What’s your thoughts on the villain, Tombstone?
Discussion
I don’t know if it’s his unique look, the fact that he was one of the first Spiderman antagonists that I came to know in TAS, or if it’s because his name is the same as a finishing move of one of my favorite genres, but I have always been intrigued by Tombstone; he may be one of my favorite Spiderman characters. I still want to read some of his appearances in comics, but I have always enjoyed his on-screen roles. I especially love the fact that following his position as hired gun in TAS, he was written to be full-on crime boss. Even in Into The Spider-verse when he was once again a henchman , the fact that he was utilized was somewhat unexpected given that the average movie-goer wouldn’t recognize him.
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hes fine, although i feel like he's kind of an off brand kingpin. not many interpretation get him good except for spectacular spider-man which made him really interesting
I liked the biker gang take the new games did, still a crime boss but not king pin 2
yeah that was new and interesting angle. not my favorite but probably the most unique and the one that gave him the most to work with as a character
yeah and his redemption arc in the second one!
loved that for him
Not every redemption is an "arc", in SM2 he just showed up as a reformed bad guy with no on-screen journey. Not that it's bad that they handled it that way
I am the marketing department
i am the bomb squad
Agreed. Still makes him the criminal mastermind type but in a much more aggressive environment matching his personality. I really like it!
i mean he was basically kingpin in that 😂
I was gonna say. If you want to criticize him for being off brand Kingpin, then don't praise the version where he is literally a substitute for Kingpin
Wasn't it spectacular Spider-Man that made him that? When he first appeared in the comics, he was a sadistic enforcer/hitman who knew Robbie Robertson as a kid.
A really underrated member of the Rogues Gallery.
Awesome villain.
Very rare for a comic book character to give you shivers IRL. When he broke MJ's arm and crippled Joe Robertson I genuinely feared for their lives.
Loved him in Spectacular Spider-man
When he immediately takes Spidey to school--a more than worthy foe.
Keith David is always a win.
Fun fact- Keith David only voiced Tombstone in the pilot. Every episode afterward, he was voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson. But the voice acting is so good and smooth that it's hard to notice the difference!
Fuckin seriously mate?????
I find the relationship that Spider-Man and Robbie have is made better by him as the villain. It makes some more interesting character dynamics. He’s not a very good villain though, as he can be taken out pretty quickly.
Spider-Man's worst enemies are people in suits, Kingpin wears a suit, Tombstone wears a suit, Morlun wears a suit. Green Goblin doesn't wear suit, but what does Norman Osborne wear outside the Goblin outfit?, a suit. I rest my case.
Doc Ock sometimes wears a suit
This actually makes a lot of sense thematically. Peter was unique when he was introduced because he was a working class superhero. So of course his absolute worst enemies have aesthetics that connotes wealth and positions of power through wealth.
Underrated for real. Tombstone is a scary guy who's really hard to do any lasting damage to
Tell that to Wells who had Wilson Fisk beating the guy and making him bleed like nothing.
I get kingpin is freakishly strong but they make him Superhuman at times
Kingpin and Cap should never be Superhuman, just the peak of human conditions
I disagree on Cap. They created him to be that special it wouldn't make sense for them to fiend after the super soldier serum that hard if it just made a fit guy when they made similar many times over
Facts
Wells has a boner for him. That coupled with his scary black man archetype kinda ruins him for me
i dont get the second part of your comment. theres tons of villains of different colours that are just as menacing
He used to be a stereotype of an angry and scary black man. He has improved a bit since then, but he has now turned into a knock off Fisk.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ScaryBlackMan https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AngryBlackManStereotype
Depends on the run. He was semi-interesting on Spectacular Spider-man(the comics) due to his relationship with Robertson, but I think it was Spectacular Spider-man(the animated series) that showed how cool of a villain he could be if used properly.
Really like him. The backstory with Robbie distinguishes him from all the other crime bosses. One of the few bright spots of the Wells run (except of course when he was hospitalized for 10 issues).
He is one of the villains ever made
A budget Kingpin but different enough. He filled the void for Spidey when Kingpin was being monopolized in the Daredevil books. Plus I always thought the name Tombstone and his powerset was really great.
Creepy cool
At his best in spectacular. I wish he was a rival to kingpin in the comics.
The Spectacular animated series was the only attempt to ever use him to his full potential.
i like him. street lefel villain 👍
Extremely Underrated and looked over
I love Tombstone
He's an absolute classic, imo
I love how in his early appearances, his dialogue was always written in a whisper-style textbox. He never raises his voice. He speaks quietly. He has no need to shout. If you want to know what he's saying, you're forced to lean in and make yourself vulnerable.
A genuine cold-hearted killer who started as a sadistic hitman before getting a bit too ambitious and thinking he has what it takes to run the show. I see some calling him a knock-off Kingpin, but he's really not. He's pure fear. He filed his damn teeth!
Of course, Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon made him the main Big Man and incorporated a lot of Fisky elements into his character, primarily because they didn't have the rights to Kingpin. He wasn't much of a crime boss before that. But also, that version of the character is excellent, so y'know.
I love how for the most part, he's really reasonable to talk with, as crimelord type in the comics or Spectacular Spider-Man, or in the Marvel's Insomniac games, and biker gang who reformed his image, and knows he's better off on the straight and narrow.
He can fly?
He’s standing on a construction beam I believe
So he is. It looked a bit more vertical to me at first glance
Yea I had the same thought lol confusing perspective
That and Spideys neck are super wonky
I have no clue what he can do, All I can remember is his daughter being The Beetle in Superior Foes.
Love him! Check out Web of Spider-Man #68 ' Tombstone Territory' One of my favourite 90s Spider-Man comics! Tombstone is great in it!!
Bad ass character design and cool character in The Spectacular Spider-Man. I know nothing about him beyond that show and the little I saw of him in the Fox animated series as a kid.
Fucking awful design for him in those Insomniac games though, dear god.
If anyone's got any good Pre-2008 issues featuring him, I'm all ears.
Really like Spectacular's take on him being the big man of crime (so basically kingpin), I feel Tombstone fits better among Spider-man's rogues than Fisk tbh
I like him a lot. Spectacular Spider-Man did him the best
Pretty bland, even after getting his powers.
I think Insomniacs adaptation is the best one.
Edit: my bad y’all, I wanted to add that in the Spectacular Spiderman series he was written to be a total mob boss, which also made him badass to me
Dude is albino luke cage
I love him although let’s be real, he is an albino Luke Cage power set wise, and otherwise, a discount Kingpin
Love the Spectacular Spider-Man version and while I guess in theory I should like his role in the Wells run (I mean, he's the most competently written character there), for whatever reason I'm not only not on board with it but also has been getting on my nerves ever since that wet fart of an event called Gang War
He’s a great villain. In comics and TAS he managed to give Robbie a bit more background. In the Spectacular animated series, he was a philanthropist/mob boss who while doing things like opening up a youth center in impoverished communities, didn’t really care about Spider-Man as long as he wasn’t interfering with the smaller time crime that he profited off of. He was a pragmatic villain. I think Wells is trying to make him more like his Spectacular incarnation.
Love how he was redone in the video game.
He gave one of the best lines in the 90s animated series.
"Come down here and fight me like a man!😡" "Eh. Yeah. I cannot convince you to cllimb up and fight me like a spider? 😅😀"
Fans- "Spider-Man always holds back"
Me- "So he's choosing to get his ass beat by Tombstone?"
Lol basically
He’s is hands down the most underrated Spider-Man villain, that’s probably due to his shitty iteration in the Insomniac Spider-Man Games, but him in the Spectacular Spider-Man and Into the Spider-Verse, HE’S GOOD ASF
His initial arc was absolutely terrifying. That moment when he turned up in MJ'w mirror made me jump, and I was constantly on edge when he was in prison with Robbie. Sal Buscema was perfect for him.
"There is no sin a man can't commit in the process of feeding himself" genuinely goes hard
Rather see kingpin
I feel the other way, kingpin is overused imo
That’s fair, lol someone else mentioned that he’s an off-brand Wilson Fisk and I get that; I guess if nothing else, his look sets him apart from Kingpin
Kingpin needs rivals and enforcers. Tombstone can easily be fit into either role depending on the version.
He would have been a great Batman villain. But doesn't really work as a Spidey villain for me.
that girder should’ve fell
Pretty neat
Don't know much about him, but he was a fun boss fight in Spiderman ps4
I feel like he would have been an ideal second villain for Tom Holland
Spectacular Spider-Man gave us the best version but I find he’s an underutilized character I mean he didn’t even get a speaking role in Spider Verse
What is anatomy
A guy
Great, I don't like when kingpin can physically fight with spider-man, so I like having tombstone fill that role
In this issue, despite the cover, Spider-Man beats the hell out of tombstone at the end
Confusing vilain.... the fsct that he restrained and hurt soidey in Wells' run makes me wonder how strong he is.... like, this is above Fisk's strength... but should it be?
Works better as a Daredevil Villain same with Tombstone. Honestly Tombstone and Hammerhead should've been the main villains of Daredevil Season 2.
He is getting the best writing he ever had right now but I loved his stories in spectacular spiderman
I generally like him as part of Spidey's arsenal, but there's definitely an air of "We can't use Kingpin right now, so here's non-union counterpart". Hammerhead is similar, but he's in a spot where he's less intimidating then both while also feeling more special.
This cover gives me anxiety
Love him, for what I’ve seen on him, most stories involving him have the writers come up with creative ways to be combatted.
He's a really interesting character but I first learnt about him from the 90's Spider-Man series
Same; that’s why I got so excited when I first saw him in spectacular Spider-Man years ago
You think of a piledriver, I think of pizza
😂😂😂that crossed my mind too
he is ok, but spidey can crush stone
Typical gangster boss