Peter Petruski was born in
Gary, Indiana. Originally calling himself
Paste-Pot Pete, he clashed with the
Human Torch during his efforts to sell a new American missile to the Soviets. However, Pete escaped by using his paste to catch the wing of a plane, then diving into the sea. Following a failed solo effort against Human Torch, Paste-Pot Pete broke out of jail and teamed with the
Wizard in efforts to trump his youthful foe. However, Pete was angered over Wizard acting as the team's leader. Wizard framed Human Torch for a robbery. They got Human Torch to Wizard's house and used compressed air to force him into a chamber of steel mirrors, planning to fill the place with a gas that would cut off the oxygen supply of the Torch. However, Human Torch melted through the paste that held him to the floor, created a flaming duplicate to fool the two, then increased his flame enabling him to burn through the mirrors. The villains only realized this deception when the fake Human Torch faded away due to the gas, by which time Human Torch had regained his flame and captured the two in a flaming ring. When
Baron Zemo trapped the
Avengers with Adhesive X, Pete provided them with a solvent of his own formulation to dissolve it and was paroled from prison. He adopted a new costume and weaponry, and battled Human Torch and the
Thing using new paste types. He captured Thing, then Human Torch, but was still defeated. Wizard and Pete would eventually team with the criminal
Sandman and the
Inhuman Medusa as the
Frightful Four to battle the
Fantastic Four. It was shortly after the formation of the Frightful Four that Pete abandoned his old alias and assumed the more intimidating name Trapster after
Spider-Man found the Paste-Pot Pete name laughable. The Frightful Four would clash time and again with the Fantastic Four, often enjoying some measure of success in their efforts. Over the years, the membership of the Frightful Four would vary, but Trapster served in virtually every incarnation in which Wizard served as well, loyal to his longtime boss. He changed his
nom de crime to the
Trapster and appeared with new weaponry in
Fantastic Four #38, with the second appearance of the Frightful Four, in an attempt to make himself sound more formidable. In this encounter, the Frightful Four was able to defeat the Fantastic Four. Over the years, a running gag in Marvel Comics involved heroes and villains alike reminding Trapster of his earlier name of "Paste-Pot Pete" — which would inevitably send him flying into a rage. Trapster has often sought independent recognition, battling virtually every "street-level" hero in the Marvel Universe either by design or by opposition to some criminal scheme. Saddened by constant defeats, Trapster seeks out the
Tinkerer's aid in redesigning his arsenal. Adding wrist-pumps for his glue weaponry and a bandolier of various explosives and gimmicks, Trapster joins forces with
Whirlwind in a bid to defeat Captain America. Despite his improved arsenal, both villains are defeated. Trapster defeats Spider-Man in one-on-one combat after being enlisted to battle him during the "
Acts of Vengeance" storyline. When the Trapster learns that Spider-Man has survived and returns to finish the job, he is overwhelmed by Spider-Man's newly acquired cosmic powers (eventually revealed to be a manifestation of the
Uni-Power). During the
Secret War storyline, Trapster is enlisted by
Lucia von Bardas, the former prime minister of
Latveria, and placed in her secret army of technology-based villains. Von Bardas sends the army against
Wolverine, Spider-Man,
Luke Cage,
Daredevil, and Captain America, the five heroes
Nick Fury had sent to Latveria to stop von Bardas. When the battle starts to turn in favor of the heroes, von Bardas converts the armor of her technological army into a bomb. Fury's unknown agent
Daisy Johnson defeats von Bardas and the armor army's lives were saved. Trapster escapes in the resulting battle between Fury and Wolverine. During the
Avengers: Standoff! storyline, Trapster appears as an inmate of Pleasant Hill, a gated community established by
S.H.I.E.L.D. Using
Kobik, S.H.I.E.L.D. transformed Trapster into a mild-mannered Pleasant Hill groundskeeper named Willie.
Helmut Zemo and
Fixer restore Trapster's memory and he helps to assault a S.H.I.E.L.D. outpost. ==Powers and abilities==