THE SILVER
SQUAD
Membership: Purty Larry, Ripster, Slambeaux, Twit
Purpose: Capture Spider-Man for Silvermane
Affiliations: Silvermane
Enemies: Mary Jane Watson Parker, Spider-Man, unnamed carriage driver
Base of Operations: An abandoned subway tunnel in Manhatten, New York City
First Appearance: Web of Spider-Man I#79 (August, 1991)
History: The Silver Squad were created by the Tinkerer for Silvermane to kill Spider-Man and bring Silvermane the body so he could drain Spider-Man's blood into his own android body. He sent them to find Peter Parker because Parker appeared to be connected to Spider-Man.
(Web of Spider-Man I#79) - While Peter Parker (the amazing Spider-Man) was taking a carriage ride through central park with his wife they were attacked by the Silver Squad. Peter jumped from the carriage and changed into Spider-Man, and as the Silver Squad threatened Mary Jane Spider-Man came to the rescue and attacked them He fought the Squad who continuously missed with their guns and hit trees, all the while trying to figure out who had sent them. Spider-Man used the Silver Squad's numbers against them, as they accidentally eliminated two of their own members, Purty Larry and Twit, when Spider-Man dodged their blasts, which would in turn hit each other. He then proceeded to destroy Slambeaux by throwing him into Purty Larry's body, which was still discharging electricity. Ripster, however, kept on attacking Spider-Man, who led her away from Central Park to avoid injury to Mary Jane. He proceeded to inadvertently lead Ripster into a crowded area of New York City, and was so busy trying to lead Ripster away from there, that he wasn't able to fight back against her. Eventually, they came face to face atop a tall building, and the two began to fight. Ripster proved to have been much more powerful than any of the other members of the Silver Squad, and as the two fought, neither was able to get any real advantage. Eventually Ripster hurled herself at Spider-Man, and the two were both thrown off the building and plummeted several stories to the concrete floor below. Spider-Man was knocked out cold and Ripster, though badly damaged, carried Spider-Man's unconscious body to the lair of Silvermane.
(Web of Spider-Man I#80) - As soon as her prime directive was completed, Ripster allowed herself to shut down, as she was badly damaged and needed heavy repairs.
Ripster's remains were presumably lost in the destruction of Silvermane's lair.
COMMENTS: Created by Terry Kavanagh and Alex Saviuk
It is unclear if Twit, the skinny one of the four with glasses, was ever named. Ripster called him Twit, but that might just have been an insult.
Silvermane's plan was kind
of weird to me. He had a robotic body. What would human blood
rushing against synthetic wires that he has for veins even do?
Does he even have a heart to pump blood with? I recall he wanted
Spider-Man's heart actually, but a human heart in the middle of a
robotic body. Besides, he was already strong enough to take on
Spider-Man and Black Cat, couldn't he just rob a blood bank
instead?
Silvermane was a cyborg. He had many of his
original, fragile organs, kept alive via his powerful cybernetic
frame. I'm ASSuming he wanted Spider-Man's blood to energize his
own failing organs.
Loki and Per Degaton pointed out that the Silver Squad members were all homages.
Ripster: Possibly an homage to Ripley from the Alien films.
Slambeaux: Sounds similar to Rambo from the novel First Blood. He did not survive the novel. Name derived from the French poet Rimbaud.
Purty Larry: Dirty Harry! Just look at the size of that gun - looks like the most powerful handgun I've ever seen...
Twit: Terry Kavanagh? He was carrying a pencil around, so presumably he was a writer
Per Degaton also pointed out that Tinkerer created the Silver Squad for Silvermane according to a thought balloon in that storyline on the part of Silvermane.
PROFILE BY STUNNER
CLARIFICATIONS: Not to be confused with:
Purty Larry should not be confused with:
PRETTY BOY ( ) - Reavers, killed by Fitroy's Sentinels--Uncanny X-Men#229
Ripster should not be confused with:
Slambeaux is not to be confused with:
Twit should not be confused with:
Purty Larry
Purty Larry attacked Peter Parker and Mary Jane along with the other members of the Silver Squad. He did most of the talking (in a southern accent) and battled Spider-Man. A stray shot from his gun destroyed Twit. He battled until he was destroyed by a stray blast from Slambeaux's gun.
He did not appear to have many super powers except for the powers common to a robot (Enhanced strength, durability, no need for food or rest etc). He carried and used a really powerful magnum in battle.
-- Web of Spider-Man I#79
Ripster attacked Peter Parker and Mary Jane along with the rest of the Silver Squad, and along with the rest of them, she engaged Spider-Man in battle. After he destroyed the other three members, she persisted in her attack, forcing Spider-Man to flee to avoid his wife getting hit by a stray shot. She pursued him into the city where he continuously fled to avoid injury to innocent bystanders. Finally, she and Spider-Man faced off atop a tall building, where they fought. The battle was relatively even, but concluded when Ripster hurled herself at Spider-Man sending both of them off of the building and they plummeted several stories into the concrete floor. Spider-Man was knocked unconscious and Ripster took him to Silvermane's lair.
She was the most powerful of the group and had super strength (I'd estimate class 5-10) and very impressive durability. She wielded a very large and powerful gun and a knife which she could channel energy through.
-- Web of Spider-Man I#79 (80
Slambeaux attacked Peter Parker and Mary Jane along with the other members of the Silver Squad. He accidentally destroyed a bunch of trees while trying to hit Spider-Man. A stray shot from his gun destroyed Purty Larry. He was destroyed when he was thrown into Purty Larry's body, which was still discharging electricity. He dressed like a guerilla warfare fighter.
He did not appear to have many super powers except for the powers common to a robot (Enhanced strength, durability, no need for food or rest etc). He carried a large and powerful gun which he used in battle which was powerful enough to shatter large trees.
-- Web of Spider-Man I#79
Twit was with the Silver Squad as they attacked Peter Parker and Mary Jane, and with them as they battled Spider-Man, but did not participate in the assault. He was destroyed by a stray shot from Purty Larry's gun. He was a total non combatant and honestly had no obvious reason he was even there.
He displayed no super physical powers and appeared and acted as if he were very weak. He probably acted as an android calculator of sorts and probably had a lot of information stored within his memory banks or was used as the brains in an otherwise brainless group. He carried a pencil around.
--Web of Spider-Man I#79
images: (without ads)
Web of Spider-Man I#79, p2, pan3 (main image, Purty Larry & Slambeaux)
Appearances:
Web of Spider-Man I#79-80 (August-September, 1991) - Terry Kavanagh (writer), Alex Saviuk (pencils), Keith Williams (inks), Danny Fingeroth (editor)
First Posted: 01/01/2004
Last updated: 01/03/2004
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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