Thomas Ludlow Hallaway (New Earth)



Real Name: Tom Ludlow Hallaway Nicknames: No known nicknames Former Aliases: No known former aliases Other Current Aliases: No other known current aliases

Status
Occupation: Adventurer Legal Status: Legal status unknown Identity: Secret Marital Status: Marital status unknown Group Affiliation: Freedom Fighters, Seven Soldiers of Victory Base of Operations: Keystone City, Kansas

Origin
Origin of character unknown.

Place of Birth: Place of birth unknown Place of Death: REMOVE THIS LINE IF STILL ACTIVE Known Relatives: Lucas Ludlow-Dalt (son) First Appearance: Crack Comics 1 (1940) Final Appearance: REMOVE THIS LINE IF STILL ACTIVE

History
The Spider was, in reality, playboy Tom Hallaway. Hallaway had tired of seeing criminals have their own way harassing and murdering honest citizens, so he adopted the guise of The Spider to settle the score. Some say, however, that he did not become the Spider out of an altruistic motive, but rather because he was a nasty person in general - a smuggler, a kidnapper and a murderer - and used the guise of a super-hero as a cover to help him eliminate the competition. The Spider fought crime in a yellow shirt and blue shorts, looking a lot like a wrestler. He was armed with a fairly ordinary bow and arrows, a special car known as The Black Widow, and the assistance of his valet Chuck (who helped out Hallaway in both of his identities without anyone making any sort of connection). He also had a special arrow he called the "Spider's Seal", which had a flat disc on the end he shot at thugs' hands to disarm them.

Though originally based in St. Louis, he was a member of the Ludlow clan from New England. The family inadvertently ran up against the Shade. The family had a history of ill-gotten gains, having originally amassed their vast wealth by killing off their partners in a business enterprise.

He was a member of both the Freedom Fighters and the Seven Soldiers of Victory. The final case of the Seven Soldiers had the Spider betraying them to their old enemy, the Iron Hand (who had created the cosmic menace known as the Nebula Man). The Spider killed the Vigilante's friend Billy Gunn, but was stopped by the Crimson Avenger's partner Wing, who went on to save the day against the Nebula Man (though at the cost of his own life).

With the only people who knew him to be a criminal gone, the Spider continued his heroic facade. He became the hero-in-residence of Keystone City after the Flash retired. Unfortunately, his Ludlow heritage caught up with him, as did The Shade. The Spider had been planning to face the Shade for quite a while and had a plan to defeat the immortal. He had saved fragments and shreds of The Shade's shadow substance with the intention to plant them on the scene of a double murder, that of Jay Garrick and his wife Joan. The Spider hoped to lessen The Shade's power by keeping him captive near a roaring fireplace, but the added light only increased the shadows, and The Shade created arrow-casting monsters that quickly turned The Spider into a pincushion of black arrows. The Shade got out of there in time to prevent The Garricks' murders, and even convinced his old enemy, The Flash, to leave him out of the spotlight on the case.

Characteristics
Height: 6'1" Weight: 195 lbs (88 kg) Eyes: brown Hair: brown Unusual Features: No unusual features

Powers
Known Powers: No known powers. Known Abilities: No known abilities. Strength Level: Strength level unknown

Miscellaneous
Equipment: No known equipment. Transportation: No known transportation. Weapons: No known weapons.

Related Articles

 * Alias the Spider at Wikipedia