After a few unsuccessful run-ins with
Spider-Man, Manslaughter Marsdale was ambushed by an unknown assailant and put in a coma. Attributing his revival to a man calling himself
Zodiac, he became a fiercely loyal ally; ignorant that it was actually Zodiac who rendered him comatose to steal his powers. Marsdale did whatever he was told, enabling Zodiac to steal the
Zodiac Key, and enacted his revenge against Bobby Chance; a middleweight fighter who once sided with Spider-Man against Marsdale.