The Sinister Six they're not, but would you believe:
Comprised of the Rhino, Hydro-Man, our old buddy Speed Demon, Boomerang, and their leader, the Beetle (formerly of the Masters of Evil), the Sinister Syndicate banded together as hired guns for anyone who cared to bid on their services. It looks like their targets here are Silver Sable and Spider-Man, who were hoping to capture Jack O'Lantern but who got a lot more than they bargained for.
And though Spidey and Silver Sable gave a good accounting of themselves in the ensuing battle, the Syndicate eventually managed to get the better of them, by bringing almost the entire Coney Island roller coaster down on them:
Fortunately for this pair, the Sandman, who at the time had reformed (heh, "reformed," get it?) and was now enjoying life as a law-abiding citizen, decided to come to their aid and mix it up with the Syndicate--and doing pretty well, too, even with bonehead moves like this one:
This tactic also bombed when Quicksand tried it, so I really wasn't expecting any better of Sandman. But Spider-Man, injured earlier by the Rhino, rallied and desperately fought off the Syndicate along with the Sandman, until the villains decided to bolt.
The Syndicate would make one more go of it five years later, bringing the Shocker into their ranks and pursuing Spider-Man for revenge--but there was a power struggle between the Beetle and Boomerang, as well as further infighting which led to the group eventually splintering and going their separate ways. There's yet to be any demand for the Syndicate's return, either by prospective employers or from readers banging on the doors of the Marvel offices--so it seems it's Doc Ock and his group whose sinister cred still sets the standard.
9 comments:
I stopped reading comics in 1983 (and started again in 2007) but somehow I still heard about Spider-Man's black costume. I can only think that I must have heard it mentioned on the news or in a newspaper as I can't think where else I could have heard about it. That's how famous Spidey is - his costume change gets mentioned in the British media :)
Colin, Spidey's costume was just another one of the great things to come out of Marvel's Secret Wars. What was great about the costume is the it would open up to allow Peter to do things like eat or drink. I guess it would also open up to allow him to do other things, I just can't think of what happens after someone eats or drinks......
To me, again, only in my opinion as a US American, Sandman's greatest and most under utilized power would have been his ability to get into someone's costume. I mean, right there between their skin and their clothes so that every step, every little movement just becomes a waking nightmare and just when you think you've gotten rid of the irritant, GOTDAMNITALLTOHELLWHENWILLIEVERBERIDOFTHISDAMNABLESANDDDDDDDD!!!!
Again, it's just me....
The Prowler (I bought a toothbrush, some toothpaste a flannel for my face pajamas, a hairbrush new shoes and a case I said to my reflection Let's get out of this place).
I still remember physically buying this issue and thinking how great it was with all the villains. Its also one of the better Beetle outfits imho. Great blog btw, how do you follow (just be email)?
Blaxkleric
http://thebrownbagaeccb.blogspot.co.uk
Thanks for the nice words, Blaxkleric. I haven't really dipped my toes into social media to any great degree, so e-mail is currently the only option here in terms of following. But the welcome mat will always be out no matter how you'd like to drop by. :)
Ugh, Silver Sable. Such an underwhelming character, she rarely had anything to contribute to a story, and DeFalco would push her at every possible opportunity. Just precisely what was an automatic pistol or a Moon Knight-crescent-dart-ripoff supposed to do to the Rhino? Or the Beetle? Or Hydro-Man??
George, I suppose one could make a similar point about Jean DeWolff. I think that characters like Silver Sable were valuable to a story in terms of their association with the main character(s), in the same way that villain masterminds (like the Rose, the Crimemaster, et al.) were featured players but weren't really formidable in the field. I didn't particularly care for Sable, and I didn't feel that she merited the hype she received on issue covers (or a presence on covers to begin with), but she had some entertaining qualities as a glorified bounty hunter--and maintaining her strictly-business status and putting on airs in the company of super-beings was something I found amusing.
thanks for posting this i used to have these issues they were a great action packed read.
My pleasure, Shlomo. :D
Damn good stuff for the time. I used to have the Lethal Foes mini that I think follows up as a sequel of sorts to this one, right? Good story, but the art was lacking.
Was this rivalry between the Beetle and Boomerang mentioned during the Superior Foes series? I have the last half of the series, and other than drugging and tricking Beetle, I don't remember seeing any referencing of that one.
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