Tombstone’s Coming, and Hell’s Coming With Him
Tombstone: “I am L. Thompson Lincoln.”
The Spectacular Spider-Man “The Invisible Hand” (Season 1, Episode 6)
Spider-Man: “Yeah, right, you’re The Big Man!”
Tombstone: “I’ve been called many names in my life. My favorite is Tombstone.”
A man walks towards a ramshackle house. The owner borrowed more than he’s worth and the debt is due. The man knocks on the door, then pounds it when he doesn’t get a response. He smiles. He loves it when deadbeats give him a reason. The man shatters the door with a kick.
He wanders through the building before stumbling across two frightened teenagers. Something hits him in the back, making him stumble. The man sees the owner pointing a smoking shotgun at him. He grabs the barrel and pulls it to his forehead.
“Care to try again?” He whispers.
The second barrel fires at point blank range. It does even less damage now that he’s ready. The man breaks the gun in half and grabs the owner. Sharpened teeth bite into the owner’s skull as the teenagers scream. The man drops the corpse and turns back to them, scarlet blood dripping from chalk-white flesh. A cruel whisper fills the house.
“Daddy couldn’t pay his debt, so it’s yours with interest. You work for Tombstone now.”
Tombstone is one of Marvel’s lesser-known villains. He rose from enforcer to crime lord and now carves his own niche in the criminal underworld. So who is he? What makes him so dangerous? What is his hidden weak spot? Let’s find out.
Scene Select
Made Man: Tombstone’s Backstory
Tombstone: “All my life, I felt like a freak. What else do you call an albino, a Black man trapped in a White man’s skin? […] I was just a man. Now I’m a monster, and I love it. Yeah, ‘cold as ice and hard as marble.’ What else do you call a tombstone?”
Web of Spider-Man #68
Tombstone debuted in Web of Spider-Man #36 in 1988. He was created by Gerry Conway and Alex Saviuk to introduce a ruthless gangster into Spider-Man’s rogues gallery. The name came first and inspired Tombstone’s design.
Alonzo Lincoln was bullied as a child for being an Afro-albino. He became a bully and stole from other students. Among them was future Daily Bugle editor Robbie Robertson who remained too scared to expose Lincoln.
Lincoln chose Tombstone as his street name and became a mobster. Robbie kept tabs on him until an informant was murdered to get him off of Tombstone’s trail. Robbie eventually found the courage to reveal Tombstone’s crimes, nearly being killed in the process. Spider-Man saved him from the mobster.
Tombstone was freed from jail and became one of The Kingpin’s top enforcers. He fought Spider-Man several more times until Robbie interfered and shot him. The bullet knocked Lincoln into a chamber full of experimental gases that gave him superpowers. Tombstone emerged deadlier than ever. Thanks Robbie!
Family Business: Tombstone’s History
Tombstone: “Whoever wins today is gonna have everything. And they’re gonna need to be a monster to keep it. That’s not you, Janice. That’s me.”
Spider-Man: Gang War
Tombstone returned to work for The Kingpin, but began forming his own empire. He took over Hammerhead’s gang and recruited low-level supervillains. Tombstone broke away from The Kingpin to become a power player in the criminal underworld.
He got a push following the Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon. That series portrayed Tombstone as “The Big Man of Crime” because they didn’t have the rights to The Kingpin. That inspired writers to play up his intelligence in the comics. It paid off as Wilson Fisk retired and Tombstone became the new king of New York’s underworld..
Lincoln’s daughter Janice joined the family business and became The Beetle. Tombstone wanted her far from criminal life, acting as a corrupt lawyer so she could be a criminal safely. Following a gang war that cemented his power, Tombstone destroyed The Beetle’s armor and made her leave New York to keep her safe.
Cold-Blooded Killer: Tombstone’s Powers and Personality
Tombstone: “I offered you a handsome salary to do just the sort of thing you’ve done tonight. And instead, you’ve done The Big Man’s business for free. That, my heroic friend, is what grown-ups call irony.”
The Spectacular Spider-Man “Catalysts” (Season 1, Episode 7)
Tombstone originally lacked any powers. He was an unusually tall mobster with above average strength. He filed his teeth to make himself look more intimidating, like a shark or vampire. He always whispers to lure victims into biting range.
The gas gave Tombstone superhuman strength and durability. He is bulletproof, can resist extreme temperatures, and doesn’t need to breathe.
Tombstone is a thug and bully. He loves hurting others and becomes defensive whenever someone points out his failings. Raising Janice calmed Tombstone down and made him an effective mob boss. He lacks The Kingpin’s scope and class and compensates with violent strength.
The Actors Who Play Him
Dorian Harewood – Spider-Man: The Animated Series
Keith David and Kevin Michael Richardson – The Spectacular Spider-Man
Marvin “Krondon” Jones III – Spider-Man: into the Spiderverse, Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Eugene Byrd – Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
Abraham Popoola – Spider-Noir
Didya Get All That?
A schoolyard bully grown into a monster.
Image: Lonnie/Tombstone (Abraham Popoola) in SPIDER-NOIR. Photo: Courtesy of Prime. © Amazon Content Services LLC
Jared Bounacos has written for Movie Rewind since 2016.
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