Silvermane

Silvermane
Silvermane's disembodied head. Art by Al Milgrom.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	The Amazing Spider-Man #73 (June 1969)
Created by	Stan Lee (Writer) John Buscema (Artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	Silvio Manfredi
Team affiliations	The Maggia HYDRA
Notable aliases	Supreme Hydra
Abilities	Superb hand to hand combatant Excellent marksman Brilliant strategist and organizer Superhuman strength and senses via cyborg body Use of various handguns

Silvermane 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. Silvermane is also the father of Joseph Manfredi.

Publication history

He first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #73^[1] and was created by Stan Lee and John Buscema.

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.^[2] 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 HYDRA, a worldwide organization determined to take over the world and became their Supreme Hydra. He was defeated by Daredevil, Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D..^[3] 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 return of the Green Goblin (Bart Hamilton). The Goblin opposed him, and during a confrontation between the Goblin, Silvermane and Spider-Man, Silvermane fell from a great height but survived.^[4]

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.^[5] His former partner Dominic Tyrone assumed the identity of the Rapier and sought vengeance against Silvermane's betrayal by attempting to slay him.^[6] 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.^[7]

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.^[8] Kingpin gained control of his cyborg body until Dagger restored his life energy to him.^[9] His cyborg body was badly damaged by the first Jack O'Lantern during a gang war between Hammerhead and the Kingpin.^[10] 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.^[11] Silvermane confronted Deathlok and the Punisher while setting up a major drug operation outside a grammar school.^[12] 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 Secret Empire 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.^[13]

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.^[14]

Silvermane's head was still alive as it was found by a young boy when he traveled into the scrap yard. His head is the possession of the boy who is currently building a robot.^[15]

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 in Ultimate Spider-Man. With Wilson Fisk lying low due to legal problems, Silvermane decided to work with Hammerhead to wrestle him out of the seat of power. He told Hammerhead that all he needed was a little 'up here' (referring to his intelligence). Hammerhead, however, wanted it all to himself. He smashes Silvermane's head, saying "I think I got enough up here already." ^[16]

He was also mentioned as a leader of a mob which included Hammerhead in Ultimate X-Men. It is stated that he owes a debt to Nathaniel Essex.^[17]

Also, the Ultimate incarnation's real name is shown in the Daily Bugle as Allan Silvermane, though later in the same comic Fisk refers to him as Silvio Manfredi.^[18] Due to his status as a high-ranking crime lord, it is likely one or both of these names are aliases.

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.^[19]

In other media

Television

• Silvermane appeared in the 1980s Spider-Man cartoon, 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 (left) and Tombstone in Spider-Man: The Animated Series.
• Silvermane appears in the 1990s Spider-Man cartoon series, voiced by Jeff Corey. Although he is an enemy of Spider-Man, this version doesn't see eye-to-eye with Spider-Man's other foes, is a hated rival of crime lord Wilson Fisk and is the father of Alisha Silvers. He first appeared in the Insidious Six arc, where in he has Hammerhead hired to capture Spider-Man. In the end of the Insidious Six's battle, he was rescued by Spider-Man from Kingpin trying to kidnap him. Since Silvermane never enjoyed a normal childhood as he grew into old age, he became obsessed with finding the secrets to youth and immortality. He heard legends of an ancient tablet which allegedly was inscribed with the formula to rejuvenate and individuals youth called The Tablet of Time. When the tablet was unearthed and brought to the United States, he arranged for Tombstone to steal the tablet and kidnap Dr. Curt Connors studying its powers. Even with Spider-Man's intervention, Silvermane was able to kidnap Margaret Connors and force Connors to activate the tablet. Conners prepares the potion for him with the lives of Connors's family was used as a motivator for him to successfully decipher the tablet. Spider-Man saved Connors but Silvermane took the potion anyway despite Connors's warnings of it being unstable. In the animated version of the story, Silvermane was transformed into a baby instead of being mildly rejuvenated. There, the tablet 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 Lizard is bombarded by the rays and regresses back to human form. Connors concludes that they might by able to use the tablet to stabilize Spider-Man's mutations, but the tablet is stolen by Hammerhead working for Kingpin until ordering Hammerhead to get rid of the tablet. Hammerhead sells the tablet to an elderly man. In the later episode "Partners", Silvermane was seen to have retained his adult intellect despite his baby status (voiced by Cannon Young). He and Alisha got the cyborg Alistair Smythe to kidnap the Black Cat, blackmailing Spider-Man to apprehend the Scorpion or Vulture; Silvermane believes that he can use Scorpion's genetic structure to swap bodies with Spider-Man, and Vulture was one of the originators of the Neogenic technology. Vulture believes he himself can use Silvermane's lab to make himself permanently youthful. During the neogenic transfer, Vulture intervenes, allowing Spider-Man, Black Cat & Scorpion to escape. Silvermane and Vulture exchange energies in the neogenic transfer allowing Vulture to become semi-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, voiced by Miguel Ferrer. The episode "Accomplices" revealed that he was arrested and jailed twelve years beforehand after Frederick Foswell exposed Silvermane's criminal activities. After his empire fell, his territory was taken over by the Big Man while his daughter Silver Sable (Sable Manfredi) has been running his empire's remnants in his absence. In the episode "Gangland", Silvermane appears as a rival mob boss to the Big Man and Doctor Octopus. When Hammerhead instigates a fight a summit held between Silvermane, the Big Man and Doc Ock by drugging Silver Sable, Silvermane uses a hidden hydraulic exoskeleton which provides him with superstrength and energy blasts to fight with. When Spider-Man interferes the three supervillains' fight, Silvermane attempts to crush him, only for the webslinger to rip out his suit's hydraulic cables, leaving him helpless. He was taken into custody. In the episode "Opening Night", Silvermane was seen as an inmate of the Vault who was among the prisoners released by the Green Goblin. He rounds up the Enforcers, a robot duplicate of Mysterio, and other prisoners to take down Spider-Man. He and the other inmates are knocked out by gas released by Walter Hardy.

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.

References

1. 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.
2. The Amazing Spider-Man #73-75
3. Daredevil #121-123
4. The Amazing Spider-Man #177-180
5. The Amazing Spider-Man #197
6. The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #2
7. Spider-Man: Made Men #1 (August 1998)
8. The Spectacular Spider-Man #69-70
9. The Spectacular Spider-Man #94-96
10. The Amazing Spider-Man #284
11. Web of Spider-Man #79-80
12. Deathlok #8-9
13. Punisher War Journal #46-48
14. The Amazing Spider-Man #618-620
15. The Superior Foes of Spider-Man #3
16. Ultimate Spider-Man #79
17. Ultimate X-Men #14 (March 2002)
18. Ultimate Spider-Man #79
19. House of M: Avengers #3

External links

• Silvermane at Marvel.com
• Silvermane's entry at Spiderfan.org