Silvermane (comics)

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caption = Silvermane.
Art by Al Milgrom.
comic_color = background:#ff8080
character_name = Silvermane
publisher = Marvel Comics
debut = "Amazing Spider-Man", Vol. 1 #73 (Jun 1969)
creators = Stan Lee
John Buscema
alliance_color = background:#c0c0ff
real_name = Silvio Manfredi
alliances = The Maggia
HYDRA
aliases = Supreme Hydra
powers = Superhuman physical attributes derived from cyborg body

Silvermane is a fictional Marvel Comics character. He is a supervillain and a prominent figure in the Maggia, a fictional organized crime syndicate that is analogous to the Mafia. He first appeared in "Amazing Spider-Man", Volume 1 #73. He 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 Sicily who has been a long-time nemesis in the Spider-Man comics. He started his criminal career in an organized crime group called the Maggia. Climbing through the ranks and becoming head of the crime family, he eventually formed an alliance with HYDRA, a worldwide organization determined to take over the world. Silvermane has hired many criminals, such as Hammerhead, and he has also been known to be a rival of the Kingpin.

In 1975, writer Gerry Conway and artists Don Heck and Vince Colletta created Silvermane's son Joseph Manfredi.

In his old age, Silvermane attempted to prolong his life by transforming himself into a cyborg. He has occasionally attempted to boost the power of his remaining organic parts by harvesting parts from the superhuman body of his nemesis, Spider-Man. He is still an active member of the Maggia.

Silverman 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 the Punisher was. Silvermane used the resources of his semi and the cyborg bodies stored within to battle his way through the attackers and leave.

Other versions

Ultimate Silvermane

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 snapped Silvermane's neck, saying "I think I got enough up here already."

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 Nathanial Essex (Mister Sinister).

Also, in the Ultimate Universe, his real name is shown in the Daily Bugle as Allan Silvermane, though later in the same comic Wilson Fisk refers to him as Silvio Manfredi. Due to his status as a high-ranking crimelord, it is likely one or both of these names are aliases.

Visually, aside from long hair and a scar along the bridge of his nose, he's more or less the same as the classic Silvermane when he was a normal human.

In other media

Television

pider-Man (1981)

Silvermane appeared in the 1981 "Spider-Man" cartoon voiced by Paul Winchell. In "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.

pider-Man (1994)

In "", Silvermane (voiced by Jeff Corey as an old man and by Townsend Coleman as an adult) is a crime lord. Although he is an enemy of Spider-Man, he doesn't see eye-to-eye with Spidey's other foes. He is a hated rival of Wilson Fisk (Kingpin), another crime lord. Silvermane is also the father of Alisha, aka Alisha Silvers, a name she went by in order to spy on the research of Dr. Curt Connors. He first appeared in the Insidious Six arc, where in he has Hammerhead hired to capture Spider-Man. In the end of Battle of the Insidious Six, he was rescued by Spider-Man from the Kingpin who tried to kidnap him.

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, 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 (Lizard), who was studying its powers. Even with the intervention of Spider-Man, Silvermane was able to kidnap Connors' wife and force Connors to activate the tablet. In the comic book the formula is for a potion. Conner's prepares the potion for him, while the lives of Connors 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 warnings of it being unstable. In the animated series 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, "fights" the Lizard then transforms further into a baby. The Lizard is bombarded by the rays and mutates back to human form. Dr. 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 Wilson Fisk (Kingpin). Fisk, dismayed that his wife left him, orders Hammerhead to get rid of the tablet. Hammerhead sells the tablet to an elderly man, presumably The Vulture, who uses the Tablet to temporarily restore youth to himself. He is unable to remain youthful for an expended period of time, transforming back and forth uncontrolably.

In a later episode, "Partners", a baby Silvermane was seen to have retained his adult intellect. He and Alisha got the cyborg Alistair Smythe to kidnap The Black Cat (Felicia Hardy), blackmailing Spider-Man to apphrehend The Scorpion. Baby Silvermane believes that he can use The Scorpion, who had been created through the use of Neogenics, to combine his genetic structure with that of a scorpion to swap bodies with Spider-Man. The Scorpion meanwhile in an attempt to go straight, was living with the Vulture. The Vulture, one of the originators of the Neogenic technology believes he himself can use Silvermane's lab to make himself permanently youthful. During the neogenic transfer the Vulture intervenes, allowing Spider-Man, The Black Cat & The Scorpion to escape. Silvermane and the Vulture exchange energys in the neogenic transfer allowing the Vulture to become semi-permanently young again and reverting Silvermane into an old man.

External links

* [http://marvel.com/universe/Silvermane Silvermane] at Marvel.com
* [http://www.spiderfan.org/characters/silvermane.html Silvermane's entry at Spiderfan.org]