Ashley Kafka
Ashley Kafka is a female comic character who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Ashley Kafka was a female human born and raised in New York City along with her sister, Norma Kafka, by their mother. Her sister was born with birth defects to her face and was mentally challenged. Their mother later died when Kafka was only 19 years old and Norma was institutionalised not long after where she ended up dying at the facility. Ashley went off the college at Empire State University where she studied psychology. (Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #178) Dr. Kafka would go on to become a professional psychologist specializing in the criminally insane and founds a maximum-security sanitarium called the Ravencroft Institute for the Criminally Insane, where she treated super-criminals. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #655)
One of her first patients was Edward Whelan, who was the supervillain that came to be known as Vermin. At first, she had been reluctant to take such a case but was persuaded by Reed Richards after Vermin was captured following Sergei Kravinoff's suicide. Richards thought the path to curing Edward of his mutation into the man-rat was psychological, not physical. As such, Dr. Kafka used hypnotherapy to treat Vermin and made substantial progress, until he escaped and returned to the sewers. (Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #178) Spider-Man went to Ravencroft after Vermin's escape to discuss Edward's case but Vermin returned where he was looking for Kafka's help. The creature panicked upon seeing Spider-Man and attacked him, despite the webhead's promise that they only wanted to help him. Ashley tried to regain Vermin's trust and was bitten for her efforts with the man-rat escaping the scene. (Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #179) Spider-Man soon returned to Dr. Kafka, this time needing her help for himself. He had been poisoned by one of Green Goblin II's psychedelic pumpkin bombs and was suffering from psychotic delusions. (Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #181) She talked him through the hallucinations, reminding him that he was a man, not a child anymore. As a man, he was strong enough to deal with his inner demons. Upon hearing from a nurse that Vermin had been sighted in Scarsdale, Spider-Man went after him as did Dr. Kafka. She found him at Edward's parents home, injured after both he and Spider-Man had been attacked by the Green Goblin. After Spidey had saved him from both the Goblin and the police, Dr. Kafka took Vermin back to New York University. (Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #183) Back at the university, Kafka continued treating Edward and was actually happy with the fact that Vermin wanted to kill her. She saw it as a sign that the Vermin personality was weakening and that Edward was getting stronger. (Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #184)
Soon after, Harry Osborn was defeated as the Green Goblin and was sent to NYU, where Kafka became his therapist. (Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #189) She put on his Goblin mask, trying to convince him of how the mask was holding him back. He attacked her, demanding the mask back but fortunately for her, he was behind shatter proof glass. She claimed that she got the reaction that she wanted from him, but that was a moot point, as detective Angela Cairn arrived to put him into police custody. (Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #190) Ashley continued to make good progress with Edward, as the transformations into Vermin were becoming less common and had shorter durations. However, he regressed back into Vermin after being kidnapped by the Mutates, other people that had also been experimented on, unsuccessfully, by Baron Zemo. Doctor Kafka was also taken by the deformed creatures into the sewers. (Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #194) The Mutates wanted Vermin to be their leader and to get revenge on Baron Zemo for his cruelty towards them. Kafka tried to reason with Edward, to remind him of his progress and how close he was to being free of Vermin. The man-rat threatened to cut her throat and eat her alive but did not as payment for her past kindness. Vermin led the Mutates to the surface, where they encountered Spider-Man. He was overwhelmed by the numbers of the creatures and taken back to the sewers. Zemo then arrived to reclaim his 'pets' and used his control device over them to threaten Kafka if Spider-Man attacked him. (Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #195) Even the ever compassionate doctor had a breaking point and she told Spider-Man to let Vermin take the monsters and go. Edward managed to break free of Zemo's control, thanks for his months of therapy with the doctor. He was about to kill his tormentor when Kafka talked him back from the edge. She even agreed to take in the Mutates at NYU, to find cures for them. In the aftermath, Edward also came to be her assistant. (Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #196)
Later on, Dr. Curtis Connors was sent to the Vault to receive therapy for his transformations into the Lizard with Kafka being assigned to aid him. She made significant progress with him, which was undone when Calypso Ezili broke into the prison to regain her reptilian ally. However, Kafka's sessions with Connors had strengthened his will and despite the change back into the Lizard, the creature's mind was now strong enough to resist Calypso's control over him. The Lizard killed its former master and escaped into the Colorado mountains. (Web of Spider-Man v1 #109) Afterwards, Doctor Kafka became the Director of Ravencroft Asylum. Edward was still working with the Mutates and Kafka had taken on two new super powered cases with these being Malcolm McBride and Frances Louise Barrison. Malcolm had been the mass murderer known as Carrion and the guilt of his murders weighed heavily on him. In an effort to show Malcolm that he wasn't as evil and insane as he thought himself to be, she showed him Frances, who was screaming in her cell. Barrison managed to break out of the Plexiglas cell and took Malcolm with her, throwing Ashley against the wall for good measure. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #390) When Spider-Man came to see Kafka, Colonel John Jameson who was the Head of Security told him she was in the medical unit with a concussion and two broken ribs. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #391) She was soon back to her duties as director and seeing guests, such as Dr. Judas Traveller. Traveller claimed to be studying the nature of evil but his research was much more hands on than he let on. After reading the minds of many of the patients at Ravencroft, he found Spider-Man to be a common factor in their thoughts. Traveller then teleported Dr. Kafka out of the asylum and began his experiment. (Web of Spider-Man v1 #117) She and the rest of the staff were allowed to return to the asylum after Traveller left. (Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #217)
Dead No More
A clone of Kafka was later created by New U technologies with this copy of Ashley being acquired by the secret J.A.N.U.S. conspiracy from one of Miles Warren's old laboratories. They immediately decided to make use of her where she was left by Ravencroft to resume her duties as chief scientist. (Ravencroft v1 #5) With no memories of her death, she was surprised at why everyone was shocked at her coming in for work. Tests were conducted which determined that she was the genuine Ashley Kafka where she was allowed to return as a staff member. (Ravencroft v1 #3) Unknown to anyone, her tests were forged by Karl Mallus to hide the fact that she was a clone. (Ravencroft v1 #5)
When the Sin-Eater and his followers attacked Ravencroft to get Norman, its newly appointed director, Dr. Kafka was tricked into leaving the facility's panic room by a security guard who had been corrupted by the Sin-Eater's touch. The Sin-Eater then used his corrupting touch on Dr. Kafka as well and had her open the Juggernaut's cell, enabling him to absorb the avatar of Cyttorak's sins and powers, like he had done with Mister Negative and other supervillains before him. (Amazing Spider-Man: The Sins of Norman Osborn v1 #1)
After Norman was also cleansed of his sins, Dr. Kafka and other members of the staff found him in the ruins of a hidden sublevel of the Institute and rescued him. Stricken by guilt over his past actions, Norman convinced Dr. Kafka to not hand him over the authorities so he could stop Kindred, the person behind the attack on Ravencroft. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #50) Dr. Kafka would advise Norman who wanted to save his son Harry to seek someone to act as an intermediary between them. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #50.LR) Norman ended up recruiting Mary Jane Watson for that role, as she was one of Harry's closest friends. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #52.LR)
Queen Goblin
Later on, Dr. Kafka came to be approached by the Beyond Corporation where their Super Hero Development division was looking to hire her to help rehabilitate their newest asset namely Ben Reilly. Upon learning of her patient, Ashley came to accept the offer right away and began providing psychological help to her patient as he operated as the company's corporate Spider-Man after Beyond purchased the rights to the identity. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #75) In this time, Dr. Kafka came to learn that the Beyond Corporation was conducting memo-surgeries on Reilly with the procedure resulting in the accidental erasure of some of Ben's formative memories. Ashley came to negotiate a deal with Beyond whereby she was granted total autonomy as part of the condition of her employment which meant that the company could neither interfere nor monitor her work with her patient. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #86) During one therapy session with Ben, she came to speak to Reilly about his latest mission as Spider-Man. In that time, she used a special device to help recover Ben's erased memories with this being done without Beyond's knowledge. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #86) Following a battle with Doctor Octopus, Reilly came to learn that the Beyond Corporation was involved in the creation of new supervillains as part of their attempt to grow the Spider-Man brand. Ben would share this revelation to Dr. Kafka during a therapy session though both were unaware that they were being secretly watched by Maxine Danger who was the head of Super Hero Development. This resulted in the therapy session being interrupted by Beyond security who took Reilly away to have his memories wiped again. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #86) Ashley herself was also taken away where it was decided that she would be used as part of the company's experiments. They came to forcefully bond her to the extracted sins of Norman Osborn and make the unwilling test subject cooperate with the company. As a result, she came to be mutated into a creature that Maxine Danger called the Queen Goblin who was branded as a new villain for the company's Spider-Man. Kafka was outfitted with various goblin-themed weapons and then dispatched to intercept Janine Godbe who was Ben Reilly's girlfriend and had a data drive containing Beyond's darkest secrets which she intended to expose to the public. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #88) Queen Goblin attacked Janine and her ally Mary Jane at the Daily Bugle Building, completing her mission during a fight against Ben who came to flee with his girlfriend as soon as he could. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #88) Whilst rescuing Mary Jane, Black Cat fell victim to the Queen's Goblin Gaze and was coerced into jumping to her death, but the original Spider-Man saved her life. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #89) In her ensuing battle against the original Spider-Man, the Queen Goblin attempted to cause his death by using her Goblin Gaze on him; however, Peter managed to overcome it and defeated her. Beyond subsequently took control of her glider to take her unconscious body away from Spider-Man. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #90) After regaining consciousness, Queen Goblin took shelter in an abandoned building somewhere. At this point, the sins of Norman Osborn had made it impossible for her to remember who she was before her transformation, prompting her to vow to go after Norman. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #92.BEY)
Keeping to her vow, Queen Goblin manipulated events to ensure Roderick Kingsley's return. (Amazing Spider-Man v6 #12) This led to her brainwashing both him and Ned Leeds again where they both operated as the Hobgoblin. Spider-Man managed to save Ned, but was accepting to just having Kingsley in her thrall. (Amazing Spider-Man v6 #13)
Adamant on getting rid of the sins, the Queen Goblin attacked Norman in his secret shelter, only for her to realize that her own sins had become the same as Norman's and could not return them to him. As she battled Norman's guilt in the form of Gwen Stacy, Norman escaped to reunite with Spider-Man. In her Dr. Fromme identity, she attempted to publicly discredit Norman as an irredeemable madman, but was confronted by both Gold Goblin and Spider-Man. Transforming into the Queen Goblin, she attempted to transfer Norman's sins to Spider-Man, but was stopped when Gold Goblin was forced to snap her neck using her own chains. (Gold Goblin v1 #5)
Queen Goblin later became the target of the clone Kraven the Hunter where the two began to hunt each other. This eventually led to a night of passion where they shared a bed at the Kravinoff estate. It was then that Queen Goblin rambled about resurrected totems which might be a mutual satisfaction for them. (Amazing Spider-Man v6 #31) Forming an alliance with Kraven the Hunter, Queen Goblin imbued his spear with Osborn's sins in order for him to turn Norman back into the Green Goblin and kill him in order to prove himself to be better than his father. They then conduct a ritual that drains Norman Osborn's sins from Queen Goblin's body and into Kraven the Hunter's spear which he was to use on Norman Osborn. This plan was botched when Spider-Man threw himself in front of Norman Osborn to protect him from Kraven the Hunter's spear attack. (Amazing Spider-Man v6 #32)
However, Spider-Man intervened, causing him to be infused with the sins, becoming an evil maniac who decided to go after everyone who had wronged him. This included Kraven, who he buried alive in a coffin similar to what his father did to him, but Queen Goblin arrived to save him and help with his hunt. (Amazing Spider-Man v6 #34) Queen Goblin fights the sin-infested Spider-Man near the Holland Tunnel as Mary Jane Watson helps to fight him. After Norman Osborn and Kraven the Hunter purge Osborn's sins from Spider-Man, Norman sees Queen Goblin in the distance as she gets away. (Amazing Spider-Man v6 #35)
Overview
Personality and attributes
She came to be forcibly mutated by the Beyond Corporation where Maxine Danger came to refer to Kafka's new identity as being the Queen Goblin. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #88)
Kafka had knowledge of Peter Parker's true identity as Peter reached out to Kakfa for help in dealing with the belief that he was a clone of Spider-Man and not the original. (Ben Reilly: Spider-Man v1 #1)
The Beyond Corporation was responsible for experimentation that involved programming Kafka's mind so that she could become the supervillain Queen Goblin. These expressed themselves as signals which overpowered her instincts. This caused her to attack targets and not know the reason for doing so yet would not question her commands either. This persona claimed that for years she had heard her patients often whimper over their long past horrors yet wondered how they could be cruel or hurt others. However, as the Queen Goblin, she came to understand it more as she saw people cower before her and feel a sense of powerlessness. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #88) She saw this as a higher calling where her strength would rule in the place of her patient's weakness. The Queen Goblin came to believe that madness was a form of clarity. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #89)
It was said that as the Queen Goblin she was unlike any other opponent faced by Spider-Man. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #89)
Powers and abilities
She had an MD with a Psychology where she was considered to be the best psychological doctors in the country. Her expertise was in the treatment of super-criminals. (Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #178)
The Beyond Corporation later came to use their advanced science to take the captured sins of Norman Osborn that they decided to place within Kafka's body. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #87) This led to his transformation into a super-powered red-skinned humanoid resembling a goblin with sharp claws that could injure a person. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #88)
Part of her costume included a visor that could go down covering her eyes. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #88)
In terms of weaponry, she was given a double sided mace where each had the shape of a jack o'lantern. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #88) Though she came to refer to it as it being her sceptre. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #89) They could extend on chains which she could use to extend her range of attack in close quarter combat. These were also capable of catching on fire on either end and she could project these as fiery blasts at targets. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #88)
For transportation, she was provided her own form of Goblin Glider allowing her to fly across the field. The glider could separate into two becoming two independent objects where they could be sent as weapons flying into a target. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #88)
One of her more notable abilities was what she called the Goblin Gaze. This was a power that emerged from her eyes where she exposed the 'sins' within her to her quarry so long as she had close eye contact with her target. Those afflicted by it experienced all their regrets, guilts and sins leaving them helpless before the Queen Goblin. Such was the trauma that they experienced that the Queen Goblin could cause the person to consider suicide as the only form of release to escape the intense negative feelings afflicting them. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #89)
Notes
- Ashley Kafka was created by J. M. DeMatteis and Sal Buscema where she made her first appearance in The Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #178 (July, 1991).
Alternate Versions
- In Spider-Girl v1 #69 (2004), an alternate future version of Ashley Kafka was shown in Marvel Comics 2 where she resided in the reality designated as Earth-982 in the Multiverse. This version ended up falling in love with and marrying John Jameson and together they had a son named Jack Jameson. Jack became the costumed adventurer known as the Buzz without them knowing.
In other media
Television
- In Spider-Man, Ashley Kafka appeared in the 1990s animated television series where she was voiced by actress Barbara Goodson. This version was a therapist at Ravencroft and a love interest for Eddie Brock, one of her patients.
- In The Spectacular Spider-Man, Ashley Kafka appeared in the animated television series where she was voiced by actress Elisa Gabrielli.
Films
- In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Dr. Kafka appeared who was re-imagined as a male German mad doctor in charge of the asylum where he was portrayed by actor Marton Csokas. This version was a male German doctor and leading staff member of the Ravencroft Institute for the Criminally Insane, which was controlled by Oscorp. He conducted inhumane experiments on Electro until Harry Osborn sneaks into Ravencroft and releases the latter, who in turn subjects Kafka to the same experiment.
Video games
- In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Dr. Kafka appeared in the setting of the video game tie-in to the live-action film. This version was also a male doctor working for Ravencroft where he oversees various illegal genetic experiments on patients funded by the Kingpin and Donald Menken. He experiments on Cletus Kasady with the Carnage symbiote until Kasady learns how to control it, breaks free of his restraints, and grabs the doctor by the throat.
Appearances
- The Spectacular Spider-Man v1: (1991)
- Amazing Spider-Man v1:
- Ravencroft v1:
- Amazing Spider-Man v5:
- Amazing Spider-Man: The Sins of Norman Osborn v1:
- Amazing Spider-Man v6:
- Gold Goblin v1: (2023)
External Links
This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.
