THE COUNCIL of ANTIQUARIANSCOLLECTORS
Membership: Abner Little, Silas Mourner, Colonel Pigman, Alfred Queely, Princess Zanda, Count Zorba,
Purpose: Loosely tied together because of their interest in obscure items, The Collectors are ruthless and will do anything to get to their goal, even kill each other.
Affiliations: Sometime ally of Black Panther (T'Challa), but mostly only allied with themselves
Enemies: Rival collectors; anybody who gets in their way
Aliases: The Collectors
Base of Operations: Around the world; Princess Zanda operates from her homeland Narobia, Count Zorba from Greece
First Appearance: Black Panther I#1 (January, 1977)
History:
(Black Panther I#1 (fb) - BTS) - Abner Little sent Black Panther a letter where he mentioned Black Panther's grandfather Azzari the Wise (and possibly the Brass Frog?).
(Black Panther I#1 (fb) - BTS) - Abner Little met the Black Panther, so they could find the Brass Frog
(Black Panther I#1 (fb) - BTS) - Alfred Queely tampered with the Brass Frog, unwittingly activating its time portal and summoning forth a warlord from the past who slew Queely.
(Black Panther I#1) - Black Panther and Abner Little found Alfred Queely holding the Brass Frog, and soon discovered that he had been murdered. Abner Little took the brass frog and called Queely a poor hapless fool, and announced "So ends the miserable career of Alfred Queely -- recluse, collector and thief!" Suddenly, Abner and Black Panther were attacked from behind by a warrior -- the same one who had killed Alfred Queely. While Abner was watching the fight, Black Panther managed to defeat the warrior, but the warrior was able to escape. Abner told Black Panther that Black Panther's grandfather Azzuri used to own the Brass Frog, and he knew that it was a time machine. Abner and Black Panther called the police to tell them about the murder of Alfred Queely, then left in a jet-copter. Abner told Black Panther that he intended to take the Brass Frog back to its original resting place, King Solomon's burial chamber. Suddenly the jet-copter was attacked by a group of unknown men, who tried to bring the jet-copter to the ground, but Abner and Black Panther managed to escape and land in Abner's secret hideout. There Black Panther and Abner were attacked by Zanda and her men. Abner was shot by one of them, and when Zanda's men told her that he was dead, they asked her if they should kill the Black Panther as well, but she told them she'd have use for him later. Princess Zanda and her men tried to get Black Panther to talk, but he began to fight them, and was almost successful in defeating them. Panther kicked the brass frog out of Zanda's hands, seizing it for himself. Zanda ordered one of her men to shoot the brass frog out of Black Panther's hands, which he did, but suddenly the brass frog began to glow and brought a mysterious looking creature named Hatch-22 to the hideout.
(Black Panther I#2) - Black Panther, Princess Zanda and her men tried to overpower Hatch-22 but were easily defeated themselves. Hatch-22 used his powers to disintegrate one of Zanda's men, but Black Panther managed to knock Hatch-22 out. When Zanda tried to shoot the creature, T'Challa stopped her. After Panther had successfully stopped Princess Zanda, he went to the body of Abner Little, only to discover that the little man was still alive because he wore an armored vest. When Hatch-22 woke up again, he was shot by Abner Little with a dart gun which injected a chemical to diffuse the creature, winning the three of them some time to find a way to send the creature back.
(Black Panther I#3) - Black Panther, Abner Little and Princess Zanda tried to find King Solomon's tomb in order to find the machine to send Hatch-22 back to where he came from. Before finding the tomb, Black Panther had to fight a guard. In the meantime, Hatch-22 woke up and began to hunt Abner Little. He tried to blast Abner, but Abner managed to evade the beam, and instead the beam hit the guard, who was destroyed. Zanda tried to knock Hatch-22 out with a stone, but Hatch-22 hit the rock with a beam, dissolving the stone and striking a far wall, revealing the tomb. In the tomb, the three found the machine and managed to sent Hatch-22 back to his own time.
(Black Panther I#4/Black Panther III#48 (fb) ) - In King Solomon's tomb, Abner Little used an item he found there to shoot the guard, who disintegrated. The three "partners" began to argue about whether or not they should take something with them from the tomb. Black Panther took the brass frogs from Zanda and threw them, shattering them on the floor. The tomb began to fall apart but the three of them escaped just in time.
(Black Panther I#4) - After the incident at the tomb of King Solomon, the three went to Princess Zanda's home country of Narobia. When they arrived, Abner and T'Challa were thrown into a room and attacked by a samurai. After having defeated the samurai, Abner and T'Challa were freed and taken to a large chamber in the royal palace, where T'Challa was introduced to the other Collectors. Princess Zanda told Abner that they had found a map of the legendary Samurai City.
(Black Panther I#5) - Princess Zanda wanted Black Panther to find the legendary Samurai City, to try to get the water-skin which gives eternal life. The Black Panther refused, but Abner Little wanted to participate, and the rest of the Collectors made it clear that they wouldn't let them leave. Princess Zanda then showed Black Panther that she had missiles pointing towards Wakanda, and wouldn't hesitate to use them if Black Panther refused to bring back the water-skin. T'Challa finally agreed to go to the Samurai City with Abner Little and they left in a craft. Suddenly the two companions were shot down and attacked by a Yeti-like creature. After the creature's defeat, they stood eye-to-eye with a samurai, who told them that they should prepare to die.
(Black Panther I#6) - After the Black Panther managed to defeat the samurai, Abner rushed to get the samurai's sword. Black Panther told him to calm down, and asked him if he intended to bring the samurai and his sword back to the Collectors as well. Abner told him to be careful, since The Collectors were people of power. Suddenly the two of them were attacked by the defeated samurai again, who told them that he was now in total disgrace, and that they now must kill him. They refused and asked him to take them to the Samurai City; the samurai took them there, and knocked on a huge gong, which was painful to Abner's ears. The other samurais were about to attack the strangers after they saw that T'Challa had the samurai's sword. But they calmed down after the samurai told them that the strangers were to be brought to Shinzu. Abner and T'Challa followed the samurai and were introduced to Shinzu. When Shinzu told them that the samurai's honor must be won back, Abner told T'Challa not to worry and that it was nothing he couldn't handle. But when the challenger came to win back his honor, Abner had second thoughts. While the fight went on, Abner slipped away unnoticed. He discovered the sacred water-skin and tried to steal some, but he was discovered and chased by the other samurais.
(Black Panther I#7) - To save Abner and himself, the Black Panther revealed his identity as the ruler of Wakanda, and told them that according to their own code of honor, he could "buy" Abner free. After a little while, the samurais agreed, but they needed to leave the water-skin behind and leave the city immediately. Abner wasn't fond of the idea, but was forced to agree and leave with T'Challa. The two of them returned to the other Collectors and told them that they didn't bring the water-skin back with them. Suddenly Abner revealed that he had indeed gotten ahold of a small portion of the water-skin, and the Collectors began to fight each other to get it. Abner threw the vial containing the water-skin to Black Panther, but one of Zanda's soldiers accidently shot the vial which broke, and the portion was lost. Black Panther decided to leave, and escaped in an aircraft.
(Iron Man III#16) - Count Zorba called Stark Solutions for help and talked with Pepper Potts, who directed the call to Tony Stark. Count Zorba told Stark that he was a collector of rare antiquities, and was currently seeking a lost treasure, and he wanted to hire Stark Solutions to help him find it. Tony told Count Zorba that although he was intrigued by the assignment, he had to let it go. Count Zorba told Stark that he wouldn't take no for an answer, but Tony said that he had to, and cut off the connection. Zorba was angered and began to think of a way he could acquire Stark's services before the others could get the treasure.
(Iron Man III#18) - At a private party at the Stark mansion in Seattle, Abner Little introduced himself to Tony Stark, telling him that he wanted to hire Stark Solutions to locate a certain lost treasure. Tony told Abner that he couldn't accept the offer because he had just been hired by Baintronics.
(Iron Man III#21/2) - In the Canadian Nunavut territory, Abner Little was "reunited" with Tony Stark. Tony was surprised to see Abner there since he was hired by a museum, but Abner told him that he recently bought the museum, thereby tricking Tony Stark into working for him anyway. Suddenly the group of people were attacked by a mysterious spaceship-lookalike. Abner tried to shoot it down with his gun, but was unsuccessful. When Iron Man succeeded in taking down the craft, the passengers were revealed as Abner's partners -- Princess Zanda and Count Zorba -- also on a search for the lost temple.
(Iron Man III#22) - The group escaped from Inferno's fury. Afterwards, Tony questioned Zanda, Abner, and Zorba about their interest in the temple. Abner told Tony that neither Zanda nor Zorba could be trusted, whereto Tony answered "No more than I trust you....., and that goes for all of you". Zorba and Zanda decided to tell Stark about the temple and the rest of them, and the four of them alongside Dr. Mann decided to go to another temple that their partner Colonel Nigel Pigman had uncovered. They arrived and were reunited with Pigman, who was surprised to see his "partners" and Tony Stark, and asked him if he had joined their group. Suddenly Zorba was gone, and a bright light appeared, and then a creature appeared before them. The creature called himself Carnivore, and was revealed to be Zorba with new powers. Carnivore attacked his former partners, but Zanda used her gun to shoot Carnivore, who was stopped for a minute. Then Iron Man arrived and began to fight Carnivore. Meanwhile, the rest of the Collectors learned more about the temples, and how they were built for eight great entities, and that the first human who touched the totem created by the entities would be turned into an Exemplar -- a living embodiment of that power. Iron Man was still fighting Carnivore, but just before he could defeat the villain, two other Exemplars appeared and took him away with them.
(Black Panther III#40) - Abner Little was reunited with his old friend the Black Panther.
(Black Panther III#41) - Abner called the Black Panther and told him that he had located Zanda in Philadelphia. Abner met with Ross, told him that he was late, and told him to call him Mr. Little. The two got onboard an airplane where they joined the Black Panther.
(Black Panther III#42) - Princess Zanda was revealed to have been working "undercover" at a KCF drive-in, where her enemies would never look for her. Abner Little, the Black Panther and Ross went to Philadelphia to pick up their partner, Princess Zanda.
(Black Panther III#43) - Princess Zanda and Abner Little were onboard a craft alongside the Black Panther, Nightshade and Ross. Destination: Kiber Island.
(Black Panther III#44) - Princess Zanda and Abner Little, alongside the Black Panther, Nightshade and Ross, returned with the Brass Frog to T'Challa.
(Black Panther III#45) - Princess Zanda and Abner Little, alongside the Black Panther, Ross, Nightshade, and Monica Lynne, used their craft to go to Washington. The group watched as Abner Little sent the Brass Frogs to where they came from, before Henry Peter Gyrich appeared and ordered his men to take Abner Little away.
COMMENTS:
Created by Jack Kirby, further developed by Kurt Busiek.
Images provided by Bob Almond, Inker extraordinaire, who also shared:
Profile by: The Beetle, with some links added by Daevanator
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Collectors are not to be confused with:
Count Zorba is not to be confused with:
Colonel Nigel Pigman is not to be confused with:
According to Princess Zanda, Colonel Pigman was very well financed and eager to contribute millions to any worthy project. Later when the Collectors were on the hunt for the lost temples, he found one of them before any of his "partners".
--Black Panther I#4 (#4-5, 7, Iron Man III#22
According to Princess Zanda, Silas Mourner was very well financed and eager to contribute millions to any worthy project. Silas was the oldest of the Collectors and had spent a lot of his life collecting artifacts. He is now looking for artifacts to extend his life, among others the water-skin from the legendary Samurai City.
--Black Panther I#4 (4-5, 7
One of the lesser known Collectors, Alfred Queely was on the hunt for King Solomon’s Frog before he was found dead by Abner Little and the Black Panther. He was killed by a warriori with a large sword.
--Black Panther I#1
Appearances:
Black Panther I#1-7 (January, 1977 - January, 1978) - Jack Kirby (writer/pencils), Mike Royer (inks), Jack Kirby & Archie Goodwin (editors)
Iron Man III#16 (May, 1999) - Kurt Busiek & Roger Stern (writers), Patrick Zircher & Anthony Williams (pencils), Andy Lanning, Larry Mahlstedt & Scott Koblish (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Iron Man III#18 (July, 1999) - Kurt Busiek & Roger Stern (writers), Sean Chen (pencils), Lary Stucker & Eric Cannon (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Iron Man III#21 (October, 1999) - Kurt Busiek & Roger Stern (writers), Tom Grummett (pencils), Art Thibert (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Iron Man III#22 (November, 1999) - Kurt Busiek & Roger Stern (writers), Sean Chen (pencils), Rob Hunter, Mark Morales, Mark Nelson & Eric Cannon (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Black Panther III#40-45 (March-August, 20002) - Christopher Priest (writer), Sal Velluto (pencils), Bob Almond (inks), Mike Marts (editor)
Black Panther III#48 (October, 2002) - Christopher Priest (writer), Sal Velluto (pencils), Bob Almond (inks), Mike Marts (editor)
First Posted: 02/08/2003
Last updated: 11/06/2012
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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