History
The real name of the professional criminal who became best known by the alias of "Death-Stalker" was Phillip Wallace Sterling. He was a member of an old, wealthy, and prestigious family that had lived in America for centuries.[2] It is unknown why Sterling turned to crime.
He conducted his first known criminal activities under the alias of the Exterminator. In this role, Sterling was the costumed mastermind behind a series of crimes committed by the original criminal team known as the Unholy Three (Ape-Man, Bird-Man, and Cat-Man).[3] During a clash with the costumed crimefighter Daredevil, Ape-Man succeeded in exiling Daredevil to the void with his t-ray gun.[4] Daredevil was able to use his powers and skills to escape through a dimension warp, and he tracked the Exterminator and the Unholy Three to their lair. After defeating the four, Daredevil intentionally triggered the explosion of the Exterminator's main displacement machine; he (Daredevil) had temporarily tired of being a costumed crusading adventurer at the time, and he was hoping to end his career as one by feigning his own death with the explosion.[5]
But unbeknownst to Daredevil, the same explosion irradiated the Exterminator with an extraordinary amount of the radiation, which permanently trapped the villain in the interdimensional realm. Soon, Sterling learned how to manifest himself in the Earth dimension, although he would invariably be drawn back into his Limbo-state. Realizing its potential for crime, he adopted a new alias, that of "Death-Stalker". He stole blueprints from the scientific criminal organization A.I.M. and used them to create his "touch of death" machines in his gloves. At the same time, he began to steal the components necessary to build a t-ray machine that would allow him to return to Earth permanently; however, Sterling was repeatedly thwarted in this endeavor by Daredevil.[6] [7]
Searching the scientific research of Paxton Page, Death-Stalker disguised himself as the second Death's Head (Page had been the first until his death)[8] and forced the Stuntmaster to kidnap Paxton's daughter Karen,[9] which brought him into conflict with both Daredevil and the Ghost Rider.[10] He was banished to the T-dimension by the Ghost Rider's hellfire.[11] He also faced off against a number of other heroes, including Nighthawk and Dr. Strange,[12] but he lost to all of them.
Blaming Daredevil for his condition, Death-Stalker spied on Daredevil, whose real name he learned to be Matt Murdock, and he hired and outfitted a new Unholy Three, sending them to capture Daredevil while he was in his secret identity. Ape-Man II and Cat-Man II succeeded, and Death-Stalker promptly killed them for their trouble. Revealing his real name to Daredevil, Sterling demanded a final battle; but at the height of said battle, he miscalculated his attack and re-materialized in the Earth dimension too soon in the course of a leap that he made at Daredevil in an irrational rage, solidifying while passing through a tombstone. The direct result was that Death-Stalker was instantly killed by being actually, physically sliced in half.[13]
Seeking to avenge her son's death, Sterling's mother, Elizabeth Dawes Sterling, used her fortune to construct a series of death-traps within her enormous mansion. She had a large number of identical robots, all in the form of a little girl, built to lure Daredevil into the house. Mrs. Sterling died before Daredevil was induced into the mansion, but her plan continued posthumously with a video recording of herself that was presented to Daredevil when he fell into her trap. Nevertheless, Daredevil just barely managed to escape from it.[2]
After his death, a past version of Death-Stalker was brought to the future through his interdimensional powers. Learning of his and his mother's deaths, Sterling went on a killing spree as well as kidnapping a handful of people in order to draw out Daredevil. He was defeated by the combined efforts of Daredevil and Captain America and forcibly sent back to his own time.[14]Attributes
Powers
Paraphernalia
Equipment
Weapons
Notes
- A second, female Death-Stalker has appeared only once since Sterling's death. Her real name is unknown. She shares the powers that Sterling had and employs the M.O. that he used, but as yet, it is unknown whether the two of them are connected.[15]
See Also
- 20 appearance(s) of Phillip Sterling (Earth-616)
- 8 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Phillip Sterling (Earth-616)
- 3 minor appearance(s) of Phillip Sterling (Earth-616)
- 7 mention(s) of Phillip Sterling (Earth-616)
- 3 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Phillip Sterling (Earth-616)
- 13 image(s) of Phillip Sterling (Earth-616)
- 6 quotation(s) by or about Phillip Sterling (Earth-616)
- 3 victim(s) killed by Phillip Sterling (Earth-616)
Links and References
References
- ↑ Daredevil #208
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Daredevil #208–209
- ↑ Daredevil #39
- ↑ Daredevil #40
- ↑ Daredevil #41
- ↑ Daredevil #113–115
- ↑ Daredevil #128
- ↑ Daredevil #56–57
- ↑ Ghost Rider (Vol. 2) #18–19
- ↑ Daredevil #138
- ↑ Ghost Rider (Vol. 2) #20
- ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 2) #29
- ↑ Daredevil #155–158
- ↑ Daredevil & Captain America: Dead on Arrival #1
- ↑ Villains for Hire #1
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update #4
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update Vol 1 4