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Hey everybody, welcome back to another great character spotlight right here in Marvel Snapshot! This week I’ll be showcasing one of my personal favorites – The Black Knight himself, Dane Whitman. For most of this character’s existence in the Marvel U, Dane has held the moniker of Black Knight, but others have as well. There was Nathan Garrrett, the evil Black Knight, and many years before that, Sir Percy of Scandia had the title. We’ll just focus mainly on Dane though, because of him being the best of them all!
Dane Whitman’s first appearance was way back in 1967 and was orchestrated by Roy Thomas and John Buscema in Avengers #47. In his first public appearance, he was attacked by the Avengers because they thought he was his villainous uncle Nathan Garrett. After straightening out that bit of confusion, the Black Knight had some really cool adventures, like one where he fought alongside the Avengers against the Masters of Evil. Afterward, Dane was granted status as a member of the team. He then met up with Dr. Strange, and had a wild experience against Tiboro. Later he became one of the first Defenders, but that didn’t last too long because he was turned to stone by the Enchantress. He was later brought back to normal after a time travel story with the Avengers.
One of my favorite Black Knight stories definitely has to be the story line with a man named Proctor. This was a villain who didn’t show his face at first, but for obvious reasons. At the time, Dane was romantically involved with Crystal of the Inhumans and Sersi of the Eternals. Dane was torn between the two women, but eventually chose Sersi. During this time however, Sersi started to become mentally unstable due to Proctor and his evil scheme. Ultimately though, after a huge brawl with Proctor and his Gatherers, Sersi used the Ebony Blade to decapitate Proctor and end his madness.
My other favorite story with the Black Knight takes place after he and Sersi left the mainstream 616 universe because of Sersi’s mental instability. The two embarked on a journey into another universe, the Ultraverse. The two eventually tried to make it back to their own universe, but ended up back in the 12th century in the Crusades. During this time, Dane was in the body of Eobar Garrington and he was best friends with a man named Bennet du Paris. X-fans know this name very well, for it is the real name of a man now called Exodus. During this time, the two best friends sought out a treasure in the desert that was supposedly just a myth. The treasure was housed in a fortress that no one had ever returned from before. After a brief fight, Bennet set out on his own to find the fortress. Eobar and Sersi went after him, but it was too late. He had already become the emissary of the dweller of that fortress – Apocalypse! Apocalypse tried to make Bennet kill his friend, but he wouldn’t and he turned on his master. Apocalypse easily subdued Exodus, and put him in an eternal slumber for his impudence. Later, Exodus was revived by Magneto.
Dane had a ton of Avengers thrills, like killing the Supreme Intelligence, but one of his latest adventures was fantastic also. He joined the group MI13 and eventually fell in love with Faiza Hussain, then helped the team battle Dracula! That series, Captain Britain & MI13, was a great series and definitely shouldn’t have gotten the axe a couple of years ago. Take a look at my recommended reading list, and definitely pick up some of Dane’s excellent adventures! Hey, the Black Knight is so cool, he even made it onto Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends! (click to enjoy part 1)
Recommended Reading
Marvel Superheroes #17 (1968)
Dr. Strange #29, 33-37, 68, 69 (1974)
Avengers vol. 1 – #343-375 (Proctor)
Black Knight #1-4 (1990)
Black Knight: Exodus (1996)
Mystic Arcana: Black Knight (2007)
Captain Britain & MI13 #1-15 (2008)

Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net