Saturday Showcase: D'Spayre

Spooktacular Greetings Ghouls and Goblins,

'Tis time for another Saturday Showcase and I can think of none better than the villain D'Spayre to close out October and celebrate all things Halloween.  The idea for this post came to me when I was looking at future Marvel Legends figures that were announced and I caught a glimpse of what I thought was a D'Spayre figure and here we are.  So, sit back, relax, and enjoy the tale of D'Spayre.

D'Spayre is a creation of the Dweller-in-Darkness, a powerful demon who created him to act as an agent on Earth while the Dweller-in-Darkness is banished from Earth.  D'Spayre tends to prey on victims who are in despair, using their fear and despair to strengthen himself. He terrorizes Scott Summers and Lee Forrester after Lee's father committed suicide, but is defeated by Summers who resists D'Spayre's illusions and finds resolve in the memory of Jean Grey.

This resolve fuels the creature known as Man-Thing who attacks D'Spayre and D'Spayre flees.  He then attacks Doctor Strange when Strange is feeling distraught over separation from his girlfriend Clea, but Strange defeats D'Spayre as well, the first of many battles between the two of them.

Over the years, D'Spayre has tried to bring many heroes to despair, resulting in numerous failures. In one instance, he manipulates the Fear Lords, powerful demons and gods who feed upon humanity's fears into creating the Great Fear. With their powers combined, the Fear Lords believe that they can plunge humanity into a permanent state of terror. Most Fear Lords are defeated by Doctor Strange, but Nightmare and the Dweller-in-Darkness manage to create the Great Fear. They then discover that D'Spayre has been manipulating them, as the Great Fear causes so much terror in humans that they stop fearing and succumb to despair, thereby feeding D'Spayre who becomes more powerful than the two of them. Doctor Strange manages to stop D'Spayre, while the Fear Lords flee.

Powers and Abilities

D'Spayre's demonic nature provides him with superhuman strength and durability and the ability to levitate himself and to travel between dimensions.  He also has the mystical ability to instill fear in human beings and to draw psychic sustenance from the fear, anguish, and despondency suffered by human beings, and other mystical abilities. He has telepathic abilities enabling him to perceive a victim's psychological vulnerabilities and to project illusions into the victim's mind. He has a vulnerability to physical harm when weakened by lack of psychic sustenance, and his powers rely on people hearing his words, allowing the deaf Echo to defeat him.

D'Spayre created Darklight (also known as "D-Lite"), an addictive drug inducing pain in its victims.

Publication Information

• Publisher: Marvel Comics
• First Appearance: Marvel Team-Up #68 (April 1978)
• Created by Chris Claremont & John Byrne

Other Information

• Species:  Demon
• Team Affiliations:  Fear Lords
• Notable Aliases:  D'Spayre often masquerades as persons trusted by his victims

Until next time, get your READ on!