Alexis (Michael William Rosenbaum) is in a dark room, working with a
mysterious, bluish-reddish-glowing metal. His look is grave, the
look of an isolated man. Eve Tessmacher (Gabrielle Anwar) approaches tentatively,
somewhat tremulously.
Eve Tessmacher (Gabrielle Anwar): (with deep, anxious
concern) Lex, are you okay?
Alexis Luthor (Michael William Rosenbaum): I'm okay, Eve, I'm okay.
Just fine.
Eve Tessmacher (Gabrielle Anwar): Okay, Lex. (pause)
Are you sure?
Alexis Luthor (Michael Willliam Rosenbaum): I'm sure, Eve. I'm
working toward a new dawn. Toward the dawn of day.
Eve Tessmacher (Gabrielle Anwar): I feel sad for you
spending so much time in the dark.
Alexis Luthor (Michael William Rosenbaum): It's my element. Don't
worry about me.
Eve Tessmacher (Gabrielle Anwar): What's that metal
you're working at?
Lex Luthor (Michael William Rosenbaum): I'm picking up where Marie
Curie left off. It's radium.
Eve Tessmacher (Gabrielle Anwar): (pause) Marie Curie
died of radiation poisoning, didn't she?
Lex Luthor (Michael William Rosenbaum): She died for science. One
of its heroes.
Eve Tessmacher (Gabrielle Anwar): You don't have to be a
hero for me, Lex.
Lex Luthor (Michael William Rosenbaum): I'm not a hero.
Superman's a hero.
Eve Tessmacher (Gabrielle Anwar): I love YOU, Lex.
Lex Luthor (Michael William Rosenbaum): Love ya too, Eve.
Eve (Gabrielle Anwar) exits the room, tentatively, with
still deep concern
Know ye seeker, by the evidence of thine senses… that the flame of wonder doth burn in the world and magic doth live again!
Context
Modred is a very minor magic man in the Marvel Universe, who appeared in 1975. Back then Marvel was revitalising its horror titles, but Modred didn’t stick.
Like Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew), the Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) and others Modred has ties to Mount Wundagore in Transia. He’s also tied to the Arthurian Camelot.
Modred (one R) shouldn’t be confused with Mordred (two Rs), Morganne le Fay’s ally.
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Background
Real Name: Modred.
Marital Status: Single.
Known Relatives: None.
Group Affiliation: None.
Base of Operations: Mobile in England ; formerly VIth century England.
Height: 5’11″ Weight: 175 lbs.
Eyes: White Hair: White
Powers & Abilities
Modred possesses consequent personal magic energies, and can tap more from his environment. Most notably, he can receive an even greater power from the Elder God Chthon. Chthon invented black magic and necromancy – at least for Earth.
How powerful he was originally is unrevealed. But after the Ritual of the Darkhold (see the History section) his magic is a super-power. He simply has to concentrate and gesture to manipulate the world around him. His powers seem focused on the elements – earth, water, air, fire, wood.
Since Modred’s magic changes as Chthon’s influence deepens, this era may be an intermediary one. Perhaps he continues using the elemental-aspected magic Gervasse taught him, but with Chthon-backed power. In this framework, he later evolves toward Elder Gods-aspected magic.
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A kind of magic
Examples of magical feats by Modred the Mystic during his early appearances :
Absorbing flames within his body, or dispersing a demon made of fire.
Repelling large masses of soil and stone to create tunnels or close them.
Animating large masses of soil and asphalt to form giant waves, a bit like Avalanche does.
Animating nearby trees to turn them into dim but very strong “soldiers” following his orders.
Controlling air to form small but very powerful hurricanes.
Teleporting over at least a hundred miles. This works even without being familiar with the place he’s teleporting into and if it’s enclosed. Yet one suspects teleportation into an enclosed place is only possible if it is closed by natural elements.
Levitation.
Taking mental control of elementals, or destroying them outright.
Magical mesmerism to make people forget or remember. This is likely limited to memories that these people would wish to forget or remember. Modred could affect an entire crowd this way.
Seeing at a glance that Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) was a human being. Though what “human being” means in this case is hazy.
Fire walks with him
Modred seems able to absorb magic fire into his body to reinforce himself. This is a very tentative observation, though.
When awoken he stumbles into the enchanted braziers in his crypt. His body just absorbs the flame. One gets a loose sense that it helps him recover from suspended animation.
When hit by a flame bolt from a fire elemental, he suddenly claims that he has switched to another dimension where his power has tripled. He can affect the Earth dimension from there. The dimension thing is hazy, but his spells did seem more powerful.
Bite the bullet
Modred may or may not be wearing body armour. The grey parts of his “costume” resemble the way chainmail is usually drawn on, say, Captain America’s costume. However neither primary nor secondary sources mention chainmail, and there isn’t evidence of such.
On the other hand, Modred does seem more durable than he should. He was once shot in the shoulder by what was probably a .455 Webley round (EV 03, in DC Heroes terms) but fully recovered within perhaps an hour. This was after some amateur first aid in the back of a moving van.
Our DC Heroes RPG stats assume a minor “built-in” regenerative ability, and a high but clearly not superhuman level of durability.
Touched by The Other
Once he’s possessed by The Other, and afterwards, Modred’s magic becomes less elementally-themed. They get closer to generic comic book magic. This will be covered in Modred’s second profile.
A question of time
Modred comes from an unclear era in the past. When awoken in 1975 he stated he was from 1,100 years in the past, so 875-ish AD. However, the Camelot and Merlin he mentioned existed in the late Vth and early VIth centuries, so 500-ish AD.
The simplest hypothesis is that “1,100” years was in error. Modred was clearly confused at that point. The number is repeated in a caption, so if you are a caption do not blindly trust what Modred says. Seriously, caption, you had one job.
A 1989 account by Roy Thomas and Jean-Marc Lofficier states that Modred lived “some 15 centuries” ago. So that puts us near the year 500 A.D.., which doth seemeth to be the correct approximation. Plus, Roy and Jean-Marc wouldn’t lie to us.
History
During the late Camelot era, young Modred was the apprentice of one Gervasse, a wizard. Though the two men didn’t get along, they almost considered each other father and son. Modred was also the betrothed of Janice, Gervasse’s daughter.
The aging King Arthur ordered Gervasse to send Modred to Camelot to become Merlin’s apprentice. Both Modred and Gervasse were aghast, as Merlin was rumoured to have gone mad and/or evil. His apprentices were now sworn to silence and forbidden to ever leave. (Unbeknownst to either, “Merlin” was an impostor. The unageing mutant known as Maha Yogi or Merlin Demonspawn was impersonating him. He was also manipulating the weakened King Arthur). (FWIW Gervasse’s hold was *probably* on the Isle of Wight , though it’s not clearly stated.)
The book of Darkhold
The fiery Modred decided to defy the will of his King. By this point Camelot was embroiled in treason and civil war. The Queen had left, and the evil Mordred was warring against the King.
Furthermore, young Modred refused to leave the side of his beloved Janice.
In order to challenge Merlin, Modred decided to study the Book of Darkhold, an atrociously powerful tome of magic. The Book was under Gervasse’s safekeeping, in a remote tower on the Isle of Wight called the Darkhold. The tower had powerful enchantments keeping anyone of ill intent at bay. But Modred’s motives were pure when he entered the building.
When he approached the book, he was promptly corrupted. Modred was also mind-taught invocations to free the power of the book. This was done by a sort of shadow avatar of Chthon, tied to the book and called The Other.
Interlude – origin of the Book of Darkhold
The Book is one of the four artefacts of the Elder Gods left on Earth. The rest are :
The Elder Gods were the first inhabitants of Earth, god-like beings who sprang from the primal biosphere. They degenerated into cannibalistic demons until one of them, the untouched Gaea, had enough. She had a son called Atum, whom she sicced against the fallen Elder Gods. As the Demogorge, Atum slew most of them – though some could flee to other dimensions .
Chthon, a god of earth, necromancy and evil magic, was one of the few who could flee. He even had time to inscribe a series of scrolls with his secrets. These awful writings would serve as his anchor to one day come back to Earth.
Like the other 3 artefacts, the pages of the Book are indestructible. On occasion they have appeared to be destroyed or damaged, but if needed they’ll just recreate themselves.
Interlude – more about the Book of Darkhold
The Book of Darkhold is oft called “the Darkhold” through metonymy . It has also been referred to as a mirror (since it is the reflection of Chthon’s soul) and by many other names.
Its pages have frequently been incorporated to other books, or collected and bound in a grimoire. In some cases texts by other authors (such as, oh, Mephisto) were added to collections of Chthon’s work.
The version kept in the Darkhold had been specifically assembled and bound by Morganne le Fay and her allies. But it was too powerful to handle, even for Morganne. Howbeit she did manage to stop Chthon from fully coming through. She magically locked part of his essence into Mount Wundagore.
Morganne’s ally Magnus then betrayed her. He handed the tome over to Gervasse for safekeeping. The reason may simply have been that Gervasse was wise enough not to mess with the Book, and had access to the Darkhold. It may not be Gervasse who built and enchanted the Darkhold, since the origin of the name is said to precede mankind.
The scrolls and pages are mystically formidable and have been around for millennia. They are thus tied to many evil rituals and curses. The most notable of those was the creation of the curse of vampirism, back in the days of Varnae. The likes of Conan of Cimmeria and Red Sonja of Hyrkania also ran into its pages as they were used by corrupt wizards.
Magic slumber, and a saint
When Janice and Gervasse reached Modred, The Other was already manifest as an evil smoke. It demanded a sacrifice. However, Modred hadn’t yet fallen to corruption.
Seeing where this was going, Modred sacrificed himself to save Janice. The Other took his lifeforce, leaving him in a sort of coma.
The Other soon ran into Brendan (later Saint Brendan ), a powerful special agent of the Catholic Church. Brendan had been warned by the real Merlin that the Book of Darkhold was about to be compromised. He reached the Isle of Wight in time.
Brendan took down The Other. Apparently that required no small measure of luck.
Gervasse determined that Modred wasn’t dead, but was being changed and cursed. The wizard had a crypt built, and enchanted it to preserve Modred’s body. The crypt would also “store up [Modred]’s power”, though what this means is unclear.
Meanwhile Brendan attempted to destroy the collected tome. What was actually achieved was to magically disperse the pages far and wide. Whether that made the Book less of a threat than as Morganne’s collection is debatable.
The pages would turn up in many sad, horrific circumstances. One example are the occult efforts of the Werewolf By Night’s father and grandfather.
Fifteen centuries hence
In 1975, two British archaeologists were working on the Isle of Wight. After lengthy research at the British Museum, they had located the site of the Darkhold. The tower was long since gone, though.
They did reach the crypt holding Modred. Perhaps under the faint influence of The Other, they woke him up.
After telling his tale, Modred use powerful magic to open a tunnel back to the surface, then close it once they had left. Though he could see that the Book of Darkhold had given him great power, he also knew that The Other would be back. This power would likely come with a terrible price.
Magic: the wuthering
The archaeologists, Janet Lyton and Grant Whittaker, took Modred to London. However, the time-tossed man panicked. He caused a major commotion and police response on Piccadilly Circus.
After Modred was hit by a police bullet, Lyton and Whittaker took him to their van. They fled Northward, with Lyton applying first aid.
In the countryside, the van was stopped by The Other, manifesting as a telepathic ball of light. It and Modred fought using magic, and Modred won. Yet his attacks against The Other also hurt him, as The Other was a part of him.
In some unclear way, though, contact with The Other brought Modred under Chthon’s control. This wasn’t apparent right away. The simplest explanation is that it took months. Chthon likely considered that a negligible time span when he recounted the event.
Four elementals and one spider lady
In 1977, two robbers conducted an elaborate heist across London, stealing a medieval-era chest. However, the chest carried a spell, apparently set by Merlin Demonspawn. When opened it freed four powerful elementals. These were tasked with finding Modred and bringing him back into the past to serve “Merlin”.
The elementals went to Stonehenge. Presumably this structure could facilitate magical time travel to bring Modred back. They took the tourists there hostage, which led to a fight with the Thing (Ben Grimm) and Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew). Modred came in – presumably receiving a telepathic challenge from the elementals. But even he was overwhelmed.
After invoking Astoreth (see our game stats for more) then absorbing a magic fire attack, Modred destroyed the elementals. When Spider-Woman mentioned that she wasn’t human, Modred assured her that she was. He offered his help, and mystically restored her memories.
Spider-Woman could now remember her childhood, her disease and the High Evolutionary‘s intervention. Or at least a version of those – see our Spider-Woman profiles.
Modred, on the other hand, soon fell under the thrall of The Other.
Description
See illustrations, verily.
Personality
Modred is a young man of fiery passions. He’d make a truly terrible Jedi. Among his passions were:
His love for Lady Janice.
His desire to be beholden to no man (which likely explained why he could be antagonistic toward Gervasse despite his filial love for him).
More than a soupçon of arrogance about his magic skill and willpower.
Generally speaking, he also wishes to help and protect people, a bit like a pop Arthurian knight. Of course, he speaks the Marvel Comics pseudo-Shakespearean lingo also used by, say, Thor.
At this point, Modred is a heroic — if a bit flawed — character. He appears to have won his fight with The Other, and one assumes he will keep repelling attacks from The Other as he adventures. That he’s a thrall of Chthon, and in fact Chthon’s very existence, are elements that appear in later years. Bill Mantlo and co-creators likely intended him to be a time-tossed magic super-hero. When the character didn’t take, he was repurposed into a tragically cursed victim in an epic Avengers plot. This will be explained in the second profile.
Quotes
(Gleefully) “Didst thou not hear my tale, my friend ? Didst thou not hear me tell that I was a mystic ? The *only* mage to survive the Ritual of Darkhold ! Although it dist, I needs must admit, cost me several centuries !”
“Get thee back, damnable demon of darkness ! Thou hast no old on Modred’s life !”
“Let them scream on as they will — for am I not Modred ? Is not the power of the Darkhold mine own ? Am I not a MYSTIC !?!”
“No ! ’tis not your vehicle that is at fault here… I have heard him call, though I did hope ’twas naught but the wind or the rain through the trees… But that it was him I must now believe, for the words did grip my heart in a fist of iron !”
DC Universe History
He would be a Bronze Age encounter of the Phantom Stranger, I reckon. His ties to Chthon would be replaced by ties to the Pre-Dead (say, the Demon Three). He’d have bedeviled Zatana for a bit, though perhaps his main enemy would be Felix Faust.
Note that in the DC Universe the existence of Camelot is cyclical. See the profile for the Shining Knight (Ystina) for more. Modred could thus came from a stranger version of Camelot than the standard pop Arthurian one in the vintage Marvel stories.
.. premonition and libius-severus is the Nude Ursa Two (Nude Alana de la Garza).. music .. that plays.. before.. the enigma TNG - Apocalatia.. music plays.. the second phase of the Nude Ursa Two (Nude Alana de la Garza) music... as she finally plunges into a Red Dwarf natural disaster which occurred within the Phantom Zone.. if that's logical in an astronomy or astrophysics sense.. for a Red Dwarf natural disaster to occur within the fabric of the Phantom Zone.. as she Nude Ursa (Nude Alana de la Garza) plunges deep, deep, deep, deep into a Red Dwarf ensconced within the fabric of the Phantom Zone.. to rescue Ursa One (Victoria brianne lane hill).. who is trapped within this Red Dwarf natural disaster.. within the fabric of .. the Phantom Zone.. the Phantom Zone.. at the very, very, very, very beginning of .. "Superman; man of tomorrow; chapter two", directed by Steven Spielberg and Sophia Copolla.. the Golden Age / Intermission Age series.. 1st series.. sob sob.. 1st series.. sob sob sob… aka the official Superman-Bogeyman movie...
“Offering terrific wages and fringe benefits ranging from comprehensive healthcare to imprisonment insurance, the Serpent Society is open only to individuals of questionable moral values, possessing at least one special skill or power, and whose costumed identities are patterned after snakes.”
Context
Sidewinder (Seth Voelker) appeared in 1980 in a notable story arc, the “Serpent Crown Affair” (a reference to a classic movie ). But he’s mostly famous for his 1985+ role in forming the Serpent Society, a distinctive assemblage of minor Marvel villains with a snake theme. That was a cool concept with good stories, primarily in Captain America.
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Sidewinder was one of Mark Gruenwald’s signature characters. Beyond his work as a writer and an editor, Mr. Gruenwald played a critical role in developing sourcebooks and other means to manage the Marvel continuity. This profile, and our Diamondback character profiles, are dedicated to his memory.
For Sidewinder and several other Serpent Society members, we treat information from secondary sources as if they were primary, since Mr. Gruenwald wrote both sources.
Background
Real Name: Seth Voelker.
Other Aliases: Snake-Eye.
Marital Status: Divorced.
Known Relatives: Donna Voelker (ex-wife), Amelia (daughter), Maggie (sister).
Group Affiliation: Former leader of the Serpent Squad II, former leader of the Serpent Society.
Base Of Operations: A Central Park West apartment (NYC, NY) ; the first Serpent Citadel (in upstate New York, near Highway 93 and Route N, near Pawling).
Height: 5’9” Weight: 180 lbs.
Eyes: Dark blue Hair: Black (Bald on top and front).
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Powers and Abilities
Sidewinder is an intelligent, thoughtful manager and criminal. He’s always the man with a plan. He’s also an efficient leader, both in terms of organisation and tactical orders. However, he’s not genuinely charismatic.
Equipment
The reinforced Sidewinder costume can operate deep underwater, can teleport, and has minor protective properties.
One known self-defence function is what Voelker calls the “side effects”. These are odd streaks of energy unleashed from his brow. These will strike random things within range, though there seems to be a minimum range away from the Sidewinder suit – perhaps one foot. Being uncontrollable, the side effects are mostly useful to keep opponents at bay.
From the name, one gets the impression that these energies are tied to the dimension he crosses to teleport.
Sidewinder has had Serpent Society members implanted with tiny emitters embedded in the skull. In this way, he could always locate them and burst them out of prison no matter where they were.
At one point he also used knockout gas grenades, but those were commercial equipment acquired on the black market.
Sidewinder teleportation
Sidewinder main ability is the ability to “go sideway” between dimensions. He can thus teleport for about 50 miles (though it was once erroneously stated his range was only of ten feet).
He can chain jumps without undue stress and cross the country. Sidewinder also can teleport in and out in the blink of an eye. Apparently the jumps occur on a mere mental impulse, through cybernetic controls. He can usually teleport faster than even Captain America or the Cobra can react.
Sidewinder has such fine control that he can teleport but a part of his body without harm or apparent discomfort. For instance he could reach into a safe by putting a hand against the door then teleport just this hand within the safe, grab the content and teleport his hand back to his body with what it holds.
Secondary sources stated that he could teleport an eyeball to discretely reconnoitre ahead. This likely explains how Sidewinder could flawlessly teleport in and out of enclosed spaces.
When Sidewinder is seriously injured, his teleportation system is programmed to launch a random series of quick, short jumps. It stays in the same general area and controls for obstacles. This is an efficient evasive measure – Sidewinder is very difficult to hit when he does that, even though he’ll likely be unconscious at that point.
Presumably there exists an override so allies can recover him and administer first aid.
The Sidewinder teleportation power seems based on the groundbreaking Nth Projector dimensional exploration technology.
Costume or implant ?
During his early appearances it seemed that Sidewinder’s teleportational abilities were a built-in power, likely granted by cybernetic implants. However, by the mid-1980s, teleportation seemed dependent upon the costume. And later on, people wearing the Sidewinder costume seemed to have the full Sidewinder powers.
Yet, Diamondback mentioned that Voelker had a teleport chip implanted in his brain.
One hypothesis is that Voelker was equipped with a teleportation implant, and the Sidewinder costume held circuitry that made teleportations much longer-ranged and less fatiguing. This explains the seemingly contradictory accounts, and doesn’t conflict with any of the stories.
If this No-Prize Hypothesis is correct, later users of the Sidewinder costumes had the teleportation circuitry added to the costume rather than built-in as cybernetics.
Recent secondary sources state that the teleportation circuitry is in the cloak and “some civilian clothing”, but must be controlled by the brain chip.
History
Seth Voelker is a former college-level teacher of economics. It was presumably early in the early 1970s that he lost this job and became a financial analyst for energy giant Roxxon Oil.
His work led him to discover the extensive less-than-legal activities going on at Roxxon. Bored with being an analyst, he volunteered to become a special field agent now that he knew what was going in shady Roxxon subsidiaries such as Brand Corporation.
At this point Roxxon CEO Hugh Jones was possessed by the Serpent Crown from another dimension. Jones needed a team of operatives to recover Earth-616’s Serpent Crown. He had Voelker enhanced to become Sidewinder. Jones then tasked Voelker with building a new Serpent Squad — no relation with the team once led by the Viper (Ophelia Sarkissian) — to find the Crown.
Serpent Squad
The Crown was lost in the ocean. Therefore the Squad members, including Voelker, all had means to exist deep underwater. The Crown was located, and Roxxon set up a fake oil rig from which the Squad (Sidewinder, Anaconda (Blanche Sitznski), Death Adder (Roland Burrough) and Black Mamba (Tanya Sealy)) ran searches on the ocean floor. Stingray and the Thing stumbled upon the rig. Since Stingray was certain there was no oil in the area, they investigated. The heroes were met with armed resistance by Roxxon employees, who called in reinforcements. Minutes later, Sidewinder and his team mates reached the surface, knocked Stingray out and captured the Thing.
They then returned to the ocean floor, where they had just located the Crown, to finish unearthing it.
The intervention of Triton turned the… well, tide after he freed the Thing and Stingray. Nevertheless, Sidewinder still escaped with the Crown. Voelker personally delivered the crown to Roxxon’s CEO, but the rest of his Squad had been captured.
Divorce
Voelker not only pocketed the huge bonus for the mission, but he also got the bonus for the three captured operatives. Furthermore, he left Roxxon with his costume and tech. Presumably, the sheer chaos that resulted from Jones getting the Crown facilitated this.
Voelker assembled his own snake-themed group of super-operatives. It was the first version of the Serpent Society, which included Diamondback (Rachel Leighton), Cobra (Klaus Voorhees), Puff Adder (Gordon Fraley), Anaconda and Rattler (Gustav Krueger).
The West Coast crime lords of the Pride hired the Society to kill Tony Stark. Howbeit, the down-on-his-luck captain of industry narrowly took them out by hacking Sidewinder’s teleportation system. Voelker was wounded by the energy blacklash, and the Society dispersed.
It is apparently during this era that Voelker’s wife divorced him. She disapproved of his illegal activities and felt that her husband was now a moral failure. Donna Voelker gained custody of their baby girl, Amelia. Little Amelia suffered from an unspecified medical condition causing dangerous seizures.
Though less than enthusiastic about his activities, Seth Voelker’s sister remained in contact with him. She ran a clothing store in Manhattan. Years later, she’d hire Voelker’s friend Diamondback (Rachel Leighton) when Leighton forwent her criminal lifestyle.
His private life in shambles and missing his daughter, Sidewinder instead concentrated on his big project. He wanted to establish a well-run, well-managed union and partnership for costumed criminals. This new Serpent Society would let him operate as a behind-the-scenes coordinator, rather than be exposed on the front lines.
Meanwhile his three Serpent Squad operatives tracked Voelker down. Roxxon had told them that he had pocketed the bonus for the entire team. They found his Manhattan apartment and prepared to threaten him.
Instead, they were astonished when Voelker told then he had kept their full bonuses, had invested them while they were in prison, and gave them all both their money and the accrued interest in cash. He then offered them to become founding members of the Serpent Society, and all three agreed.
The Serpent Society
Sidewinder’s first recruiting drive and business meeting brought Princess Python (Zelda Dubois), Cottonmouth (Burchell Clemens), Diamondback, Bushmaster (Quincy McIver), the Cobra, the Asp (“Cleo Nefertiti”), Constrictor (Frank Schlischting) and the Rattler as well as his three Serpent Squad colleagues. All but the cocky Constrictor agreed to join.
The Constrictor decided to sabotage the Society before it could become too big a competitor. Thus, he dropped an anonymous tip to the Avengers. Captain America responded but did not manage to stop the Serpent operatives.
Anaconda was captured, but this helped Voelker more than it hindered him. It allowed him to demonstrate the anti-imprisonment insurance offered by the Society by teleporting Anaconda out of prison. Anaconda then thoroughly beat Constrictor up as a lesson.
Sidewinder then had teams of Society members deliver, occasionally after some combat to reach the prospect, sales pitches and business cards. The prospects were various underworld concerns such as the Kingpin, AIM or Hydra.
Rise of the Society
The largest contract that resulted from this sales blitz was with AIM, who wanted to eliminate their treacherous ex-leader – MODOK. The sales team working AIM, Diamondback and Bushmaster, soon located and attacked MODOK but could not overcome him.
Sidewinder launched a search and destroy operation pitting the entire Society against MODOK. Despite Captain America’s intervention they were successful. It was Death Adder who landed the killing blows, with Cottonmouth’s assistance. After having had to retreat, the Society came back to steal the corpse and deliver it to AIM.
Captain America, with the aid of failed super-villains Porcupine, set a trap to capture Serpent Society members Cottonmouth, Death Adder and Rattler. However, Sidewinder just teleported the three Serpents out of prison right under Cap’s nose.
Sidewinder determined that Captain America had learned about the hit of MODOK through Princess Python. She had been so scared at the thought of fighting the inhuman MODOK that she agreed to surrender information to Cap. Sidewinder tortured her via selective mindwipe technology to make her forget Society Secrets, then negotiated a ransom with her Circus of Crime cohorts
The Circus agreed to pay $10K to have Princess Python returned. However, Death Adder was ambushed and killed by the Scourge of the Underworld while making the delivery. Shocked by the murder, the entire Society paused their current assignments to hunt down the killer.
Diamondback, fascinated by Captain America, discreetly collaborated with him. It was Cap who stopped the Scourge.
By that point Voelker was in a relationship with one of the Serpent, Black Mamba – formerly a high-end call-girl. Apparently this was the result of some debt that Mamba owed Sidewinder, rather than a romance.
The Viper takes over
The Society proved successful and profitable – reportedly, each founding member of the Serpent Society cleared over one million dollar of benefits a year. Sidewinder thus recruited four more snake-themed supervillains (Copperhead (David Lawfers), Puff Adder, Black Racer (Ariana Saddiqi) and Fer-de-Lance (Teresa Vasquez)) after teleporting them out of prison.
However, the new recruits were actually plants from yet another snake-themed criminal. Namely, the infamous international terrorist called the Viper (Ophelia Sarkissian). The Viper launched an assault to take over the Society, using more operatives (Coachwhip (Beatrix Keener), Slither (Aaron Salomon), Boomslang (Marc Riemer) and Rock Python (M’Gula)) as well as traitors in the ranks.
Sarkissian ambushed Voelker and bit him, injecting him with a fatal dose of venom.
No honour among snakes
Voelker teleported to Diamondback, who saved him using the universal anti-venom concocted by the Cobra. She then called Captain America for help – since she had no idea whom among the Serpent was a traitor or a loyalist. The Captain and his allies the Falcon, Nomad and D-Man had Voelker hospitalised, then stormed the Serpent Citadel along with Diamondback.
One of the traitors, Black Racer, attempted to crash the ambulance carrying Sidewinder. But the novice adventurer Vagabond (Priscilla Lyons) gotlucky and saved Voelker.
A few Serpents stayed loyal to Sidewinder even when threatened with torture and execution – namely Bushmaster, Asp, and Black Mamba. Everybody else was or became a turncoat. For a time Cottonmouth stayed loyal. But he ultimately tried to kill Diamondback to earn the good graces of the Viper.
As to the Cobra, he claimed that he was actually a double agent still serving Sidewinder while pretending to be a Viper operative, but this was a lie.
The Cobra takes over
Once healed, Sidewinder escaped and rescued the imprisoned Diamondback. She convinced him to also free the imprisoned heroes Nomad and D-Man, though the latter refused.
The Serpent Society was Voelker’s life work. Therefore, the numerous treasons were a hard blow on his morale. He did not intend to remain active after paying his debt to Diamondback.
As a result the Cobra (who soon renamed himself King Cobra) took over the leadership of the Society. Sidewinder negotiated a hefty 28% cut on benefits in exchange for letting Voorhees use the Society’s name, facilities, and other tangible and intangible assets.
However, King Cobra’s management was far less effective than Sidewinder’s. After an initial recovery boom, profits took a dive. Furthermore, without Voelker, the Society had lost its main asset – the “get out of jail free” card he represented.
Still bitter about the traitors, Sidewinder and Diamondback (who had just joined Cobra’s Serpent Society on a probational basis) hatched a plan. The wanted to to double-cross the Society out of a high-priced contract with Ghaur and Llyra. They were successful, though Sidewinder mockingly paid back 10% of the reward to the Society for their efforts.
The Diamondback affair
The Society did not detect that Diamondback was a double agent, but put her on trial for the security risk posed by her relationship with Captain America. Her two closest friends, Black Mamba and Asp, strongly objected to her condemnation to death. They called Sidewinder for help.
The three women having been his staunchest supporters back in the heydays of the Society, Sidewinder agreed. He rescued Diamondback by teleporting in and out in the blink of an eye as she was about to receive a fatal injection.
King Cobra declared war against Sidewinder and Diamondback. Voelker hurriedly packed his expensive belongings. Then he flatly told Diamondback that his debt had been repaid and that he would not help her anymore.
When Diamondback pleaded for him to at least teleport Black Mamba to safety, he stated he would not do that either. Sidewinder said that he was sure Black Mamba would not want to be indebted toward him again.
The Cobra gambit
Before they could get Voelker, King Cobra’s Serpent Society was arrested and sent to the Vault prison. However, Sidewinder knew that it was but a respite. They’d eventually get out.
Sidewinder teleported into the Vault, grabbed Cobra, let himself be hit by a guard despite his fear of physical pain, and teleported out a short distance. Telling Cobra he was hit too badly to go further, he teleported away and told him to run.
As Voelker had planned, this put King Cobra in an untenable position. If Cobra escaped, the other Serpents would hate him for leaving them behind. Thus, he would lose the leadership of the Society. Therefore Voorhees let himself be recaptured. But he could not resume hunting Sidewinder as everybody knew Voelker had busted him out of the Vaults.
Voelker retires
At this point little Amelia Voelker’s condition took a sudden turn for the worse. Neither of her parents had health insurance. Though he was wealthy, even Voelker couldn’t pay for the brain surgery out of pocket. Especially after having paid her full-rate hospital expenses for years.
Sidewinder asked Captain America to give him the money so he would not be forced to commit crimes to round the money up. But Cap had to turn him down since he could not verify his motives.
Willing to do anything to save his daughter, Sidewinder angrily resorted to theft. He solely stole from criminals, in order to mitigate police heat. During one such heist, he was shot and wounded. But Voelker managed to contact Diamondback, who came to the rescue along with her lover – Captain America.
Cap had located Amelia Voelker. Therefore, he now thought that Sidewinder had been telling the truth. Rogers offered to cover for the surgery if her father turned himself to the police. Voelker took the deal.
Amelia’s surgery was successful. Captain America personally brought a videophone link to her hospital room so her father could talk to her for a bit before returning to his cell.
In 2005, Voelker earned his parole and left prison. Later on, he was seen participating in a TV show discussing reformed super-criminals.
Though he has apparently not committed any crime since his surrender, it is believed that while in prison he arranged for the lease of the Sidewinder identity, costume and technology to other would-be super-criminals.
Successor snakes
At least two other men have been using the Sidewinder technology. Presumably, Voelker brokered a deal with Voorhees, perhaps to pay for his daughter’s continued health care.
The first Sidewinder successor was sent by Cobra to steal the Zodiac Key from S.H.I.E.L.D. for his client Death-Sting, but died in the attempt. His name wasn’t revealed.
The second Sidewinder successor, Gregory Bryan, was mostly seen in crowd scenes featuring the Serpent Society. He was among the Serpents who fortified themselves with hostages in a rural area during the Secret Invasion .
Description
Sidewinder’s cape seems to generate a visual aftereffect, looking like it’s hanging in the air for a split second after the rest of his body has disappeared. This is much like the smile of the Cheshire Cat .
When relaxing, Voelker often smokes a pipe. He may have lost that habit while in prison.
Personality
Sidewinder is smart, organised, cautious and rational. He considers himself a principled mercenary with a sense of honour of sorts. His main objective seemed to be the accumulation of enormous wealth so as to retire early and in luxury. Once that’s done he gets to read, play the piano and tend his garden.
Interestingly enough, his main “flaw” is his loyalty toward people who do not deserve it. He feels responsible toward his whole staff.
However, he’s clearly not above using the heroism of his opponents against them. At one point he even threatened to murder a Serpent Society member to force the Captain to free him, though he then stated he would never have actually harmed her.
Sidewinder is well-spoken — almost unctuous and overwrought — and is a good salesman. However, he treats people as being more rational and attentive than they actually are. Thus, he cannot understand how people can choose to act contrary to their obvious interests.
Other traits
Voelker’s modu operandi has a distinctive corporate business slant. For instance when recruiting for the Serpent Society he organised a business buffet and meeting in a posh hotel, though he stopped short of having a PowerPoint™ presentation (there were brochures, though).
He has a good mastery of managerial finance, negotiation, and sales strategy. This shapes his managerial strategy.
He also understands the dynamics of fear and punishment in the underworld. But despite going through the motions (to the point of personally torturing traitors to destroy their detailed memories of the Society’s inner workings) he’s simply not intimidating enough. Sidewinder lacks the scariness to be a charismatic leader among criminals.
Sidewinder does not like danger. In fact this is why he founded the Society, so that others would be in the field. He has even described himself as a coward. yet, that seems harsh since he always was able to master his fear and take risks when it was necessary. Usually, that was to free an imprisoned Serpent or rescue an ally.
Still, Voelker does not deal with pain well. He is liable to panic if he’s wounded and feels he’s bleeding.
Quotes
“Reconsider those words, Grimm – or we will be forced to deal with you in the same manner as we did your foolish friend ! Surrender — or face the full unfettered fury of the deadly new Serpent Squad !”
“Since last we were together, I’ve been laying the groundwork for the most original criminal operation in history ! If you three agree to participate, I promise you this — you will earn enough money to make that which I’ve just given you seem like mere subway fare !”
“For years now, superhuman mercenaries like ourselves have worked independently, at the mercy of the whims of our employers for our wages, work conditions and fringe benefits… or worse still, forced to incur all the risk and operating expenses of working alone ! Our enemies on the other hand have long recognised the advantages of banding together.”
“Despite the fact that I’m a thief and a scoundrel, I’m a man who pays his debts.”
“I gave them things criminals like themselves had never known before — job security, great fringe benefits, freedom from persecution — and what did they do ? They supported the Viper in her bid to take over the Society ! I was crushed.”
