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The Looter is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in the Spider-Man comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Spider-Man #36 (1965), and was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko (who is believed to have created the concept).

Norton G. Fester was always a poor scientist, and was considered a crackpot by his colleagues. One day, however, he found an unusual meteor that crashed into the Earth. Excited by his discovery, Fester searched for funding into a project, but investors went for more commercial ventures.

Fester decided to continue without funding, and while chiseling the meteor, he struck a pocket of gas. Immersed in the strange compound, he discovered that he now had super-strength and agility thanks to the meteor's powers. Fester decided to devote his time and new powers to crime from then on.

Calling himself the Looter, he struck banks and offices everywhere, gaining his current name. However, after attempting to steal another meteor to continually supply himself with his powers, he was defeated by Spider-Man after a battle in a hot-air balloon.

Since then, the Looter has had no success whatsoever; Even after a name change, the Meteor Man still didn't help his career. He has used several of the strange meteors to change himself into a superhumanly strong giant, teamed up with Aura and Override, and almost retired, but he has been defeated every time.

Recently he attempted to steal yet another meteor, at a museum display, to grow further in power. Spider-Man defeated him once more in the museum bathroom, in front of a woman named Vanna Smith, who was obsessed with the wallcrawler.

Fester has immense super-strength and agility comparable to Captain America's, but he needs a supply of meteor gas or he will eventually lose his powers. He also has extraordinary leaping ability an a high degree of durability.

The Looter has had a large arsenal of gadgets and weapons in his bizarre career. He used a "Dazzle Gun" (a gun that could create a dazzling light and a quick getaway) and a helium balloon in his first appearance, but these haven't been seen since. In Sensational Spider-Man #8, he used weapons from Stilt-Man, the Shocker, the Trapster, and the Mauler. Other weapons include a Wave-Motion gun and a "Meteor-Powered" gun (although this didn't actually work).

The character also appeared in Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, where not Fester, but Mary Jane's high school counsellor Mr. Limke uses the identity.

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