main imageSILAS GRANT

Real Name: Silas Grant

Identity/ClassExtraterrestrial (Blackworld) humanoid

Occupation: Steamboat captain

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Balder the Brave, Chuck, Hawkeye (Clint Barton), Heimdall, Hildegarde, Iron Man (Tony Stark), Edwin Jarvis, Karnilla the Norn Queen, Kragonn, Mercurio the 4D Man and his soldiers, the Mutant Class (Bolaa, Gerr, Jukka, Tryx), Tana Nile, Odin, the Rigellian Colonizers (Colonizer 12, Grand Commissioner, others), Sif, Sub-Worlders (Avalon, others), Thor (Thor Odinson), the Warriors Three (Fandral the Dashing, Hogun the Grim, Volstagg the Voluminous)

Enemies: Asgardian rock trolls, the Rhunians of the "Black Stars" (Dracus, Group Commander, LeaderProtector, Technician, numerous others on various planets), Dark Nebula miners (Kagg, Quellor, Rothgar), Ego-Prime, Igron and his imposter Asgardians, Mephisto, Ssthgar and his Sssth legions (Gorney, Higila, many others), Vrellnexians, Xorr the God-Jewel 

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: “Ancient One” (name called by Thor), “The Mortal,” “Old Man” (names called by Tana Nile), “Old One” (name called by Tryx)

Base of Operations: Outer space;
    formerly Avengers Mansion, New York City, New York, USA;
    formerly Blackworld;
    formerly a steamship that was formerly a small sailboat on Blackworld 

First Appearance: Thor I#197 (March, 1972)

Powers/Abilities: Silas Grant seemed to be able to survive in space unaided (see comments). He was a skilled boat captain and was competent at using a crowbar and pieces of wood in battle.

    On Blackworld, he owned steamboat that was formerly a sailboat.

History

(Thor I#201 (fb) – BTS) – A resident of the Blackworld, Silas Grant was evolved by a sentient part of Ego the Living Planet, called Ego Prime, along with the rest of Blackworld.

(Thor I#197) – Weeks later, when the Earth-616 Asgardian Lady Sif and Hildegarde were banished to Blackworld by Odin to protect them from the invading Mangog, Blackworld resident Silas Grant was piloting his steamboat up a river when he found the two Asgardians battling a monster. Rowing a rescue boat to them, Silas Grant offered them a ride, which they accepted. Claiming that he was a lone survivor of a mad world, Silas prepared to tell Sif his story as they rowed back to his steamboat.

(Thor I#198) – Onboard Silas Grant’s steamboat, Sif and Hildegarde were surprised when Grant gave them proof of how mad Blackworld was when he took them a harbor that appeared as if it were from Earth-616’s Great Depression era, despite Sif’s earlier battle with knights and Grant being the captain of a steamboat. Silas Grant then revealed that hours ago, he had owned a sailboat instead of a steamboat and the harbor area they were now in had been nothing but green grass. Unsure what to make of a world that seemed to advance in technology within hours, Sif, Hildegarde and Silas Grant were soon confronted by Tana Nile, who confirmed their suspicions that a mysterious “he” was about to arrive.

(Thor I#199) – As Silas, Sif and Hilegarde watched, Tana Nile explained that “he” was actually Ego Prime, and that everything it touched was modernized. Blackworld’s mysterious technological advancement now explained,  Silas, Sif, Hildegarde and Tana Nile escaped into the subway system when Ego Prime noticed them. Noticing a poster in the subway system for a 1964 Ford automobile, Sif expressed her fears of Earth-616’s safety once Blackworld’s advancement had surpassed that of 616’s modern era. Hildegarde exclaimed that they all needed to take care of themselves as Ego Prime had followed them.

(Thor I#201) – Continuing to run from Ego Prime, Silas, Sif, Hildegarde and Tana Nile were able to briefly rest when Ego Prime stopped to investigate a subway train. During that time, Tana Nile revealed that Ego Prime had arrived on Blackworld only a few weeks ago and began evolving anything it touched. Sif soon noticed a newspaper that claimed nuclear war was imminent. Sif could barely comment before Silas, Hildegarde, Tana Nile and herself were seemingly caught in a nuclear explosion. Following a bright flash of light, Sif, Tana, Silas and Hildegarde found themselves fleeing from Ego Prime into Earth-616’s Brooklyn, New York. As they ran, Sif saw Thor and warned him of the threat posed by Ego Prime.

(Thor I#202) – Silas watched in horror, along with Sif, Tana Nile, Hildegarde, Thor, Balder and the Warriors Three, as Ego Prime evolved itself into an aspect of Ego itself. After Ego Prime transformed several New Yorkers into monsters, Tana Nile cried for help from Silas, who wielded a crowbar to rescue Tana.

(Thor I#203) – Silas Grant and Tana Nile retreated into an old tenement building while Silas continued to battle back Ego Prime’s monsters with the crowbar. Boarding themselves in an apartment, Tana Nile asked Silas why he was helping her, to which Silas replied he wasn’t sure. He then explained that while Tana Nile and the Rigellians did unleash Ego Prime upon Blackworld, he had been evolved in the process.

(Thor I#204) – Shortly thereafter, Silas saw Thor, the Warriors Three, Balder and Hildegarde walking past their tenement hideout. Realizing the battle with Ego Prime had ended, Silas and Tana joined the Asgardians and learned that they had all been exiled to Earth. Despite being sad at her exile on Earth, Tana Nile transformed herself into human form, much to Silas’ bewilderment, and agreed to accompany the Asgardians in finding a place to stay. Hours later, the Asgardians, Tana Nile and Silas Grant joined Thor in rooming at Avengers Mansion. While the others attempted to recover from the shock of exile, Silas Grant, Tana Nile and Hildegarde went for a walk in Central Park. When a young boy named Chuck missed catching a baseball and it rolled under a bridge, Silas Grant agreed to retrieve the ball for him and when he did, he seemingly disappeared, having been transported to Mephisto’s Hell.

(Thor I#205 – BTS) – Silas Grant, along with Thor’s Asgardian friends and numerous random people of Earth, were used by Mephisto to lure Thor into his realm. Upon defeating Mephisto, Thor returned Silas and the other captives to Earth.

(Avengers I#105) – Silas Grant joined Fandral, Hogun, Tana Nile and Hildegarde as they went out on the town in search of good food and drink.

(Thor I#211) – Silas and Tana Nile watched on television as Ulik attacked New York City. Upon seeing an injured Thor on television, Silas decided to go help and asked Tana if she was joining him. Assuming her true Rigellian form, Tana Nile accompanied Silas into the heart of the battle, attempting to stun one of Geirrodur’s rock trolls with her stasis gun.

(Thor I#212) – Silas joined the Warriors Three, Thor, Hildegarde and Tana Nile as they watched a madness-suffering Balder the Brave. Thinking that Balder’s madness was the work of Odin, Thor decided to pay Odin a visit despite his exile from Asgard. Accompanying him, Tana Nile, Hogun, Hildegarde and Fandral, Silas commented that the whole situation stunk of a trap. Finding a legion of lizard-men in Asgard, Thor demanded answers from their leader Sssthgar. After explaining the lizard-men’s origins, Ssthgar explained that his world along with Asgard had been invaded by insect-like aliens who had captured the Asgardians. Agreeing to help Ssthgar gain vengeance on the aliens, Thor, Silas, Hogun, Fandral and Hildegarde accompanied Ssthgar to the Land of the Golden Star, where Odin was on a Vrellnexian auction block. After Thor, Hogun, Fandral and Hildegarde jumped into battle against the Vrellnexians, unaware that Ssthgar had planned to use Thor and his friends to take over the Land of the Golden Star himself, Silas and Tana Nile helped fight off some of the aliens on their own. Once Thor had freed Odin, Ssthgar surrounded Silas and Thor’s other friends, revealing that now that they had tired themselves out fighting the Vrellnexians that marooned Ssthgar’s legions in Asgard, he planned to use them as slaves.

(Thor I#213) – Surrounded by Ssthgar’s forces, Silas, Thor and company fought back with Silas wielding a piece of wood. Eventually overcome by the lizard-men, Silas was captured with Thor and his friends and placed in a dungeon. Thor quickly realized the gruel being fed to the slaves was drugged and made his escape, leaving the drugged Fandral and unconscious Silas behind. Soon returning to free the others, Thor demanded Sif’s location from Ssthgar.

(Thor I#214) – Escaping on Ssthgar’s ship, the Starjammer, Thor, with Silas and friends, traveled to the Dark Nebula where they were mistakenly attacked by Dark Nebula miners who had thought they were raiders. After clearing up the misunderstanding, Silas and the others accompanied the miners to their foreman, Kagg, who explained that their mine had been under attack by raiders for weeks. Before their conversation could continue, the mine fell under attack from Mercurio the 4D Man and his legions. While Thor and the others fought off Mercurio’s men, the miner rushed to save their “jewel.” When the jewel was revealed, Thor was surprised to see Sif and the Norn Queen Karnilla inside.

(Thor I#215) – The jewel itself ordered Thor, Silas, his friends and even Mercurio into the mines and when Mercurio refused, the jewel vibrated and opened a crater that they all fell into. Agreeing to work with Mercurio towards destroying the jewel, Thor, Silas and company made their way back to the jewel’s location, battling the jewel-controlled miners. The jewel was eventually launched into space by the miners and Thor gathered up his allies onto the Starjammer to pursue the jewel. The ship eventually caught up to the miners and the Asgardians boarded the miners’ ship in an attempt to free Karnilla and Sif from the jewel, which began to transform itself into a gigantic humanoid form.

(Thor I#216) – When Thor refused to attack the humanoid jewel, now calling itself Xorr, Odin ordered the other Asgardians to stand down. The other Asgardians boarded the Starjammer and Silas Grant steered the ship in Thor’s absence. Onboard the ship, Silas noticed Tana Nile seemed distracted and commented how she must be thinking of her homeworld of Rigel. She explained to him that she sensed danger for Rigel and was worried. While Odin had Silas lead Xorr to a nearby star, Thor and Mercurio managed to free Karnilla and Sif, escaping back to the ship in time for Xorr to be shattered by the sun whose power it attempted to harness. Back on the ship, Mercurio and Thor parted as allies as The Starjammer made its way home.

(Thor I#217) – Upon their return to Asgard, Thor and his friends were met with imposter Asgardians as conjured by the sorceror Igron. During the battle, Thor ordered Fandral, Volstagg and Balder to protect Silas Grant while he dealt with the imposter Odin. Once Igron was defeated and the true Odin took his seat as ruler of Asgard, he sent for Silas, Tana Nile, Thor and his friends to tell them that a danger loomed on the horizon that would first destroy Rigel and then possibly all the worlds of men.

(Thor I#218) – Odin then ordered Thor, Silas, Tana Nile and Sif to travel to Rigel. They were soon joined by Balder as well and upon their arrival, they found Rigel nearly devoid of life. They were almost immediately attacked by Rigel’s Mutant Class and both Silas and Tana Nile were quickly tied up. Thor quickly defeated the Mutant Class and learned that they were left behind by the Rigellian Colonizers for being considered inferior. Thor invited them onboard the Starjammer and they set out to locate the Colonizers just as the cosmic occurrence known as the Black Stars destroyed the planet Rigel. The Starjammer soon met with a large fleet of Colonizers who attacked. Meeting the Colonizers in battle, Thor and the Asgardians battled furiously, learning that the Colonizers had been ordered by the Grand Commissioner to destroy any that might impede their journey. Quickly, the Colonizers were ordered to halt battle as the Grand Commissioner deemed that the Asgardians could be of help to them. Boarding one of the Rigellian ships, Thor, Silas and company learned of the Black Stars’ origins and their desire to destroy the entire galaxy.

(Thor I#219) – Silas and the others looked on in horror at the sight of the Black Stars, fearing that there was no hope in saving the galaxy. Thor rallied the Asgardians to fight against the Black Stars and as they neared the closest Black Star, a ship appeared and from it came the giant Avalon, who attacked the Starjammer. Following a fierce fight, Avalon ceased hostilities and explain that he was there to test them on behalf of the Sub-Worlders, caretakers and slaves of the Black Stars. Hoping that Thor and his friends might help them, Avalon explained the Sub-Worlders’ origins. Agreeing to aid the Sub-Worlders, Thor and friends were soon attacked by the Protector, a large servant of the Black Stars, who had predicted the Sub-Worlders’ betrayal. Thor eventually destroyed the Protector and his allies continued their journey to the nearest Black Star, which housed the gigantic dark lord Kragonn.

(Thor I#220) – Thor leapt into battle against Kragonn but was easily knocked unconscious. Avalon retrieved Thor and returned to the Sub-Worlders’ Space-Scoop with him. The ship was soon grabbed by Kragonn and presented to lord Dracus. Secretly feeling mocked by Kragonn and other masters of the Black Stars, Dracus took Thor and the others to his lab, where he unleashed a squadron of Protectors to test Thor. While Thor defeated the Protectors, Dracus explained to Kragonn the existence of Thor’s allies. To eliminate Thor and his allies, Dracus was ordered to unleash intense radiation on Thor and his friends but Thor, Silas and the others managed to escape via flight. The Sub-Worlders then attacked Kragonn and the other Black Star masters, with Thor and friends joining in the fray as well. After Dracus was incapacitated, Kragonn was made to listen to reason and agreed to speak with the other planets of the Black Stars in an effort to both free the Sub-Worlders and give up destroying other smaller planets. Despite Dracus’ pleas, Kragoon agreed to the terms, tired of the destruction. Kragonn then allowed Thor and his friends to leave freely.

(Thor I#221 (fb)) – Thor and friends returned to the Rigellian Colonizers and were praised for their victory over the Black Stars. At that time, Silas Grant revealed that he had decided to remain with Tana Nile and the Rigellians, having become good friends with Tana. With that, Thor and the other Asgardians bid farewell to Tana and Silas and continued on their way back to Asgard.

Comments: Created by Gerry Conway, John Buscema and Vince Colletta.

Silas Grant seemed to be able to survive in space unaided but this remained unconfirmed. He was often seen without protective masks or suits while onboard the Starjammer spaceship but it was not know if the Starjammer contained some sort of invisible pressurized barrier of oxygen around it that might explain why Silas was able to breathe unaided. That seemed to be the case as the Rigellian Mutant Class brought helmets with them when they boarded the Starjammer but did not have to put them on until they left the Starjammer’s deck. Of course, Silas also was able to leave the Starjammer and enter the Rigellian ship and back, at which time he was not seen wearing protective gear but he wasn’t seen at all during those scenes so it’s just as possible that he did wear gear at that point. IF he could indeed survive unaided in space, it was likely a result of Ego Prime’s evolving...

It was unrevealed whatever happened to Silas. Though Tana Nile did eventually show up again, Silas did not...

Thanks to Brandon Nash for pointing out Gerr's name (one of the Mutant Class) from the Rhunians profile in Thor: Asgard's Avenger.

Profile by Proto-Man.
Ships sub-profile and "Silas" clarifications added by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Silas Grant has no known connections to



Silas' ships

grantsilas-steamship

(Thor I#198 (fb) - BTS) - Silas Grant's small sailboat and the green lands almost instantly changed into a large steamship with villages filling the previously open land.

(Thor I#197) - Sif was shocked to see a steamship -- an anachronism in this world of knights and monsters -- approach.

     Silas Grant then lowered himself via a rowboat and approached them. As Sif worried that her mind betrayed her, Silas assured her that that was not the case, as this was all "His" doing.

      Taking Sif and Hildegarde aboard his rowboat and noting that he guessed that he was the only one that had survived these changes, Silas brought them to his steam ship.

(Thor I#198) - Silas piloted his boat into the harbor of a city whose architecture paralleled 1930s Earth. After he docked, the trio stepped out onto the newly-formed wharf, and Silas noted how hours ago, the land was green and that he owned a measley sailboat.

--Thor I#197 (198
grantsilas-rowboat
 

See Chuck runChuck

Chuck was a New York child who was playing baseball in Central Park when Silas Grant, Tana Nile and Hildegarde took a walk. When Chuck missed catching a ball, Silas Grant went to retrieve the ball for Chuck and seemingly disappeared. Terrified, Chuck ran back to his friends.

 

 

 

--Thor I#204


images: (without ads)
Thor I#202, p8, pan4 (Silas Grant w/crowbar, main image)
Thor I#198, p10, pan1 (Silas Grant headshot)
Thor I#197, pg. 15, panel 1-2 (Silas Grant, steamship and rowboat)
Thor I#204, p13, pan5 (Chuck)


Appearances:
Thor I#197 (March, 1972) – Gerry Conway (script), John Buscema (art), Vince Colletta (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Thor I#198 (April, 1972) – Gerry Conway (script), John Buscema (art), Vince Colletta (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Thor I#199 (May, 1972) – Gerry Conway (writer), John Buscema (art), Vince Colletta (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Thor I#201 (July, 1972) – Gerry Conway (script), John Buscema (layouts), Jim Mooney (finishes), Stan Lee (editor)
Thor I#202 (August, 1972) – Gerry Conway (writer), John Buscema (art), Vinnie Colletta (inks)
Thor I#203 (September, 1972) – Gerry Conway (script), John Buscema (art), Vince Colletta (inks)
Thor I#204 (October, 1972) – Gerry Conway (script), John Buscema (pencils), Jim Mooney (finishes), Roy Thomas (editor)
Thor I#205 (November, 1972) – Gerry Conway (script), John Buscema (art), Vinnie Colletta (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Avengers I#105 (November, 1972) – Steve Englehart (writer), John Buscema (pencils), Jim Mooney (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Thor I#211 (May, 1973) – Gerry Conway (script), John Buscema, Don Perlin (art), Vinnie Colletta (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Thor I#212 (June, 1973) – Gerry Conway (script), John Buscema, Don Perlin (art), Vinnie Colletta (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Thor I#213 (July, 1973) – Gerry Conway (story), Len Wein (script), John Buscema, Don Perlin (art), Vince Colletta (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Thor I#214 (August, 1973) – Gerry Conway (script), Sal Buscema (art), Jim Mooney (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Thor I#215 (September, 1973) – Gerry Conway (script), John Buscema, Jim Mooney (art), Roy Thomas (editor)
Thor I#216 (October, 1973) – Gerry Conway (script), John Buscema, Jim Mooney (art), Roy Thomas (editor)
Thor I#217 (November, 1973) – Gerry Conway (script), John Buscema, Sal Buscema (art), Roy Thomas (editor)
Thor I#218 (December, 1973) – Gerry Conway (writer), John Buscema (art), Jim Mooney (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Thor I#219 (January, 1974) – Gerry Conway (script), John Buscema (art), Mike Esposito (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Thor I#220 (February, 1974) – Gerry Conway (script), John Buscema (art), Mike Esposito (embellishes), Roy Thomas (editor)
Thor I#221 (March, 1974) – Gerry Conway (script), John Buscema (art), Mike Esposito (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)


First Posted: 04/07/2013
Last updated: 10/18/2020

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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