SHADESSHADES
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Human, technology user (sometimes), former street criminal
Occupation: Criminal, Racketeer
Affiliations: Commanche (partner); Bengal, Bullet, "Big Ben" Donovan,
Tombstone (allies);
Bushmaster, Ward Meachum, Viktor Smerdilovisc (former employers);
Fera, Flea, Master Khan (loose alliance)
Enemies: Black Widow, Dagger, Daredevil, Moon Knight, Luke Cage/Power Man, Billy Bob Rackham, Shang-Chi, Stiletto
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: currently unknown; formerly Club C'losco, New Jersey; Rand-Meachum Industries' Long Island facility, New York; Harlem, New York; Seagate prison
First Appearance: Luke Cage, Hero for Hire#1 (June, 1972)
Powers: None. Shades was originally a
street criminal, with no specialized skills. He is a reasonably
skilled street-fighter, and is familiar with knives and various
types of guns.
He briefly wore a visor from which he could fire force blasts.
History: (HfH#1) - Shades and Commanche were prisoners in Seagate alongside Carl Lucas. They tried to recruit him to sway all of the brothers to follow them, but Lucas knew they were just talkin' jive, and refused to work with them. Commanche pulled a knife to persuade him, and Lucas sucker-punched him, dropping him to the ground with a single blow. Shades knew enough to not start anything himself.
(HfH#14(fb)) - A corrupt prison guard, Rackham, who had abused Lucas (and who was partly responsible for his mutation), took out his frustrations on Shades, Commanche, and any others he could get his hands on after Lucas' escape. Eventually Rackham was fired for his brutality, but Shades and Commanche wanted revenge, so they slowly dug a tunnel under the prison and escaped.
(HfH#14,
15/16(fb), 16) - Shades and Commanche arrived in Manhattan, where
they heisted a couple of costumes, so that Rackham wouldn't
recognize them when they approached him. While they searched for
Rackham, they continued their old, racketeering ways, and in the
process they encountered and allied themselves with Flea, another
man who knew that Luke Cage was actually the wanted man Carl
Lucas. The three men attempted to convince Cage to join their
racketeering outfit, in exchange for leading him to Rackham (who
had killed reporter Phil Fox and could prove the innocence of Dr.
Claire Temple, who had blamed for the murder). Cage went along
with them initially to locate Rackham, but he had also had his
lawyer friend, "Big Ben" Donovan, have someone tail
him. After the group located Rackham, another man, Stiletto,
caused the roof to collapse on them. Cage pulled Shades and
Commanche to safety and fought off Stiletto. Shades and Commanche
were arrested and returned to prison.
(Power Man#49(fb)) - Now employed by Bushmaster, Shades and Commanche were assigned to follow Cage on a mission to capture Misty Knight for him, to insure that he proceeded as planned.
(PowM#48) - Shades and Commanche observed from
their car as Cage went after Misty Knight. They saw Cage get
knocked from the building and crash into another building, which
collapsed on him. They assumed Cage had been killed, and they
left to report back to Bushmaster.
(PowM#49) - Back at Bushmaster's base in the now-closed Seagate
Prison, Shades and Commanche tried to ambush Iron Fist, who had
accompanied Cage. Iron Fist easily outwitted and overpowered the
two.
BTS - Shades and Commanche were hired by Ward Meachum, who had them outfitted with advanced weaponry. Commanche was given a bow and arrow with an arsenal of specialized arrows.
(Power Man and Iron Fist#98) - Shades and
Commanche ambushed Luke Cage, who was caught unprepared for their
new weapons, and quickly knocked out. They left him unconscious,
figuring they had showed him who was in charge. However, when he
woke up, Cage wanted a rematch and tracked them down. Iron Fist
had come with Cage, and they fought the two criminals. Shades
blasted out the bottom of a telephone pole, dropping it on top of
Cage. However, Cage tossed the pole off and came back for more.
Shades and Commanche fled, but Power Man and Iron Fist chased
after and defeated them. As they were being taken away, Shades,
whose visor had unwisely left on, blasted the two heroes off the
bridge. Shades was excited, claiming he had killed them, but they
survived.
(BTS) - Shades and Commanche were sprung on bail by agents of
Meachum
(PM/IF#99) - Shades and Commanche were sent to steal the film of
David "D. W." Griffith, who had unwittingly captured on
film Meachum meeting with the two of them. They raided his office
at the Diamond, and stole every piece of film in his office,
except the one they had sought, which was still in the film
dryer.
(PM/IF#100) - Shades and Commanche again fought Cage, as he was
part of a raid on Meachum's facility, to gain back the soul of
Iron Fist, which had been stolen by Master Khan, who as Meachum's
silent partner. Cage cracked a large pillar and dropped it on
them, taking them out of the fight.
BTS - Shades and Commanche apparently parted
company at some point.
(Marvel Knights I#11, 12) - Shades (no longer wearing his special visor) was one of several gunmen in the employ of Viktor Smerdilovisc, working with several other criminals: Bengal, Bullet, Big Ben Donovan, and Tombstone. They came into conflict with Cage, who was hired to work alongside the heroes Black Widow, Dagger, Daredevil, Moon Knight, and Shang-Chi. Shades was taken out by a blast from Dagger. Later, Shades and all of the other criminals were sucked into the pocket realm normally accessed by Cloak, but then contained within Dagger.
Comments: Created by Archie Goodwin and George Tuska.
Shades was definitely the idea man of the two, while Commanche was more of a follower.
In Marvel Knights I#9, Dagger absorbed the darkness powers (and their associated taint) from Cloak. It was with this power that she pulled Shades in others into the dimension normaly accessed by Cloak. In Marvel Knights Double Shots#3, Cloak is back in action, although its possible it is an out-of-continuity tale. Nonetheless, it is unclear if Shades (or Bengal, Bullet, Big Ben Donovan, Tombstone, or the other criminals have been freed). I think its most likely that it will be forgotten and Tombstone, the biggest name of the bunch, will just show up again, without any explanation.
CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to:
Shade, a tiny mutate who operated a human-sized
robotic body, @ Savage She-Hulk#21
Shade, the man who pulls others to the astral
plane in order to remain solid on earth himself, @ Amazing
Spider-Man II#40
Bushmaster, John McIver, aka Powermaster, is
related to, but distinguished from:
Bushmaster, Quincy McIver, of the Serpent
Society, his younger brother, @ Captain America I#310
Cruz Bushmaster, John's son, who briefly
reanimated his father's inert form before having his own life
force drained by him, @ Cage#1, 12
Appearances:
Luke Cage, Hero for Hire#1 (June, 1972)
Luke Cage, Hero for Hire#14 (October, 1973) - Billy Graham & Steve Englehart (writers), Billy Graham (artist), Roy Thomas (editor)
Luke Cage, Hero for Hire#15 (November, 1973) - Steve Englehart, Billy Graham & Tony Isabella (writers), Billy Graham (artist), Roy Thomas (editor)
Luke Cage, Hero for Hire#16 (December, 1973) - Steve Englehart, Billy Graham & Tony Isabella (writers), Billy Graham (pencils), Frank McLaughlin (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Power Man#48-49 (December, 1977 - February, 1978) - Chris Claremont (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Dan Green (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Power Man / Iron Fist#98 (October, 1983) - Kurt Busiek (writer), Ernie Chan (pencils), Andy Mushynsky (inks), Denny O'Neil (editor)
Marvel Knights I#11-12 (May-June, 2001) – Chuck Dixon (writer), Ed Barreto (pencils), Nelson (inks), Stuart Moore & Nanci Dakesian (editors)
Last updated: 08/01/02
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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