# Spider-Slayer
The **Spider-Slayer** is a series of robots in [Marvel Comics](https://www.edgepedia.org/marvel-comics) built to capture or kill [Spider-Man](https://www.edgepedia.org/spider-man), beginning with a machine created by the inventor Spencer Smythe and operated by [J. Jonah Jameson](https://www.edgepedia.org/j-jonah-jameson) in *The Amazing Spider-Man* #25 (cover-dated March 1965, released June 1965)[1](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Spider-Slayer_Mark_I) • [2](https://www.keycollectorcomics.com/issue/amazing-spider-man-1-25-2%2C26683/). The name also belongs to Alistair Smythe, Spencer's son, who inherited the project and later used Spider-Slayer as his own alias[3](https://my.comics.org/character/18309/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| First appearance | *The Amazing Spider-Man* #25, cover-dated March 1965, released June 1965, written by Stan Lee and drawn by Steve Ditko[1](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Spider-Slayer_Mark_I) • [2](https://www.keycollectorcomics.com/issue/amazing-spider-man-1-25-2%2C26683/) |
| Original builder | Spencer Smythe, who convinced J. Jonah Jameson to use the robot to capture Spider-Man and reveal his identity[1](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Spider-Slayer_Mark_I) |
| Mark I equipment | Built to track anything with spider DNA, armed with unbreakable coils, and fitted with a two-way audio/video monitor displaying the controller's face[1](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Spider-Slayer_Mark_I) |
| Numbered line | The Marvel Database lists Spider-Slayer Marks I through XXI, plus alternate-reality, animated, and video game versions[4](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Spider-Slayer) |
| Alistair Smythe debut | *Amazing Spider-Man Annual* #19 (November 1985); his secret identity is the Spider-Slayer[3](https://my.comics.org/character/18309/) |
| Notable later appearance | "The Resolute Spider-Slayer!" story in *The Amazing Spider-Man* (2025) #16[5](https://presque.cool/marvel-archive/issues/119358/the_amazing_spider_man_2025_16/) |
## Origin and the Mark I
The first Spider-Slayer was created by Spencer Smythe, an inventor who convinced J. Jonah Jameson, the publisher of the *Daily Bugle*, to use the robot as a tool to capture and defeat Spider-Man and to reveal his true identity[1](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Spider-Slayer_Mark_I). The machine was built to track anything with spider DNA and was armed with unbreakable coils designed to overwhelm and restrict an opponent[1](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Spider-Slayer_Mark_I). Jameson operated it himself, watching through a two-way audio/video monitor that displayed his face on the robot's "face" screen[1](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Spider-Slayer_Mark_I) • [6](https://assets.uscannenberg.org/journals/ijpc/changing-depiction-of-journalism-in-american-comic-books-andrew-alan-smith.pdf). In the issue's story, Smythe and Jameson send the robot after Spider-Man and nearly defeat him before Spider-Man wins the fight[7](https://comicvine.gamespot.com/the-amazing-spider-man-25-captured-by-j-jonah-jame/4000-7834/).
The issue is also a key Silver Age comic for other reasons: it contains the first cameo appearance of [Mary Jane Watson](https://www.edgepedia.org/mary-jane-watson), whose face is obscured by a tree, although she does not appear in full until *The Amazing Spider-Man* #42[2](https://www.keycollectorcomics.com/issue/amazing-spider-man-1-25-2%2C26683/).
## The Smythe family
Spencer Smythe went on constructing Spider-Slayers beyond the Mark I. The 1991 character update for the Marvel Super Heroes role-playing game states that Spencer Smythe, an inventor who sold a number of his lethal machines to Jameson, created the first four robots as well as the Mark VI model.[8](https://mshgamer.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/TSR6903.MU7_.GHOTMU.Character.Updates.1991.pdf) The Mark II was built in a more humanoid form than the Mark I[8](https://mshgamer.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/TSR6903.MU7_.GHOTMU.Character.Updates.1991.pdf).
**Alistair Smythe.** Alistair grew up surrounded by his father's experiments and prototypes, which had been commissioned by Jameson[9](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Alistaire_Smythe_%28Earth-616%29). When Spencer died, Alistair inherited the Spider-Slayer legacy and gained a new-found hatred toward Spider-Man[10](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Spencer_Smythe_%28Earth-616%29). He first appeared in *Amazing Spider-Man Annual* #19 (November 1985), where the Grand Comics Database records Spider-Slayer as his secret identity[3](https://my.comics.org/character/18309/).
During one of his attacks on the *Bugle*, Alistair confronted Spider-Man using reconstructions of every Spider-Slayer previously deployed against him, together with two new machines: a small unit built to attach itself to Spider-Man's face and use radiation to reach into his mind, and a bigger, six-armed unit said to be perhaps stronger than anything he had built before[9](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Alistaire_Smythe_%28Earth-616%29).
## Models and variants
The Spider-Slayers form a numbered line. The Marvel Database disambiguation page lists Marks I through XXI, along with alternate-reality versions in universes such as the [Ultimate Universe](https://www.edgepedia.org/ultimate-universe) (Earth-1610) and Marvel Adventures (Earth-20051), animated versions including the 1967 Spider-Man cartoon and *Marvel's Spider-Man*, and video game versions in titles such as *Marvel Heroes* and *Marvel Strike Force*[4](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Spider-Slayer).
Individual models are tracked by collectors as key issues. The Mark III first appeared in *The Amazing Spider-Man* #105[11](https://comicspriceguide.com/titles/the-amazing-spider-man/105/yhqto). Comic Vine describes the first Spider-Slayer that Spider-Man encountered during the "Invasion of the Spider-Slayers" storyline as an alien-like robot with razor-sharp talons and a tail[12](https://comicvine.gamespot.com/spider-slayers/4060-59683/), and notes that the original Spider-Slayers were funded by Jameson[13](https://comicvine.gamespot.com/spider-slayers/4060-59683/characters/).
## Other media
The Spider-Slayers have appeared in animation, games, and tabletop media. In the continuity of *Spider-Man: The Animated Series* (1994), [Alistair Smythe](https://www.edgepedia.org/alistair-smythe) was paralyzed in an accident for which his father Spencer blamed himself; after Spencer's death, Smythe was hired by the Kingpin to continue his father's work designing and constructing an array of Spider-Slayer robots intended to hunt down and eliminate Spider-Man, and the Kingpin later had Herbert Landon transform Alistair into a Spider-Slayer robot himself, programmed to destroy Spider-Man[14](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Alistair_Smythe_%28Earth-92131%29) • [15](https://www.knowitalljoe.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Spiderman-Animated-Series-Writers-Guide.pdf).
The robots have also crossed into games and tabletop media, including a card called "Spider-Slayer, Hated Hired" in the Magic: The Gathering Marvel's Spider-Man set[16](https://media.wizards.com/2025/downloads/card-sets/SPM_Cardlist_09182025.pdf), and the character remains active in current comics, with a 2025 issue of *The Amazing Spider-Man* carrying the story title "The Resolute Spider-Slayer!"[5](https://presque.cool/marvel-archive/issues/119358/the_amazing_spider_man_2025_16/).
## References
1. [Spider-Slayer Mark I, Marvel Database](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Spider-Slayer_Mark_I)
2. [Amazing Spider-Man #25 (1965), Key Collector Comics](https://www.keycollectorcomics.com/issue/amazing-spider-man-1-25-2%2C26683/)
3. [Alistair Smythe, Grand Comics Database](https://my.comics.org/character/18309/)
4. [Spider-Slayer (disambiguation), Marvel Database](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Spider-Slayer)
5. [The Amazing Spider-Man (2025) #16, Marvel Archive](https://presque.cool/marvel-archive/issues/119358/the_amazing_spider_man_2025_16/)
6. [The Changing Depiction of Journalism in American Comic Books, Andrew Alan Smith](https://assets.uscannenberg.org/journals/ijpc/changing-depiction-of-journalism-in-american-comic-books-andrew-alan-smith.pdf)
7. [The Amazing Spider-Man #25, Comic Vine](https://comicvine.gamespot.com/the-amazing-spider-man-25-captured-by-j-jonah-jame/4000-7834/)
8. [GHOTMU Character Updates 1991, Marvel Super Heroes RPG](https://mshgamer.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/TSR6903.MU7_.GHOTMU.Character.Updates.1991.pdf)
9. [Alistaire Smythe (Earth-616), Marvel Database](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Alistaire_Smythe_%28Earth-616%29)
10. [Spencer Smythe (Earth-616), Marvel Database](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Spencer_Smythe_%28Earth-616%29)
11. [The Amazing Spider-Man #105, Comics Price Guide](https://comicspriceguide.com/titles/the-amazing-spider-man/105/yhqto)
12. [Spider-Slayers (Team), Comic Vine](https://comicvine.gamespot.com/spider-slayers/4060-59683/)
13. [Spider-Slayers Members, Comic Vine](https://comicvine.gamespot.com/spider-slayers/4060-59683/characters/)
14. [Alistair Smythe (Earth-92131), Marvel Database](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Alistair_Smythe_%28Earth-92131%29)
15. [Spider-Man Animated Series Writer's Guide](https://www.knowitalljoe.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Spiderman-Animated-Series-Writers-Guide.pdf)
16. [Magic: The Gathering, Marvel's Spider-Man card list](https://media.wizards.com/2025/downloads/card-sets/SPM_Cardlist_09182025.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Fictional worlds and series reference apparatus › Fictional universes, characters, and attribute reference › Individual fictional characters (comics, film, television, and novels) › Comic book characters*
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