History
Gus Mapleton worked for the Department of Records of New York City for over fifty years. His specific job was to catalogue mystical artifacts and treasures that had found their way to the city for the sake of public safety. When Wilson Fisk was elected mayor, Mapleton suspected his main goal was to gain access to the records to learn the location of the Lifeline Tablet whose fragments had resurfaced scattered all over New York.
After destroying all copies of the map where he had coded the location of each fragment, Mapleton sought Boomerang's help, misguided by his unearned heroic reputation. After warning Boomerang of Fisk's intentions, Mapleton used a spell Doctor Strange had taught him to transfer the knowledge of the pieces to Boomerang.[2] Unbeknownst to Mapleton, Fisk knew of his wariness and had enlisted Boomerang specifically to trick Gus into disclosing information about the tablet. As soon as Mapleton transferred his knowledge to Boomerang, goons under Fisk's employ broke into his office and fatally injured him. Enraged by Boomerang's betrayal, Mapleton used his final breaths to gloat about the fact that he had echanted the final piece of the Lifeline Tablet with a spell that would kill any person trying to secure it unless they were a true and selfless hero.
In order to go around this enchantment, Boomerang tricked the super hero Spider-Man into helping him gather the pieces. When they reached the final fragment, an apparition of Mapleton surfaced to explain the requirement to secure it. Spider-Man stepped up, and after Mapleton looked into his heart, the archivist's ghost gave him the fragment and disappeared.[1]