THE SERPENT SQUAD
Membership: Anaconda (Blanche Sitznski), Black Mamba (Tanya Sealy), Death Adder (Roland Burroughs), Sidewinder (Seth Voelker)
Purpose: Employees of Roxxon President Hugh Jones; later free agent mercenaries
Affiliations: Employed by Roxxon Oil; created by the Brand Corporation, a Roxxon subsidiary
Enemies: Iron Man (Tony Stark), Stingray (Walter Newell), Thing (Ben Grimm), Triton
Base of Operations: Roxxon facilities, New York area
First Appearance: Marvel Two-in-One I#64 (June, 1980)
History:
(Marvel Two-in-One I#66 (fb)) - Under the influence of the Serpent
Crown, Hugh Jones arranged for the creation of his own Serpent Squad
to retrieve a second Serpent Crown (originally taken by the Avengers
from the Squadron Supreme's world of Earth-712 [Avengers I#149], then
later dropped into the Pacific Ocean by the Vision [@ Avengers I#154]).
(Marvel Two-in-One I#66 (fb) - BTS) - Roxxon set up an oil platform in an area of the Pacific Ocean where no oil deposits were located -- their true purpose was to mask their search for the the Earth-712 Serpent Crown, and the Serpent Squad was sent there in an air-sub to lead the search.
(Marvel Two-in-One I#64) - Flying over Roxxon's false oil platform in the Fantastic Four's Pogo-Plane, the suspicious Thing and Stingray stopped to investigate. An underwater explosion, set by the Serpent Squad, unbalanced the platform and the heroic pair acted to save it; beneath the platform, Stingray was attacked and incapacitated by the Serpent Squad.
(Marvel Two-in-One I#65) - The Serpent Squad confronted the Thing with a sneak attack, and while he was distracted, they took the unconscious Stingray hostage, using him as leverage to allow them to capture the Thing, then they chained both the heroes to the platform. As the Thing and Stingray tried to get free (with the aid of Triton of the Inhumans), the Squad searched underwater, and Anaconda located the Crown.
While the Thing, Stingray, and Triton battled three members of the Serpent Squad underwater, Sidewinder took the Serpent Crown aboard their air-sub and got away -- he dropped an explosive mine to cover his escape, and the other three Serpents were buried in an undersea rock-slide.
(Iron Man I#160 (fb)) - Anaconda freed herself, Black Mamba, and Death Adder from the rock-slide.
(Marvel Two-in-One I#66) - Sidewinder traveled to Washington, D.C. by air-sub and delivered the Serpent Crown to Roxxon President Hugh Jones; but disturbed by Jones' instability, Sidewinder departed almost immediately.
(Iron Man I#160) - Anaconda, Black Mamba, and Death Adder invaded the Long Island Zoo to steal a Stark Enterprises microscanner, which could power a weapon created by the their employers (see comments). The Squad freed many animals as a diversion and killed some zoo employees, but were ultimately caught and arrested by Iron Man.
(Captain America I#307) - Anaconda, Black Mamba, and Death Adder broke into Sidewinder's New York City apartment, attempting to locate him.
(Captain America I#308) - The threesome located Sidewinder and demanded their pay from the Roxxon Serpent Crown job. Sidewinder had their money waiting for them (with bonuses from investment over time), and revealed he had something else in mind for them, apparently involving other serpent-themed individuals whose dossiers he had gathered.
(Captain America I#309) - The Serpent Squad members contacted a number of other snake-themed criminals, specifically Cobra, Princess Python, and the Constrictor.
(Captain America I#310) - From the membership of the Serpent Squad and many other serpent-themed individuals, Sidewinder organized the Serpent Society, officially marking the end of this Serpent Squad.
Comments: Created by Mark Gruenwald & Ralph Macchio, George Perez, and Gene Day.
In Captain America Annual I#10/2 (1991), it was revealed that Bushmaster (a Serpent Society member) was also created by Roxxon, and in fact was recruited by Seth Voelker, also known as Sidewinder. However, Bushmaster never actually served beside the Serpent Squad on missions. Voelker acted here as a Roxxon executive, not as Sidewinder (in fact, this may have taken place before he became Sidewinder).
It seems likely that some or all of the Serpent Society--including Asp, Cottonmouth, and Rattler--may also be Roxxon creations (although Asp's file was in a separate dossier when Sidewinder organized the Serpent Society, which may be a strike against this possibility in her case). Bushmaster's origin shows that Roxxon created other serpent-themed agents besides the Serpent Squad -- no origins have been given to date for these three, but Sidewinder was at least familiar with them and knew how to contact them when forming the Serpent Society. Similarly, Fer-de-Lance has claws nearly identical to Bushmaster's, lending support to a possible Roxxon origin for her as well. Again, however, none of these ever acted as part of the Serpent Squad.
In Captain America I#308, Anaconda refers to the Serpent Crown Affair as their "first job together," which tells us there are no untold Serpent Squad adventures predating the Marvel Two-in-One story-line.
In Captain America I#310, we learned that the empowerment of the various Serpent Squad members occurred at the Brand Corporation, a Roxxon subsidiary located on Long Island.
The employer of the three Serpent Squad members in Iron Man I#160 was never revealed. It may well have been Roxxon, but it may just as easily have been someone else. Considering the monetary investment which Roxxon must have made in creating the Squad, it seems unlikely that they'd let them go very easily, but the Squad is completely at loose ends by their Captain America appearances. One supposition is that since Jones created the Serpent Squad, this may have been a personal project of his, and when he was institutionalized after he lost the Serpent Crowns, the Serpents he created were cut loose by the new management
New and additional image by Ron Fredricks.
Profile by SQUEAK
CLARIFICATIONS:
This Serpent Squad should not be confused with:
images: (without ads)
Marvel Two-in-One I#64, p18, pan1 (main image - Serpent Squad on their air-sub)
Marvel Two-in-One I#66, p2, pan2 ([clockwise from the top] Black Mamba, Death Adder, Sidewinder, Anaconda)
Appearances:
Marvel Two-in-One I#64-65 (June-July, 1980) - Mark Gruenwald & Ralph Macchio (writers), George Perez (pencils), Gene Day (inks), Jim Salicrup (editor)
Marvel Two-in-One I#66 (August, 1980) - Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio & Steven Grant (writers), Jerry Bingham (pencils), Gene Day (inks), Jim Salicrup (editor)
Iron Man I#160 (July, 1982) - Denny O'Neil (writer), Marie Severin & Steve Ditko (pencils), Dan Green (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Captain America I#307-310 (July-October, 1985) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Paul Neary (pencils), Dennis Janke (inks), Michael Carlin (editor)
Captain America Annual I#10 (1991) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Don Heck (pencils), Rick Parker (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
First Posted: 12/09/2004
Last updated: 06/15/2026
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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