Organized crime tends to take a back seat to villains with flashy powers, costumes, and personalities, but they tend to stick around in the shadows. For ever threat in a mask, there’s probably a whole family of mobsters running their racketeering and other usual crimes. The Maggia is probably one of the biggest organized crime organizations that aren’t often with powers of their own, beyond the power money and violence can bring. So how does the Maggia operate and how are they still thriving? Let’s find out!
The Maggia began in Europe, several families seeing the opportunity to run protection rackets where they collect money to protect others, or else. Though the Maggia is considered a monolith, it’s loosely organized on a grand scale, each family is more tightly organized in their own ways. They may unite to deal with issues, maybe even marry into one another for power consolidations, like royals, but they tend to leave one another to their own devices as long as their territories are respected.
When Europeans began to spread to the Americas, the Maggia went with them. New families would rise to power in the new world. They are spread across the United States but New York City is their capital. Each family making a name for themselves and often dabbling in some manner of super powers often only in a singular figure head or in mercenary hires.
The Silverman family is one of the oldest families and their leader, Silvio, is one of the oldest people around. Dedicating his fortune to science so he may extend his life, to the extent that he’s now a cyborg. The Hammerhead family took to trying to be a costumed villain group but lost their leader to it and decided to make their own top leader by brainwashing an amnesiac into leading them with old school tactics.
The Costa family have the infamy of creating the Punisher, wiping out his family and earning his eternal ire. The Nefaria family try their best to be more like traditional supervillains, fighting the Avengers head on at times. While the other families vary in their willingness to try and compete with heroes, some have found themselves to be Inhumans.
The families will wage war among each other as much as they will with heroes and villains alike. Villains will often want to take over their territories, causing an escalation in the Maggia’s weaponry. Frequently, a new up and coming villain will show off their power by striking at one of the Maggia as a sign of strength. No matter what happens, the Maggia find ways to adapt and survive in these stranger and stranger times.
There you have it! The Maggia is Marvel’s answer to real world crime families, allowing them to get weirder and weirder without being tied to any real world crimes. They’re a common threat to the more street level heroes but can garner the attention of more powerful foes pending on their plans. Frequently seen in animated shows, who knows when they’ll pop up next? See you next time!
Suggested Reading
The Avengers #13
Spider-Man
Daredevil
Dr. Bustos
drbustos@comicattack.net
