Name: Spider Bloke

Alias’: Ricky Murdock

Birthplace: London, UK

Based: London, UK

Height: 5 ft 11 in

Powers/Skills: None at all… it’s pretty pathetic really. He does however digest his food by vomiting on it.

Weaknesses: He has all the inherent weaknesses of a spider, so he is prone to being washed down plug holes. He can be easily killed by dropping a book on him. He attracts spiders wherever he goes and often has thousands crawling over his body. He also suffers from Arachnophobia, which you can imagine is a bit of a problem.

Ricky Murdock is the son of prize winning nuclear scientist, Dr Richard Murdock.

Dr Murdock would often take his son along to his laboratories to witness all manor of cruel and inhuman experiments. The experiences left young Ricky traumatized and incredibly shy. He refused to play with other children and spent much of his life locked away in his bedroom, playing with his pet spiders. He amassed a large collection of spiders, big and small and learned as much as he could about each and every one of them.

After annoying his volatile father on one trip to the laboratories, he was placed in a testing room and subjected to hours of radiation while buckets of his pet spiders were thrown at him (Ricky’s obsession with the spiders had often irritated Dr Murdock). Ricky’s father later claimed in a police report that he was simply trying to teach the boy some manners.

Ricky was taken into care and allowed no further contact with his father. He was quickly moved into a care home in Coventry, where he would spend the next four years of his life. Over a period of six months, after his torture, Ricky began experiencing some strange side effects.

The result of the (slightly sick) experiment, was that Ricky had become stricken with all of the weaknesses of a spider. As he took a morning shower, he was washed down the plug hole and out to sea… Later that day a sparrow tried to eat him, and someone dropped a book on his knee, almost killing him.

Despite possessing all of the weaknesses of a spider, he has none of the strengths. He digests his food outside of his body by vomiting on it (he usually eats alone). He also has to live in fear of small birds, keep clear of any open plug holes and at all costs, avoid being stepped on. He suffers from a crippling fear of spiders and spends much of his time cowering in corners, trying to escape the hordes of creatures that follow him everywhere he goes.

Hundreds of spiders have now started living on the superhero, spinning webs from his limbs and setting up home. As you can imagine, having hundreds of spiders living on you isn’t the most pleasant or convenient experience.