron meetings taking insane amounts of notes, then having to make up some lame reason why.
Scans from All-Star Squadron #66, "The Origin of Tarantula," written by Roy Thomas, pencils by Alan Kupperburg, inks by Tony DeZunga; and Nightwing #40, "The Devil Dies at Dawn!" Written by Chuck Dixon, art by Scott McDaniel and Hector Collazo.
Oddly, it's been kind of a slow year for figures (for me, anyway) so far; I think I've written more of these Shortlists than I've bought figures. Well, maybe not, but it's close. Maybe I will cave on a couple figures I need to complete a Build-a-Figure...
I'm phobic about spiders, but I liked the Tarantula's look since I first saw him in an All-Star Squadron annual (he wasn't even in the body of the story, just the bumpers). I'd always heard that you shouldn't wear brown and black together, yet he made it work! It was cool when he showed up in Nightwing, too.
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