George Stacy becomes the Captain of the New York Police Department, and eventually retires only to be called back to duty when Super Villains and Super Heroes arise in his city.
Respected Police Captain
Early in his police career, George Stacy, with his brother Arthur (head of security for Norman Osborn, AKA Green Goblin) investigate a break-in at an Osborn Chemical plant. Osborn feigns innocence to the Stacy brothers when attacked by disfigured employee Nels Van Adder—later dubbed the Proto-Goblin—whom Osborn had secretly experimented upon for strength-enhancement research. George and Arthur fight off the Proto-Goblin, who seemed unaffected by bullets, but Arthur knocks the creature out a window to save Osborn.
George rises in the ranks in the police force, retiring as a respected police captain. Losing his wife, Helen, George raises his daughter Gwendolyne, who grows to become an intelligent headstrong student at Empire State University. There, Gwen meets and falls in love with Peter Parker, secretly the Super Hero Spider-Man, whose activities interest the retired captain.
The Call of Duty
Captain Stacy is an excellent leader and policeman who goes above and beyond the call of duty. His investigative skills and instinct lead him to uncover the identity of Spider-Man.
Criminal Elements
At the behest of Wilson Fisk, AKA Kingpin, Dr. Gerhard Winkler brainwashes Capt. Stacy, and attempts to steal secret police files.
Capt. Stacy indirectly gains an enemy in the Super Villain Dr. Otto Octavius, AKA Doctor Octopus, who nearly kills a kid but Stacy saves the child, putting his life on the line.
Family Ties and Allies
Captain Stacy cares deeply for his daughter, teenager Gwendolyne Stacy, and encourages the budding relationship between her and her ESU classmate Peter Parker.
He also studies Spider-Man’s career and eventually suspects that Parker and Spider-Man are one in the same person. Though Parker’s attempts to throw Capt. Stacy off his trail doesn’t fool him for a second.
The Life of a “Retired” Captain
It wasn't long before Col. John Jameson called Captain Stacy out of retirement to assist in the return of a device called the Nullifier—which could render any electrical or mechanical apparatus inoperative—that Doctor Octopus had tricked an amnesiac Spider-Man into stealing. After safely securing the weapon, Captain Stacy interviewed Peter Parker, believed to have been held captive by Doc Ock and Spider-Man.
During the interview Captain Stacy revealed to Peter that he had spent time studying the career of Spider-Man, and that he was glad to have met Peter, known for photographing the wall-crawler on numerous occasions. Identifying himself as a strong supporter of Spider-Man, Captain Stacy wished to see the wall-crawler redeemed in the public eye. He also took an instant liking to Peter, and openly encouraged the growing bond between the youngster and his daughter, Gwen.
Receiving a special invitation to the Gloom Room A-Go-Go dance club, George was hypnotized unwittingly by hired dancer, Mary Jane Watson, through her camera rigged by Norman Osborn’s researcher, Dr. Gerhard Winkler, on behalf of the “Brainwasher,” the Kingpin of Crime. After further brainwashing by Winkler, George, a regular advisor to the police in his retirement, used his privileges to steal top-secret police files, but was stopped by Spider-Man. Peter Parker’s front page headline photos of the incident made George and Gwen become fugitives. The Kingpin kidnapped the Stacys, taking them to Winkler’s lab at Osborn Chemicals. There, they were rescued by Spider-Man and Norman Osborn, but Gwen was left feeling betrayed by Peter. When the effects of the brainwashing subsided, George exonerated Peter from wrongdoing, much to Gwen’s relief. Later, Spider-Man rescued Capt. Stacy from prison inmates who had taken George hostage. After several more encounters with Spider-Man and Peter, Captain Stacy started to suspect the two were one. Wary of anyone making the connection, Peter began taking increasingly drastic measures to throw Captain Stacy off the trail, even pretending Spider-Man and Peter Parker had an arrangement to split the profits of his newspaper photos. Delirious from the flu, Peter admitted he was Spider-Man before George and his friends. Later, Spider-Man arranged for Hobie Brown, AKA Prowler, to dress as Spider-Man and appear simultaneously with Peter Parker before his friends. George was apparently not deceived by Parker’s trick.
Called into action one night, Captain Stacy watched Spider-Man battle Doctor Octopus on a rooftop high above the city. A crowd had gathered nearby to watch the confrontation. When Spider-Man caused Doc Ock to lose control of his mechanical arms, chunks of concrete were dislodged from the roof and rained on the spectators below. Spotting a child standing under the trajectory of falling masonry, Captain Stacy leapt to cover the boy—and paid for his act of heroism with his own life. Abandoning the fight, Spider-Man swung down in time to hear Captain Stacy’s final words. Calling Spider-Man, “Peter,” George asked him to take care of Gwen once he was gone. Though Gwen perished later.
Ten years after his death, Ben Reilly, AKA The Jackal, restored George Stacy to life as a clone, replete with his memories, to help convince a revived Gwen to join his company New U Technologies. Though this clone version of George did not last and degenerated.
