Once again my Silver Age rereading has caught up with a post (from almost exactly two years ago) so I’m reposting. This time it’s about the strange Silver Age career of Dane Whitman, the Black Knight.
As probably everyone reading this knows by now, The Eternals introduces us to the MCUās Dane Whitman, AKA the Black Knight. Itās one case where cutting out some of the characterās history will probably be a plus. From his first appearance in Avengers #47 (1967) through the seeming end of his career in #84, he bounces between being scientist, science superhero, magical superhero and cursed soul.
Talking with SyFy, Roy Thomas says he was a huge fan of Marvelās 1950s Black Knight, Sir Percy of Scandia. While writing Avengers Thomas set out to create a new version of the Arthurian hero whoād also be a contemporary, modern man, like the Black Knight Stan Lee created as a Giant-Man foe. Thomas says he preferred reworking old Marvel characters to creating someone completely new, given that Marvel would own all the rights either way. Perhaps that mix of intentions and influences, coupled with ThomasāĀ random plotting style in those days, explains the twists and turns in Daneās first four years at Marvel.
When we first meet Dane, heās an arrogant scientist working with his assistant Norris on using magnetic energy to contact intelligent life in space (you can guess from the cover who it is he contacts). When Norris asks why Daneās so obsessed with achieving something big, Dane reveals heās the nephew of Nathan Garrett, the evil Black Knight ā
ā who fell off his winged horse during a recent battle with Iron Man. Normally nothing serious for a supervillain but in this case the fall proved fatal. With his dying breath Garrett contacted his nephew, who now feels he must balance the scales by using science for good.
The #47 cover shows how well that worked. But never fear, the following issue Dane decides if you donāt succeed at first, put on a costume!
It turns out Dane is following his uncleās deathbed request ā not to simply use science for good but specifically the Black Knightās science. Meaning his multipurpose lance weapon and his genetically engineered winged horse. Which doesnāt really fit with what he told Norris, though as he considers his assistant a scientific wage slave, itās understandable he didnāt blurt out āDonāt laugh but Iām going to become a superhero too!āThe Black Knight flies to the Avengers for help but in a Silver Age Marvel comic that was never going to work well. They instantly assume heās Nathan Garrett and attack, pissing him off to the point he starts hitting back. By the time everyone sorts it out, Daneās in a snit and flies off alone instead of teaming up. He doesnāt even spare a thought to putting right what he did wrong by helping take down Magneto.
We next see Dane when the Masters of Evil reform in Avengers #54 and invite him to join. Okay, technically itās an old invitation to his uncle but when Dane stumbles across it, he figures he can help the Avengers by posing as Nathan. He does manage to help and the Assemblers are more impressed with him this time. Before they can say thanks, though, he flies up, up and away and out of the book for a year.
Thomas said in the interview that he didnāt expect his Black Knight to be an A-lister but saw him as a good second-stringer, maybe an Avenger. That makes me wonder why Thomas didnāt bring him onto the team when they had every reason to invite him. It doesnāt happen until #71, after Dane saves the team from Kang, and by then heās living in England and canāt participate regularly. Was the reader feedback negative? Did Stan Lee decide he didnāt like the character? Despite Thomas saying heād always planned to tie Dane to Sir Percy, was that really a Hail Mary play to generate more interest? Because when it happened, it was a game-changer.
In Marvel Super-Heroes #17, Dane learns heās inherited Garrett Castle ā Iāve no idea from whom, given he thought Nathan was his last living relative ā and goes to England to sell it. Dane, Dane, donāt you know selling off inherited old buildings from relatives youāve never met is never that easy?
Sure enough, heās confronted by Sir Percyās spirit ā his exact double ā and gets a crash course in how his ancestor bought the farm. The Black Knightās magic sword made him unkillable, except by a dagger forged of the same star-metal. Morded, here an evil sorcerer, used the dagger to remove his archfoe during the fall of Camelot. Mordred died but his spirit endured and now threatens the 20th century. Will DaneĀ accept his ancestorās mantle to fight against Mordred? Where Nathan flunked when he had to prove his worth, Dane wins his mystic challenge and receives the ebony blade. Heās now invincible in battle ā unless of course, that dagger turns up.
Spoiler: the dagger turns up. Mordred takes a broken-down ex-knife thrower, turns him into an agent of destruction and sends him, armed with the dagger, after the new, improved Black Knight. It doesnāt work but Mordredās spirit is still around, the ebony dagger is still around ā
And that was the last we heard about them for years. The Black Knight shows up at Hank and Janās wedding, where the Avengers treat his magic blade as routinely as if heād always wielded it. As I said at the link, itās odd that having pulled a soft reboot, Thomas didnāt draw more attention to it. Or maybe have the Avengers join the Black Knight against Mordredās next scheme. Instead Thomas completely ignores the new set-up for Dane, including that aside from the dagger, Daneās now as deathless as Wolverine. Perhaps itās a sign that Thomas really didnāt intend Dane as anything but a second-stringer.
After a couple more appearances, including the battle against Kang, Dane vanishes for another year. When he returns in #84, the rules have changed once again.
When a couple of London crooks make a get away by helicopter, Dane smashes the rotor with his sword so that theyāll crash and die. As soon as he does it, heās horrified heās done it, and rescues them like a superhero should. He realizes thereās a dark, evil power in the blade and itās slowly taking him over. Worse, when Dane tries to destroy the sword, he canāt bring himself to do it. Sir Percyās summoned spirit confirms that yeah, the bladeās cursed, but he kind of hoped that had worn off so he never mentioned it. Dude, not cool. Not honorable either, which for a knight is worse. Fortunately at the end of the story a Clash of Titans with Arkon winds up destroying the blade ā Dane is free!
Haha, just kidding. In Avengers #100 it turns out the blade simply tumbled through the dimensions, ending up in the hands of Ares. As god of War, he has the power to master any blade, and uses it to take out the rest of Olympus. Next comes Earth, followed by Asgard. Sir Percy alerts Dane thereās a problem; Dane gets back into costume, picks up Nathanās lance again and summons the Avengers. Ares goes down to defeat and Dane reclaims ownership of the sword.
I imagine if Roy Thomas had stuck with Avengers a few more years Dane would have kept up his irregular appearances. Instead, the Black Knightās next appearance was in Defenders #4 by Steve Engleheart where he wound up turned to stone. In #11 Englehart resolved things by having Daneās soul drawn back to the Third Crusade. Here he enters his ancestorās body to stop Mordred allying with Prince John to take down Richard the Lionhearted. The Defenders put a stop to that but Dane stays in that era to enjoy glorious swashbuckling adventures fighting against the āMohameddans.ā Quite aside from glamorizing the Crusades, the ending is way out of character for Dane.
He would of course, return and go through many more changes over the years. Ally to Captain Britain in Otherworld. Member of the Avengers during Roger Sternās run (probably the best use of him) and later of Excalibur. Hero of Malibuās Ultraverse after Marvel bought the company. The curse of the sword would become more and more a defining part of his character, which I suspect is what weāll see in the MCU too.
Because letās face it, a faithful adaptation of his early years would have everyone scratching their heads and going WTF?
#SFWApro. Art top to bottom by Don Heck, Jack Kirby, George Tuska, Tuska again, Howard Purcell, John Buscema and Barry Windsor-Smith