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Richard Fisk

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"The Rose (comics)" redirects here. For other topics, see Rose (disambiguation).

Richard Fisk
Richard Fisk as depicted in Web of Spider-Man #30 (September 1987).
Art by Steve Geiger.
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceThe Amazing Spider-Man #83 (April 1970)
Created byStan Lee (writer)
John Romita Sr. (artist)
In-story information
Alter egoRichard Fisk
SpeciesHuman
Team affiliationsHydra
Notable aliasesThe Schemer, The Rose, The Blood Rose
AbilitiesMartial artist
High-level intellect
Carries a handgun and a variety of mini-grenades
As Rose:
Wears a bulletproof suit

Richard Fisk is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #83 (April 1970) and was created by Stan Lee and John Romita Sr. He is the son of Wilson Fisk and Vanessa Fisk. Although originally portrayed as a villain, he later became an antihero.[1]

Richard Fisk appeared in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, voiced by Nick Jameson, and made a cameo appearance in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

Publication history

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The character Richard Fisk first appears as The Schemer in The Amazing Spider-Man #83 (April 1970), created by Stan Lee and John Romita Sr.[2] He first appeared as The Rose in The Amazing Spider-Man #253 (June 1984), but was not revealed as the Rose until The Amazing Spider-Man #286 (March 1987).[3]

Fictional character biography

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Richard Fisk grew up as a child of privilege, believing that his father Wilson Fisk was a respectable and honorable businessman. Wilson was sometimes abusive to Richard, but Richard still loved him. At one point he and his childhood friend Samuel Silke saw Wilson roughing up someone. It was when he was attending a prestigious college in Switzerland that he discovered that his father was, in reality, the Kingpin of Crime.[4] Realizing the luxuries of his youth had been financed by a criminal empire, Richard was distraught and vowed to make atonement for his father's crimes. When his parents received word that Richard had perished in a skiing accident, they suspected that it was really a suicide after Richard learned the truth of his father's identity. Heartbroken and furious that his son could have acted so spinelessly, the Kingpin sunk into a spell of depression.[volume & issue needed]

Operating as Schemer

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Cover of The Amazing Spider-Man #83. Art by John Romita Sr.

Not long afterward, a new gang emerged in New York, led by a mysterious figure calling himself the Schemer.[5] Unlike most gangs in New York, the Schemer's organization seemed bent solely on dismantling the Kingpin's empire. After a series of confrontations, the Kingpin and the Schemer finally met face to face. It was then that the Schemer revealed that his face was really a mask, and that his true face was that of Richard Fisk.[6] Richard explained that he had faked his death in the Alps and was striking back at his father using his own money. This final shock was too much for the Kingpin to bear, and he collapsed into catatonia. This finally made Richard realize how much he had hurt his father, and he set off to find a way to cure his comatose state.[volume & issue needed] Richard joined the international terrorist group Hydra, becoming a leader of the Nevada fragment of Hydra and eventually rising to the rank of Supreme Hydra.[7] Now with Hydra's expansive resources at his disposal, Richard was able to return his father to full health. The Kingpin, reconciled with his son, proved that he was back to normal by clandestinely taking over as ruler of Hydra.[volume & issue needed] However, it was soon revealed that the true leader of Hydra was the Nazi supervillain the Red Skull, and the Fisks had to team up with Captain America and the Falcon to stop the mad dictator. Richard was critically wounded in the final battle, and the Kingpin had his son placed in suspended animation, finally curing him by siphoning some life force from Spider-Man.[8]

Operating as Rose

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Several years later, Richard joined his father's organization, calling himself the Rose, a crime lord under the Kingpin's control. However, this was all a ruse to undermine the Kingpin's empire from within. Aiding Richard in this scheme were his good friend Alfredo Morelli and Ned Leeds, who was brainwashed to act as the supervillain the Hobgoblin. However, the Rose's subterfuge resulted in an explosive gang war that tore New York City apart. During a shoot-out, Richard shot and killed a police officer, an act that became a turning point for him - no longer could he consider himself morally superior to his father. After Leeds' death and the end of the gang war, Richard resigned himself to his birthright and rejoined the Kingpin's organization as himself. However, the desire to overthrow his father once again arose, and Richard and Alfredo plotted to make the Kingpin think that Richard was ready to inherit his father's position. Alfredo had plastic surgery to make himself look just like Richard (since he had more combat experience), and slowly began climbing the ladder of power. However, when the Kingpin was overthrown by the combined forces of Daredevil and Hydra, Alfredo betrayed his old friend by maintaining that he was truly Richard, and took over as the new Kingpin. Richard then became Blood Rose, a Punisher-like vigilante, and began gunning down criminals in a bloody purge of the city. After being caught by Spider-Man and arrested, Richard entered the Witness Protection Program.[3]

Years later, Wilson Fisk once again regained the mantle of the Kingpin, and Richard re-emerged to public life and rejoined the Kingpin's organization, once again vowing to never again attempt to overthrow his father. However, upon meeting his old childhood friend, the ambitious enforcer Silke, Richard thought that he at last had found the perfect way to make his father pay for his crimes. Silke's assassination attempt nearly did succeed, stabbing and seriously wounding the Kingpin (already blinded from an earlier attempt on his life). However, Richard did not count on the tenacity of his mother Vanessa. Vanessa quickly made a startling counterstrike, eliminating the rebellion and selling her husband's territory so he could travel to Europe and recover. Richard cornered her, insisting that by getting rid of the Kingpin they could be free to have a new life, but Vanessa coldly shot her son dead, eliminating him as a threat once and for all.[9]

During the "Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy" storyline, Richard Fisk is among those revived in a cloned body by Ben Reilly's Jackal alias.[10] He later dies from clone degeneration when the Carrion virus was unleashed.[11]

After Wilson Fisk becomes the mayor of New York, he obtains the Tablet of Life and Destiny and the Tablet of Death and Entropy and uses them to resurrect Richard Fisk, who reassumes the Rose persona and later becomes an independent crime lord.[12][13][14]

Powers and abilities

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Richard Fisk has no superhuman powers. However, he is trained in the use of guns and has some martial arts training. He is highly intelligent and also has a number of criminal contacts.

Equipment

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As the Rose, he wears a bulletproof three-piece suit. He always carries a handgun and often a variety of mini-grenades as well.

Other versions

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An alternate universe variant of Richard Fisk from Earth-200111 appears in the Punisher Max story arc "Kingpin". This version is a child who was killed by mob boss Rigoletto.[15]

In other media

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Richard Fisk (left) and Tombstone (right) as depicted in Spider-Man.

References

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  1. ^ Cowsill, Alan; Manning, Matthew K. (2012). Spider-Man Chronicle: Celebrating 50 Years of Web-Slinging. DK Publishing. p. 53. ISBN 978-0756692360.
  2. ^ DeFalco, Tom; Sanderson, Peter; Brevoort, Tom; Teitelbaum, Michael; Wallace, Daniel; Darling, Andrew; Forbeck, Matt; Cowsill, Alan; Bray, Adam (2019). The Marvel Encyclopedia. DK Publishing. p. 309. ISBN 978-1-4654-7890-0.
  3. ^ a b The Amazing Spider-Man #286 (March 1987)
  4. ^ Daredevil #29 (June 1967)
  5. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #83 (April 1970)
  6. ^ Brevoort, Tom; DeFalco, Tom; Manning, Matthew K.; Sanderson, Peter; Wiacek, Win (2017). Marvel Year By Year: A Visual History. DK Publishing. p. 145. ISBN 978-1465455505.
  7. ^ Captain America #148 (April 1972)
  8. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #164 (January 1977)
  9. ^ Daredevil (vol. 2) #31 (May 2002)
  10. ^ Clone Conspiracy #2 (January 2017)
  11. ^ Clone Conspiracy #5 (April 2017)
  12. ^ Giant-Size Amazing Spider-Man: King's Ransom one-shot (July 2021)
  13. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 6) #1 (June 2022)
  14. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 6) #40-42 (February - March 2024)
  15. ^ Punisher Max #1-5 (November 2009 - March 2010)
  16. ^ a b "Richard Fisk Voices (Marvel Universe)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved September 21, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  17. ^ Liu, Narayan (December 18, 2018). "Into the Spider-Verse's Kingpin Is ALMOST a Sympathetic Villain". CBR. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
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