Puppet Master

Marvel Team-Up #5-#6

by Gil Kane, 1972

The Puppet Master discovers the alien Monstroid in a crashed spacecraft. He puts the android under his control using his unique puppets, and attempts to use the creature to gain revenge against the Fantastic Four. In an ill-conceived plan, he uses the Monstroid to rob a jewelry store, and then invades an empty Fantastic Four headquarters. While waiting for the Fantastic Four to return, the Puppet Master and Monstroid were discovered and defeated by Spider-Man and the Vision.

The Thing returned to find Spider-Man standing over the unconscious Puppet Master. In a twisted origin, the Puppet Master reveals that he Alicia Master's step-father and the cause of her blindness. In a jealous rage, he rigged an explosion that killed his former partner and blinded Alicia Master's. He successfully wooed his partner's widow and ended up marrying her. Feeling guilty over the damaged he caused, the Puppet Master unsuccessfully searched for a cure for Alicia's blindness before turning to a life of crime.

Claiming he was taking them to the site of his former laboratory, The Puppet Master lured the Thing, Spider-Man, and Alicia Masters to an underground hideaway he shared with the Mad Thinker. The pair attempted to lure the Thing and Spider-Man into deathtraps, but was unsuccessful. After their defeat, one or the other blew up the underground hideout to cover their escape.