MONTENEGRO

Real Name: possibly Stewart Montenegro (see comments)

Identity/Class: Human technology user

Occupation: Professional criminal

Group Membership: Leads a group of agents (including Mr. Selby, Mr. Thisby, Troy, as well as numerous unnamed costumed mooks)

Affiliations: Joey Andrews, Constrictor, Howie the Z, Kingpin, Maggia, Sabretooth, Silvermane

Enemies: Emil, Leda, and Sally Fontaine, Iron Fist (Daniel Rand), Marco, Master Khan, Misty Knight, Power Man (Cage), Colleen Wing

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: The Man from the Black Mountain

Base of Operations: The Black Mountains, Tibet
    formerly a base in Coney Island, New York;
    presumably mobile across the Earth (including Switzerland)

First Appearance: (Completely Behind-the-Scenes) Power Man and Iron Fist I#66 (December, 1980)
    (seen, named) Power Man and Iron Fist I#71 (July, 1981)

 

 

 

 

Powers/Abilities: Montenegro is strong, though not superhumanly so. He is a master mountain climber and uses weapons based on mountain climbing (or the conditions encountered during mountain climbing). He can scale conventional buildings and probably just about anything else he encounters. He wears a tough leather outfit and spiked boots, and he uses a grappling hook, a device able to fire pitons able penetrate solid rock, and an Alpine gun, which can spray vapor able to freeze surfaces and anything else it contacts.

Montenegro is confident, ruthless, and he believes in punishing those who betray him.

 

 

History:
(Power Man and Iron Fist I#66 (fb) - BTS) - Montenegro acquired the Jade Tiger.

(Power Man and Iron Fist I#66 - BTS) - Master Khan hired Misty Knight and Colleen Wing (who were unaware of the true identity of their employer) to steal the Jade Tiger, which they did.

(Power Man and Iron Fist I#71 (fb) - BTS) - Marco stole from Montenegro a quarter containing circuitry able to dampen nearby electrical fields. Marco fled from Switzerland to New York city, but Montenegro followed him.

(Power Man and Iron Fist I#71) - Marco dumped the quarter at Eddie's Diner, and it was picked up by another customer, Luke Cage. Montenegro confronted and captured Marco, but after pressuring him for info learned that he had dumped it. Montenegro sent Mr. Thisby, Mr.Selby, and Troy to coerce Cage into selling the quarter to them for $10, 000. Having no idea what they were talking about, Cage gave them a regular quarter. After learning this, Montenegro ambushed Power Man, Iron Fist, and D. W. Griffith. When the heroes teamed up against him, he scaled a building, and while they tried to figure out how to catch them he lassoed Iron Fist, intending to use him as a hostage. Iron Fist managed to get free, and Cage climbed up the building by crushing handholds in it. Montenegro fired pitons at him and then used his Alpine gun to freeze the ledge beneath his fingers. As Montenegro prepared to fire a point blank piton into Cage's face, Iron Fist saved the day by hurling a piece of broken glass into Montenegro's wrist. Cage, having made new handholds, took advantage of his foe's distraction to grab his grappling hook and use it to swing him through the air. Without missing a beat, Montenegro cut the line on his grappling hook, flipped over to a nearby roof, and escaped, vowing that there would definitely be a next time.

(Power Man and Iron Fist I#80 (fb) - BTS) - The business of Murphy Merriman Fontaine began to cut into the European operations of Montenegro. Not wanting a competitor, especially an honest man who's too wealthy to bribe, Montenegro arranged a series of anonymous assaults on Fontaine's firm. Emil Fontaine hired Power Man and Iron Fist to investigate and stop these assaults.

(Power Man and Iron Fist I#80) - Montenegro's agent Joey Andrews attempted to steal a file from Murphy Merriman Fontaine, but he was stopped by Power Man and Iron Fist. Later learning that Fontaine's unidentified enemy was planning to assault one of Fontaine's ships when it docked at the waterfront, Power Man and Iron Fist headed out to investigate; unbeknownst to them, Fontaine's daughters, Leda and Sally investigated as well. Montenegro captured Leda and later Sally, intending to use them as hostages to force Fontaine out of business. Power Man and Iron Fist confronted Montenegro and his men, who stalled the pair long enough for Montenegro to take Leda and scale a roller coaster. Unable to keep up with Montenegro's climbing, Iron Fist instead summoned his chi and struck the coaster's supports, knocking his foe and Leda from the trestle. Power Man caught Leda, but Montenegro used his grappling hook to catch the outside wall, and he escaped once again.

(Spider-Man: Venom's Wrath) - Montenegro had some association with Howie the Z, who provided bases of operations for Carnage and "Nose" Norton during the Brand Corporation debacle, and had ties to Kingpin, Maggia, and Silvermane.

Comments: Created by Mary Jo Duffy, Kerry Gammill, and D. Hands.

He is named Stewart Montenegro in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition: Constrictor entry. The name Stewart Montenegro would seem like an alias, b/c Montenegro literally means Black Mountain, which is where he's from. Still, stranger things have happened...

    Re-reading the issues, I failed to find reference to who owned the warehouse from which the Jade Tiger was stolen. Power Man and Iron Fist I#84 noted that the Constrictor confessed that he and Sabretooth had been working for Montenegro right from the start, and it referenced Power Man and Iron Fist I#71 (Montenegro's first appearance). However, "from the start" would seem to likely refer to their first encounter with Power Man and Iron Fist, which would be Power Man and Iron Fist I#84. Thanks to Robert McKinney for suggesting that issue as the resolution to the mystery.

Per http://www.iias.nl/host/himalaya/abstracts/bmc.html:
The Black Mountains are a southern spur of the Great Himalayas, which runs from north to south over a distance of some 200 km and separates western from central Bhutan. Six elders of the 'Ole tribe still speak the Black Mountain language on the western slopes, and a number of speakers still remains on the eastern slopes.

I always liked Montenegro for some reason. Cool, confident, and capable. We should see him again sometime! It's been over 20 years, man!

Thanks to Per Degaton for pointing out the Spider-Man: Venom's Wrath novel appearance.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to:

images:
Power Man and Iron Fist I#71, p7, panel 4
    p12, panel 8 (face)

Power Man and Iron Fist I#71 (April, 1982) - Mary Jo Duffy (writer), Kerry Gammill (pencils), Diverse Hands (inks), Denny O'Neil (editor)
Power Man and Iron Fist I#80 (April, 1982) - Mary Jo Duffy (writer), Denys Cowan (pencils), Ricardo Villamonte (inks), Denny O'Neil (editor)
Spider-Man: Venom's Wrath (October, 1998) - Keith R.A. DeCandido & José R. Nieto (writers)

Last updated:03/10/11

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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