Black Manta
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For the black project spyplane, see TR-3A Black Manta
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Black Manta is a fictional character, a supervillain appearing in DC Comics, primarily as an archenemy of Aquaman.
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[edit] History
[edit] Background
The boy who would become Black Manta was an autistic youth who grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, and loved to play by the sea. As a youth he was kidnapped and forced to work on a ship for an unspecified amount of time. At one point he apparently saw Aquaman with his dolphin friends and tried to signal him for help but was not seen. Finally, he was forced to defend himself, killing one of his tormentors on the ship with a knife. Hating the emotionless sea (and Aquaman, who he saw as its representative), the boy was determined to become its master. [1]
As an adult, he designed a costume (primarily a black wetsuit with bug-eyed helmet that was able to shoot blasting rays from its eyes) and fashioned a high-tech submersible inspired by black manta rays. Taking the name Black Manta, he and his masked army became a force to be reckoned with, engaging in at least one unrecorded clash with Aquaman previous to his first appearance as a rival to the Ocean Master (and before joining the short-lived Injustice League in the retcon Silver Age third week event).
[edit] Nemesis
The fearsome, 6'4" Black Manta and Aquaman battled repeatedly over the next several years. During one of these clashes, it was revealed that Black Manta was actually an African-American man (which is why he called himself Black Manta), whose stated objective at one point was for black people to be dominant in the ocean after having been oppressed for so long on dry land (though this goal was revealed to be a ruse he used to trick Cal Durham into following him, and this objective was not at all evident in either his earlier or later appearances). During most of his appearances his main goals were defeating Aquaman and gaining power for himself. Finally, Manta killed Arthur Curry, Jr., Aquaman's son, which left Aquaman in a depression but also obessessed with getting revenge against Black Manta. [2]
Black Manta later sold his soul to the demon Neron in exchange for more power, and transformed into a Manta/Man hybrid. He took to wearing a new costume that completely covered his appearance, and inexplicably stopped tormenting Aquaman and instead indulged in drug smuggling from his new base in Star City. Here, he was opposed by Green Arrow and Aquaman.
In a later confrontation, Aquaman, sporting the Lady of the Lake's Healing Hand, reversed Neron's alterations to Black Manta, and rewired Manta's afflicted brain, making him normal for the first time in his life. Unfortunately, Manta remained a violent criminal, lulling Aquaman into a false sense of partnership and almost killing the Sea King in the process.
In later events, Black Manta was used as a test subject to make water breathers, using genetic manipulation. This succeeded and since then Black Manta has returned to the oceans to face Aquaman once again.
He was apparently killed by Aquaman in anger, after causing a disturbance in Sub Diego in which Captain Marley was severely injured (Aquaman v4 #39). Aquaman summoned various predatory sea-life to attack Black Manta and left him for dead. He appears, however, in Villains United #1 and Infinite Crisis #7, even gracing the cover. Vice President—Executive Editor Dan DiDio later confirmed that he is not dead.[3]
Black Manta appeared as one of the major villains in the 2005-2006 Justice mini-series by Alex Ross and Jim Krueger.
[edit] Other Version
Black Manta appeared in animated style in Justice League Unlimited issue 26. He is aided by Felix Faust in attempt to conquer Atlantis. Because of Felix Faust's appearance, the issue is out of continuity.
[edit] Other media
- Black Manta appeared as a regular villain on the Aquaman cartoon series of the late 1960s; he was also part of the Legion of Doom in the popular Super Friends cartoon where he had three different incarnations: his appearance on the Filmation cartoons; on Challenge of the Superfriends, where he was voiced by Ted Cassidy; and a third, where he was known simply as "Manta" and his suit color was olive brown. Based on video clips in one of the links below, this appearance seems to predate Challenge, as Aquaman is still being voiced by Norman Alden. This, then, most likely comes from some time in the All-New Super Friends Hour incarnation.
- Black Manta was originally supposed to make an appearance in an early Justice League episode The Enemy Below, Part 1. He was intended to be the one that Orm hired to assassinate Aquaman. They changed it to Deadshot, however, since it wouldn't be suitable for his character.[4]
- Black Manta debuted as a member of the Legion of Doom shown in the animated series Justice League Unlimited. In the show, the character was renamed Devil Ray since, according to writer Dwayne McDuffie, the rights to Aquaman were no longer available. [5] [6] He was sent by Gorilla Grodd to steal the corpse of the Viking Prince as it may hold the key to immortality, but was defeated by Wonder Woman. He later took part in a plan by Grodd to turn all humans into apes. Devil Ray killed Deadman's master so that Luthor and Tala could steal the power force needed to enact Grodd's scheme. He was unintentionally killed by Deadman, who possessed Batman's body and shot Ray with a fallen gun, which caused him to fly back into a board of wires and electrocuted him. He was voiced by Michael Beach. In this form, he had strength, speed and invulenrability enough to challenge Wonder Woman and live. Guns in his gauntlets allow him to shoot poisonous or explosive stingers or laser bolts at his targets.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Black Manta's profile A humorous and cynical analysis of Black Manta's character in the Super-Friends cartoon
- Alan Kistler's Profile On Aquaman - A retrospective by comic book historian Alan Kistler of www.MonitorDuty.com tracing Aquaman's history from 1941 all the way to the present day.
