Wentworth was easily identified as The Spider by his enemies in a number of earlier novels and was arrested by the police but quickly escaped. He adopted a disguise, Tito Caliepi, and associated aliases. The Spider's earliest costume consisted of a simple black domino mask, black hat, and cape. Later in the series, vampire-like makeup appeared, which was replaced with a face mask featuring grizzled hair and finally a hunchback. These were added to terrorize the criminal underworld, while The Spider dispensed his brand of violent vigilante justice. (Actor and comedian Harold Lloyd previously had used a similar mask, lank hair wig, and hunchback in the comedy film "Dr. Jack" (1922)). Utilizing his talent with a violin, Wentworth, posing as Caliepi, sometimes used begging as part of his disguise.