BLACK SPECTRE
Membership: None identified;
formerly Black Widow (Natasha Romanova), Mandrill, Nekra, numerous others
Purpose: At Mandrill's command, to instill chaos in the world and then to rule it
Affiliations: Agencé Byzantine, A.I.M., Hydra, Midas Investments (Mr. Zachary, others), Secret Empire, Silver Samurai, Wasserschmidt
Enemies: Beetle (Abner Jenkins), Black Cat, Austin Cao, Rachel Cole-Alves, Daredevil (Matt Murdock), Franklin "Foggy" Nelson, Punisher (Frank Castle), Mr. Randall, Shanna the She-Devil, Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Thing (Ben Grimm)
Base of Operations: An orbiting zeppelin
First Appearance: Daredevil I#109 (May, 1974)
History:
(Daredevil I#109 (fb) - BTS) - Mandrill organized his female followers into an organization called Black Spectre, having them disguise themselves with bulky armor to hide their gender. They plotted to confuse the country through terrorism and racism, and then to step in and rule the country after chaos ensued.
(Daredevil I#108 (fb) - BTS) - Black Spectre plotted to steal government printing plates and exacerbated gang wars. When Foggy Nelson got to close to the truth, Mandrill had Nelson shot.
(Daredevil I#108 - BTS) - Using a gas grenade, agents of Black Spectre stole printing plates during a battle between Daredevil and Beetle.
(Daredevil I#109 (fb) - BTS) - Over the following months he saw Black Spectre involved in a race riot at the Statue of Liberty, placing a Swastika on the Washington monument, draping Independence Hall in black, and adding Adolf Hitler's face to Mt. Rushmore.
(Daredevil I#109) - Black Spectre organized a riot over money counterfeited from the stolen plates on Wall Street, while Nekra captured Black Widow and returned her to Mandrill. Beetle and Daredevil disrupted Black Spectre's agents and sent them fleeing.
(Marvel Two-In-One#3) - Black Spectre infiltrated an American play and mechanically hypnotized two of the actors, dressed as Hitler and Captain America, to kill each other. Daredevil pursued a Black Spectre agent and was lead back to their zeppelin headquarters, joined by the Fantastic Four's Thing. Nekra, Black Widow, and other Black Spectre members fought the men until Mandrill mechanically hypnotized them as well. The men were tossed free from the ship.
(Daredevil I#110) - Daredevil battled two Black Spectre representatives who'd pursued him, and they were apprehended and imprisoned, but they were killed via an auto-destruct triggered by Mandrill to avoid exposure. Mandrill learned Daredevil's true identity from Black Widow. Mandrill, in black armor, took a shuttle from the zeppelin to Murdock's apartment. He revealed himself to Daredevil and explained his origins. He briefly battled Daredevil before the police arrived and Mandrill fled.
(Daredevil I#111) - Silver Samurai, Nekra, and Black Spectre kidnapped Shanna, and Mandrill told Samurai that his debt would soon be paid off. Mandrill planned to dissect Shanna's brain, to decipher how she resisted his pheromones. Silver Samurai and Black Spectre then attacked the Empire State Building in a large scale plot to jam all of America's communication lines.
(Daredevil I#112) - With the country's communications scrambled, Black Spectre prepared to make its final moves. Mandrill and Nekra captured Daredevil and set his body near Shanna's, planning to dissect him as well. Mandrill threatened the Avengers and Fantastic Four to not attack him, claiming he'd set of an atomic bomb if they did so. With Black Spectre and aboard the zeppelin, Mandrill placed a large idol of himself in front of the White House, then entered the building, sitting in the president's chair when Daredevil attacked him. Mandrill and Daredevil battled on the roof until the zeppelin exploded and Daredevil knocked Mandrill to the ground, briefly thinking him dead, but Mandrill managed to escape.
(Daredevil III#6 (fb) - BTS) - Working with the company Midas Investments, Agence Byzantine agreed to a formal financial relationship with four other criminal organizations, including Secret Empire, Black Spectre, Hydra, and A.I.M. Over a period of years, Midas arranged for the groups to give over billions of gigs of data regarding confidential operations, and they placed it all on the Omegadrive, an unhackable and indestructible device held on unstable molecules. When two Midas employees, Austin Cao and Mr. Randall, seemingly betrayed the company to Daredevil, Mr. Zachary of Midas sent the super-villain Bruiser after them.
(Daredevil III#6) - Bruiser returned Randall to Zachary, who also had Cao brought there, in front of representatives from all five organizations. Daredevil attacked, soon defeating Bruiser and getting Randall and Cao to safety. When Daredevil got the Omegadrive, the five agents killed Zachary. They pulled their guns on Daredevil, but the hero helped them realize that they would all kill each other to get the Omegadrive, and they chose to let him leave with Cao and Randall.
(Daredevil III#8 (fb) - BTS) - Black Spectre, seeking a way to steal the Omegadrive without raising suspicion from the other groups, put together a complex plot to cover the theft. They approached the inventor Wasserschmidt, who'd made hologram technology for smart phones, and he agreed to let them frame Black Cat for stealing the tech. Black Spectre then explained the plot to Black Cat, who would be put into contact with Daredevil, and they wanted her to flirt with him, gain access to his home, and steal the Omegadrive.
(Amazing Spider-Man I#677) - Black Cat was arrested for the theft of the hologram tech, but she later escaped custody. Disguised Black Spectre agents pretended to kidnap Wasserschmidt to give him a good cover, but Daredevil and Spider-Man followed them, as they used hologram tech to cover their escape.
(Daredevil III#8) - Black Cat, Daredevil, and Spider-Man found Wasserschmidt in his home and he confessed the ruse. Daredevil realized Wasserschmidt had been poisoned by Black Spectre and he had minutes to live. Black Cat and Spider-Man worked together to steal back the hologram technology, then she went to Matt's home with him.
(Daredevil III#10.1 (fb) - BTS) - An agent from each of the five crime organizations spent two weeks trying to come up with a unified plan to take down Murdock and get the Omegadrive, but they didn't trust each other.
(Daredevil III#10.1) - At the Lateverian embassy, the five agents continued arguing about tactics when Daredevil burst in, revealing the duplicity of Black Spectre. Daredevil had uploaded the Omegadrive intel on all of Black Spectre's criminal activities to the Daily Bugle, Interpol, and S.H.I.E.L.D., and the entire organization had been dismantled, including the locations of their strongholds and their activities in gunrunning and illegal holdings, as well as the money laundering of billions. Daredevil threatened to do the same to any other organization who tried to act against him, then he left the last Black Spectre agent there by himself as the other four drew guns on him.
(War of the Realms: Journey into Mystery#4) - Members of Black Spectre attended the Henchfest convention. A brief fight broke out when a few heroes (Wonder Man, Sebastian Druid, Thori, Death Locket, Spider-Man (Miles Morales), Hawkeye (Kate Bishop), Balder the Brave) showed up.
(War of the Realms: Journey into Mystery#5) - Members of Black Spectre responded to baby Laussa's mystic call for help, but they didn't end up doing any fighting.
Comments: Created by Steve Gerber, Gene Colan, and Frank Chiaramonte.
The Avengers posed as Black Spectre agents in a plot regarding the Omegadrive in Daredevil III#12-13.
Profile by Chadman.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Black Spectre has no
known connections to
|
(Amazing Spider-Man I#677 (fb) - BTS) - Wasserschmidt spent years perfecting hologram technology that would work with smart-phones. He worked with Horizon Labs to perfect the tech. (Daredevil III#8 (fb) - BTS) - Wasserschmidt wanted to capitalize on the billions that he stood to make. He worked with the super-criminal group Black Spectre, who said they would frame Black Cat for stealing the tech. (Amazing Spider-Man I#677 - BTS) - News broke that the hologram tech had been stolen by the Black Cat, who was arrested for the crime. (Amazing Spider-Man I#677) - When Daredevil and Spider-Man investigated, they found Wasserschmidt being kidnapped by armed men (Black Spectre agents in disguise). They used hologram tech to cover escaping with Wasserschmidt. (Daredevil III#8) - Black Cat, Daredevil, and Spider-Man found Wasserschmidt back at his home, and he'd been given a drug compound that would kill him in minutes. When Black Cat violently questioned him, he fully admitted to having worked with Black Spectre. They rushed Wasserschmidt to the hospital. (Daredevil III#10) - Black Cat chose to betray Black Spectre and not complete the robbery. One agent watched Matt Murdock. --Amazing Spider-Man I#677 ([Amazing Spider-Man I#677 (fb)], [Daredevil III#8 (fb)], [Amazing Spider-Man I#677], Amazing Spider-Man I#677, Daredevil III#8, 10 |
images: (without ads)
Daredevil I#110, cover (main)
Daredevil I#110, p3, pan5 (solo agent)
Daredevil III#8, p9, pan1 (Wasserschmidt)
Appearances:
Defenders I#109 (May, 1974) - Steve Gerber (writer), Bob Brown (pencils), Don Heck (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Marvel Two-In-One#3 (May, 1974) - Steve Gerber (writer), Sal
Buscema (penciler), Joe Sinnott (inker), Roy Thomas (editor)
Daredevil I#110-112 (June-August, 1974) - Steve Gerber
(writer), Gene Colan (penciler), Frank Chiaramonte (inker), Roy Thomas (editor)
Daredevil III#6 (January, 2012) - Mark Waid (writer), Marcos Martin (artist), Stephen Wacker (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man I#677 (March, 2012) - Mark Waid (writer), Emma Rios (artist), Ellie Pyle (editor)
Daredevil III#8 (March, 2012) - Mark Waid (writer), Kano (artist), Stephen Wacker (editor)
Daredevil III#10.1 (June, 2012) - Mark Waid (writer), Khoi Pham (artist), Ellie Pyle (editor)
War of the Realms: Journey into Mystery#4-5 (August-September, 2019) - Clint McElroy, Griffin McElroy, Justin McElroy, Travis McElroy (writers), Andre Lima Araujo (artist), Wil Moss (editor)
First Posted: 03/26/2007
Last updated: 12/10/2019
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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