Secret Empire
The Secret Empire is an organization that features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
History
The Secret Empire were a subversive criminal organization that operated in the world. They were originally a branch of THEM similar to Advanced Idea Mechanics. (Strange Tales v1 #149) After Baron Strucker's apparent death, Hydra came to break into a number of factions with the Secret Empire going independent. (Secret Warriors v1 #1)
Johnny Horton was captured by agents of the the Secret Empire. They assigned a surgeon in its employ to transform Horton into a superhuman being by using various techniques, including grafting wings and claws onto Horton's body permanently and administering an experimental mutagenic serum into him. Horton was named the Griffin after his new appearance, which vaguely resembled the mythological griffin, a creature that was half lion and half eagle. (Amazing Adventures v2 #15)
The Secret Empire would later be part of a conspiracy to divide up the empire of Wilson Fisk. The meeting took place in Las Vegas, under the cover of a Secret Empire 'convention'. Many Secret Empire members simply believed it was a fraternal organization like the Masons or the Elks Club, which was a perfect cover for criminal enterprises. The Punisher got wind of this right away and the Empire sent two hit squads to attack him. (Punisher War Journal v1 #45)
The various warlords who attend the meeting began attacking each other nearly right away. Mickey Fondozzi and Microchip, associates of the Punisher, had been captured while spying on Baron von Strucker, and claimed to be Number Four and Number Eight, members of the Secret Empire. The Empire learned of this via a spy in Hydra. By coincidence, the real Four and Eight had not actually traveled to Las Vegas and this was enough to convince the others they had turned traitor. The Empire sent the Praetorian Guard to kill everyone involved, but Mickey, Micro and Strucker all survived. (Daredevil v1 #309)
In time, they came to be one of the five great criminal cartels in the world with them working together to make a megacrime organization. Thus, they came to stand alongside A.I.M., Hydra, Agence Byzantine and Black Spectre. These used the Midas Corporation as a leverage point with all the crime bodies pouring their confidential operations into the Omegadrive. (Daredevil v3 #6)
Unknown to the other four, Black Spectre had hired Black Cat to steal the drive. During another meeting of representatives Daredevil revealed that he had leaked all of Black Spectre's data to the the authorities and that, an hour prior, Black Spectre had disbanded. In retaliation the representatives of the Secret Empire, Hydra, A.I.M., and Agence Byzantine killed the representative from Black Spectre. (Daredevil v3 #10.1)
Overview
Their leaders were referred to by their respective numbers such as Number One or Number Five. (Tales to Astonish v1 #81)
They were shown to had created entire copies of cities located a mile underground in what was deemed a marvel of physical engineering. These secret cities were located far away from any subway system to prevent them from being detected. Within the cities, there were a number of old vehicles but they had been adapted with advanced technology that included an atomic engine that could power them for hundreds of years. (Secret Avengers v1 #16)
Members
- Calvin Burlingame :
- Cheer Chadwick :
- Hesperus Chadwick :
- Richard Cholmondely :
- Thomas Gloucester :
- William Taurey :
- Harcourt Vickers :
Notes
- The Secret Empire was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby where they first featured in Tales to Astonish v1 #81 (July, 1966).
- In the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe v2 #11 (1986), it was said that the criminal body was created an anonymous scientist who operated as Number One with it established as a subordinate organization to HYDRA that funded it so that it could distract and keep the attention of the authorities along with S.H.I.E.L.D. allowing the terrorist group to rebuild itself.
In other media
Television
- In The Marvel Super Heroes, the Secret Empire appeared in the animated television series 'Incredible Hulk' segments. They were shown to had been responsible for hiring Boomerang to take down the Hulk.
- In Agent Carter, a secret organization known as the Council of Nine appeared as antagonists in the second season of the show. They consisted of a clandestine group of elite businessmen sought to take control of the United States of America from behind the scenes and hidden actions. Members of the Council consisted of white men with a strict no women policy and did not admit people of color with a Code: Pink security alert being used to remove undesirables. They met at the Arena Club with their membership consisting of businessmen and Ivy League. They had attempted to induct Howard Stark into their ranks but he refused.
- The shows creators stated in an interview that, "The Arena Club is like this social club. Also, the Secret Empire, there’s been different versions of them in comics, it’s run by the Council of Nine and sometimes the Council of 12. We call it the Council of Nine, so they call themselves the Council. They meet at the Arena Club, which is like this social club of white guys. They’re just the guys who sort of run the world. They have orchestrated assassinations. We insinuate that they orchestrated the 1929 Stock Market crash."
Appearances
- Tales to Astonish v1 #81: (1966)
- Daredevil v1:
- Secret Warriors v1:
- Daredevil v3:
- U.S.Avengers v1:
External Links
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