The Spider TM & © Argosy Communications, Inc.
A Brief History of The Spider IV In the early stories "The Spider" is merely a symbol on the forehead of dead
crooks. Occasionally, Wentworth would obscure his identity with a black mask.
But in the March 1934 issue, "Citadel of Hell," Wentworth finally takes on an
alternate personality. A look -- and a lethal, mocking attitude -- that becomes
"The Spider" for the remainder of the ten-year run.
Later in the novel this new character clearly identifies himself:
"Did you ever hear," asked Wentworth softly, "of the
Spider?" Here Page, possibly with some editorial guidance, really did lift some ideas
from The Shadow -- or the classic "mystery figure" that inspired him -- while
adding his own oddball touches.
But the lank-haired, fanged, hunched figure of The Spider was not just feared
by the underworld; The editors of the magazine were too scared to put him on the
cover! Except for a seven-month stint in 1940, cover illustrators John Newton Howitt and later Raphael DeSoto were instructed to depict The Spider as a
dashing figure in a traditional black mask. Only interior artist J. Fleming Gould got to show The Spider in all his
chilling glory month in and month out.
Enter The Spider
"Rapidly then he went to work on a disguise and, at the end of
ten minutes more, stared at himself fixedly in the mirror. Long black hair,
parted in the middle, fell below his ears. His skin was sallow, and his nose was
long and pointed. As he stared at himself, Wentworth bent slowly forward,
stooping his broad, muscular shoulders and hunching one so that the smooth fit
of the black tweeds to which he had changed was completely disarranged. He was
an emaciated, hunchbacked man now, with the anemic face and the quick,
frightened eyes of a cripple. He pulled a large black felt down over his hair,
threw a cape about his shoulders, and ... left."
The gunman's eyes stared fascinatedly into Wentworth's. "Yes,"
he whispered. "Yes!"
"I am the Spider!" Wentworth allowed his thin lips to part
into a smile that was horrible to see. And the man on the floor screamed. For he
saw white teeth and the canines on either side were long and pointed. Wentworth
had fitted celluloid points over his own teeth.
"Those," said Wentworth, "are the fangs of the Spider. You
wouldn't force me to use them, would you?" He leaned even closer to the man,
baring those pointed white teeth again. "Talk, fool!"
The Spider Ring Though it had been featured prominently on the covers since the first issue
-- probably as a nod to The Shadow's signature ring -- the Spider Ring was not
mentioned in the novels until that sixth issue, "Citadel of Hell." Not
coincidentally, this is the first issue that offers readers the opportunity to
order their own replica of the Spider
Ring -- for 25 cents in coin or stamp, and the promise to curtail crime in
their neighborhood.
(The only other premium offered by the magazine would be a Spider Pencil, with the spider seal where
the eraser would be. In 1941 Wentworth ditched the cigarette lighter as a
spider-branding device to hawk this mechanical pencil, which today is scarcer
than the Spider Ring, but in less demand.)
NEXT: The Serials