THE SILVER SQUAD

Membership: Purty Larry, Ripster, Slambeaux, Twit

Purpose: Capture Spider-Man for Silvermane

Affiliations: Silvermane

Enemies: Mary Jane Watson Parker, Spider-Man, unnamed carriage driver

Base of Operations: An abandoned subway tunnel in Manhatten, New York City

First Appearance: Web of Spider-Man I#79 (August, 1991)

History: The Silver Squad were created by the Tinkerer for Silvermane to kill Spider-Man and bring Silvermane the body so he could drain Spider-Man's blood into his own android body. He sent them to find Peter Parker because Parker appeared to be connected to Spider-Man.

(Web of Spider-Man I#79) - While Peter Parker (the amazing Spider-Man) was taking a carriage ride through central park with his wife they were attacked by the Silver Squad. Peter jumped from the carriage and changed into Spider-Man, and as the Silver Squad threatened Mary Jane Spider-Man came to the rescue and attacked them  He fought the Squad who continuously missed with their guns and hit trees, all the while trying to figure out who had sent them.  Spider-Man used the Silver Squad's numbers against them, as they accidentally eliminated two of their own members, Purty Larry and Twit, when Spider-Man dodged their blasts, which would in turn hit each other. He then proceeded to destroy Slambeaux by throwing him into Purty Larry's body, which was still discharging electricity. Ripster, however, kept on attacking Spider-Man, who led her away from Central Park to avoid injury to Mary Jane. He proceeded to inadvertently lead Ripster into a crowded area of New York City, and was so busy trying to lead Ripster away from there, that he wasn't able to fight back against her. Eventually, they came face to face atop a tall building, and the two began to fight. Ripster proved to have been much more powerful than any of the other members of the Silver Squad, and as the two fought, neither was able to get any real advantage. Eventually Ripster hurled herself at Spider-Man, and the two were both thrown off the building and plummeted several stories to the concrete floor below. Spider-Man was knocked out cold and Ripster, though badly damaged, carried Spider-Man's unconscious body to the lair of Silvermane.

(Web of Spider-Man I#80) - As soon as her prime directive was completed, Ripster allowed herself to shut down, as she was badly damaged and needed heavy repairs.

Ripster's remains were presumably lost in the destruction of Silvermane's lair.

COMMENTS: Created by Terry Kavanagh and Alex Saviuk

    It is unclear if Twit, the skinny one of the four with glasses, was ever named. Ripster called him Twit, but that might just have been an insult.

    Silvermane's plan was kind of weird to me. He had a robotic body. What would human blood rushing against synthetic wires that he has for veins even do? Does he even have a heart to pump blood with? I recall he wanted Spider-Man's heart actually, but a human heart in the middle of a robotic body. Besides, he was already strong enough to take on Spider-Man and Black Cat, couldn't he just rob a blood bank instead? 
    Silvermane was a cyborg. He had many of his original, fragile organs, kept alive via his powerful cybernetic frame. I'm ASSuming he wanted Spider-Man's blood to energize his own failing organs.

Loki and Per Degaton pointed out that the Silver Squad members were all homages.

Ripster: Possibly an homage to Ripley from the Alien films.
Slambeaux: Sounds similar to Rambo from the novel First Blood. He did not survive the novel. Name derived from the French poet Rimbaud.
Purty Larry: Dirty Harry! Just look at the size of that gun - looks like the most powerful handgun I've ever seen...
Twit: Terry Kavanagh? He was carrying a pencil around, so presumably he was a writer

Per Degaton also pointed out that Tinkerer created the Silver Squad for Silvermane according to a thought balloon in that storyline on the part of Silvermane.

PROFILE BY STUNNER

CLARIFICATIONS: Not to be confused with:

• Silver - (Jimon Kwan or Tang)- China Force, Gamma Flight, merged with deceased brother auric to form new entity-Alpha Flight I#76
• SILVER - Elements of Doom -- Thunderbolts#6
• Silverback -- Emissinary of Ubiquitor -- Galactic Guardians#1
• SILVER BULLET -- Lost Generation -- Marvel Boy#1
• Silverclaw - (Maria de Guadalupe Santiago)-- Avengers member, adopted daughter of Jarvis -- Avengers III#8
• SILVER DAGGER (Isaiah Curwen)-Religious Zealot, dedicated to destroying magical beings,--Doctor Strange II#1
• Silver Death -- Warpy, son of Shoulder Mcgill, composed almost entirely of razor sharp talons, destroyed by Captain Britain --Captain Britain II#14
• Silver Dragon - (Heather Duncan Rand)-dead mother of Iron Fist, briefly controlled by Dhasha Khan --Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#20
• Silverye - Division of SHIELD, formed to combat vampires, Blade: Vampire Hunter II#1
• Silverfang -- Elite assault force for Silvereye --Blade: Vampire Hunter II#1
• Silver Fox (Bayan)-last surviving wizard of realm of Shadowqueen --Doctor Strange II#42
• SILVERFOX-old girlfriend of Wolverine, unknown association with Project X, seemingly killed by Psi-Borg --Wolverine II#50
• Silverhoof-steed of balder--Thor I#344
• Silver Legion -natives of dimension of blackbody, all traded something of value to themselves or their race to gain portion of Surfer's body --Silver Surfer III#116
• Silvermane -- Creator of the Silver Squad -- Amazing Spider-Man I #73
• Silvermane, Joe - Blackwing, son of Silvermane -- Daredevil #118
• Silver One -16^th Century werewolf, killed by Solomon Kane--Savage Sword of Conan#14/4
• Silver Racer - of Earth-Amalgam -Silver Surfer + Black Racer --Spider-Boy Team-Up#1
• SILVER SABLE (Silver Sablinova)- Symkarian mercenary, leader of Wild Pack --Amazing Spider-Man I#265
• Silver Samurai (Kenuchio Harada)-Japanese mutant, Big Hero 6, son of lord Shingen, former leader of clan Yashida --Daredevil I#111
• SILVER SCORPION (Elizabeth "Betty" Barstow or Barlow)- WWII, V Battalion, Penance Council, given armor by professor Carson --(g)Daring Mystery Comics#7
• Silver Serpent - immense mechanical snake-like digging device, used to steal oil by Nick Trask --Savage She-Hulk#5
• Silver Sidewinder of the 19th century -used silver coin to hypnotize others, temporarily hypnotized and controlled Two-Gun --Two-Gun Kid#91/2
• Silver Squire WWII, Freedom's Five, British, partner of Sir Steel. --Invaders I#7
• Silver Surfer -- Former Herald of Galactus, cosmic hero -- Fantastic Four I#48
• Squad - of Earth-UV -Hardcase#1
• Squadron City -Third base of Squadron Supreme--Squadron Supreme#6
• Squadron Sinister - Criminals empowered or created by Grandmaster to use as pawns against the Avengers --Avengers I#69
• Squadron Supreme--Heroes of Earth-S --Avengers I#85
• Any other of the many many "silver" characters
• Any other "Squad" or "Squadron" characters

Purty Larry should not be confused with:

• Larry- US army, victim of the Brain --Adventure into Terror#4
• Larry- linked to Joe, who killed him when he wished he were dead --Crypt of Shadows#4/4

• PRETTY BOY ( ) - Reavers, killed by Fitroy's Sentinels--Uncanny X-Men#229

• PRETTY BOY ( ) - Undergrounders, killed by Ebbtide --Nomad II#3
• PRETTY BOY of Earth-NU (Bob Loeser) - Paranormal Platoon--The War (nu)#1
• Any other "Pretty," "Purty," or "Larry characters"

Ripster should not be confused with: 

• RIP- see RAFAEL RIVAL--Power Pack I#24
• RIP of Counter Earth-Franklin - Young Allies, sentient extra-terrestrial energy--Heroes Reborn: Young Allies 
• Rip Chord - rock musician, drug addict, jumped off cliff while tripping --Power Man/Iron Fist#86
• Ripfire of Earth-UV (Matt McKinney, Chi'arr) - mind controlled by alien, given powers--Ultraverse Premiere#1 
• RIPGNASH 2099 - Mutroids --Ravage 2099 #29
• Ripjak -of Earth-Guardians - Martian Master mutated by blood transfusion from preserved body of Spider-Man--Guardians of the Galaxy #49
• Ripper, Jack the— Ye old serial killer -- All Select#18
• Ripper -  (Rico ) - Mutated by Foundation experiment involving unstable molecules, defeated by Thing. --Marvel Comics Presents#21/4
• Ripper - (Dr. Jacqueline Davenport) - sought revenge on pimps for sister who was a prostitute and had died of overdose--Marvel Comics Presents#110/2
• Ripper - one of the Hellbent @ Moon Knight III #58
• Ripper -  a creation of Anton Hellgate @ Ghost Rider III #73
• Ripper -  (Harry Nod) aka. Dreadnok @ GI Joe #3
• Ripper - of Earth-Shadowline - see Waver, Rippley (app-pl)--Powerline#1
• Ripper of New York- of Earth Greenberg - see New York Ripper--Marvel Graphic Novel#20
• RIPROAR - airship designed by Reed Richards --Thor I#
• Ripsaw - criminal mercenary --NFL SuperPro#7
• Riptide (Janos Quested) - marauders, cloned upon death by Mr. Sinister --Uncanny X-Men#211
• Any other "Rip" characters

Slambeaux is not to be confused with:

• SLAM-weapon created by Peter Aalum, Supersonic Low Altitude Missile--Punisher/Black Widow: Spinning Doomsday's Weapon Graphic Novel

Twit should not be confused with:

• Twitch -- Criminal tipster -- Web of Spider-Man I #84

Purty Larry

Purty Larry attacked Peter Parker and Mary Jane along with the other members of the Silver Squad. He did most of the talking (in a southern accent) and battled Spider-Man. A stray shot from his gun destroyed Twit. He battled until he was destroyed by a stray blast from Slambeaux's gun.

He did not appear to have many super powers except for the powers common to a robot (Enhanced strength, durability, no need for food or rest etc). He carried and used a really powerful magnum in battle.

-- Web of Spider-Man I#79

Ripster

Ripster attacked Peter Parker and Mary Jane along with the rest of the Silver Squad, and along with the rest of them, she engaged Spider-Man in battle. After he destroyed the other three members, she persisted in her attack, forcing Spider-Man to flee to avoid his wife getting hit by a stray shot. She pursued him into the city where he continuously fled to avoid injury to innocent bystanders. Finally, she and Spider-Man faced off atop a tall building, where they fought. The battle was relatively even, but concluded when Ripster hurled herself at Spider-Man sending both of them off of the building and they plummeted several stories into the concrete floor. Spider-Man was knocked unconscious and Ripster took him to Silvermane's lair.  

She was the most powerful of the group and had super strength (I'd estimate class 5-10) and very impressive durability. She wielded a very large and powerful gun and a knife which she could channel energy through.

-- Web of Spider-Man I#79 (80

Slambeaux

Slambeaux attacked Peter Parker and Mary Jane along with the other members of the Silver Squad. He accidentally destroyed a bunch of trees while trying to hit Spider-Man. A stray shot from his gun destroyed Purty Larry. He was destroyed when he was thrown into Purty Larry's body, which was still discharging electricity. He dressed like a guerilla warfare fighter.

He did not appear to have many super powers except for the powers common to a robot (Enhanced strength, durability, no need for food or rest etc). He carried a large and powerful gun which he used in battle which was powerful enough to shatter large trees.

-- Web of Spider-Man I#79

Twit

Twit was with the Silver Squad as they attacked Peter Parker and Mary Jane, and with them as they battled Spider-Man, but did not participate in the assault. He was destroyed by a stray shot from Purty Larry's gun. He was a total non combatant and honestly had no obvious reason he was even there.

He displayed no super physical powers and appeared and acted as if he were very weak. He probably acted as an android calculator of sorts and probably had a lot of information stored within his memory banks or was used as the brains in an otherwise brainless group. He carried a pencil around.

--Web of Spider-Man I#79

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Web of Spider-Man I#79, p2, pan3 (main image, Purty Larry & Slambeaux)