Trying to research Black Spider from DC can be a dizzying experience, due to the character’s variations of the years. Probably the most popular goes by the name Eric Needham. He is seen in the original Detective Comics, issue 463. Here we see him for the first time, get a taste of his character traits, and get an interesting story to boot.
The story, called “Death-Web”, starts with Batman tracking down a couple drug dealers with thirty pounds of pure cut heroin. One of them dies from a car explosion, and injures Batman’s shoulder in the process. His butler and confidant Alfred bandages his arm, and Batman goes out to investigate. When another is killed, Batman traces the gunshot to a rooftop. This is when we get to see Black Spider, DC’s Eric Needham, for the first time.
Batman’s first interaction with DC’s Black Spider is a surprise. It turns out that Black Spider had been inspired by Batman, emulating him to bring scum to permanent justice. Black Spider had already killed that day, enough to get Batman’s attention. Due to Batman’s injured shoulder, he gets his butt whooped, and the rifle that he used to kill people was left with Batman in order to frame him.
In the following issue, Batman unmasks Black Spider, and we discover that Eric Needham was a heroin junkie for six years. It turns out that he intends to literally have a war on drugs, and murder the people who are responsible for what happened to him. Black Spider seemingly dies from a bomb explosion, which concludes the story. It’s a shame that Batman and Black Spider from DC could never team up. They both intend on improving the world and ridding it of harmful narcotics, but Batman draws the line when killing is involved.
Black Spider from DC is the ideal role model for any aspiring vigilante who wants to take up a life of crime-fighting and murder. Who needs Batman’s strict moral code and non-lethal methods when you can be inspired by a heroin junkie who kills drug dealers and frames innocent people? And if you’re lucky, you might even get caught in a bomb explosion and die a heroic death, just like Black Spider did. Truly, a character worth looking up to. You would think that Detective Comics 463 might be worth a lot of money, since it introduces Black Spider. However, it’s neither rare nor expensive. This is why you should grab it right now to see the story first-hand.