Black Manta
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Facts
- character name: Black Manta
- publisher: DC Comics
- debut: Aquaman # 35 (Sept 1967)
- creators: Bob Haney, Nick Cardy
- alliances: The Society, Injustice League, OGRE
- powers: Enhanced strength; Water breathing ability (through artificial gills) ; high tech equipment, Laser beams
character biography
Black Manta is a character, a supervillain appearing in DC Comics, primarily as an archenemy of Aquaman
Background
His first origin was given in #6 of the 1993 Aquaman series. In this origin, the boy who would become Black Manta 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, whom he saw as its representative), the boy was determined to become its master. Aquaman vol. 4, #6, 1993, DC Comics, writer Shaun McLaughlin
A second origin was given in #8 of the 2003 Aquaman series. In this origin, the boy who would become Black Manta was an orphan who has autism and was placed in Arkham Asylum. He felt comfortable in freezing cold water, while cotton sheets were excruciatingly painful. Because the attendants at Arkham didn't know how to deal with autism, they would end up restraining him to the bed as he struggled and screamed whenever they tried putting him there. The boy was also fascinated when he saw Aquaman on television.
The boy would end up being subjected to experimental treatments. One treatment seemed to clear the boy's head, but left him violent as a result; he killed the scientist who had administered the treatment and escaped from Arkham.
Nemesis
As an adult, the man who would become Black Manta 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 prior 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).
The fearsome 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 (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 through the conquest of Atlantis. Finally, Manta kills Arthur Curry, Jr., Aquaman's son, which left Aquaman obsessed with revenge.Adventure Comics #452, 1977
Black Manta was later transformed into a Manta/Man hybrid. After a while he went back to wearing his original outfit,which covered his new appearance. At one point he took to drug smuggling from his new base in Star City, where he was opposed by a returning Green Arrow and Aquaman.
In a later confrontation, Aquaman, sporting the Lady of the Lake's Healing Hand, reverses the 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.
After Black Manta caused 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. It was later revealed that he was able to survive by generating an electric charge with his suit.
One year later, he took over Sub Diego but was forced to flee when King Shark bit off his face. (Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #52-53).
He can seen as the member of Libra's Secret Society of Super Villains.
Powers and abilities
Black Manta wears a suit that helps protect him from the pressures of the sea and has an air supply. The suit's helmet allows him to fire energy blasts and the suit itself contains concealed knives.
At some point Black Manta was transformed by the demon Neron into a Manta hybrid. In this form he was completely at one with the water and could dive to extreme depths and survive. He had natural weaponry, a tail that he could use as a weapon. The process has since been reversed by Aquaman.
Other versions
Black Manta appeared in animated style in Justice League Unlimited #26. He is aided by Felix Faust in an attempt to conquer Atlantis. Because of Felix Faust's appearance, the issue is out of continuity.
Black Manta appeared as one of the major villains in the 2005-2006 Justice mini-series by Alex Ross and Jim Krueger.
In other media
- Black Manta appeared as a regular villain on the Aquaman cartoon in the The Superman Aquaman Hour of Adventure, were he was voiced by Ted Knight. Manta also appeared on The All-New Super Friends Hour, where he was referred to simply as "Manta" and his suit color was now olive brown. Manta also became a part of the Legion of Doom in Challenge Of The SuperFriends, where he was voiced by Ted Cassidy.
- 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 have been suitable for his character.
- In Justice League Unlimited a character named 'Devil Ray, voiced by Michael Beach, debuted as a member of the Secret Society (based on the Legion of Doom). Gorilla Grodd put Devil Ray to the test when he sent him out on a mission to retrieve the corpse of the Viking Prince, an ancient warrior that Grodd believed held the key to invulnerability, from a melting glacier. He was challenged by and Wonder Woman and shot her with a poison dart and if not for King Faraday, he would have killed her. Ultimately he was defeated by Wonder Woman after she cracked his helmet in an underwater battle. Not long after, Devil Ray was sent on another mission. This time he was sent steal the Heart of Nanda Parbat. Devil Ray wouldn't allow anyone to stop him on this mission, so he disposed of the monastery's Master, Deadman's mentor. After the Secret Society was defeated in Gorilla City, Devil Ray was accidentally killed by Deadman (who had possessed Batman) after attempting to assassinate Wonder Woman.
- Devil Ray is closely based on Black Manta, right down to helmet and a suit that allowed him to breathe underwater and withstand deep-sea pressures. It was also equipped with rocket boosters that enabled him to fly and navigate underwater, and two wrist-mounted guns. The guns in his gauntlets allow him to shoot poisonous or explosive stingers or laser bolts at his targets, and also an array of venomous or explosive trident-shaped stingers. The suit itself heavily resembles the suit Black Manta wore in the Filmation Aquaman cartoons. Devil Ray may very well be the "DC Animated Universe" version of Black Manta. According to writer Dwayne McDuffie, the reason behind the name change is because the rights to Aquaman characters were not available at the time, as they were being used for the Aquaman TV pilot.Justice League - TWoP Forums Within mainstream comics, in Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #52, the new Aquaman (Arthur Joseph Curry) inquires if Black Manta is the name of a cartoon character, and is corrected "...wasn't he called Devil Ray?", a reference to the character in Justice League Unlimited.
- Black Manta has a cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: The New Frontier. He is seen during the famous speech by John F. Kennedy.
- Black Manta appears as the main villain in the video game Aquaman: Battle for Atlantis for Xbox and Nintendo GameCube|GameCube. He is also an unlockable character in the game.
- A parody of Black Manta called Black Eel appeared in the Duck Dodgers (TV series)|Duck Dodgers episode "Till Doom Do Us Part" voiced by Jim Cummings. He was one of the villains assembled by Agent Roboto to form the Legion of Duck Doom. He's also the enemy of Seaman.
- Popular The Venture Bros.|Venture Bros. antagonist Monarch (The Venture Bros.)|The Monarch is said to have been partially based on the Manta (the creators developed his voice by imagining a skit in which Manta and Aquaman were college roommates, only to discover later that the voice used in Super Friends was radically different than they'd remembered). The Manta was also mentioned in one episode where Jefferson Twilight believed him to be Aquaman's sole villain, a suggestion proved wrong by Dr. Orpheus.
- Black Manta appeared in the South Park episode "Krazy Kripples" as part of Christopher Reeve's Krazy Kripples#Members of the Legion of Doom.
- Black Manta will appear in the upcoming animated series Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
See also
Footnotes
References
- Biography of Black Manta
- 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
- [1] - Bio for Devil Ray
