ANGELO SIMONI
Real Name: Angelo Simoni
Identity/Class: Human
Occupation: Businessman, mobster
Group Membership: None revealed, possibly Maggia
Affiliations: Several henchmen (including Sal, Eddie and Frankie)
Enemies: Thor, Father Coza
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: New York
First Appearance: Thor I#303 (January, 1981)
Powers/Abilities: Angelo Simoni possesses the normal human strength of a man of his size and age who engages in little physical exercise. He seems to be a little overweight and relies on his men to do the fighting. He is a shrewd and ruthless businessman involved in many illicit activities and has control over an unspecified number of men.
Height: 5'5" (by approximation)
Weight: 220 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Dark, presumably brown
Hair: Brown
History:
(Thor I#303 (fb) - BTS) - A mobster posing as a legitimate businessman, Angelo Simoni was involved in many illegal affairs, especially gambling and casinos in Atlantic City. He would use harassment, vandalism and threats to push people out of their properties, buy them for as little as possible and demolish them, then use the money from the casinos to quickly build new properties and rent them out for "juicy" amounts.
(Thor I#303 (fb) - BTS) - Angelo Simoni eyed a poor church run by Father Coza and spent five years trying to coerce him into leaving. Simoni resorted to increasingly threatening methods, from vandalism to night calls, but, despite struggling with his own waning faith, the priest got whiff of the situation and managed to hold out. In the end, Simoni sent two of his men to assault and kill Coza.
(Thor I#303) - Flying over New York at night, Thor saw Sal and Eddie assault Father Coza and intervened, his simple presence was enough to make them run away. In his human identity of Donald Blake, Thor attended to the priest's injuries and learned of the situation. After tracing Angelo Simoni's identity, the Odinson flew to the mobster's house in Long Island. In the meantime, Simoni - not believing that his men had really been stopped by Thor - ordered them to firebomb the church once and for all, with Father Coza inside. He was then about to send two more men to Atlantic City to push a casino deal when Thor broke in and quickly put them out of action. Terrified, Simoni promised to stay away from the church and confessed about the imminent bombing, allowing Thor to get there in time and save Father Coza.
(Thor I#303) - With the church heavily damaged in the fire, Angelo Simoni went to Father Coza and made a large "donation" to rebuild it, asking for forgiveness for his sins. This gesture and Thor's actions restored Father Coza's faith.
Comments: Created by Doug Moench (writer), Rick Leonardi (pencils), Chic Stone (inks).
Given his name, Angelo Simoni is either Italian or of Italian descent (great, says the Italian writing this profile). His businessman front suggests that the police is unaware of his real activities, even though all it takes for Thor to find out is one phone call. The New York crime landscape has changed over the years, but it's likely that Simoni has or has had a degree of affilitation with the Kingpin at some point. Whether his promise to leave the church alone extends to giving up crime altogether is unrevealed. Similarly, it's hard to tell whether his donation to Father Coza and plea for forgiveness are genuine or if there was a little push by Thor, who oversaw the scene.
Doug Moench is probably best known as the creator of Moon Knight. His run on Thor often has the Odinson deal with more urban foes and social issues than usual, but I for one enjoyed it as it put Thor in situations he couldn't solve just with his strength and powers, such as Father Coza's waning faith in this issue. Thor has gradually become more boorish and volatile in recent years, so it's refreshing to remember he didn't always used to be so.
Profile by Shiryu
CLARIFICATIONS:
Angelo Simoni has no known connections to
images: (without ads)
Thor I#333, p17, pan3 (main image)
Thor I#303, p13, pan1 (on the telephone)
Thor I#333, p15, pan1 (with Thor)
Appearances:
Thor I#303 (January, 1981) - Doug Moench (writer), Rick Leonardi (pencils), Chic Stone (inks), Jim Salicrup, Bob Budansky (editors)
Last updated: 02/06/17
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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