Powers
None
Equipment
Paste Pistol: Originally, he employed a pistol linked by tubes to a chemical cannister worn on his right hip. The gun could fire a stream of glue, adhering to anything it contacted. The glue possesses Monstrous rank adhesion and if used as a grapple attack was virtually unbreakable having Monstrous material strength, flameproof, and vulnerable only to ultraviolet light. Petruski developed the trick to fire a line of glue at a target and retract it quickly to him, which could also form a swinging line much like the hero Spider-Man. Petruski modified a pistol into paste-shooters mounted on his gauntlet.
Traps: He used a variety of traps contained in spring-loaded spheres. Such traps have Excellent material strength and have included in the past a series of balls and discs (which rebound erratically and lock onto the limbs of anyone they hit) and a "memory wire" (which forms itself into pre-determined shapes such as a cage or a weapon).
Boots: Petruski's boots contain a system of glue and dissolvent which allows him to walk up vertical surfaces with Remarkable rank wallcrawling.
Talents
Engineering, Chemistry
Contacts
None
History
Peter Petruski was a research chemist who formulated an extremely adhesive "multi-polymer" liquid. Motivated by greed, he decided to use his discovery to commit crimes. Petruski created a gun which could spray his super-adhesive paste, and calling himself Paste-Pot Pete, he embarked upon a series of thefts, including an attempt to steal a top secret U.S. Army missile. He was thwarted and defeated by the Human Torch on several occasions, including one in which Petruski joined forces with the criminal called the Wizard. Jailed, Petruski won a special parole when he provided the hero team Avengers a special solvent to counteract the "Adhesive X" used by Baron Heinrich Zemo. Once out of jail, Petruski rented a recently vacated but fully functional glue factory. He used the facility to develop stronger and more versatile pastes, and to completely redesign his weaponry and costume. Despite these modifications, he met yet another defeat at the hands of the Human Torch and the Thing.
The Wizard then invited Petruski to join him in creating a criminal counterpart to the crime-fighting Fantastic Four to be called the Frightful Four. Recruiting the Sandman and Medusa, the Frightful Four raided the Fantastic Four's Baxter Building headquarters, and affixed the Wizard's anti-gravity discs to their toes. The Fantastic Four managed to escape before floating into airless space, however, but were unable to capture the Frightful Four.
The Frightful Four went into hiding for a few weeks, during which time Petruski collaborated with the Wizard on several new projectile weapons, or "traps," and took on the new code-name, the Trapster. Kidnapping the Invisible Girl, they lured the Fantastic Four to a Pacific atoll where they rigged an experimental "Q-bomb" to detonate. The Fantastic Four narrowly escaped. Weeks later, the Frightful Four made their third attempt. Capturing the Thing, the Wizard used his "Id Machine" to simulate the Thing's natural tendencies toward evil and brainwash him into obeying the Wizard's commands. The Fantastic Four finally managed to subdue the Frightful Four, and all but Medusa were turned over to the authorities.
When the Trapster finally broke free of imprisonment, he unwisely decided to try his hand at getting revenge on the Fantastic Four alone, but he failed in several attempts. Joining the Wizard and Sandman in France, they tried to steal some new fissionable material called Quadranium from NATO but with no more success.
For the next few years, the Trapster's criminal activities were conducted solely in concert with the Frightful Four. Once the three active members attempted to defeat the Fantastic Four at the home of Agatha Harkness, and were repelled by the old woman's witchcraft. Then, with the woman warrior, Thundra, taking Medusa's place, the Frightful Four launched three attacks against the Fantastic Four in quick succession. Ultimately, however, Thundra betrayed them to the Fantastic Four. The three others were placed in police custody.
The Trapster remained with the Wizard and the Sandman in two further attempts to make the Frightful Four a viable team. Again breaching the Baxter Building and capturing the Fantastic Four, the Frightful Four took on a fourth member, the Brute, who was a counterpart to Reed Richards from the artificial planet Counter-Earth. Despite the Brute's strength, the Frightful Four was once more overpowered. A few years later, with the experienced criminal Electro as their fourth member, the Frightful Four again broke into the Fantastic Four's headquarters, with the Trapster gaining entrance disguised as the Spider-Man. After this defeat, the Frightful Four disbanded, and the original members went their separate ways.
Recently the Trapster modified his weaponry, trading in his hand-held paste pistol for a system of paste-shooters integrated into the sleeves of his uniform. In this way, the tubing connecting his gun to his adhesive canisters was no longer exposed and thus detachable. He also packaged the lubricant that he had used to dissolve the paste over the years so he could spray it as well. Teaming with Whirlwind, the Trapster set a trap for Captain America in an attempt to accomplish one good clean victory over a well-known crimefighter. Captain America escaped however, and turned them over to local authorities. As soon as Captain America left, the two freed themselves and went their own ways.
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