Shadow Council
| Shadow Council | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Secret Avengers #1 |
| Created by | Ed Brubaker Mike Deodato Jr. |
| In-story information | |
| Base(s) | Various |
| Member(s) | Aloysius Thorndrake Max Fury |
Shadow Council is the name of a fictional villainous organization appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Publication history
The Shadow Council first appeared in Secret Avengers #1 and was created by Ed Brubaker and Mike Deodato Jr.
Fictional organization history
The Shadow Council first came into view in the 19th Century when Confederate soldier Aloysius Thorndrake found a portal to Mars and was altered by a being called the Abyss, granting him immortality. He formed the Shadow Council, where he acts as its Director. For a hundred years, the Shadow Council has been working with various governments and parties to prepare for the arrival of the Abyss.[1]
The Shadow Council had their first encounter with the Secret Avengers on Mars, where Sharon Carter was attacked by someone that looked like Nick Fury as she had the Crown of Tentacles.[2] When the Secret Avengers found some mind-controlled Shadow Council members, they ended up shooting themselves upon failure, which reached "Nick Fury" as the Secret Avengers were attacked by Nova who was possessed by the Serpent Crown.[3]
Ant-Man stumbled into a portal called the Vanishing Point that took him to the Shadow Council's citadel in Texas. At the same time, "Nick Fury" was meeting with Aloysius Thorndrake, who was musing over the Crown of Tentacles. When Aloysius was alerted to the events on Mars, he ordered Fury to send the 9th Legion.[1]
Thorndrake later showed the rest of the Shadow Council the Serpent Crown as Ant-Man went through the Vanishing Point to stop the kamikaze Shadow Council soldiers.[4]
When Captain Steve Rogers and Sharon Carter asked Nick Fury about the character that looked like him, Nick Fury stated that it was a Life Model Decoy that was stolen by Scorpio, who had modified its LMD to make it believe, despite numerous deactivations, that it was the true Nick Fury. Five years ago, a mysterious man reactivated the Life Model Decoy and helped it to escape, where the mysterious man named it Max Fury. In the present, Max Fury is doing some research on the Secret Avengers in the Shadow Council's headquarters. The mysterious man that helped Max Fury to escape was revealed to be John Steele, who told Max Fury that the Secret Avengers must be watched or taken down if necessary.[5]
Aloysius Thorndrake had somehow partially resurrected Shang-Chi's father Zheng Zu (who used the alias of Fu Manchu) as the Shadow Council agents were digging for the Eyes of the Dragon. Max Fury then reported to Aloysius that they had found the Eyes of the Dragon. Aloysius and Max then moved on to the next part of the plan that involved capturing Shang-Chi and using him to restore Zheng Zu to life.[6]
Prince of Orphans and Valkyrie arrived at Zheng Zu's grave where they found a few Shadow Council agents on guard, knowing that someone would come to the grave. They defeated the Shadow Council agents and took one of them prisoner, taken to an unknown location. Meanwhile, Max Fury informed Aloysius Thorndrake about the two unfortunate mishaps. Zheng Zu was not pleased, for there were only two days left to complete the ritual needed to restore himself to life. Aloysius promised to Zheng Zu that Max Fury and John Steele would handle this.[7]
John Steele and Max Fury plotted a strategy to attack the Secret Avengers. Captain Steve Rogers suspected that the Shadow Council would use the Eyes of the Dragon to drain Shang-Chi's lifeforce and make Fu Manchu immortal. While Fu Manchu and the Hai-Dai attacked Hong Kong, John Steele and Max Fury infiltrated the Secret Avengers' Quinjet and took Sharon Carter hostage. John Steele contacted the Secret Avengers offering them a trade: Sharon Carter for Shang-Chi. If the demands weren't met, Sharon would be dead by tomorrow.[8]
While the other members of the Secret Avengers asked Captain Steve Rogers who John Steele was, Max Fury approached Sharon Carter in her jail cell. They traded words about their difference in opinion in what they do. Max then tried enticing her to join the Shadow Council, which Sharon refused. When Captain Steve Rogers and Shang-Chi met with John Steele for the exchange, John Steele ended up attacking Captain Steve Rogers and managed to overpower him. While Shang-Chi was in his jail cell, it was shown that Moon Knight had infiltrated the Shadow Council.[9]
Zheng Zu prepared the ritual that would enable him to use Shang-Chi's life-force to resurrect himself. Disguised as a Shadow Council agent, Moon Knight gave the signal and the Secret Avengers dropped in on the Shadow Council. Captain Steve Rogers fought Max Fury while Valkyrie fought John Steele. Prince of Orphans disrupted the ritual, causing Zheng Zu to turn to stone, which Prince of Orphans shattered. When the temple began to crumble, the Shadow Council took their leave while Valkyrie managed to defeat John Steele enough for the Secret Avengers to apprehend him and remand him to the Raft.[10]
John Steele was hooked up to a device that would scan his memories for info on how he joined the Shadow Council. The only problem was all that they were getting were flashes until Captain Steve Rogers recognized a memory of his last mission with Steele. He volunteered to be hooked up to the device so that he could fill in the gaps. In the memory, Captain Steve Rogers (back when he was Captain America) and John Steele infiltrated a Nazi fortress in Prussia. Inside, they found a few mutated prisoners who were experimented on. John Steele soon noticed a Shadow Council agent leading a strange alien creature somewhere. Steele then insisted that Rogers get out before he shot him, flat in the chest. Captain Steve Rogers disconnected from the machine, aghast that what happened in the memory was not what he remembered. Unfortunately for him, John Steele had woken up and broken free.[11] Steele got his mind back, and Rogers offered him a chance to get back at the Council.[12]
While investigating the Secret Empire's hidden underground city beneath Cincinnati, the Secret Avengers were attacked by some Shadow Council agents. The Secret Avengers discovered that the Shadow Council planned to make use of the city-sized version of Doctor Doom's time machine, which would transport the city of Cleveland above and drop it and any other city on different locations. Beast made a makeshift nuclear bomb which destroyed the device as the Secret Avengers escaped from the hidden city.[13]
Arnim Zola 4.2.3 (a flawed copy of Arnim Zola's consciousness in a robot body) was recruited by the Shadow Council. He faced the Secret Avengers who were investigating the Shadow Council's mining operations inside of a bad continuum (a malformed reality). The Secret Avengers managed to defeat Arnim Zola 4.2.3.[14]
In Aniana, Symkaria, the Secret Avengers stumbled upon a plot by a drug lord named Voydanoi to sell his super-soldier drugs to the Shadow Council. The Secret Avengers managed to thwart Voydanoi's plot.[15]
Max Fury and the Shadow Council formed the ninth incarnation of the Masters of Evil consisting of Princess Python II, Vengeance II, and Whiplash IV. They were discovered by the Secret Avengers during a mission run by Captain America and Hawkeye.[16] While setting up the Shadow Council's headquarters in Bagalia, Max Fury recruited numerous other criminals including Black Talon, Brothers Grimm, Carrion III, Constrictor, Crossfire, Diablo, Griffin, Killer Shrike, Lady Stilt-Man, Pink Pearl, and Squid to join the Shadow Council's Masters of Evil. Max Fury and the Masters of Evil captured John Steele after he attempted to escape Bagalia with the Serpent Crown and the Crown of Thorns.[17] In order for the Masters of Evil to obtain the Crown of Wolves for the Shadow Council, Max Fury hired Taskmaster to retrieve it, only for Taskmaster to demand more money for the job and he hid in the Hole. Upon claiming the Crown of Wolves, Max Fury was unable to harness its power because he is a Life Model Decoy. When Taskmaster donned the Crown of Wolves, he was unable to control the powers of the Abyss.[18] Under the control of the Abyss, the Masters of Evil and the other people in Bagalia made their move as the Secret Avengers fought to keep the people under control of the Abyss from leaving Bagalia and invading other countries to spread the possession to other people.[19] While possessed by the Abyss, Taskmaster used its power to take control of the villains and have them board an airplane out of Bagalia to spread the campaign of the Abyss. While the others fought the possessed villains and other people, Venom used his symbiote to break the Crowns and capture Taskmaster.[20]
The Shadow Council later used Machinesmith as a pawn as part of a plot to reverse-engineer the Super Soldier Serum that is in Captain America's blood.[21]
Members
- Aloysius Thorndrake - Director of the Shadow Council.
- Arnim Zola 4.2.3 - A flawed copy of Arnim Zola.
- John Steele - He was brainwashed into joining the Shadow Council.
- Lt. Hood - Member of the Shadow Council. Dies in Secret Avengers #21.
- Max Fury - A Life Model Decoy of Nick Fury that works for the Shadow Council.
In other media
The Shadow Council appears as the primary antagonists of Avengers: Black Panther's Quest.[22] While Killmonger and Princess Zanda are on the Shadow Council, its known agents are Tiger Shark, Whitney Frost / Madame Masque, M'Baku, and Ulysses Klaue. Later episodes in the series would reveal it was an enemy of both Wakanda during the reign of T'Chanda and the Allied forces in the 1940s. Believed to have been destroyed long before T'Challa and Shuri's time by the series premiere, the Shadow Council has been secretly revived behind the scenes by various supervillains with the aim of global conquest. Tiger Shark acted as the point man for the masterminds behind the secretive cabal until his reckless battle with the Avengers in New York ended with him being denied an extraction. Tiger Shark was locked up in Atlantis by the Atlantean soldiers on Attuma's side until N'Jadaka activated bombs designed to destroy Atlantis so he and Tiger Shark could get away. In the episode "The Panther and the Wolf", N'Jadaka attempted to sway White Wolf to the Shadow Council's side, which ended with a list of the Wakandans that are on the Shadow Council's side being secretly stolen by White Wolf. This caused the Shadow Council to send M'Baku after White Wolf, only to be defeated by Black Panther, Shuri, and White Wolf. In the episode "The Zemo Sanction", it was revealed that Heinrich Zemo was the leader of the Shadow Council back in the 1940s. In "Mists of Attilan", Black Bolt and Medusa reveal that T'Chanda made a bid to keep pieces of an ancient relic out of the Shadow Council's hands, making a pact with the Inhumans in order to keep one piece safe from them; a history which was brought up when Princess Zanda has infiltrated the Inhuman Royal Family in an attempt to steal it. In the episode "Mask of the Panther", it is revealed that T'Chanda even went spelunking for artifacts of his own culture & kingdom in order to keep another of the pieces safe, hiding history within history using the long-lost Wakandan ship called Yemandi's Cutter. Whitney Frost is later welcomed as a member of the Shadow Council as Madame Masque after commandeering it. The Shadow Council kidnap Black Widow off-screen and Zanda impersonates her and frames T'Challa for the murder of Captain America he did not commit to turn the Avengers against him.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Secret Avengers #3. Marvel Comics.
- ↑ Secret Avengers #1. Marvel Comics.
- ↑ Secret Avengers #2. Marvel Comics.
- ↑ Secret Avengers #4. Marvel Comics.
- ↑ Secret Avengers #5. Marvel Comics.
- ↑ Secret Avengers #6. Marvel Comics.
- ↑ Secret Avengers #7. Marvel Comics.
- ↑ Secret Avengers #8. Marvel Comics.
- ↑ Secret Avengers #9. Marvel Comics.
- ↑ Secret Avengers #10. Marvel Comics.
- ↑ Secret Avengers #11. Marvel Comics.
- ↑ Secret Avengers #12. Marvel Comics.
- ↑ Secret Avengers #16. Marvel Comics.
- ↑ Secret Avengers #18. Marvel Comics.
- ↑ Secret Avengers #19. Marvel Comics.
- ↑ Secret Avengers #21.1. Marvel Comics.
- ↑ Secret Avengers #29. Marvel Comics.
- ↑ Secret Avengers #30
- ↑ Secret Avengers #31
- ↑ Secret Avengers #32. Marvel Comics.
- ↑ Steve Rogers: Super Soldier #4. Marvel Comics.
- ↑ "Into the Deep". Avengers Assemble. Season 5. Episode 3. September 30, 2018. Disney XD.
External links
- Shadow Council at Marvel Wiki
- Shadow Council at Comic Vine
This article "Shadow Council" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Shadow Council. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
