STEVE MAGNICONTESTEVE MAGNICONTE
Real Name: Steve Magniconte
Identity/Class: Alternate Reality (Earth-148611 / "New Universe") normal human
Occupation: Sports nutrition, supplements, etc.
Group Membership: Head of Sports Power Plus
Affiliations: Formerly Mr. Sloan
Enemies: Mr. Sloan and his agents
Known Relatives: Giovanni "John"/"Jack" Magniconte (Mr. Magnificent (and later All-American), brother), Darlene Magniconte (sister-in-law), unidentified parents (deceased)
Aliases: Steverino (from Mr. Sloan)
Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
formerly Sports Power Plus,
within a short drive of the New York Smashers' stadium
First Appearance: Kickers, Inc. #1 (November, 1986)
Powers/Abilities:
Steve had experience and training in sports conditioning and nutrition.
He had the means to design a device that projected some sort of energy
he believed would slowly and progressively enhance an athlete's
strength, speed, reaction time, etc.
Formerly an athlete (presumably collegiate football, but at least something involving a ball in college), after his knee injury, Steve wore a crutch under his left axilla (armpit), presumably indicating a right knee injury.
Steve wore glasses, at least in his
office, but his prescription/vision deficit was unspecified.
Height: Unrevealed (he was a few inches shorter
than the 6'2" Jack Magniconte, so perhaps 5'10")
Weight: Unrevealed (perhaps 180 lbs.)
Eyes: Unrevealed (difficult to see due to his glasses; apparently
light blue)
Hair: Strawberry blond (including full beard)
History:
(Kickers,
Inc. #1 (fb) - BTS) - After the death of their parents, Steve
Magniconte played a significant role in raising his younger brother,
Jack.
(Kickers, Inc. #1 (fb) - BTS) - Destroying his knee while playing college <foot?>ball, Steve stayed active in sports by gambling, and he developed something of a gambling problem.
(Kickers, Inc. #1 (fb) - BTS) - Borrowing money from Jack, who was now quarterback of the successful New York Smashers, Steve established and built up his business, Sports Power Plus, selling nutritional programs to sports franchises and training camps.
Jack's wife, Darlene, continued to distrust Steve.
(Kickers, Inc. #1 (fb) - BTS) - Steve put Jack on a nutrition program for years.
(Kickers, Inc. #1 (fb) - BTS) - Using all of his money as well as money borrowed from loan shark Mr. Sloan, Steve developed a machine he called the Intensifier, which he believed would artificially stimulate an increase in muscle mass -- as one might see with anabolic steroids but without the negative side effects -- as well as potentially decreasing the recipient's reaction time. Steve believed that with weekly treatments, a subject's strength and speed might be increased by 10-15%.
Steve at least claimed to have tested the process on himself for weeks with no negative effects.
Steve contacted Jack and asked him to come to his facility.
(Kickers, Inc. #1 (fb) - BTS) - Darlene told Jack she wished he would not spend so much time with Steve.
(Kickers, Inc. #1) <July 22, 1986> - Steve greeted Jack and Darlene and showed them his machine, noting that he called it the Intensifier, but that the marketing guys could come up with a real name, if it worked. Jack was interested, although Darlene questioned its safety, even after Steve told her he had been testing it on himself for weeks. Steve further noted that he wanted to make the treatment available to Jack to give him an extra edge before the league learned of it and he had to submit his machine for FDA testing.
(Kickers, Inc. #1 - BTS) - Hours later, Jack and Darlene had discussed the treatment again, with Jack noting how he wanted an edge up on other players and how he trusted Steve. While he did not expect the treatment to work, he figured that the slightest increase in strength and speed could make a difference in his career. The White Event then happened, blanketing the entire planet with Star Brand energy. Jack was left dizzy and light-headed.
(Kickers, Inc. #1) <July 23, 1986> - The next morning, Steve prepared Jack for the treatment, telling Darlene to stop worrying and noting that Jack would only experience a mild tingle during the treatment and that it would be months before he first noticed any changes. However, as Steve turned on the Intensifier, there was a sudden burst of energy and Jack felt dizzy and then pained. Steve swiftly turned off the Intensifier, not understanding what had happened, and Jack was left much more powerfully built with his hair now turned white. Noting that the effects would likely be temporary, Steve resolved to run a few tests.
(Kickers, Inc. #1 (fb) - BTS) - For three hours, Steve examined Jack, but found nothing wrong with him.
(Kickers, Inc. #1 - BTS) <July 24, 1986> - Early the next morning, Jack discovered that he was now superhumanly strong and fast. That afternoon, he returned to Sports Power Plus and told Steve what happened.
(Kickers, Inc. #1) - Evaluating Jack, Steve resolved that his machine had inexplicably transformed him overnight; Jack considered that it also may have been related to the nutrition program Steve had had him on for years. Noting that the machine worked regardless, Jack told Steve he would be rich soon. Steve asked Jack to hold off on any sort of announcement until he'd had a chance to study the effects more closely. Still perplexed by Jack's transformation, Steve wondered if he had overlooked some special factor in his body chemistry.
Steve then received a call from Mr. Sloan, and he told him he had not been able to raise the money he owed him yet. Telling Steve his credit was still good, Mr. Sloan offered to book a few bets on that week's football games to give him a chance to get even.
(Kickers, Inc. #1 - BTS) - Mr. Sloan informed his assistant that Steve was an investment in their future, especially since his brother was one of the league's top quarterbacks.
(Kickers, Inc. #1 (fb) - BTS) - Gambling put Steve even further into debt.
(Kickers, Inc. #1 - BTS) - In the following weeks, Jack led the New York Smashers in a series of decisive victories.
(Kickers, Inc. #1 (fb) - BTS) - Steve used the Intensifier on eleven to twelve men to no effect.
(Kickers,
Inc. #1) - After his fifth exposure to the Intensifier to no
effect, a patient/client named Phil asked Steve when he would notice a
difference, but Steve said he did not know.
With the Smashers headed to the Super Bowl, Mr. Sloan and his men met with Steve at Sports Power Plus, and he told Steve he would forget Steve's debt if Jack made sure the Smashers did not beat the spread (17.5 pounds) by which they were favored. When Steve began to refuse, Sloan's man punched Steve in the back (right around the left kidney), dropping him to the ground, after which Sloan advised Steve that his life depended on this decision.
The next day, while giving Jack his final check-up before the Super Bowl, Steve, fearing for his life, commented on the game's point spread in the Smasher's favor. Jack asked Steve if he had been gambling again, but Steve denied this, knowing Jack would never forgive him if he learned about Sloan and the money he owed him. The discussion was tabled when Jack -- feeling that his powers gave him an unfair advantage -- asked if the effects of the Intensifier could be reversed. Noting this to be theoretically possible, Steve silently considered that he still had no idea why the Intensifier had affected him thusly.
(Kickers,
Inc. #1 - BTS) - That evening, Jack told Darlene that he was
concerned that Steve was gambling again, and that he would like to
teach him a lesson and throw the Super Bowl, although he could not do
that to his team or himself. He continued that Steve's machine had
ruined football for him as it was no longer fair or a challenge.
(Kickers, Inc. #1 - BTS) <August 15, 1986; see comments> - Thirteen days later, putting Steve out of his mind, Jack led the Smashers to win a wide victory of 65-17.
(Kickers, Inc. #1 (fb) - BTS) - Sloan and his men confronted Steve at Sports Power Plus, planning to beat him up. When Steve grabbed Sloan's man's gun, the man shot Steve.
(Kickers, Inc. #1) - Arriving to check on his brother, Jack heard the gunshot and rushed into the room. Easily subduing Sloan and his men, Jack prepared to take Steve to a hospital, but Steve told him it was too late. Noting that he had never intended for any of this to happen but that things had just gotten out of hand, Steve collapsed and died in Jack's arms.
(Kickers, Inc. #1 - BTS) <Three weeks later> - As Sloan and his men awaited trial, Jack's teammates and Darlene agreed to have him subject them to the Intensifier.
A few days later, Jack, Darlene, Dallas "Dasher" Corbin, Thomas "Suicide" Smythe, and Buford "Brick Wall" Wohl formed the investigation/problem-solving team Kickers, Inc., based out of the Sports Power Plus building.
Comments: Created by Tom DeFalco, Ron Frenz, Sal Buscema
See the New Universe primer.
The New York Smashers of Earth-148611 were part of the American
Football League. In the real world, the American Football League was an
older organization that merged with the National Football League (NFL)
in 1959, although it still persists somewhat as the American Football
Conference, rivals to the National Football Conference within the
NFL.
The date of the Super Bowl was not
given in story, but rather in a New Universe timeline featured in some
of the New Universe books. Given that the White Event occurred on July
22, 1986, August 15 seems like too soon to have the Super Bowl
following a string of perhaps 7+ victories, especially given that there
were 13 days between Steve examining Jack after the Smashers had won
the conference championship and when the Smashers played in the Super
Bowl...but maybe they played 3-4 times a week or something.
If the date is correct, than the final exam by Steve would have taken
place on August 2, and his teammates being subjected to the Intensifier
would have been September 5.
Being in this AFL
also helps explain why they would have had a Super Bowl in August...and
why New York's professional football team would not be the Giants or
the Jets.
Sports Power Plus is this huge building, and I never saw any other employees there...only Steve and his clients.
Steve appears in DP7#21/2 in flashback, but as far as I saw, there was no new information in there.
This profile was completed 08/28/2022, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th anniversary 's celebratory event.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Steve Magniconte should be distinguished from:
Appearances:
Kickers,
Inc. #1 (November, 1986) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Ron Frenz
(penciler), Sal Buscema (inker), Michael Higgins (editor)
First posted: 09/12/2026
Last updated: 09/28/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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