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Background
Stan Carter was a SHIELD Agent who took part in a program to test a drug supposed to
increase his strength and resistance. It drove him insane, so the scientists had no
choice other than to purge the drugs from his system and suspend the program. Soon after that, Carter
abandoned SHIELD and became a Sergeant in New York's Police Department.
There, he met Captain Jean DeWolff, a friend of Spider-Man with whom Carter would have
an affair. After his partner was killed, Carter sunk in depression. He started drinking,
and the drugs' effects started coming up again. He was a very religious man, and in the
midst of his insanity, he decided he was needed to vanquish the sins of a corrupt
humankind, thus becoming the Sin-Eater. He first killed Jean DeWolff, for representing
the legal system that allowed his partner's death. He took Jean's badge, and wore it to
represent justice.
Spider-Man took Jean's murder really hard. He decided to work closely with the police
in order to catch the killer. The man in charge of the investigation was none other than
Stan Carter, who played Spidey for a fool. Later, Peter goes to a trial of some guys he
captured, and gets mad because Matt Murdock (Daredevil) sets them free. Murdock recognizes Peter
Parker as being Spider-Man. Later, in the Judge's chambers, Murdock tells him he feels
dirty, but the Judge doesn't take him seriously. Then he detects another presence: he
is able to dodge the shot from the Sin-Eater, but the Judge is not, and is killed.
Sin-Eater escapes, and Spider-Man is alerted and confronts him outside the courthouse.
When Spidey dodges a shot, it kills innocent bystanders. He notices the killer has
Jean's badge on his belt, and that Aunt May (who went to the court with him) is
uncounscious. The Sin-Eater uses that lapse of attention to flee. Daredevil, concerned
with his secret ID, arrives too late and berates himself.
The funerals of Captain Jean DeWolff and the Honorable Horace Rosenthal take place in
the same day. Matt Murdock, at the judge and his former teacher's grave, hears the
heartbeat of the killer amidst the other funeral party, but is unable to catch him
before he flees. Clearly Carter went to pay his last respect to Jean DeWolff. Later,
Carter goes to confession. He tells the priest about his doubts in his difficult mission.
The priest says he should follow his destiny. Carter thanks him, and kills him.
Days later, Spidey and Daredevil had combed the city and found no trace of the killer.
At the Bugle, a surprised Peter is present when Sin-Eater barges in, wanting JJJ's
head. Peter easily takes him down with the cylinder of a typewriter. The man was
revealed to be Emil Gregg, the same who had been giving anonymous interviews to Globe
journalist Eddie Brock (who later becomes Venom), and that had been revealed in that same morning paper by
Brock, who didn't want to give in, but was pressured by the police to do so. After
the cops arrest Gregg, Daredevil tells Spidey that that's the wrong man. They check
Gregg's apartment, and they find a door to the next one: the apartment of Stan
Carter. Daredevil finds a Sin-Eater costume there, and Spidey realises Jameson is
the next target. Apparently, Gregg, a delusional man, heard Carter's delusions and
plans, and thought he was hearing a divine voice. Thus, he believed he was the
Sin-Eater. Spidey goes to the Bugle, whic he reaches just in time to save Betty Brant
from the Sin-Eater. When he unmasks Carter, he begs for forgiveness, but
Spidey doesn't give in and he brutally beats him, with Daredevil being the only
reason why Carter survived, as he attacked Peter to stop him.
When a raging mob tried to lynch Carter outside the police station he was being
held in, Spidey and Daredevil watched on the station's rooftop. Spidey decided
to ignore it and leave, as Daredevil tried to save Carter. He couldn't do it alone,
and he called out "Peter!". Spidey then came to his senses and rescued them both.
Carter was returned to police custody, and Daredevil revealed himself as Matt
Murdock to Peter.
Months later, a panel of psychologists deemed Carter was cured, since SHEILD
assured that there was no longer any trace of the drugs in his system. Only
this time, Sin-Eater resided in him as a split personality. The Sin-Eater
persona walked around to his eyes only, and he shrugged off its arguments.
When Spidey hears of his release, he goes to his place, where he discovers the
traumatic truth: he left Carter permanently injured. Carter comes off as a
really repented guy, and Spidey can't handle the guilt and leaves. Sin-Eater
rejoices at Spidey's suffering, and Carter tries to hit him with his cane. Of
course, you can never really hit a figment of your imagination.
Meanwhile, Spidey's guilt prevents him from capturing Electro, as he's afraid
of laying a punch after witnessing what he did to Carter. Electro takes the
chance and almost kills Spidey, leaving him alive only to humiliate him more.
After Electro leaves, Carter prevents a mob from catching Spidey by threatening
them with a toy gun.
After being unable to get a job, Carter accepts the pressure from a P.R. agent
who was trying to make him write a book. He's slated to show up in a talk-show,
which prompts the anger of Spider-Man. Furious at Carter trying to make money
from his past, they argue live until Carter reveals that Spidey knew nothing
about Jean DeWolff, that they were lovers. Shocked, Spidey was ready to leave,
when Electro arrives. He challenges Spidey to a fight, but he's afraid to do it,
so Electro leaves laughing while Spidey is humiliated on national TV.
Deciding to make peace with Stan, Spidey drops by his house, and Carter tells
him to exorcise his own demons, as he's the only one who can do it. Spidey
leaves to exorcise Electro, who was holding up a power station and leaving
the city in the dark. Little did he know that by then, the Sin-Eater persona
had become too strong, and that Carter couldn't help it. He puts the mask on
and decides to go to the station too, to do some exorcising of his own.
At the station, Spidey faces his fears and takes down Electro. Outside, the
Sin-Eater faces the cops. Carter is taken down by the shots of at least 6
policemen, and as Spidey leaves the station, and dumps Electro in the arms of
a cop, the Sin-Eater Persona dissapears, and Carter says that now that the
Sin-Eater is dead, he can finally live. Spidey realises that Carter was so
delusional that he thought that he and the Sin-Eater were two different
people. Sergeant Tork, who was in charge of the police barrier around the
station, tells him that Carter had the last laugh: Sin-Eater's gun wasn't
loaded.
Thanks To:
Some of the above information is extracted from the various
versions of the Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe and the more recent
Marvel Encyclopaedias.
The assistance of the
Marvel Chronology Project is gratefully acknowledged.
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