Written by Kal-El
The boy who would become Black Manta was an autistic youth who grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, and loved to play by the sea. As a youth he was kidnapped, raped 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, who he saw as its representative, the boy was determined to become its master.
As an adult, he 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 previous 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.
Black Manta, The fearsome, 6'4" 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 man 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. During most of his appearances his main goals were defeating Aquaman and gaining power for himself. Finally, Manta killed Arthur Curry, Jr., Aquaman's son, which left Aquaman in a depression but also obessessed with getting revenge against Black Manta.
The Black Manta later sold his soul to the demon Neron in exchange for more power, and transformed into a Manta/Man hybrid. He took to wearing a new costume that completely covered his appearance, and inexplicably stopped tormenting Aquaman and instead indulged in drug smuggling from his new base in Star City. Here, he was opposed by Green Arrow and Aquaman.
In a later confrontation, Aquaman, sporting the Lady of the Lake's Healing Hand, reversed Neron's 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. He was apparently killed by Aquaman in anger, after causing a disturbance in Sub Diego in which Captain Marley was severely injured. Aquaman summoned various predatory sea-life to attack Black Manta and left him for dead. He appears, however, in Villains United #1 and Infinite Crisis #7, even gracing the cover. Vice President—Executive Editor Dan DiDio later confirmed that he is not dead, as later he robs his former henchman Cal Durham of his authority on Sub Diego.
So for those sea divers, if you see a black figure while in deep sea, with glowing red eye, Swim fast like you've never swam before, coz the black manta's coming for you.
As an adult, he 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 previous 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.
Black Manta, The fearsome, 6'4" 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 man 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. During most of his appearances his main goals were defeating Aquaman and gaining power for himself. Finally, Manta killed Arthur Curry, Jr., Aquaman's son, which left Aquaman in a depression but also obessessed with getting revenge against Black Manta.
The Black Manta later sold his soul to the demon Neron in exchange for more power, and transformed into a Manta/Man hybrid. He took to wearing a new costume that completely covered his appearance, and inexplicably stopped tormenting Aquaman and instead indulged in drug smuggling from his new base in Star City. Here, he was opposed by Green Arrow and Aquaman.
In a later confrontation, Aquaman, sporting the Lady of the Lake's Healing Hand, reversed Neron's 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. He was apparently killed by Aquaman in anger, after causing a disturbance in Sub Diego in which Captain Marley was severely injured. Aquaman summoned various predatory sea-life to attack Black Manta and left him for dead. He appears, however, in Villains United #1 and Infinite Crisis #7, even gracing the cover. Vice President—Executive Editor Dan DiDio later confirmed that he is not dead, as later he robs his former henchman Cal Durham of his authority on Sub Diego.
So for those sea divers, if you see a black figure while in deep sea, with glowing red eye, Swim fast like you've never swam before, coz the black manta's coming for you.
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