Serpent Society
The Serpent Society are a team that features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
History
Origin
The Serpent Society were a snake-themed group of supervillains that were originally created by Sidewinder. Originally, he was empowered by the Roxxon Energy Corporation where he and three others formed the Serpent Squad who successfully completed a mission for chairman Hugh Jones. (Marvel Two-In-One v1 #66) He then convinced his teammates of his sincerity of helping them better their lives and sent them to recruit other snake-themed villains to form a larger organization that would become the Serpent Society. (Captain America v1 #309)
Early in its history, Geoffrey Wilder hired Sidewinder and hist first attempt at an Serpent Society which included Anaconda, Cobra, Diamondback, Puff and Rattler to kill Tony Stark in Los Angeles. They attacked him at a scrapyard, but Stark escaped their first attack and quickly put together some weapons. (Iron Man Legacy v1 #7) The Serpent Society surrounded the hut Stark was hiding in and were surprised when Stark blew it up, knocking out all but Anaconda and Sidewinder. The latter threatened Stark while the former tried to crush him only to get knocked out by an electrical charge released from Stark's chestplate. (Iron Man Legacy v1 #8)
At a posh midtown Manhattan hotel, Sidewinder had invited several serpent-themed mercenaries to attend the organizational meeting for the Serpent Society with only Viper declining to attend. Those present were Sidewinder, Black Mamba, Death Adder, Princess Python, Cottonmouth, Diamondback, Constrictor, Bushmaster, Cobra, Asp, Rattler, and Anaconda. Sidewinder's pitch was to mimic the heroes and to band together as a united group. He'd spent the previous nine months laying the groundwork for his new group, and promised a guaranteed pay scale, insurance, medical plans, pensions, greater access to tools and data, and, thanks to Sidewinder's teleportational abilities, no fear of long-term imprisonment. All but one agreed to join; Constrictor refused and left, even alerting the Avengers to their existence so as to eliminate possible rivals. To test their ability to be team players, Sidewinder split the group into three sections, and set each group out in a van to retrieve objects that he believed would be of use to the Society. Anaconda, Rattler, and Cobra went to the abandoned Brand Long Island complex where Brand's mutagenics department had created Sidewinder and his original Serpent Squad. Captain America after being alerted by the Constrictor interrupted and captured Anaconda, but Rattler and Cobra escaped with the equipment. Sidewinder quickly freed Anaconda from jail, and that evening she beat Constrictor into unconsciousness while Cobra watched. (Captain America v1 #310)
Following the successful completion of all three tasks, the group reconvened in their new headquarters which was the Serpent Citadel. Seeking to advertise the group, Sidewinder broke them into teams of two and sent them to contact all the major criminal and subversive organizations in America. Among those contacted were the Maggia, Zodiac, the Secret Empire, the Kingpin, A.I.M., and Hydra. Asp and Cottonmouth made contact with the Kingpin in Manhattan, whilst Diamondback and Bushmaster made contact with A.I.M.'s inner council, who, after Bushmaster noted that satisfaction was guaranteed or the group would forfeit its fee, agreed to hire the group to hunt down and assassinate M.O.D.O.K. (Captain America v1 #311) Still teamed, Diamondback and Bushmaster investigated an abandoned A.I.M. headquarters on the Maine coast. Concluding that the base was truly abandoned, they set a time-bomb to destroy the whole mountain in case MODOK tried to return. (Captain America v1 #312) Investigating a sunken AIM submarine on the Atlantic coast, Bushmaster and Diamondback found M.O.D.O.K., who was trying to recuperate. MODOK escaped, slicing off both of Bushmaster's prosthetic arms in the process. Diamondback rescued Bushmaster, returned to their Serpent Saucer, and notified Sidewinder, who quickly summoned the rest of the Serpent Squad from the sites they'd been investigating. He ordered Diamondback to care for Bushmaster while Sidewinder arranged to have him transported to the infirmary, and the other serpents to hunt for M.O.D.O.K. They found him in a local mall; Diamondback took charge of the Society members and they headed in. Princess Python decided to flee rather than face MODOK, but was stopped by Captain America; she revealed to him the existence of the Serpent Society and the fact that they were pursuing MODOK; Captain America let her go. After a 'gas leak' announcement emptied the mall, the team cornered M.O.D.O.K. but Captain America intervened; Cottonmouth ordered Asp, Diamondback, and Black Mamba to take out Cap while the rest attacked MODOK. Captain America quickly defeated the three women, but Death Adder and Cottonmouth delivered the killing blows to M.O.D.O.K. before Cap could stop them. (Captain America v1 #313)
Sidewinder freed from jail those serpents that had been imprisoned, and had Princess Python captured and brought to the Citadel. Needing M.O.D.O.K.'s corpse as proof of their success, Anaconda, Black Mamba, Asp, and Cobra stole the body from the Monmouth County morgue; no one was killed in the theft. The foursome delivered the body to AIM and received $100,000 in payment. Sidewinder was 'making an example' of Princess Python when the team returned with the money which Sidewinder then distributed to the rest, with commendations and bonuses going to Death Adder and Cottonmouth for inflicting the killing blows; this was interrupted by a call from the Porcupine, but Sidewinder quickly hung up on him. Porcupine soon called again, claiming to have captured Captain America, and Sidewinder sent Death Adder, Rattler, Cottonmouth, and Diamondback to investigate. This proved to be a trap arranged by Captain America, who captured three of the four. Sidewinder soon freed them all from jail, but Captain America learned how they were escaping. (Captain America v1 #315)
Serpent War
Serpent Solutions
Following his death, the Constrictor left in his will his costume and belongings to his biological son who he abandoned after the boy's mother was pregnant. The young man went to the footlocker where he adopted the mantle of the Constrictor. (Iron Fist v1 #75) The new Constrictor later brought the Society together to help in protecting the Book of the Iron Fist that he had stolen and intended to sell to Choshin. However, Constrictor decided to increase the cost for the sale leading to a fight with Choshin and his followers with Iron Fist alongside Sabretooth entering into the fray. (Iron Fist v1 #74)
The female members of the Society snuck into the bachelor party of the Thing and attempted to attack the heroes but were defeated in the fight. (Fantastic Four v6 #5)
Overview
In the guise of a billionaire think tank, the Serpent Society was known to hold a party every few years. It was their way to recruit or blackmail the richest and most important people to their cause. (Avengers Unlimited Infinity Comic v1 #52)
The Voelker Castle was owned by Seth Voelker who sometimes used it for public events. (Avengers Unlimited Infinity Comic v1 #52) It also served as a base of operations for the Serpent Society where it was known as the Serpent Citadel. (Captain America v1 #311)
Members
- Sidewinder :
- Anaconda :
- Asp :
- Black Mamba :
- Bushmaster :
- Cobra :
- Cottonmouth :
- Constrictor :
- Death Adder :
- Diamondback :
- Princess Python :
- Puff Adder :
- Rattler :
- Viper :
- Viper :
Notes
- The Serpent Society was created by Mark Gruenwald and Paul Neary where they made their first appearance in Captain America v1 #310 (October, 1985).
- Most of the villains Mark Gruenwald introduced in Captain America were created to symbolize aspects of contemporary American culture and the world political situation where, in the case of the Serpent Society, Gruenwald created them to symbolize trade unions.
Alternate Versions
In other media
Television
- In The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Serpent Society appeared as antagonists in the setting of the animated television series.
Video games
Appearances
- Captain America v1: (1985)
- Captain America, Sam Wilson v1:
- Iron Fist v1:
- Fantastic Four v6:
External Links
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