Silvermane

Silvermane (Silvio Manfredi) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is a supervillain and a prominent figure in the Maggia, a fictional organized crime syndicate that is analogous to the Mafia and has been a long-time nemesis of Spider-Man.[1] Silvermane is also the father of Joseph Manfredi.

Silvermane
Silvermane's disembodied head.
Art by Al Milgrom.
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceThe Amazing Spider-Man #73 (June 1969)
Created byStan Lee (writer)
John Buscema (artist)
In-story information
Alter egoSilvio Manfredi
Team affiliationsThe Maggia
HYDRA
Notable aliasesSupreme Hydra
AbilitiesSuperb hand to hand combatant
Excellent marksman
Brilliant strategist and organizer
Superhuman strength and senses via cyborg body
Use of various handguns

Publication history

He first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #73[2] and was created by Stan Lee and John Buscema.

The character's original storyline was about a mysterious stone tablet coveted by several Spider-Man villains. The "Tablet Saga" proved popular, although artist John Romita, Sr. said that it was not originally intended as an arc: "We never even thought up Silvermane until the seventh issue [of the story arc], let alone a 'socko' ending."[3]

Fictional character biography

Silvio Manfredi, nicknamed "Silvermane" for his near-white hair, is a professional criminal originally from Corleone, Sicily that started his criminal career as a racketeer in the Maggia organized crime group, eventually becoming a criminal organizer and mastermind.

In his first appearance, he forced Dr. Curt Connors into making a mystical youth potion from an ancient clay tablet. He first crossed paths with the Lizard and Spider-Man during this scheme. Drinking the serum made Silvermane younger, but its effect unintentionally led to him becoming a child and then reached the point before the age of birth and disappearing completely.[4] Silvermane eventually reappeared, revealing that he had mystically aged to his forties. He climbed through the ranks and became the crime family's head; he eventually formed an alliance with the worldwide Hydra organization determined to take over the world as their Supreme Hydra. He was defeated by Daredevil, Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D.[5] Silvermane reappeared in New York in an attempt to unite all of New York's gangs under his leadership and take over the criminal underworld, but his plans were complicated by the Green Goblin who opposed him. During a confrontation between the Goblin, Silvermane and Spider-Man, Silvermane fell from a great height but survived.[6]

Silvermane has hired many criminals, such as Hammerhead, and he has also been known to be a rival of the Kingpin. Silvermane once attempted to assassinate an amnesiac Kingpin.[7] His former partner Dominic Tyrone assumed the identity of the Rapier and sought vengeance against Silvermane's betrayal by attempting to slay him.[8] A flashback one-shot focused heavily on Silvermane's lifetime of corruption. The framework was the reporter Ben Urich investigating the Mafia. He found Silvermane was a legendary Mafia figure for decades; mothers would even warn their children to behave or 'One-Eye' would get them.[9]

In his old age, Silvermane's injuries resulted in undoing the effects of the rejuvenation serum. Though bedridden, he continued to run his criminal empire until Dagger nearly killed him. Silvermane attempted to prolong his life by transforming himself into a cyborg.[10] Kingpin gained control of his cyborg body until Dagger restored his life energy to him.[11] His cyborg body was badly damaged by the first Jack O'Lantern during a gang war between Hammerhead and the Kingpin.[12] Silvermane used a remote-controlled android doppelganger to battle Spider-Man. This was part of an attempt to boost the power of his remaining organic parts by harvesting parts from the superhuman body of Spider-Man. He attempted to drain his nemesis's radioactive blood to mobilize a new stronger cyborg body.[13] Silvermane confronted Deathlok and the Punisher while setting up a major drug operation outside a grammar school.[14] He is still an active member of the Maggia.

Silvermane attempted to take part in a meetup of various criminal warlords, during a time when Wilson Fisk had fallen from power. The meeting's goal was to divide up Fisk's resources, but it did not go well. Silvermane was caught in the crossfire between the Secret Empire's forces and the Punisher. This was purely by coincidence as he was simply staying at the same motel as Punisher was. Silvermane used the resources of his semi and the cyborg bodies stored within to battle his way through the attackers and leave.[15]

It was revealed some time later that Silvermane was killed during a shootout against Owl's gang at a New York City scrap yard. He was picked up by a magnet and dropped into a garbage compactor, crushing him to death and leaving the already troubled Maggia crime syndicate without a leader. Months later, he apparently returns along with various other deceased members during the Maggia's losing battle with the forces of Mister Negative. However this is later revealed to be a ruse by Maggia member Carmine, and that "Silvermane" was actually a robot controlled by a hired Mysterio in order to secretly give Carmine more influence in the syndicate's decision-making. The tables are turned on Carmine when Mysterio uses the robot to murder him, seemingly as a plot to take over the Maggia himself.[16]

Silvermane's head was still alive as it was found by a young boy when he traveled into the scrap yard. His head was in the possession of the boy who is currently building a robot, but then is stolen by Shocker.[17] The head is used as leverage by The Superior Foes of Spider-Man to head the Maggia family, but the team double-crosses each other. Shocker defends the mob boss from the Punisher, so Silvermane nominates him as don of the Maggia family.[18]

Powers and abilities

Silvermane was once a normal human being with no superhuman abilities. He was a superb hand-to-hand combatant, an excellent marksman, and a brilliant strategist and organizer. He is typically armed with various handguns and a Thompson .45 caliber machine gun. Later, Silvermane's brain, vital organs, and head were transplanted into a cyborg body, increasing his physical abilities and giving him superhuman strength and senses. However, Silvermane's organic body parts are those of a frail 80-year-old man, and hence quite vulnerable.

Other versions

Ultimate Marvel

The Ultimate Marvel version of Silvermane had a brief cameo. With Wilson Fisk lying low due to legal problems, Silvermane decided to work with Hammerhead to remove the Kingpin from power. He told Hammerhead that all was needed was a little 'up here' (referring to his intelligence). Hammerhead, however, wanted it all, breaking Silvermane's neck while saying "I think I got enough up here already."[19] Silvermane was also mentioned as a leader of a mob which included Hammerhead and owing a debt to Nathaniel Essex.[20] The Ultimate incarnation's real name is shown in the Daily Bugle as Allan Silvermane, though he's referred to as Silvio Manfredi.[21]

House of M

Silvermane appeared in the House of M reality as a younger crime boss on the many families captured by the NYPD's Brotherhood unit.[22]

In other media

Television
Silvermane (left) and Tombstone in Spider-Man: The Animated Series
  • Silvermane appeared in the 1980s Spider-Man animated series, voiced by Paul Winchell. In the episode "Wrath of the Sub-Mariner", he and Man Mountain Marko arrive in New York to call a truce with the Kingpin when his scientist Dr. Everett has developed a powerful dissolvent fluid capable of eating through anything. Prior to this, Spider-Man intercepted them but couldn't be brought in since most of his crimes are in the West Coast. He is webbed by Spider-Man in the end.
  • Silvermane appeared in the 1990s Spider-Man animated series, voiced by Jeff Corey. Still an enemy of Spider-Man, this version doesn't see eye-to-eye with Spider-Man's other foes, the Kingpin's hated crime lord rival and Alisa Silver's father. He first appeared in the "Insidious Six" arc. He has Hammerhead hired to capture Spider-Man. In the end of the Insidious Six's battle, he was rescued by Spider-Man from the Kingpin trying to kidnap him; Spider-Man was unaware of Silvermane's identity, believing he was simply a "sweet old man" that the villains had intended to ransom and noted not saving the old man willingly upon learning later that Silvermane was a crime lord. Since he never enjoyed a normal childhood as he grew into old age, Silvermane became obsessed with finding the secrets to youth and immortality. He heard legends of an ancient tablet called The Tablet of Time which allegedly was inscribed with the formula to rejuvenate an individual's youth. When The Tablet of Time was unearthed and brought to the United States, Silvermane arranged for Tombstone to steal The Tablet of Time and kidnap Dr. Curt Connors studying the tablet's powers. Even with Spider-Man's intervention, Silvermane was able to kidnap Margaret Connors and to force The Tablet of Time's activation. Conners prepares the potion for him with the Connors family used as a motivator to successfully decipher the tablet. Spider-Man saved Connors but Silvermane took the potion anyway despite Connors's warnings of being unstable. In the animated version of the story, The Tablet of Time focuses the suns rays into lasers which produce a greenish glow. Silvermane is initially turned into a young man (voiced by Townsend Coleman) and "fights" the Lizard then transforms further into a child (voiced by Matthew McCurley) and then a baby while the Lizard is bombarded by the rays and regresses back to human form; Connors concludes that The Tablet of Time might by able to stabilize Spider-Man's mutations, but the tablet is stolen by Hammerhead working for the Kingpin until ordering Hammerhead to get rid of the tablet but sells the tablet to the Vulture. In the episode "Partners", Silvermane was seen to have retained his adult intellect despite his baby status (voiced by Cannon Young). He and Alisa got Alistair Smythe to kidnap the Black Cat, blackmailing Spider-Man to apprehend the Scorpion or the Vulture; Silvermane believes that he can use the Scorpion's genetic structure to swap bodies with Spider-Man, and the Vulture was one of the originators of the neogenic technology; the Vulture himself believes in using Silvermane's lab to make himself permanently youthful. During the neogenic transfer, the Vulture intervenes, allowing Spider-Man, Black Cat and the Scorpion to escape. Silvermane and the Vulture exchange energies in the neogenic transfer, allowing the Vulture to be permanently young again and reverting Silvermane into an old man. The episode "The Return of Hydro-Man" Pt. 2 revealed that Silvermane is Professor Miles Warren's anonymous benefactor where he had an underwater base made for Miles to continue cloning experiments.
  • Silvermane appears in The Spectacular Spider-Man animated series, voiced by Miguel Ferrer. This version is crime lord rival to Tombstone and the father of Silver Sable (Sable Manfredi). The episode "Accomplices" revealed that he was arrested and jailed twelve years beforehand thanks to Frederick Foswell exposing Silvermane's criminal activities to the FBI. His territory gets taken over by Tombstone while Silver Sable has been running his empire's remnants in his absence. In the episode "Gangland", Silvermane appears as a rival mob boss to Tombstone and Doctor Octopus. When Hammerhead instigates a fight a summit held between Silvermane, Tombstone and Doctor Octopus by drugging Silver Sable, Silvermane uses a hidden hydraulic exoskeleton which provides him with super strength and energy blasts to fight with. When Spider-Man interferes the three supervillains' fight, Silvermane attempts to crush Spider-Man but the webslinger to rip out his suit's hydraulic cables, leaving him helpless. He gets taken into custody. In the episode "Opening Night", Silvermane is seen as an inmate of the Vault who is released by the Green Goblin. He rounds up the Enforcers, a robot duplicate of Mysterio, Rhino, and Molten Man to take down Spider-Man. He and the other inmates are ultimately knocked out by gas released by Walter Hardy and returned to their cells.
  • Silvermane appears in the Spider-Man animated series, voiced by Nolan North.[23] This version is a notorious, elderly crime boss who sports an exoskeleton. In the episode "Bring on the Bad Guys" Pt. 3, he gets involved in Spider-Man's bounty by hiring the Prowler to capture Spider-Man in exchange for sparing Abraham Brown's life following a botched assignment. When the Prowler turns against Silvermane after a change of heart, Silvermane uses his exoskeleton to fight is defeated after Spider-Man turns on the water sprinklers and the Prowler shoots an electric dart, neutralizing his exoskeleton and leaving him unconscious until the police arrive. In the episode "Critical Update", Silvermane is one of the crime bosses defeated by Superior Spider-Man. In the episode "Goblin War, Part 3", Silvermane is a leader of the Goblin King's Goblin Nation's faction known as Cyber Goblins. During his battle with Spider-Man and the Hobgoblin, Silvermane uses a device that negates the nano-technology that Spider-Man used on a bicycle and shatters Hobgoblin's mask while deeming unworthy, yet is defeated by the duo.

Video games
  • Slivermane appears in the beta versions of the SNES and Sega Genesis Spider-Man Animated Series video games. He was replaced with a robot in the final versions.
  • Silvermane is an exclusive villain in the Nintendo DS version of Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, voiced by Steven Blum. Silvermane fights the Spider-Man of the year 2099. It is explained by Madame Web that he's still alive in the year 2099 is because of his cyborg status and plans on using his fragment of the Tablet of Order and Chaos to become immortal. Spider-Man takes down Silvermane by avoiding his missile and bomb attacks, thus wearing him down.
  • Silvermane appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2, as part of the "Cloak and Dagger" DLC.[24]

Novels

Silvermane appears in the novel Spider-man: Forever Young written by Stefan Petrucha. The details of the tablet story are retold, with some elements, such as the Shocker removed while others are updated or changed, such as Silvermane officially disdaining personal electronic devices due to their lack of security but really due to him being unable to read them and the Kingpin being left in a coma after the shock of learning the Schemer's true identity. The novel includes an original story set two years after the original storyline, with Silvermane now randomly aging from childhood to adulthood as he attempts to force Curt Connors and Spider-Man to retrieve the tablet and find a cure for his condition. Even after Connors's research asserts that the tablet essentially cycles someone through their reincarnations in one lifetime to try and achieve true karma, Silvermane refuses to accept this, even attempting to blackmail Spider-Man for aid after deducing his true identity. While Vanessa Fisk also seeks the tablet to help her husband, witnessing what Silvermane has become convinces her to find another way, as a confrontation between Vanessa, Silvermane and Spider-Man in an old church Silvermane has taken as his base ends when Silvermane burns the church down trying to kill Spider-Man.

References
  1. Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. p. 316. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
  2. Manning, Matthew K.; Gilbert, Laura, ed. (2012). "1960s". Spider-Man Chronicle Celebrating 50 Years of Web-Slinging. Dorling Kindersley. p. 48. ISBN 978-0756692360. [Man Mountain Marko] wasn't the biggest threat the web-slinger would face in this issue. That honor went to Silvermane, an elderly crime boss intent on regaining his youth.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  3. Wells, John (2014). American Comic Book Chronicles: 1965-1969. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 270. ISBN 978-1605490557.
  4. The Amazing Spider-Man #73-75
  5. Daredevil #121-123
  6. The Amazing Spider-Man #176-180
  7. The Amazing Spider-Man #197
  8. The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #2
  9. Spider-Man: Made Men #1 (August 1998)
  10. The Spectacular Spider-Man #69-70
  11. The Spectacular Spider-Man #94-96
  12. The Amazing Spider-Man #284
  13. Web of Spider-Man #79-80
  14. Deathlok #8-9
  15. Punisher War Journal #46-48
  16. The Amazing Spider-Man #618-620
  17. The Superior Foes of Spider-Man #3
  18. The Superior Foes of Spider-Man #17
  19. Ultimate Spider-Man #79
  20. Ultimate X-Men #14 (March 2002)
  21. Ultimate Spider-Man #79
  22. House of M: Avengers #3
  23. "Bring On the Bad Guys Pt. 3". Spider-Man. Season 2. Episode 35. August 6, 2018. Disney XD.
  24. "Cloak & Dagger Join LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2". CBR. 20 March 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
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