UNCLE MORTY

Real Name: Possibly Mortimer

Identity/Class: Human

Occupation: Diplomat, manager, spy

Group Membership: Silver Sable International and the Wild Pack

Affiliations: Silver Sablinova, Ernst Sablinova and Fritz Sablinova, the C.I.A. (Bogart Jeffries), Jacques Girard, the Intruders (Sandman (William Baker AKA flint Marko), Fin, Lightbright (Obax Majid), Man-Eater (Malcom Gregory Murphy), Paladin), Bogart Jeffries, Lorna Kleinfeldt, Princess Lenka of Symkaria and her husband Marek, NYPD, Outlaws (Prowler, Rocket Racer, Will O' The Wisp), King Phillip of Symkaria, SHIELD, Spider-Man (Peter Parker), King Stefan of Symkaria, Wild Pack Elite Squadron (Larry Arnold, Battlestar, Amy Chen, Crippler, Doug Powell, Raul Quentino, Sandman), other people of the SSI (James, Madeleine, Samantha Powell) and of the Wild Pack (Delta Team (Henson), Epsilon Team (Frederick Miluv), Andrews, Bettermann, Charles, Jackson, Jannsens, Klimt, Kuryova, McKay, Phillip, Roscoe, Shotz, Sven, Yanover, Zahl);
    formerly Jonathan Lee;
    formerly Sandman;
    formerly the Foreigner;

Enemies: The Black Fox, Doctor Doom (Victor von Doom), the Foreigner, the Genesis Coalition (Doctor Lubischt, Dmitri Petrovich, Fritz Sablinova, Ivan Trefkov, Cyberwarriors), HYDRA (Baron Strucker, Dmitri Petrovich), Jonathan Lee;
    formerly the C.I.A.

Known Relatives: Silver Sablinova (beloved niece), Anastasia (sister, deceased), Ernst Sablinova (brother-in-law, Anastasia's husband, deceased) and his brother Fritz, Anna Sablinova (niece, unrevealed relation)

Aliases: Morty, Uncle Morty

Base of Operations: Symkaria, Middle Europe;
    formerly Symkarian Embassy in New York

First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man I#265 (June, 1985)

Powers/Abilities: Morty possesses no superhuman abilities. 

    Morty was a skilled diplomat and a top manager of SSI. 

History: (Web of Spider-Man Annual#5/4 (fb)) - Morty was the brother of Anastasia, who was Ernst Sablinova's wife and mother of Silver. When Anastasia died, it was Morty who accompanied Silver to the funeral, caring for her niece.

(Web of Spider-Man Annual#5/4 (fb) / Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#9 (fb)) - Morty stayed near to his niece, nonetheless he was not a substitute for Ernst as a father. He witnessed Silver growing until choosing her battle-name: Silver in her spirit, deprived of any color and emotion, nimble and ferocious as a sable.

(Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#9 (fb)) - Many years after, Ernst was old, but still led the Wild Pack. Morty wanted them to stay in Symkaria, and not to prosecute Ivan Trefkov, the Nazi that had assassinated Anastasia. Ernst and Silver went after Trefkov seemingly stabbed Ernst to death.

(Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#13/2 (fb)) - Months after Ernst's presumed death, no other Nazi criminals had been found. Sable decided to widen the range of the Wild Pack's targets, setting it on the tracks of other kinds of criminals, provided that Silver Sable International would receive the appropriate fee. Uncle Morty argued with Sable, because he believed that the original purpose of the Wild Pack was being twisted. Silver explained that Symkaria economy was slowly dying and she did not want to rely on the nation for a financial support nor did she want to cast aside any employee of the Pack.

(Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#15/2 (fb)) - Silver Sable married Basil (an alias of the Foreigner). Uncle Morty did not trust him.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#265) - Uncle Morty remained one of the few living relatives of Silver Sable, and he helped her in the operations of Silver Sable International

    Morty followed Silver Sable to New York for an operation to capture a renown international cat-burglar: Black Fox.

    When the Wild Pack failed the capture, the Symkarian Ambassador informed Morty, who reported the result to Silver Sable. Sable reckoned that the operation still led to a gain, and Morty questioned her about the purposes of the Wild Pack's existence, because Silver's father founded it with other aims.

    Later, the Fox was tracked down to the docks, and Morty was present when Silver prepared herself to reach the Wild Pack.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#279) - After hearing that the Wild Pack had been sent to the hospital, Uncle Morty questioned Sable and learned that the cause was the terrorist Jack O'Lantern.

    Morty had to ask for reinforcements from Symkaria, but he knew that the National Council would not be happy. Sable had the idea to involve Spider-Man, so the reinforcements would not be necessary. During the discussion  she realized that there was a bomb in some orchids. She threw the vase out of the window saving Morty's and her life.

    The morning after, Uncle Morty met Sable returning to the Embassy and noticed that she had had a brawl.

    A few hours later, Morty was called by the NYPD because of Sable's involvement with a gang war. He was very worried because the police report mentioned the death of an innocent woman, and this event reminded him of Silvers' mother's death. 

    Eventually Sable showed up at the Embassy with the news that she had captured a street gang and also 11 mercenaries.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#301) - Uncle Morty and Sable again argued because Sable was transforming the Wild Pack in a sort of security team, and Morty knew that this was not the original purpose of the Pack. They were interrupted by Spider-Man and, immediately after, by the arrival of two clients: Jason Pruett and Franklyn Cruz.

(Amazing Spider-Man I#302) - Morty informed Sable of the return of the Pack that had been sent to capture Franz Kraus. Only one of them was still able to walk, and Morty had to help him to stand.

(Amazing Spider-Man Annual#25/3) - The Silver Sable International was hired by Eduard Le Bon, a high officer of the Canadian government, to rescue his daughter, kidnapped by Le Bon's extremist political enemies. Uncle Morty gave the files to Sable, warning her that the task would be hard to complete. 

    For this difficult job, Sable gathered Rocket Racer, Prowler and Will'O the Wisp, giving them a name: The Outlaws. The Wild Pack would have only supported them.

(Spectacular Spider-Man Annual#11 / Web of Spider-Man Annual#7) - The Outlaws freed Le Bon's daughter, and in the end the Silver Sable International took also Sandman under contract.

(Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#22/2) - Morty went to Los Angeles, at the Rehabilitation Center, and recruited Raul Quentino. He brought the ex-street gangster to Symkaria, and after one month Quentino passed the final examination. 

(Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#2 (fb) - BTS) - After Silver Sable's request, Morty tried to develop new uniforms for the Wild Pack.

(Avenging Spider-Man#8 (fb)) - Silver Sable Incorporated was protecting Princess Lenka of Symkaria from Doctor Doom. As Lenka was the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, she had exceptional mystical potential, such that she could give birth to the next Sorcerer Supreme, or wield the title by herself. Sable and Doctor Strange knew that Doom would extract the magical potential from Lenka's body with means that did not concerned her survival. The solution to the dilemma was to have the Princess married to a man for whom she had a genuine love.

    In New York, Silver Sable, Doctor Strange and Spider-Man had to escape Doctor Doom's attack to take Lenka to the Embassy. 

    Fortunately, Lenka agreed to marry her true love, Marek. While the heroes and the Wild Pack held Doom at bay, Uncle Morty legally conducted the ceremony, the very short version. So, when the marriage was consummated, the fight ended, as Doom had perceived that his link with the promised wife was no more.

(Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#1) - Morty helped Silver Sable in the management of her organization and proposed the possible cases of intervention. He was contacted from different customers for a plethora of purposes: murder, recovering of stolen objects, recovering of hijacked property.

    Morty proposed Silver to intervene to free a school where students had been taken hostage by a HYDRA commando. Among the students there was Anna, the only other living relative of Silver. Morty was sure that Silver would accept the mission, even if there were no financial returns, but she denied her support, because it was not a matter of business.

    That night, Silver Sable left for the USA, to free Anna. Sandman set up to reach her, and Morty informed him that Sable would have not liked that.

(Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#2) - Days after, at the Symkarian Embassy in New York, Morty showed to Sandman, Lorna Kleinfeldt and Mr. Lee the features of another possible member for the Wild Pack: Karl Striklan, also known as Crippler.
    Shortly thereafter, Morty could observe Striklan wrestling with Powell. During the brawl Striklan shot a stream of fire at Silver Sable, almost hitting Morty. When Silver Sable told Uncle Morty to give Crippler a uniform, Morty showed the 15th design, and Sable liked it.

    Later, Morty was asked by Sable to organize a meeting with the Foreigner, and also to investigate the possible enemies of Reverend Smithfield.

(Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#3) - In Symkaria's embassy in New York City, Morty heard that the Foreigner had come to see Sable. Aware that they had an often contentious relationship, Morty went to find his niece, and he was alerted to her location by the sound of breaking glass. Finding Sable holding a fencing foil and standing near a broken window, a concerned Morty asked her where the Foreigner was, and Sable abtrusely stated it had been her turn to kill him. Uncertain, Morty asked her if she had succeeded this time, and she responded that it was unlikely, as they had been trying to kill one another for years. Sable then informed Morty that Foreigner had claimed he didn't know who had hired Gattling, but that he had narrowed it down the possibilities somewhat; she instructed Morty to cross reference their televangelist files with drug activity in the Midwest looking for similarities between Smithfield and other televangelists. Walking through the embassy, they reached a training room, and they watched the new Wild Pack recruits in action. Morty suggested that they had been rushed into action before they were ready, but Sable insisted that most merely needed a crash course in discipline, and those that didn't would need to be replaced. Their discussion was interrupted by Lorna Kleinfeldt arriving to inform Sable of a visitor, Battlestar.

(Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#4) - In Castle Sable in Symkaria, Morty and the Wild Pack watched a bank of monitors showing different news stations reporting an attack on heroes who had gathered at Fours Freedom Plaza in New York City. Sandman asked Morty what he made of the news, prompting Morty to query why he should know. Keeping tabs on the incoming reports, Quentino informed them that it seemed that heroes were being attacked by their own doppelgangers. Growing worried for his niece, who had left to visit Dr. Doom in neighboring Latveria, Morty asked Quentino to patch him through to Sable's driver, but all Quentino got was static. Sandman latched onto Quentino's suggestion that it might be merely a technical difficulty, but Crippler argued that there was no way Sable would permit such a thing, and he suggested the team should go to assist her. When Sandman expressed concern that Sable would throw a fit at them if they rushed in over a false alarm, an angry Morty punched him, reminding him that Silver was his niece and calling the apologetic superhuman a coward. Stating that he would take responsibility for the decision, Morty angrily ordered Sandman and the others to go and get Sable.

(Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#6) - Uncle Morty received the proposal of the U.S. Government for retrieving the Statue of Liberty, which had vanished and was believed stolen. He informed Silver Sable, who accepted the contract.

(Amazing Spider-Man#375 - BTS) - In New York, at the Symkarian Embassy, Uncle Morty took a phone call from J. Jonah Jameson and passed it to Silver Sable. Jameson had hired the Wild Pack to capture Venom.

(Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#10) - Wild Pack Delta Team was assigned the protection of the Estrellan Ambassador. An assassin had already murdered 5 ambassadors and had also succeeded in killing the Estrellan one in Washington D.C. One Wild Pack operative had been found dead, another one had not been found at all.

    Delta Team was recalled to Symkaria. Henson, the team leader, and five other members of the team protested with Morty. Morty sympathized with them, understanding that they wanted to avenge their fallen comrades. He told them to speak to Lorna. Then they went to protest with Lorna and found her embracing Crippler. Crippler kicked them out with his usual kindness.

(Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#11) - Morty had to interrupt Silver and Jacques Girard during a tete-a-tete because the Cyber-Warriors that had been sold to the Genesis Coalition had been traced. Silver ordered the immediate briefing of the Wild Pack.

(Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#15) - Uncle Morty and Lorna welcomed Samantha Powell (cousin of Wild Pack member Doug Powell), as the new P.R. specialist of the Silver Sable International in New York. 

(Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#18/1) - Uncle Morty and Lorna listened while, on a briefing, Silver Sable blamed the failure of the last two missions on the A team. She had expected the Human Torch and Venom to be apprehended. She started questioning the suitability of the squad for bringing in super powered subjects, and so she set up a mission to San Francisco to capture Venom. 

    Shortly later, Uncle Morty brought bad news to Sable,:Jonathan Lee had extracted a large amount of money from the capital gains of S.S.I. and had fled. Sable sent Paladin after him.

(Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#19/1) - The Siege of Darkness was all over New York. Hosts of demons invaded the city and ate people. Morty suggested to all the personnel of the Embassy that they go to the bomb shelters until the crisis had passed. In that moment, a visitor arrived: Lightbright. Paladin, Lorna and Morty welcomed her. Anna, Morty's niece, also arrived to the Embassy. They all waited until the Darkness was dispelled by Ghost Rider and Doctor Strange. Then the Wild Pack returned from their mission, without Venom, but all alive.

(Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#23/1) - Larry Arnold passed the preliminary tests, and Uncle Morty introduced him to the training with the Elite Squadron.

    Sable and Morty had a briefing with Paladin who reported about his investigation on Jonathan Lee. Apparently, the Foreigner was the schemer behind Lee.

(Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#24/1) - In Symkaria, a ceremony was held at the royal palace: King Stefan wanted to give an award to Silver Sable for her honorable deeds at service of Symkaria. Morty noticed that four Wild Pack squadrons in uniform, and three teams in civilian garments were dispatched for the security service.

(Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#26/1) - Morty was at the Embassy in New York, while the Wild Pack had gone to Symkaria. In those days, Sandman was training Peter Petruski (aka the Trapster), to give him a chance to enter in the Wild Pack and change life. Morty asked Sandman how the workout of Petruski was going. 

    The day after, Morty heard a shout from the training room. When he approached the room, Trapster trampled him, fleeing from Sandman. Sandman captured him and called the police because he had found out that Trapster used the Embassy to hide the jewelry he had stolen.

(Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#28) - The Elite Squadron was in New York at the Embassy, performing the usual daily training when Uncle Morty interrupted Silver's exercise to speak about some legal involvement with the U.S. Government. Some contacts of the Silver Sable International, also involved with CIA, had been indicted. Silver agreed with Morty to sever the ties with those contacts, as she wanted to keep the relationships plain with their high-paying clients.

(Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#29) - Morty welcomed Silver Sable and the Wild Pack returning from a mission in a Mayan temple. The Police arrested Silver Sable for conspiracy, fraud, assault and murder.

(Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#30) - The Elite Squadron and the Intruders were present as Morty announced that Sable had been imprisoned, and that she did not wish any of her employees to try to free her. Apparently, the contacts in the U.S. Government that granted immunity to Silver's organization had shunned them. Morty also referred that Sable had ordered them all to depart for Symkaria, before they would be arrested, too. The suspects supposed vendetta of the C.I.A. against Silver Sable, for previous refusals to take on assassinations and other immoral acts. Many among the Wild Pack wanted to help Sable; Sandman, Battlestar and Chen tried to do something in their own way, but to no avail. 

    Weeks later, Morty made a difficult decision: Having seen that the S.S.I. allies were unable to help her beloved niece, he called the Foreigner to get help. He knew that the Foreigner was the last person that Silver would have asked for help, but nonetheless he took the risk.

    The deal worked. The Foreigner fixed the things with the Agency, and Silver Sable was freed with all the charges dropped. But Silver was coldly enraged with her uncle, and she dismissed him from the service at Silver Sable International.

(Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#33) - Morty spoke with Ernst about his choice to involve the Foreigner, and Ernst refused to persuade Silver to give Morty his job back. But Morty was truly concerned about his relationship with Silver, not about the job. They were interrupted by Battlestar, and Morty was surprised at hearing that Sandman was acting really protective of her lately (Sandman had discovered that Silver was pregnant).

        When Silver returned from Japan, she took a drastic decision: she announced to the Wild Pack and to the others her retirement from active duty. Days later, however, Silver learned that her pregnancy diagnosis was an error.

(Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#35) - Without his job at Silver Sable International, Morty found the time to write a book of memoirs about Sable's organization adventures.

    In Symkaria, he asked Silver to review a few parts of his book, but she refused.

    A few days later, Silver Sable went back in action and had Bogart Jeffries and the C.I.A. clear up her criminal record.

Comments: Created by Tom De Falco, Ron Frenz and Joe Rubinstein.

    Morty didn't seem tall. Sometime he seemed even shorter than Sable [SS&tWP#6], other times, slightly taller [ASM I#279]. In his first appearances his hair was white and he seemed older than his last appearances.

Profile by Spidermay with the help of Loki.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Uncle Morty has no known connections to 

• other Morty characters...

images: (without ads)
Amazing Spider-Man I#279, p21, pan6  (Uncle Morty)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#1, p7, pan3 (Uncle Morty, head shot)
Amazing Spider-Man I#279, p21, pan5  (Silver, Morty and James)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#30, p21, pan5 (Uncle Morty)

Appearances:
Amazing Spider-Man I#265 (June, 1985) - Tom De Falco (writer), Ron Frenz (pencils), Joe Rubinstein (inks), Bob Sharen (colors), Jim Owsley and Jim Shooter (editors)
Amazing Spider-Man I#279 (August, 1986) - Tom De Falco (writer), Rick Leonardi (pencils), Vince Colletta (inks), Bob Sharen (colors), Jim Owsley and Jim Shooter (editors)
Amazing Spider-Man I#301 (June, 1988) - David Michelinie (writer), Todd McFarlane (pencils and inks), Gregory Wright (colors), Jim Salicrup and Tom De Falco (editors)
Amazing Spider-Man I#302 (July, 1988) - David Michelinie (writer), Todd McFarlane (pencils and inks), Gregory Wright (colors), Jim Salicrup and Tom De Falco (editors)
Web Of Spider-Man Annual#5/4 (October, 1989) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Mark Propst (pencils), Andy Mushinsky (inks), Bob Sharen (colors), Jim Salicrup (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man Annual#25/3 (August, 1991) - David Michelinie (writer), Alan Kupperberg (pencils and inks), Ed Lazellari (colors), Danny Fingeroth (editors)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#1 (June, 1992) - Gregory Wright (writer), Steven Butler (pencils), James Sanders III (inks), Joe Rosas (colors), Craig Anderson (editor)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#2 (July, 1992) - Gregory Wright (writer), Steven Butler (breakdowns), James Sanders III (finishes), Joe Rosas (colors), Craig Anderson (editor)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#3 (August, 1992) - Gregory Wright (writer), Steven Butler (pencils), James Sanders III (inks), Joe Rosas (colors), Craig Anderson (editor)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#4 (September, 1992) - Gregory Wright (writer), Steven Butler (pencils), James Sanders III (inks), Joe Rosas (colors), Craig Anderson (editor)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#6 (December, 1992) - Gregory Wright (writer), Steve Carr & Daryl Skelton (Pencils), James Sanders III (finishes), Joe Rosas (colors), Craig Anderson (editor)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#9 (February, 1993) - Gregory Wright (writer), Steven Butler (pencils), James Sanders III (inks), Joe Rosas (colors), Craig Anderson (editor)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#11 (April, 1993) - Gregory Wright (writer), Tom Grindberg (pencils), Joe Rubinstein (inks), Joe Rosas (colors), Craig Anderson (editor)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#13/2 (June, 1993) - Gregory Wright (writer), Nelson Ortega (pencils), Mickey Ritter (inks), Joe Rosas (colors), Craig Anderson (editor)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#15/1 (August, 1993) - Gregory Wright (writer), Steven Butler (pencils), James Sanders III (inks), Joe Rosas (colors), Craig Anderson (editor)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#15/2 (August, 1993) - Gregory Wright (writer), Nelson Ortega (pencils), Mickey Ritter (inks), Joe Rosas (colors), Craig Anderson (editor)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#19/1 (December, 1993) - Gregory Wright (writer), Steven Butler (pencils), Pam Eklund (inks), Joe Rosas (colors), Craig Anderson (editor)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#22/2 (March, 1994) - Gregory Wright (writer), Ed Lazellari (pencils), Tom Raney (inks), Ed Lazellari (colors), Craig Anderson (editor)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#23/1 (April, 1994) - Gregory Wright (writer), Isaac Cordova (pencils), Don Hudson (inks), Joe Rosas (colors), Craig Anderson (editor)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#28 (September, 1994) - Gregory Wright (writer), Gordon Purcell (pencils), Andy Parks (inks), Megan McDowell (colors), Craig Anderson (editor)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#29 (October, 1994) - Gregory Wright (writer), Gordon Purcell (pencils), Pam Eklund (inks), Megan McDowell (colors), Craig Anderson (editor)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#30 (November, 1994) - Gregory Wright (writer), Scott Eaton (pencils), Jim Amash (inks), Megan McDowell (colors), Craig Anderson (editor)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#33 (February, 1995) - Gregory Wright (writer), Gordon Purcell (pencils), Pam Eklund (inks), Megan McDowell (colors), Craig Anderson (editor)
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack#35 (April, 1995) - Gregory Wright (writer), Gordon Purcell (pencils), Parks & Hudspn & McLellan & Alexandrov (inks), Megan McDowell (colors), Craig Anderson (editor)
Avenging Spider-Man#8 (August 2012) - Dan Slott & Ty Templeton (writers), Matthew Clark (pencils), Sean Parsons (inks), Wilfredo Quintana (colors), Elizabeth Pyle (editor)

First Posted: 05/08/2022
Last updated: 05/08/2022

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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