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This is starting to sound like a bad comic book plot This character is non-canon to Spider-Man: The Animated Series.
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Puppet Master is an enemy of the Fantastic Four that uses a special type of clay to control peoples minds when he creates a sculpture of them.
History[]
Puppet Master first decided to test his mind controlling clay by putting a man under a trance after molding a sculpture after him. The Puppet Master then had the man go to the top of a bridge and ordered him to leap to his death. However, before the man could jump, the Human Torch flew up and took hold of him and carried him to safety. As the Puppet Master touched the sculpture, it burned his fingers and his blind stepdaughter, Alicia Masters (who is unaware that he is a criminal) ran in to see if he was alright. Alicia attempts to help the Puppet Master. However, he refuses her help and said that she is only his stepdaughter and no child of his. Puppet Master then watches a live news report on television about the Fantastic Four and becomes jealous because they had greater power then him.
Puppet Master then created a clay sculpture of the Thing and ordered Thing to come to his home which he did. However, before he left, Thing and Mister Fantastic had an argument so when he left the Invisible Woman decided to follow him to make sure he was alright. When they got to the Puppet Master's home, Thing was greeted by Alicia who also sensed the presence of the Invisible Woman. Puppet Master then realized that the Invisible Woman was also in his home so, he released sleeping gas into the room and Sue Storm passed out. Puppet Master then used his skills to make Alicia look like the Invisible Woman. As Alicia leaves the room, the Puppet Master tells the Thing that when he returns to the Baxter Building with Alicia dressed as the Invisible Woman that he will kill Mister Fantastic and the Human Torch. After they leave, the Puppet Master reveals that he plans to use his mind control clay to take over the minds of several criminals in order to create an army so that he can take over New York City and that the only thing standing in his way is the Fantastic Four.
At that moment, the Puppet Master made a clay figure to look like a prisoner named Slash Curtis. Puppet Master then has Slash start a prison riot so that he and several other criminals can escape. However, there is a giant security that prevents prisoners from escaping. The Puppet Master planned for this and after seeing Warden Butler on the television he finishes his clay sculpture of him. Puppet Master then has the warden open the security gate. A few moments later, Alicia and the Thing get to the Baxter Building. When Johnny Storm opens the door, Thing attacks him and Mister Fantastic. However, Mister Fantastic is easily able to snap Thing out of his trance. Thing, Human Torch, and Mister Fantastic then realize that the woman is not really Sue Storm but, Alicia Masters. The three members of the Fantastic Four then go to save the Invisible Woman from the Puppet Master.
When the Fantastic Four gets to the Puppet Master's hideout, the Puppet Master is able to escape but they manage to save the Invisible Woman. The Fantastic Four then headed to the prison and was able to end the prison riot. Mister Fantastic then realized that in the event that the Puppet Master failed he would have set some clay aside for emergencies and that he would go after Alicia. The four then head to her home. At that moment, the Puppet Master confronts Alicia and gets his final puppet, which is a puppet of him as king of the world. Puppet Master then tells Alicia that as soon as he subjects the world to his puppet kings, presidents and armies will do his bidding. His first act would be to tear down the United Nations, the White House, and the Pentagon so that all the world's power would only reside with him alone. Puppet Master also reveals that he will also make the Fantastic Four his slaves. Alicia could not allow her stepfather to do this so she grabbed the puppet from out of his hand and during their struggle Puppet Master fell out of a window. When the Fantastic Four arrived, they search for the Puppet Master, but he was nowhere to be found.
Non-canon history[]
Puppet Master appeared in Adventures of Spider-Man #6.
Phillip Masters was business partners with a man named Jacob Reiss. Together, they created a radioactive clay. Jacob had a nice family which included his wife, Marcia, and his daughter, Alicia. Philip grew jealous of Jacob's relationship with Marcia and attempted to sabotage their research. However, Jacob caught Phillip in the act. The two of them fought and Phillip ended up pushing Jacob into a vat of the radioactive clay which killed him. When Jacob fell into the vat of clay, it also caused a chain reaction and the clay exploded. Phillip, Marcia, and Alicia survived the explosion. However, the explosion burned Alicia retinas and blinded her. Later, Phillip married Marcia and became Alicia's stepfather. However, Marcia ended up passing away.
Several years later, Philip Masters discovered that the radioactive clay he created could be used to control people's minds when molded into their likeness. Philip Masters, now calling himself Puppet Master, used the clay to have people commit crimes for him. This brought Puppet Master into conflict with the Fantastic Four. Puppet Master would fight the Fantastic Four several times, sometimes aided by the Mad Thinker.
When Puppet Master learned that Alicia was holding an exhibit of her art at Four Freedoms Plaza, he decided to get revenge on the Fantastic Four. Puppet Master once again partnered with the Mad Thinker. Mad Thinker created a robot of the Thing that he could control with his mind. Puppet Master and Mad Thinker were able to secretly replace Alicia's sculpture of the Thing with Mad Thinker's Thing android. Puppet Master also coated Mad Thinker in concrete and sneaked him into Alicia's exhibit posing as one of Alicia's sculptures.
At the night of the art exhibit, Puppet Master arrived at Four Freedoms Plaza and crashed Alicia's party. Mad Thinker then had the Thing android activate and attack Human Torch and Spider-Man, who was there as Peter Parker taking pictures for the Daily Bugle. Puppet Master then molded a clay figure of Spider-Man and took control of his mind and had him attack Human Torch. However, Human Torch knew that Puppet Master could only control one person at a time and used his flames to destroy the Thing android. Alicia Masters was then able to get a hold of the clay Spider-Man figure and destroy it which released Spider-Man from Puppet Master's control. Mad Thinker then broke out of his clay coating and he and Puppet Master were able to escape Four Freedoms Plaza.
Equipment[]
Puppet Master has no natural superhuman powers, but he is able to control the minds of others by sculpting their image from his neurokinetic clay.
In the comics[]
Born in the Balkan country of Transia, Phillip Masters moved to the U.S. at a young age. He was a talented biologist and eventually became the research partner of a man named Jacob Reiss. Together, he and Reiss developed a special radioactive clay. Resentful of Reiss's success, Masters killed his partner during Masters's botched robbery of their lab, triggering an explosion that blinded Reiss's daughter, Alicia Reiss. Phillip Masters later married Reiss's widow and adopted Alicia and they changed their last name to Masters. Phillip Masters soon discovered that the radioactive clay had the power to mentally control someone if he molded a sculpture of that person. Masters then turned to a life of crime and began to call himself the Puppet Master. This brought him into conflict with the Fantastic Four. The Fantastic Four was then able to show the Puppet Masters true nature to Alicia who turned against him. Alicia then began a relationship with the Thing and the Puppet Master would be sent to prison and would escape time and time again to plague the Fantastic Four.
Appearances[]
Fantastic Four: The Animated Series[]
- The Origin of the Fantastic Four, Part One
- The Origin of the Fantastic Four, Part Two
Trivia[]
- Puppet Master appeared in issue six of the Adventures of Spider-Man comic book but he did not appear in the Spider-Man: The Animated Series.
- Puppet Master was voiced by Neil Ross in Fantastic Four: The Animated Series.
- Ross also voiced Green Goblin in Spider-Man: The Animated Series.