Silver Sable

Silver Sable (Silver Sablinova) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is a mercenary, hunter of war criminals, the leader of the Wild Pack, and CEO of Silver Sable International. Although sometimes a legitimate mercenary, her methods and motives have sometimes brought her into conflict with other superheroes. Occasionally, she is seen as an ally of Spider-Man and other heroes.

Publication history

Created by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz, Silver Sable first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #265 (June 1985). The inspiration for the character comes from safari cards bought by Tom DeFalco.^[1] After her debut, she made occasional appearances in various Spider-Man titles, often (but not always) as an ally. Marvel Comics began to publish the series Silver Sable & The Wild Pack in June 1992, written by Gregory Wright and penciled by Steven Butler. This series lasted for 35 issues, until it was canceled along with many other Marvel series in 1995.

After the cancellation, Silver made occasional guest appearances in various comics until early 2006. At that point a limited series began featuring Silver Sable and Dominic Fortune titled Sable and Fortune. Originally solicited as a six issue series, Sable and Fortune was shortened to four issues after the release of issue one.

Fictional character biography

The operations of Wild Pack and Silver Sable International drive the national economy of the fictional small European state of Symkaria. The name Wild Pack had been used by the mercenary squad led by Cable for some time, until a legal notice forced them to change it to Six Pack.^[2]

The State of Symkaria is adjacent to Latveria, the nation that is ruled by Doctor Doom. Silver Sable and Victor Von Doom have an annual diplomatic dinner at Castle Doom, situated in Doomstadt. Apparently the friendship between these two states is deep-rooted and dates back to World War II.^[3]

The family of Silver Sable is composed of her father Ernst Sablinova, her uncle Morty, and the young cousin Anna (orphaned daughter of an unnamed uncle or aunt). Silver's mother was killed in front of her by enemies of her father, who ran a Nazi-hunting group. Due to this traumatic event and her Father's subsequent harsh training and treatment of her, Silver Sable has dedicated herself to being both as emotionless and as effective as possible in her professional life. Silver has been known only to let one emotion—rage—overcome her reason, almost uniformly when facing Nazi opponents or those who threaten her family. Other subsequent mistakes involving emotion have only added to her self-imposed need to control herself and affect an "ice queen" persona. Most notably, Silver fell in love with and was married to the Foreigner, an international assassin and the head of the 1400 Club, but they "divorced" when she discovered his real work. Their relation today varies between friendship, mere mutual tolerance, and attempts to kill each other.^[4]

Uncle Morty functions as Sable's assistant. Morty organizes the missions, keeps track of the accounting part, and many times tries to remind Sable to retain her focus and sense of judgment (as Silver's iron-clad emotional control and occasional fits of temper are often only softened by feelings for her family).

Silver supports Anna's boarding school education and seemingly nothing more. Her feelings were betrayed when HYDRA agents took over the school and killed Anna's best friend. Sable infiltrated the school, rescuing the survivors with the unwanted aid of Spider-Man and the aid of some of her troops, against orders.^[5] Silver once hunted the international criminal the Black Fox to recover valuable gems stolen by the thief, but was inadvertently thwarted by Spider-Man.^[6] She was hired by a South African republic to neutralize the international terrorist Jack O'Lantern. She enlisted Spider-Man's aid against the Sinister Syndicate, and first formed an alliance with the Sandman.^[7] Some time later, she joined forces with Spider-Man, Paladin, Solo, and Captain America to track down Sabretooth and the Red Skull, who masterminded a plot to put the United States against Symkaria.^[8] The group is hired to clear up a decade's old conspiracy resulting from a failed terrorist attack on New York City.^[9]

She later hired Spider-Man to steal incriminating documents from a Maggia money launderer, and then first encountered the Outlaws.^[10] An intelligence mission in Iraq resulted in the death of a Wild Pack member, and she denied compensation to the slain man's family due to his negligence.^[11] She devised an initiation test for the Prowler to join the Outlaws, and taught a lesson in humility.^[12] She hired the Outlaws to retrieve a Symkarian nuclear device in England.^[13] She hired the Outlaws to rescue the kidnapped daughter of a Canadian official.^[14] With the help of Spider-Man, Sandman, and the Wild Pack, she rescued her niece from a kidnapping by HYDRA.^[15] She then encountered a Doctor Doom doppelganger.^[16]

Silver has collaborated with various superheroes, including the aforementioned Spider-Man, the Punisher, Daredevil, Luke Cage, Venom, Captain America, Deadpool and many others. Sandman was a mercenary for Silver Sable International for a long time, heading the Intruders, the squad of superpowered mercenaries in the employ of Silver Sable International. Other heroes and reformed minor villains work for Silver Sable International on occasion.

Like her father, Sable's squad focuses on bringing Nazi war criminals to justice, though they have taken on many other types of missions. Her group often flagrantly disobeys orders if they believe it is for the greater good.

Sable's surprisingly cordial diplomatic relationship with Doctor Doom would prove almost-fatal as the annual dinner happened to fall on the time when Doctor Doom's castle had been overtaken by an alien impersonator during the Infinity War crisis. The double did look different, something Sable put down to Doom's desires to change his look. During the dinner, Sable's driver is killed by Doom's robots and a human butler is killed by the Doom double. Sable protests the brutality and is attacked herself, leading to a chase throughout the castle. Again defying her, her soldiers came to rescue her, despite Sandman himself also having been replaced.

Later, Sable was hired to protect Professor Wolfgang Von Hessler holed up in the Symkarian monastery of St. Eboars. Wolfgang knew of a powerful genetic weapon and, attacked by guilt, was working on a neutralizing agent to give to the world so the weapon would be useless.

Most of Sable's Wild Pack were out on assignments, so she hired a new team. The Cat, a martial artist, Paladin, and what she thought was Nomad but turned out to be Madcap. The group fought the Heroes for Hire, who had been hired to take the Professor. Sable's team had the upper hand until Deadpool freed his Heroes allies and Power Man turned traitor, sending the professor off to the villain Master of the World.

During the Shadowland storyline, Silver Sable ends up paired up with Misty Knight, Paladin, and Shroud when Daredevil's Hand Ninjas end up secretly targeting members of the mafia.^[17]

During the Ends of the Earth storyline involving one of Doctor Octopus' schemes, Silver Sable recovers Spider-Man and Black Widow after the Avengers are defeated by the Sinister Six—Spider-Man because of experience with the Six and Widow simply because of closest to Sable's cloaked plane. She joins them in an attack on a Sahara facility controlled by Doctor Octopus, with the three successfully defeating Sandman after Spider-Man's allies at Horizon Labs helped determine a means of identifying the one particle of sand containing Sandman's consciousness.^[18] She is apparently drowned by the Rhino in the final battle when Rhino pins her to the ground in a flooding corridor in Doctor Octopus' base, Rhino preferring to die after the loss of his own wife and knowing that Spider-Man will blame himself for the death even if Doctor Octopus' plan is stopped.^[19]

Madame Web later claims to Spider-Man that Silver Sable did not perish in the fight within Doctor Octopus' underwater base.^[20]

She is later seen with other dead people in a post-mortem experience by Peter Parker.^[21]

Powers, abilities, and equipment

Silver Sable is an athletic woman with no superhuman powers. She is a formidable hand-to-hand combatant, and skilled in various martial arts, and she is an expert markswoman, swordswoman, and gymnast. She also possesses strong leadership capabilities.

Silver Sable wears synthetic stretch fabric lined with Kevlar throughout the torso. She often carries a saber or rapier (dueling sword), chai (three-pronged half-moon throwing projectiles), a 9mm pistol and derringer. Silver Sable generally has the latest technology and equipment at her disposal, provided by Silver Sable International.

Other versions

Spider-Verse

In the Spider-Verse storyline, a character resembling Silver Sable but called Sable appears as a member of the Hounds who work for Verna of the Inheritors. She and the other Hounds accompany Verna to Earth-1610 to hunt Miles Morales.^[22] She is killed by the Superior Spider-Man, and his allies Spider-Punk and Assassin Spider-Man.^[23]

Ultimate Marvel

The Ultimate Marvel iteration of Silver Sable is the mercenary leader of the Wild Pack.^[24] A mercenary from Symkaria, she had a troubled childhood, apparently ignored by her father and abused by her alcoholic mother. In reality, her father hunted Nazis and she forgave him at his deathbed and decided to follow in his footsteps. While an antagonist to Spider-Man, she is not actually a villain so much as a bounty hunter, and she holds no particular ill-will towards Spider-Man.^[25]

As the central villain in the "Sliver Sable" story arc, Silver Sable is hired by Donald Roxxon to capture Spider-Man for questioning. After weeks of tracking, Sable's mercenaries mistakenly capture Flash Thompson. As they discussed whether to murder Thompson to prevent from identifying them, Flash escaped. Sable's Wild Pack later captured and brought Spider-Man to Roxxon. Not believing Spider-Man's information of being there ironically, Sable and Roxxon do a background check using Spider-Man, however, this causes a high level S.H.I.E.L.D. alert. While listening to Roxxon's argument for protection, Sable's Wild Pack are attacked by the Vulture.^[26] After escaping the chaos, Sable threateningly demands Roxxon in paying the reward money and swears she will kill Roxxon if their names are told to the authorities.^[27]

During the "War of the Symbiotes" story arc, Silver Sable and her Wild Pack members are hired by Bolivar Trask to capture Eddie Brock Jr..^[28] Sable and the Pack capture Venom after a fight with Spider-Man. However, Sable spared Spider-Man from being taken by the Wild Pack as a "bonus" and "thanks" for subduing Venom.^[29] After delivering Venom to Trask, Sable's Wild Pack provide security for Trask's experiment to remove the Venom symbiote. However, the Beetle breached the facility, paralyzing Sable with knockout gas.^[30] Sable's Wild Pack later fights with the Venom symbiote after organism abandoned Brock and possessed Spider-Man. Sable's Wild Pack tries to subdue Venom, but were unable to until the Ultimates arrive. Despite trying to escape and talk their way, the Ultimates take into custody the Wild Pack with Sable being tranquilized by the Wasp. Sable and the Pack were then imprisoned by S.H.I.E.L.D.^[31]

What If?

In the What If? storyline What If Spider-man had married the Black Cat?, after Black Cat is accidentally killed by the Paladin, Silver Sable and Spider-Man enter into a romantic relationship due to their shared grief over the loss of their loved ones. Uatu the Watcher leaves it ambiguous whether this relationship will work out or not.^[32]

In other media

Television

Silver Sable and her Wild Pack in Spider-Man: The Animated Series.

• Silver Sable appears in the "Six Forgotten Warriors" saga of the Spider-Man TV series, voiced by Mira Furlan. Along with the Wild Pack, she served as an enemy to Spider-Man against both the Kingpin and the Red Skull. Sable was first seen hired by Rheinholt Kragor in order to gather information about the Doomsday device, capture two scientists in order to help operate it, and to keep it from falling into the hands of Kingpin. Sable later kidnapped Spider-Man, Kingpin and the Insidious Six for Rheinholt.

Silver Sable in Spider-Man: The New Animated Series.

• Silver Sable appears in two episodes of Spider-Man: The New Animated Series, voiced by Virginia Madsen. In the episode "Spider-Man Dis-Sabled", Spider-Man encounters Silver Sable attempting to assassinate the mayor of New York City and European Union Guest Harlan Tremain. As it turns out, Tremain is really the Piranha, an undercover terrorist planning to kill the President. When Silver Sable discovers that Peter Parker had caught her on surveillance when she had attempted to kill him, she attacks Peter's apartment and kidnaps Mary Jane Watson, Harry Osborn and Indy. Peter later discovers that Sable is also posing as the mayor's assistant Jane Perkins but before Spider-Man can stop her from kidnapping the mayor and Tremaine, Spider-Man first has to save Peter's friends, which gives her time to get away. Spider-Man eventually catches up to her, though, and the two have a final showdown on top of the mayor's limo. It ends with the limo crashing off the Brooklyn Bridge. Spider-Man saves the limo before it hits the water, but Silver Sable falls off and she swims away shown by her air bubbles in the water. In the episode "Mind Games" (Part One), Silver Sable joins with Kraven the Hunter wanting to kill Spider-Man as revenge. Sable was then caught by Spider-Man and taken to jail. In the process, she told Kraven "There are other ways to get revenge on Spider-Man.". Kraven was thus inspired to kill Mary Jane. However, Sable's appearance was an illusion and part of a scheme by the Gaines twins to manipulate Spider-Man into thinking Kraven killed Mary Jane in the hopes that Spider-Man would kill Kraven. The Gaines twins sought vengeance for Kraven's murder of their father. Information on a computer screen indicates that Silver Sable comes from Russia instead of the fictional country of Symkaria.
• Silver Sable appears in the second season of The Spectacular Spider-Man, voiced by Nikki Cox.^[33][34] This version is Sable Manfredi, the daughter of the crime boss Silvermane. Silver Sable represents her jailed father in an underground bidding organized by Oscorp for a chip that contains the technology to produce super-soldiers like the Rhino. However, she is opposed by Hammerhead and Roderick Kingsley. Silver Sable is defeated by Spider-Man but manages to escape police custody. She has a dislike for Hammerhead, due to the fact that they used to date. Sable later shows up with her father to a Valentine's Day meeting in the opera house with Tombstone and Doctor Octopus. Hammerhead betrays them all and injects Sable with a tranquilizer.

Video games

• Silver Sable appears in the Ultimate Spider-Man video game, voiced by Jennifer Hale. She appears as an assassin trying to hunt down both Spider-Man and Venom. Apparently in the game, Silver Sable knows Peter Parker is Spider-Man whereas she does not in the Ultimate Spider-Man comics, hinting that this game is not considered canon. In the game, she first appeared sending her Wild Pack on Venom but her team ends up defeated. Sable captures Venom in the museum later on. Afterwards, Sable uses Venom as bait for Spider-Man but Spider-Man escapes her again. Later, she kidnaps Spider-Man while in his civilian identity but Peter escapes and bests her in hand-to-hand combat even after being shot with a tranquilizer dart. However, after several more tranquilizer shots, Venom appears and knocks Sable unconscious. Spider-Man changes into the red-and-blue costume and must defend her from Venom. After Venom is defeated, Spider-Man finally succumbs to the darts. Sable is later seen before the final battle against Venom, saying that her contract with Bolivar Trask expired and that Trask doesn't know how to fly the helicopter that he is using to flee Venom. When Spider-Man is about to question her of what she's doing, Sable interrupts by saying it's "business is business" before leaving to deal with Trask.
• Silver Sable appears in Spider-Man: Battle for New York, voiced again by Jennifer Hale. She is hired by the Kingpin to deal with his "unpleasant business affairs". Silver is a boss battle for Spider-Man and the Green Goblin in the game.
• Jennifer Hale reprises her role of Silver Sable in Spider-Man: Friend or Foe. This is her first playable appearance. She appears as more of a hero-type as she was one of the first people hired by Nick Fury besides the Prowler, Iron Fist (captured on Tangaroa Island) and lastly Spider-Man.
• Silver Sable is a playable character in The Punisher: No Mercy.^[35]
• Silver Sable appears in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, with Jennifer Hale reprising the role. In the Amazing universe, she and her Wild Pack are trying to capture the supervillain Juggernaut for a bounty, but Spider-Man attempts to stop this even though they have a secondary bounty on the web-slinger. Upon the collapse of the in-construction OsCorp building on top of both Juggernaut and Spider-Man, Sable apparently gave up on the hunt, considering it a miracle if either target survived. In the end credits, it is revealed that she found Juggernaut sometime after the earlier fight.
• Silver Sable appears as a gear vendor in the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier in the MMORPG Marvel Heroes.
• Silver Sable appears as a boss and as a playable character in Spider-Man Unlimited, voiced by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn.

References

External links

• Silver Sable at Marvel.com
• MarvelDatabase:Silver Sable
• MarvelDatabase:Character Gallery Silver Sable
• The Shrine of Silver Sable
• Profile at Samruby
• Profile at Spiderfan.org

The Spectacular Spider-Man
Developers: Greg Weisman Victor Cook
Episodes	"Survival of the Fittest" "Interactions" "Natural Selection" "Market Forces" "Competition" "The Invisible Hand" "Catalysts" "Reaction" "The Uncertainty Principle"
Characters	Main Spider-Man/Peter Parker Gwen Stacy Harry Osborn Liz Allan Flash Thompson Mary Jane Watson J. Jonah Jameson Norman Osborn George Stacy Supporting Aunt May Uncle Ben Randy Robertson Kenny King Kong Hobie Brown Glory Grant Sally Avril Betty Brant Robbie Robertson Ned Lee Frederick Foswell John Jameson Black Cat Antagonists Tombstone Hammerhead Enforcers / New Enforcers Montana Ox Fancy Dan Vulture Electro Lizard Shocker Sandman Rhino Green Goblin Doctor Octopus Chameleon Venom Mysterio Miles Warren Tinkerer Kraven the Hunter Silver Sable Silvermane Molten Man
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