Marvel’s Most Famous Serial Killer is Back… As A HERO?

Fans of Spider-Man are seeing a familiar, murderous face as Sin-Eater has made his return in the Sins Rising story arc. And… he’s a good guy now? The new event is pulling from the character’s original debut (in 1985’s The Spectacular Spider-man #107) but setting him up to be a bigger player than ever. In The Amazing Spider-Man #46: Sins Rising Part Two, he’s already made quite an impression on the citizens of New York City.

After killing some villains in front of a crowd, Sin-Eater is applauded, and a video of the event even goes viral. He’s described as a hero the world needs by some bystanders interviewed by a news reporter. One bystander even compares him to the likes of The Punisher, only better. Spidey himself is conflicted about whether this new version of the psychopathic serial killer is doing good or bad. With his new introduction, Sin-Eater has the ability to cleanse sins from the people he shoots. In fact, he doesn’t really kill, since those he shoots come back to life reformed and without powers, if they had any to begin with. Sin-Eater is now starting to be seen as a sort of anti-hero.

It remains to be seen if Sin-Eater indeed makes the full transition to good, but if he does, he wouldn’t be the first Spidey villain to do so. The aforementioned Punisher first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #129  as an antagonist trying to kill Spider-Man before he became known as a hero. Some notable Spidey villains turned do-gooders are Black Cat, Morbius, and Sandman, among others. Perhaps the most famous, however, is Eddie Brock’s Venom. Eddie is somewhat similar to Sin-Eater, as both characters have to deal with a murderous personality in their head. Eddie fought his alien symbiote’s urges for years until he ultimately overcame them and started using his abilities for good. Stanley Carter, the alias of Sin-Eater, on the other hand, hasn’t had a good track record of dealing with his violent tendencies, and his murderous acts only ended when the character died.

However, even that apparently didn’t stop Sin-Eater as he’s back and seems to be in full control with no sign of Stanley’s murderous tendencies in sight. Another character that he shares the split personality dilemma with is Norman Osborn. Norman has also “played” hero before. Could Sin-Eater be following Osborn’s lead and just be putting on an act? The former Goblin makes an appearance in this issue as well, seeming reformed once again. Osborn is currently in charge of Ravencroft, per order of Mayor Wilson Fisk. The focus is all on the villains in this series, as many of Peter Parkers’ rouges are popping up in Sins Rising.

Spider-Man certainly has more to deal with than just typical villains in this series. Not only is Peter trying to cope with some conflicting thoughts towards Stanley, the fact that the very people he suits up to save are calling Sin-Eater a hero is not helping. Will Spidey overcome the difficulties to stop the (possibly) reformed villain or will he come to see Sin-Eater as a hero as well? Only time will tell.

The Amazing Spider-Man #46: Sins Rising Part Two is out now. The series is written by Nick Spencer. With the art team consisting of penciler Marcelo Ferreira, inker Roberto Poggi, and colorist David Curiel.

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