VULTURE

Real Name: Raniero "Blackie" Drago

Identity/Class: Human, unconventional technology user

Occupation: Criminal

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Vulture (Adrian Toomes)

Enemies: Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Kraven the Hunter (Sergei Kravinoff), Vulture (Adrian Toomes)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: New York

First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man I#48 (May, 1968)

Powers/Abilities: While wearing the Vulture harness Dragon could lift 700 pounds and fly thanks to an electro-magnetic anti-gravity generator at the maximum speed of 95 mph for 6 hours at a maximum altitude of 11,000 feet. Drago added a helmet to Toomes' original costume that gave him additional protection for his head.
Without the harness Drago was a normal human.

Height: 6'
Weight: 210 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black

History: (Amazing Spider-Man I#48 (fb) - BTS) - Blackie Drago was in prison for years, waiting for the right moment to escape. Adrian Toomes, the Vulture, became Drago's cellmate. For months Drago asked Toomes to reveal where the old man had hidden the last pair of Vulture wings, and Toomes gave him some information about air currents, down drafts and wind velocity.

(Spider-Man: Blue#4) - Before Toomes' sentence had been up, Drago arranged an accident for him

(Amazing Spider-Man I#48) - Toomes, wounded in the accident, believed he was dying and revealed to Drago the location of his Vulture wings.

    That same night, Drago stole a car and escaped from the prison. He reached the location where the Vulture wings were hidden, put them on and flew away from the police.

    Drago built a helmet for the costume, for more protection and to look scary. He then started looting and robbing all over the town.
    He kidnapped a man, to rob his suitcase, but Spider-Man arrived and stopped him from throwing the man off the top of a column of the George Washington Bridge.
    The Vulture managed to hit Spider-Man, who was weakened by a fever. After some easy struggling, Drago kicked the sick Spider-Man and left him unconscious on a roof.

(Spider-Man: Blue#5) - The Vulture continued his looting.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#49) - He robbed a flying helicopter. Kraven the Hunter pursued Drago, with the purpose to crush him and to be known as the most powerful villain. Vulture was reached by Kraven who followed his scent and started entangling Drago with a rope. Their battle continued for a long time without a winner, long enough for Spider-Man to reach the place of their fight. Drago was stunned after a blow by Spider-Man. Once he had recovered, Drago proposed to Kraven to fight the web-slinger together but Kraven refused. The Hunter shot his double rays which could magnetize the electrolytes in the muscles but instead of hitting Spider-Man, he hit the Vulture, who lost his consciousness. Spider-Man then knocked Kraven out and web-wrapped the two criminals.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#63) - Blackie Drago, again in prison, believed that Toomes was dead. But Toomes had escaped from prison and was alive. In the Vulture suit, Toomes brought the Vulture wings to Drago helping him to escape from the prison. Drago believed that Toomes needed a partner but actually Toomes wanted to defeat Drago, to decide who the real Vulture was. The fight was hard: knocks, wingflaps, clinches and kicks. Eventually Drago was defeated by Toomes and swore that he would never wear the Vulture wings again. In that moment the police arrived to arrest him again.

(Marvel Knight: Spider-Man#10) - Years later Blackie Drago was seen sleeping in a cell on Ryker's Island.

Comments: Created by Stan Lee (writer), John Romita (pencils).

The events as recalled by Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Blue differ greatly from Amazing Spider-Man I#48-49 and #63. Peter himself admitted the fever could have clouded his memory. However, Peter could not know how some of the events which he was not present to had happened.

Blackie also appeared in the 1960s Spiderman cartoon.
--Will U

On Earth-982 (MC2 Universe) Drago has a daughter named Brenda. She is better known as the Spider-Girl foe Raptor.

Thanks to Minor Irritant for reminding me (Mr. Raymond) of Drago's appearance in MK: Spider-Man#10.

Drago's first name was revealed in his profile in OHotMU A-Z HC#13.

Profile by Spidermay (with the fundamental help of Angelo Mammone).

CLARIFICATIONS:

Vulture is connected, but is different from:

• Vulture, Adrian Toomes, Spider-Man foe, @ Amazing Spider-Man I#2
• Vulture, Clifton Shallot, bio-merged to the Adrian Toomes' costume, Spider-Man foe, @ Amazing Spider-Man I#48
• Vulturions, costumed criminals based on Toomes' costume, Spider-Man foes, @ Web of Spider-Man#1

and has no known connections to

• Brenda Drago, MC2/Earth-982, daughter of Blackie Drago, @ Spider-Girl#18
• Vulture of the Hyborian era, Mikhal Oglu, Turanian soldier/assassin under Yezdigerd, @ Conan the Barbarian I#24
• Vulture, World War II, @ Captain America Comics#14
• Vulture, Nazi, mutated by chemicals into bat-like man, Captain America foe, @ All-Select Comics#1
• Vulture, World War II, @ All-Winners Comics#10
• Vulture, World War II, @ Captain America Comics#32
• Vulture, Dr. Scarlotti, enemy of Human Torch and Toro, @ Young Men#26
• Vulture, alias of Monark Starstalker @ Marvel Premiere#32
• Vulture, Adrian Toomes, of Eurth (Talon), @ Avataars: Covenant of the Shield#2
• Vulture of Earth-Noxious Nine, @ Millennial Visions 2001
• Vulture-Fliers, of Earth-311, agents of Otto von Doom, @ 1602#2
• Vulture 2099, cannibalistic criminal in downtown, leader of Wildboys, @ Spider-Man 2099#6
• vulture of Earth-5555, Death's Head ally, @ Death's Head I#5
• Vulture people, of Tunnelworld, @ Defenders I#79
• "Vult," of the New Mexico Outcasts, Hulk foes, Incredible Hulk II#329
• Vultus, Bird-Men who attacked Kull, @ Kull the Conqueror III#2
• Legal Eagle, Hostess ad, fought Spider-Man, @ Captain Marvel I#53
• or any other "Vult" characters

Images: 
Amazing Spider-Man I#48, p7, pan1 (Vulture, full body)