Real Name: Nathan Garrett
Identity/Class: Human technology user, citizen of the United States (naturalized, originally United Kingdom) with a criminal record
Occupation: Professional criminal; formerly research scientist
Group Membership: Masters of Evil (Enchantress/Amora, Executioner/Skurge, Melter/Bruno Horgan, Radioactive Man/Chen Lu, Wonder Man/Simon Williams, Baron Heinrich Zemo)
Affiliations: Communist leaders, Happy Hogan,
Doctor Voodoo (Jericho Drumm);
corpse used by Blasphemy Cartel
Enemies: Avengers (Captain America/Steve Rogers, Giant-Man/Hank Pym, Iron Man/Tony Stark, Thor/Thor Odinson, Wasp/Janet Van Dyne), Harvestman (Stephen Strange), Human Torch (Johnny Storm), Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Clea Strange, X-Men (Cyclops/Scott Summers, Iceman/Bobby Drake)
Known Relatives: Unidentified sister (deceased), Dane Whitman (Black Knight, nephew), Sir Percy of Scandia, Sir Raston, Sir Eobar Garrington, Sir William, Sir Henry Bart (Black Knights of past eras, ancestors, deceased); Sir Dandel, Lady Evaine, Lady Rosamund, Edward, Geoffrey (common ancestry, presumed deceased); Dafydd ap lowerth, Arthur Pendragon, Mordred the Evil, Morgan Le Fay (common ancestry)
Aliases: "Can-head", "medieval miscreant", "Sir Flees-a-lot" (nicknames used by Spider-Man)
Base of Operations: Unrevealed burial site;
formerly his hidden castle, Washington D.C;
formerly New York City, New York
formerly London, England, United Kingdom
First Appearance: Tales to Astonish I#52/1 (February, 1964)
Powers/Abilities: The Black Knight possessed no known superhuman abilities. He was a brilliant research scientist who made groundbreaking discoveries in multiple fields, including genetics and engineering. The equipment he wielded as the Black Knight was of his own design, and included a lightweight full-body suit of electronically insulated steel-alloy chainmail capable of withstanding projectiles, including .45-caliber bullets fired at close range; however, it could not protect him from a long fall.
The suit's helmet visor could emit a bright light to temporarily blind foes. His primary weapon was an atomic-powered lance, which contained numerous weapons and technological devices, such as an acetylene-based heat beam that could melt a two-foot thick steel wall in seconds, an electromagnetic concussive beam that could blast through a wall of cinder blocks in 4 seconds, an ionic energy blast that could disable electronics, and a .45-caliber machine gun. The range of the lance's energy weapons was 50-100 feet.
The lance contained a lasso, and two 50' spools of thick conductive steel cable ending in bola balls, which were launched via a linear accelerator or magnetic cannon to entrap targets. The lance could be equipped with super-heated metal "doughnuts" that enlarged when fired and drained electrical energy when attached to a target, and the lance's hand-guard could be fired as a weapon, enlarging and becoming thin and razor-sharp once airborne. The Knight could carry heavy weights on the end of his lance while flying, such as bags of gold or full-grown adults; but whether this was a feature of the lance or armor-enhanced strength remains unrevealed. He also used a paralyzer pistol that emitted highly concentrated, fast-acting nerve gas that could render the average human unconscious for one hour in small doses, or when used in large amounts, could kill a target by paralyzing the respiratory system. He used an itch-ray that caused severe pruritus and a disolvo-ray that could deteriorate metals and inorganic substances.
Some equipment apparently enlarged when used, including an expandable titanium-steel 'wrapper' that wrapped tentacles around opponents, and an energy cannon that could level buildings. His winged horse Elendil could fly at 50 mph. He occasionally hired underlings and dressed them in medieval garb.
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 195 lbs. (255 lbs. in armor)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black (sometimes dyed brown)
History:
(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update I#5) - Nathan
Garrett lacked the heroic nature of his ancestor Sir Percy of Scandia,
the Black Knight of King Arthur's Camelot court. However, the
London-born research scientist did manage to achieve international
respect for making numerous discoveries and scientific breakthroughs.
While working at his alma mater, Oxford University, Garrett joined
political leftists and eventually became a radical communist. At some
point, he agreed to spy for the People's Republic of China.
(Uncanny Origins I#11 (fb) ) - After inheriting Garrett Castle, Sir Percy's
burial place, his ancestor's spirit offered him a chance to become a
modern day Black Knight and crusade against evil. However. Garrett
proved unworthy when he could not draw the enchanted Ebony Blade
from its scabbard near Sir Percy's tomb: Sir Percy rescinded his
offer.
(Official Handbook of the Marvel
Universe A-Z Update I#5) - Garrett relocated to the
US, where his sister's family lived, and became a naturalized citizen.
Garrett continued his scientific research and eventually headed an
espionage ring.
(Tales to Astonish I#52/1) - Giant-Man busted a sale of
top-secret information between Garrett and Communist spies. Garrett was
arrested, seething that he lacked the superpowers that allowed Giant-Man
to capture him so easily. He was accused of treason and his bail was set
for 100.000 dollars.
(Tales to Astonish I#52/1 - BTS) - Garrett's bail was paid by his
Communist contacts, and he fled to a remote Balkan kingdom nestled in
the Alps.
(Tales to Astonish I#52/1) - Inspired by the sight of a winged horse
statue, Garrett rented a castle and began to run a series of genetic
experiments. After weeks of trial and error, he discovered that
injecting a stallion, called Elendil, with the right proportion of
eagle's blood caused the animal to grow wings.
(Tales to Astonish I#52/1 - BTS) - Embracing his family heritage,
Garrett created a costumed identity for himself as a modern day knight.
Dressed in insulated, black chainmail armor and armed with a power lance
of his own design, Garrett returned to the United States as the Black
Knight.
(Tales to Astonish I#52/1 (fb) - The Wasp witnessed the Black Knight on
his flying horse using his power lance to melt a hole in an armored car
to steal money; he escaped without opposition; and she hurried home to
inform Giant-Man.
(Tales to Astonish I#52/1) - Giant-Man used his ant communicator to find
the Black Knight's next target: a helicopter. Commissioning an aircraft,
Giant-Man jumped onto the helicopter being attacked and battled the
Black Knight. The Knight revealed his identity as Nathan Garrett and
boasted about his inventions, including a multi-functional lance and a
paralyzer pistol. Caught in a bola and blasted with an itch ray,
Giant-Man shrank to avoid falling and was rescued by the Wasp.
(Tales to Astonish I#52/1) - She landed Giant-Man on the Knight's horse.
Giant-Man resumed his giant size and slapped the lance out of the Black
Knight's hands. During the struggle, the Knight knocked Giant-Man off
his horse, but Giant-Man saved himself by grabbing onto an amusement
park ride.
The Wasp pinched the Knight's horse, causing it to buck him off.
Giant-Man and the Black Knight continued their battle on a roller
coaster. The Knight attempted to shoot Giant-Man with the paralyzer
pistol, but Giant-Man shrank to avoid the blast. Thinking he had gone
mad, the Black Knight stumbled off the roller coaster, but was saved by
his horse and escaped.
(Untold Tales of Spider-Man I#13 (fb) - BTS) - Learning that Heinrich
Zemo was putting together a coalition of super-villains, Garrett
contacted the Baron, asking for a chance to prove his worth. The Nazi
agreed to a try-out, leading the Black Knight to put out a call to the
underworld for hired help--this was picked up by the aspiring heroine Bluebird
(Sally Avril) who relayed it to Spider-Man after the thugs she overheard
beat her up.
(Untold Tales of Spider-Man I#13 (fb)) - The Black Knight planned to
kidnap Elena, daughter of Emil Stragosz, the Archduke of Ksavia, who was
in New York visiting the United Nations. The Black Knight attacked when
they arrived at the UN building, using gas and his paralyzer gun to
leave Elena and Emil Stragosz open to attack. The Knight took down
Stragosz while his men captured Elena; by that time, Spider-Man was
there to intervene.
(Untold Tales of Spider-Man I#13 (fb) - BTS) - Sally Avril, now
determined to become a famous photojournalist, had her friend Jason
Ionello follow the villain on his flying horse in his car while she took
pictures. She egged Ionello on to run a red light so they could keep up
with Garrett, which led to them getting rammed by a passing bus. Sally
was flung out of the car and killed on impact.
(Untold Tales of Spider-Man I#13 (fb) ) - Spider-Man was so shocked and
distracted at the sight of the accident that Black Knight managed to hit
him with his paralyzer pistol, allowing the villain to get away
scot-free.
(Untold Tales of Spider-Man I#13 (fb) - BTS) - Black Knight and his
henchmen took over the two top floors of the Chrysler building as they
considered their next move. When they were discovered by the
authorities, Spider-Man heard a news report and made his way over to the
Chrysler where he quickly freed Elena.
(Untold Tales of Spider-Man I#13 (fb)) - Garrett was in the middle of a
video call with Zemo when Spider-Man barged in and quickly started to
knock-out the Knight's small army of henchmen. Zemo told Garrett to deal
with the situation, but the Knight was so intimidated by the angry,
feral vigilante that he jumped on his horse and flew off. Spider-Man
followed, easily avoiding the Knight's signature weapons--the energy
blasts, the bola balls and the titanium-steel wrapper--before
dismounting him. Catching the falling villain in a web between two
condemned buildings, he began pounding away at Garrett until he was
stopped by the Human Torch, who happened to pass by.
(Untold Tales of Spider-Man I#13) - The conversation between the heroes
was interrupted when the walls gave out, causing a massive mess, during
which Zemo's henchmen came in to carry the unconscious Black Knight to
safety.
(Avengers I#6 (fb) - BTS) - Baron Heinrich Zemo told his assistant Franz
Gruber to reach out to the Black Knight and inform him he could
join the Masters of Evil alongside the Melter and the Radioactive Man.
(Avengers I#6) - Zemo ordered Black Knight, Melter and Radioactive Man
to cause mayhem in New York City using the superglue Adhesive X. Riding
his flying horse, Garrett liberally spread the glue across a wide area,
trapping pedestrians, traffic, even ships in the harbor. After he ran
out of glue, he briefly retreated.
(Avengers I#6 - BTS) - The Melter
glued several bystanders to the now sticky streets and then rushed to
aid the Radioactive Man, who was facing the Avengers alone. Wasp
distracted the villain long enough for Iron Man to rescue Giant-Man
and Captain America, who had become stuck as well.
(Avengers I#6) - The Black Knight attacked the Avengers as they made
their retreat, but Thor made short work of his attempt to stop them
using his bolas. The Asgardian knocked the lance out of his hand and
the heroes continued on their way.
(Avengers I#6 - BTS) - Back at their mansion, the Avengers
contacted Paste Pot Pete, who provided them with a solvent strong enough
to counter Adhesive X.
(Avengers I#6) - Zemo sent the Masters out with more Adhesive X, unaware
that Rick Jones and the Teen
Brigade had switched the canisters of glue with the solvent.
During their second run, the Black Knight and the others inadvertently
freed the people they'd previously glued up.
(Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes I#3) - When the Avengers
approached them, the Black Knight fired his power lance at bystanders,
figuring that protecting the innocent civilians was the Avengers'
Achilles' heel. Thor deflected the blast with his hammer, deeming
Garrett a vile braggart.
(Avengers I#6) - The Black Knight used his lance to shoot projectiles at
Thor, which the thunder god easily deflected with his spinning hammer.
With his patience at an end, Thor flew toward the Knight and his flying
steed, to deal with him directly.
(Marvels I#2) - Photojournalist Phil Sheldon was on the job when the
Masters attacked the city--he snapped pictures of Thor and the Black
Knight fighting high in the sky.
(Avengers I#6) - After his teammates had defeated the other Masters, Thor flew to his fellow Avengers, riding upon the Black Knight's winged horse, and dragging the villain by his cape; Thor told the others that the Knight had the fight knocked out of him, so he'd probably appreciate a nice long rest in some quiet jail.
(Tales of Suspense I#59/1) - The Black Knight's winged horse flew to his jail cell window and delivered the weapons he needed to escape. Seeking revenge upon the Avengers, the Black Knight attacked the Stark Industries factory (since it was publicly known that Iron Man worked there as Tony Stark's bodyguard). Although he used an assortment of weapons against the hero, the Black Knight was defeated by Iron Man and turned over to the police, and the villain was returned to prison.
(Avengers I#15 (fb) - BTS) - The Melter and the Black
Knight were captured and kept in the same specially prepared police
cell.
(Avengers I#15) - Acting on orders from Zemo, the Enchantress and the
Executioner freed Black Knight and the Melter. After handing Garrett his
lance and his horse, the two Asgardians sent the villains out to fight
the Avengers. The Black Knight attacked the team's aircraft by throwing
his lance's razor-sharp, rapidly expanding handle at the plane--if not
for Thor's interference, the aircraft would have been ripped to shreds.
Thor evaded the Knight's bolas and chased him around until he led him
back to Giant-Man, who forced the Knight to the ground where the other
Masters were waiting. In the end, the fight between the Masters and the
Avengers reached a standstill.
(Avengers VII#1.1) - As soon as the fighting resumed, Iron Man and
Giant-Man teamed up. One held the Knight back while the other fired a
repulsor blast to knock the power lance out of Garrett's hands. The
Melter got so angry and obsessed with not wanting to return to jail, he
turned his ray on full blast, which threatened to damage large parts of
the city.
(Avengers I#16) - Implementing Plan D, Thor used his hammer's
teleportation abilities to transport the Black Knight and the Melter to
a different dimension. Furious and beyond reason, the villains swore to
kill the heroes but soon found out they had been taken to a dimension
where certain natural laws were reversed, effectively making it
impossible for them to fight. They were easily overpowered and taken
into custody.
(Fantastic Four Annual I#3) - Influenced by Doctor Doom's high-frequency
Emotion
Charger, the Black Knight joined numerous super-villains in an
attack on the Fantastic Four just as Reed and Sue were getting married.
Black Knight first tried to stop Daredevil from hijacking Hydra's truck
carrying a destructive vortex
bomb. He was attacked by the Angel, who was too fast for him to
hit with his lance, but the Mandarin helped the Knight out with a
well-timed blast that dazed the flying X-Man.
During the massive free-for-all that followed right
outside the Baxter Building, the Black Knight was punched off his horse
by Reed Richards moments before Mr. Fantastic used a sub-atronic
time-displacer he borrowed from Uatu
the Watcher to return every combatant to the immediate past, with
no memory of the event (see comments). SECRET WARS III HAPPENED (Black Knight III#3) - The spirit of Nathan Garrett and several other
deceased Black Knights were summoned by Doctor Voodoo to help distract
the crazed Dane Whitman long enough for the Avengers to reclaim the
Ebony Blade from him. (Strange III#9) - The Blasphemy Cartel bound thousands of insane ghosts to the corpse of the Black Knight (Nathan Garrett) to turn him into one of their Revenant agents. They sent him alongside the Revenants Constrictor (Frank Payne), Mettle (Ken Mack) and Taurus (Cornelius Van Lunt) against the Harvestman and Clea, who were invading the Emerald City, the Blasphemy Cartel's HQ. He stabbed the Harvestman through the back, but then got cut in half by him. Comments: Created by Stan
Lee and Dick Ayers. Not sure why the decision was made to kill off Black
Knight so early on. The Marvel Universe is big enough for both Dane
Whitman and Nathan Garrett, especially because an uncle/nephew rivalry
was pretty unique and unusual for the 60s. Missed Tales of Suspense I#59 appearance added by Ron Fredricks. Strange III#9 appearance added by Markus Raymond. Profile by Norvo CLARIFICATIONS: Images: (without ads) Appearances: First Posted: 06/16/2024 Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know. Non-Marvel
Copyright info
(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update I#5 (fb) - BTS) -
Nathan Garrett took over an abandoned castle that had been relocated to
the Potomac River near Washington D.C. years earlier by an English baron
who died before moving in.
(Tales of Suspense I#73/1 - BTS) - Eager to exact revenge on Iron Man,
the Black Knight kidnapped injured Stark employee Happy Hogan from the
hospital, leaving clues such as hoof prints that would lead Iron Man to
him.
(Tales of Suspense I#73/1) - When Iron Man entered his castle, the Black
Knight used holographic images of himself to toy with the golden Avenger
before making his presence known. The Knight surprised Iron Man with two
ionic energy blasts that messed up his transistor powered chestplate.
The hero was forced to play dead to allow his systems to reset and
recharge.
The Black Knight decided to finish off his seemingly unconscious foe by
taking him up in the air and dropping him from a height that was sure to
kill him. Iron Man revived in time to struggle against his foe, causing
the cinch of his steed's saddle to break. Both men fell to the ground,
but while Iron Man broke his fall by diving in a nearby river, all that
remained of Garrett was his tattered cape.
(Avengers I#47-48 (fb)) - Garrett survived the fall, but sustained
life-threatening injuries. Aware that he was dying, he made his way to a
nearby farmhouse ,where he phoned his only living relative: his nephew
Dane Whitman, who happened to be working at the nearby Willowton
Research Center. Over the phone, Garrett told his nephew he was the
criminal Black Knight. Dane still came by to pick him up and return him
to his castle. Before he died, Garrett made Whitman swear that he would
use his research for good, not as Garrett had used it for evil. Whitman
promised his uncle that he would one day be remembered 'not as a
criminal, but one who lived a benefactor of mankind'.
(Avengers I#48 - BTS) - After Garrett's burial, Whitman started to look
into his uncle's work. He marveled at his many scientific discoveries,
even creating his own flying horse following Garrett's formula. He
adopted most of Garrett's technologies, including the power lance. He
spent unrevealed weeks training to make the technology his own. When he
was satisfied he could handle the job, Whitman set out to make a name
for himself as the new Black Knight.
(JLA/Avengers I#2 & 3 (fb) - BTS) - When the Grandmaster used
objects of power to fuse Earth-616 with an actuality from a Divergent
Continuum, history was retroactively rewritten. Nathan Garrett still
became the Black Knight and joined Zemo's Masters of Evil. After an
unrevealed misadventure the group found itself exiled to a dimensional
void, stuck in a cell constructed by Green Lantern's power ring.
(JLA/Avengers I#3) - As soon as the Avengers and JLA started to realize
their shared reality was false and flawed, they checked on villains who
might be responsible--after inspecting the dimensional void cell, they
concluded it couldn't be the Masters of Evil.
(JLA/Avengers I#4 - BTS) - When the mad Oan
scientist Krona, native to a Divergent Continuum, weakened the barriers
between Earth-616 and his home reality, the Avengers and the Justice
League of America decided to team up to restore order to this new
actuality. During the heroes' final assault on Krona's power base, the
Oan summoned dozens of villains from both universes to defend him (see
comments).
The Black Knight was taken to prison at the end of Avengers I#15,
but was somehow out in time for the wedding of Reed and Sue in Fantastic
Four Annual I#3. Maybe his communist contacts once again paid his
bail.
The Black Knight that appeared as a member of two incarnations of the
Legion of the
Unliving III and IV
was a simulacrum.
I strained my eyes pouring over the pages of the final issue of JLA/Avengers,
but the Black Knight does not appear on panel. He did pop up with the
rest of the original Masters of Evil in #3, so it's entirely possible
he was there off panel.
Black Knight and the other Masters of Evil appear in a one panel
flashback to the events of Avengers I#6 in Captain
America: Man out of time I#4. Because that story revealed no new
information about the Black Knight, it wasn't included in the profile.
For the same reason his appearance in Heroes & Legends 96 was
excluded.
The Black Knight received full profiles in The Official Handbook of
the Marvel Universe I#2, Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
II#16, Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master
Edition I#14 and Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
A-Z Update I#5.
Black Knight should not be confused with:
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update I#5, p4, pan1 (main
image)
Tales to Astonish I#52/1, p4, pan3 (wishes he had superpowers)
Untold Tales of Spider-Man I#13, p17, pan3 (fleeing Spider-Man)
Avengers I#6, p15, pan1 (lance with deadly arsenal)
Fantastic Four Annual I#3, p16, pan3 (blasts Daredevil driving vortex
bomb)
Tales of Suspense I#73/1 ,p10, pan4 (falling to his death)
Avengers I#48, p11, pan5 (passes the mantle to Dane Whitman)
Strange III#9, p12, pan3 (as a Revenant)
Strange III#9, p16, pan3 (as a Revenant, cut in half)
Official Handbook Of The Marvel Universe Master Edition I#14, p15, pan1
(ohotmu master)
Tales to Astonish I#52/1 (February, 1964) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Dick Ayers (pencils & inks)
Avengers I#6 (July, 1964) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby (pencils), Chic Stone (inks)
Tales of Suspense I#59/1 (November, 1964) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Don Heck (pencils), Chic Stone (inks)
Avengers I#15 (April, 1965) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby & Don Heck (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks)
Avengers I#16 (May, 1965) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby (pencils), Dick Ayers (inks)
Fantastic Four Annual I#3 (October, 1965) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby (pencils), Vince Colletta (inks)
Tales of Suspense I#73/1 (January, 1966) - Stan Lee, Flo Steinberg, Roy Thomas (writers), Adam Austin (pencils), Gary Michaels, Sol Brodsky, Marie Severin (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Avengers I#47 (December, 1967) - Roy Thomas (writer), John Buscema (pencils), George Tuska (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Avengers I#48 (January, 1968) - Roy Thomas (writer), George Tuska (pencils & inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Marvels I#2 (February, 1994) - Kurt Busiek (writer), Alex Ross (pencils & inks), Marcus McLaurin (editor)
Untold Tales of Spider-Man I#13 (September, 1996) - Kurt Busiek (writer), Pat Olliffe (pencils), Al Vey (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Uncanny Origins I#11 (July, 1997) - Glenn Herdling (writer), Mark Campos (pencils & inks), Joe Andreani (editor)
JLA/Avengers I#3 (December, 2003) - Kurt Busiek (writer), George Pérez (pencils & inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
JLA/Avengers I#4 (February, 2004) - Kurt Busiek (writer), George Pérez (pencils & inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes I#3 (December, 2004) - Joe Casey (writer), Scott Collins (pencils & inks) Tom Brevoort (editor)
Black Knight III#3 (March, 2016) - Frank Tieri (writer), Luca Pizzari & Kevin Walker (pencils & inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Avengers VII#1.1 (January, 2017) - Mark Waid (writer), Barry Kitson (pencils), Mark Farmer (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Strange III#9 (February, 2023) - Jed MacKay (writer), Marcelo Ferreira (pencils), Roberto Poggi (inks), Darren Shan (editor)
Last Updated: 06/19/2024
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