SIMPLE SIMON

Real Name: Simon Briggs

Identity/Class: Human (Pre-Modern era)

Occupation: Squatter, fighter

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Ralph McGee, Vinny McGee, Night Raven, Neat Pete Sligo

Known Relatives: Unnamed mother

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Manhattan, New York, 1980s

First Appearance: Mighty World of Marvel II#12/3 (May, 1984)

Powers/Abilities: Simple Simon was enormously large and powerful, though probably not superhumanly so. When he was forced to fight in the Gladiator Club, he wielded a baseball bat. He had markedly below-average intelligence, and was usually gentle and childlike.

Height: 7'6"
Weight: 280 lbs

 

History:
(Mighty World of Marvel II#12/3) - In the winter of 1984, the giant whose captors would call Simple Simon was living with his insane mother in a derelict warehouse in New York City. They were taken captive, along with the vigilante Night Raven, by thugs of Neat Pete Sligo, who ran the underground Gladiator Club. The Gladiator Club was an establishment in which the wealthy and immoral would pay to watch vagrants Sligo's men had pulled off the streets fight to the death. The giant had been chosen as a fighter; his mother was taken to give Sligo a means to force him to fight.
   Shortly thereafter, the headline fight at the Gladiator Club was Simple Simon versus The Man In The Mask - in other words, the giant versus Night Raven. The crowd was told that Simon was fighting for his mother and for their freedom. Sligo's thug Ralph McGee had a knife to Simon's mother, ensuring his cooperation. Simon did not want to fight Night Raven, but did to protect his mother, despite being both terrified of the vigilante and completely outclassed. Simon shattered the baseball bat he had been given against Night Raven's arm, then was grabbed by him and held close. Night Raven told Simon to crush him with all his strength, and, when Simon did, Night Raven went limp and collapsed.
   Later, Ralph and his brother Vinny took Simon and his mother with them when they went to dump Night Raven's body into the East River, having had no intention of losing as prize a fighter as Simon. Unfortunately for them, Night Raven had merely put himself into a trance, and, as Ralph leaned into remove the vigilante's mask, he sprang to life and killed both thugs. Simon and his mother were free; their subsequent whereabouts are unknown.

Comments: Created by Jamie Delano and Alan Davis.

    Night Raven apparently headed back to New York after believing Yi Yang was dead; The City is not specifically identified by name in this story, but the East River is.

    Ralph and Vinny were able to abduct Night Raven because he had been dosing himself into comas with strychnine in an attempt to escape the outside world.

    Simon's mother seems to have been Jewish, given her persecution by the Nazis and the fact that Night Raven leaves her and her son with a hissed "Sshalom". Then again, maybe Night Raven just assumed she was Jewish if she were persecuted by the Nazis, which wouldn't necessarily be fair, but the man eats a lot of strychnine so he probably deserves a break or two.

He received a last name in Night Raven's profile in OHotMU A-Z HC#8.

Profile by LV!

Clarifications: Simple Simon, the giant homeless man, has no known connection to

Simple Simon's mother has no known connection to

 

Simple Simon's mother

Simple Simon's mother was a child in "the old country" when her parents were taken away in vans and incinerated by the Nazis. She herself survived a concentration camp despite rarely having food. This early trauma seems to have caused lasting psychological effects. At some point, she traveled to America, possibly fearing that, even after the war, the Nazis would find her again. She and her son eked out an existence on the streets of New York, until she was captured by Neat Pete Sligo for leverage to get her giant son to fight. She was eventually released through the efforts of Night Raven.

Simple Simon's mother demonstrated no noteworthy abilities. She was small, physically weak, and apparently insane.

--Mighty World of Marvel II#12/3 (MWoMII#12/3 (fb), MWoMII#12/3




Images:
 Mighty World of Marvel II#12/3, p34
Mother - Mighty World of Marvel II#12/3, p32

Mighty World of Marvel II#12/3 (May, 1984)

Last updated: 06/26/05

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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