MONTAGUE HALE

Real Name: Montague Hale

Identity/Class: Human, technology user

Occupation: Talk-show host, power-monger

Group Membership: Sons of the Serpent

Affiliations: Empire Books

Enemies: Avengers (Black Panther, Goliath (Clint Barton), Vision, Wasp, Yellowjacket), Monica Lynne

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Supreme Serpent

Base of Operations: Serpent Den, an abandoned television studio
a serpent-shaped underwater vehicle

First Appearance: Avengers I#73 (February, 1970)

Powers/Abilities: As the Supreme Serpent, Montague Hale wielded a powerful laser gun. Sans costume, he was a charismatic speaker.

History: (Avengers I#73 (fb) - BTS) - Montague Hale was the host of "Black World," a late-night talk show where he pretended to champion civil rights. Hale had revived the Sons of the Serpent with his rival Dan Dunn, each man wearing the garb of Supreme Serpent to lead the Sons of the Serpent. Despite their rhetoric, neither man believed in the cause of racial superiority, only interested in personal power for themselves.

(Avengers I#73) - After the Sons of the Serpent destroyed an Equal Employment Bureau office, Hale spoke against them on his program. He then had the Serpents attack him to help their cause. Hale lost his program as a result, but began to appear as a guest on Dunn's program. On one program, he met singer Monica Lynne, and attempted to sway her to his public cause, but she wasn't interested. As the Supreme Serpent, he ordered the Serpents to attack her, but she was saved by the Black Panther. Luckily for Hale, Lynne was now on his side as a result of the attack.

(Avengers I#74) - After the Black Panther was captured by the Serpents, Hale and Dunn had a white member of the Serpents impersonate him and commit crimes so that the Serpents could pass themselves off as heroes by "capturing" him. Hale and Dunn continued to spar on Dunn's program, further inflaming the nation. Finally, when they had the imposter brought out to be unmasked on television, they were attacked by the Avengers, who set the real Black Panther free. The Black Panther exposed the imposter, and Dunn and Hale were unmasked by Yellowjacket and the Wasp. The two men tried to kill the Avengers with their laser guns, but they were shoved from behind by Monica Lynne, allowing the Black Panther to strike them down.

(Marvels: Eye of the Camera#2 - BTS) - Hale arranged a book deal with Empire Books to tell his story in the biography "Fangs: a Confession of Hate."

Comments: Created by Roy Thomas, Frank Giacoia, Herb Trimpe and Sam Grainger.

by Prime Eternal

CLARIFICATIONS:
Montague Hale should not be confused with:

• Bonnie Hale, lover of Sabretooth, @ Sabretooth: Mary Shelly Overdrive#1
• Jonas Hale, Roxxon Oil operations chief, @ Iron Man I#120
• Suprema, Susan Scarbo, now Mother Night, @ Captain America I#123
• Supremacists, agents of Azanian government, @ Black Panther II#2
• Supremacy, ruler of Dimension Z, @ Tales to Astonish I#49
• Supreme Hydra, leader of Hydra, @ Strange Tales I#135
• Supreme Intelligence, collective of the greatest minds of the Kree, @ Fantastic Four I#64
• Supreme One, leader of the Quists, commander of Lucifer, @ X-Men I#20
• Supreme Pontiff, leader of the Church of Humanity, @ Uncanny X-Men#400
• General Chen, the first Supreme Serpent, @ Avengers I#32
• Dan Dunn, another Supreme Serpent, @ Avengers I#73
• J.C. Pennysworth, another Supreme Serpent, @ Defenders I#23
• Lucas Green, another Supreme Serpent, @ Avengers Annual#19
• Supreme Soofi, leader of SOOFI, @ Howard the Duck I#20
• Supreme Soviet of the Ultraverse, Fyodor Tostavich, Soviet warrior, @ Exiles I#1
• Supreme Soviets, Russian super-hero team, @ Captain America I#352
• El Supremo, criminal from Terraneuva, @ Power Man and Iron Fist#70
• Supremor, title of the Supreme Intelligence, @ Fantastic Four I#64
• Supremor, android built to resemble Supreme Intelligence, @ Captain Marvel I#46
• Supremor, alias of the Supremacy, @ Tales to Astonish I#49
• Supremus, Ulysses Abboud, geneticist, fought Nick Fury, @ Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. I#8

Images taken from:
Avengers I#74, page 5, panel 4
Avengers I#74, page 19, panel 2

Last updated: 02/21/09

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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