The Black Knight (Dane Whitman)

Created by writer Roy Thomas and artist John Busem, Dane Wittman first appears in The Avengers # 47 (December 1967) and becomes the heroic version of the Black Knight in the next issue, The Avengers # 48 (January 1967). He occasionally performed with the Avengers until he became one of their main members and appeared regularly in The Avengers # 254-297 (1985-1988). Whitman also appeared in his own limited series Black Knight # 1-4 (June-September 1990), written by Roy and Dan Thomas, and painted by Tony DeZuniga and Rich Buckler.

Dane Whitman, along with the other Black Knights, appeared in the production of Mystic Arcana: Black Knight (September 2007), written by Roy Thomas and illustrated by Tom Grammet and Scott Hannah, the second of four releases of the Mystic Arcana series.

The first appearance of Dane Wittman in the image of the Black Knight on the cover of The Avengers No. 48 (January 1968), artist George Taska

The nephew of the villain of the Black Knight named Nathan Garrett Dane Wittman was called by his uncle when he was mortally wounded after a fight with Iron Man . In his last words, his uncle confessed to him in his criminal life and invited Dane to restore the honor of the Black Knight's legacy.

At first, Dane hoped to use only his scientific knowledge to do good. However, his scientific experiments using magnetism to search for extraterrestrial life accidentally returned to Earth Magneto and Toad , which were considered lost in space. Magneto immediately began to re-form his Brotherhood, starting with the abduction of Mercury and the Scarlet Witch . Whitman put on his suit, took the Black Knight’s weapons and began to track Magneto, but ran into the Avengers , who mistook him for his uncle. The black knight helped the Avengers to take the right path, but broke up with them, annoyed by their distrust.

Dane Wittman, disguised as his uncle, joins the Lords of Evil, a team of supervillains assembled by the Red Hood. He hoped to infiltrate their ranks and try to contact the Avengers before the villains commit acts of violence, but was exposed. The Black Knight later tracked down the Lords of Evil and helped the Avengers defeat enemies. The heroes part on a warmer relationship, but Dane Wittman still continued to stay away.

Whitman went to England in the hope of selling the last legacy left from his uncle - Garrett Castle. There he contacted the spirit of his ancestor Sir Percy and Scandia, the first Black Knight, in the same way as his uncle did. However, in this case, Wittmann was worthy to pull the Ebony blade out of the scabbard. With his help, he defeated the demonic guardian of the sword, and later, Le Saber, modern agent Modred, the enemy of Sir Percy.

Returning to America, the Black Knight through Victoria Bentley meets Archmage Dr. Strange . They fight together against the villain Tiboro, and later together with the Avengers - against the fiery demon Surtur and the ice giant Ymir.

The Black Knight met again with the Avengers when they turned out to be Kang the Conqueror pawns in his game with the Grandmaster. The Black Knight managed to defeat Kang and send the Avengers back to the present. In gratitude, the Avengers offered him team membership, Dane agreed to a reserve status, since at that time he lived in England.

Over time, Whitman began to feel the curses of the Ebon Blade, which makes him more violent and bloodthirsty. When he nearly killed two thieves who stole jewelry, the Black Knight tried to end the curse by destroying the blade. The quest led him to the magical dimension of Polemachus , but he was captured by Arkon and the Enchantress Amora. The enchantress warns the Avengers about the fate of the knight through the Scarlet Witch's dream and convinces Arkon to fight the superheroes, in the hope that they will be defeated. In battle, the Black Knight loses the Ebon Blade, thinking that it has been destroyed. As a result, Arcon, making sure the heroes are right, leaves the Enchantress and sends Whitman and the Avengers home.

In fact, the ebony blade survived and was lost in time. Once on Olympus, it fell into the hands of Ares , who, having teamed up with the Enchantress, launched an attack on Olympus. Having learned about this, the Black Knight gathered the Avengers, the heroes stopped Ares, returned the Ebon Blade and placed the Enchantress in custody. However, Amora escaped and fell into a dimension controlled by another Asgardian sorceress Kassiolena, whom the Executioner served. Caxiolena attacks Garrett Castle, where the Defenders were at that time. The heroes defeated Kasiolena, and the Enchantress and the Executioner took flight, but Amora managed to turn the Black Knight into stone. Horse Aragorn at that time began to use the Valkyrie.

Dr. Strange takes Witman's body to him in the hope of someday breaking the curse. In the end, he manages to communicate with the spirit of the Black Knight, lost in an anonymous dimension. Meanwhile, the demon Dormammu arranged a competition between the Avengers and the Defenders for the Evil Eye, a powerful magical artifact, the only one that could save the Black Knight. Dormammu almost destroyed the universe before it was defeated. The Evil Eye was never able to return the Black Knight, and he falls into the XII century during the Crusades .

With the help of Merlin's spell during the death of Camelot , Wittmann's spirit infuses the body of his ancestor, Eobar Harrington, also known as the Black Knight. Witman thus gets the opportunity to track down the villain Modred, who killed Harrington. Merlin's spell also led the Defenders, who helped counter Modred, his allies, and the army. Ultimately, Whitman decided to stay in the past, fighting in the Crusades on behalf of King Richard , and the Defenders returned home.

After the Crusades, the High Druid of Avalon Amergin joined the Black Knight, protecting the areas of Avalon from the attack of Fomorov, the generic enemies of the English gods who would like to use Avalon to invade Earth. At Wittmann’s suggestion, Amergin use his modern descendant, Doctor Druid, to call for the help of the Avengers. They hoped to use the Evil Eye to absorb enough energy to close the portal between the Earth and Avalon. The black knight was forced to use the Eye, while destroying his body. Dr. Druid returned the Avengers to modern Earth and, using his last powers, restored the stone body of Dane Wittmann, turning him back into a living person. Witman also introduced a new winged horse, Valinor.

The black knight began to try to adapt in modern life, although much has changed in his absence. Victoria Bentley became a custodian of the castle of Garrett, acquired by her during the years when Dane participated in the Crusades to prevent the British government from seizing property for tax evasion. Whitman also took under his wing the young Irish orphan, Sean Dolan, becoming his guardian and mentor. However, over time, Whitman began to experience madness and bloodthirstiness. Dr. Strange found that the Ebon Blade was cursed for its original owner, Sir Percy of Scandia, to shed blood when he owned the blade. Dr. Strange made contact and turned to the spirit of Sir Percy to be in the blade, and thus removed the curse. During this period, Valinor lost his wings and Whitman stopped using it.

The black knight returned to America, where he again became an active participant. His new vehicle was the mechanical Atomic Horse. When the member of the Avengers, the amphibian girl Marrin underwent a transformation into a huge sea monster resembling the mythical Leviathan , and began to sink ships and destroy the underwater world of Atlantis , the Avengers began hunting for her, but Marrina Namor's husband took the Ebon Blade from Witman and pierced his wife with it. Whitman immediately felt the effect of the blood curse on the blade, whose influence slowly turned it into a living continuation of the blade. Thus, he began to cut people and objects that he touched, and gradually it became increasingly difficult for him to move.

The black knight was forced to leave the Avengers in the company of his teammate Thor , who hoped to find a cure for Wittmann's condition in the Asgard region. However, at that time, Asgard was drawn into the struggle with the Egyptian death god Seth and his army. Ultimately, Thor used the Black Knight's curse to kill Seth. Then Thor returned the body of the knight back to Earth, handing it over to Doctor Strange. Dane Whitman was restored thanks to the joint efforts of the magician, his friends Victoria Bentley and Sean Dolan and the spirit of Sir Percy.

Soon, the Black Knight returned to the Avengers, leaving the Ebon Blade, exchanging it for a high-tech laser sword. Whitman became one of the most prominent team members, and even acted as an unofficial field leader. He became more ruthless than before, which was reflected in the desire to kill an alien creature named the Higher Mind for his role in fueling the war between Kriy and Skrulls . Over time, he began to neglect his squire Sean Dolan and Victoria Bentley.

Sean Dolan later used the Ebony Blade, becoming obsessed with it and turning into a demonic entity called the Blood Ghost, killing Victoria Bentley and stealing Valinor's horse. Wiman defeated the Blood Ghost, but Dolan fled, becoming one of Wittmann's most fierce enemies.

The black knight soon found himself in a love triangle between his two teammates, the representative of the Inhumans Crystal race and the representative of the Eternal Sercy race. Dane was in love with Crystal, the former wife of Mercury , but was also very attracted to the mentally unstable Sercy, who was madly in love with him and made Dane mentally communicate with her. When Mercury returned to the team and seemed ready to make peace with Crystal, Wittmann selflessly abandoned his feelings for her. Around the same time, the Avengers were attacked by Proctor, a version of Wittmann from another dimension, who was determined to kill Sercy in revenge for what her version in his reality did to him. The black knight helped defeat Proctor and resigned himself to expelling Sercy to another dimension, as her growing psychic instability made her too dangerous to stay on Earth.

During her adventures in other dimensions, Sercy regained her emotional stability and Dane spent some time with a team called Ultrasila , even becoming its leader. He and Sercy finally decided to return to their world, although they managed to do it after an accidental trip during the Crusades, during which Wittmann earned the friendship and enmity of Bennett du Paris, obsessed with the thirst for power of a knight who survived in the modern world as a mutant Terrorist Leader, leader of the Ministers. Upon returning to the modern world, Dane and Sercy parted. The Avengers were temporarily dissolved at the time the Black Knight found a new home and new job at Oracle Incorporated , joining the new Heroes Hire team. Around the same time, Dane contacted the Lady of the Lake , who informed him that he was destined to become the champion of Avalon , the mystical Celtic region. The Lady of the Lake gave the knight a new magical winged horse named Strider and a mystical weapon for the battle with evil in the name of Avalon.

The Black Knight continued the battle with evil as part of the Heroes for Hire and as an inactive member of the Avengers until the Heroes for Hire were disbanded. On one of the missions, they encountered humanoid animals created by the Higher Evolutionary on Mount Vundagore. The black knight chose to stay on Wundagor and lead these “New Men” as knights of Wundagore.

Whitman later separated from the New People in order to join his fellow Avengers on various adventures. One of these adventures led the Black Knight to the country of Slorenia, where a bloody ghost raged. The knight hoped to stay in Slorenia and finally defeat the Blood Ghost, but he returned to the Avengers during the war against Kang , who almost managed to take over the Earth, after the battle with Kang, the Black Knight again broke up with the Avengers.

The Black Knight later joined MI-13 during the Secret Invasion . He thought he was armed with an ebony blade, but later it turned out that it was a fake, created by Dracula , with intelligence and eating blood. It was shown that Whitman literally had a stone heart, donated to him by Sercy to guard him. Dane fought with the Skrulls in London , where he began a romance with the physician Faiza Hussein, who after the war with the Skrulls made him his squire. Together they travel to Wakanda to pick up a real Ebony blade from Queen Ororo , but Whitman still keeps Dracula's fake.

Dane Whitman is a skilled fighter without weapons, an excellent swordsman and rider. Although he specializes in physics, he also has a wide range of knowledge in other advanced sciences and technologies, including genetics and mechanical engineering. Dane Whitman has strong strategic and tactical skills.

When Dane Whitman touches his mystical pendant and invokes the name of Avalon, he calls up his knightly outfit and horse. Armor and weapons are very light, but supernaturally strong. His Night Shield not only protects him from most attacks, but also absorbs energy directed against him. He can then release this supply of energy in the form of powerful explosions from his Sword of Light .

Also at different times, Dane Wittman owned various weapons, including the legendary Ebony Blade , a power spear and a laser sword.

Ebony Blade

The ebony blade created by the wizard Merlin is an unbreakable enchanted sword forged with magic from a meteorite that fell to Earth in the Middle Ages. It can cut through any substance with the exception of adamantium , as well as reflect energy and penetrate energy fields, including those created by mystical forces. Its owner can also transport the blade to himself through a magical connection. The ebony blade was enchanted with a “curse of blood”, so if its owner used the blade for unworthy killings, he would be forced to use his sword to shed extremely much blood. After Whitman decided that the curse would never be lifted and stopped using this weapon, his former apprentice Sean Dolan became a murderous Blood Ghost under the influence of a blade.

Power Spear

Wittmann's original weapon was his power lance, a device created on the basis of his uncle's designs. Это копьё оснащенно различным скрытым оружием, в том числе проектором тепловых и силовых лучей и устройством для выпуска газа в целях отвлечения противников. Витаман очень редко использовал копье после того, как стал владеть различными мечами.

Лазерный меч

Лазерный меч, известный также как нейтронный меч или фотонный меч, это портативное устройство, которое генерирует «клинки» света, это лезвие может быть скорректировано с различными настройками, в том числе проникающим лазером, который может прорезать почти любое вещество и нематериальный энергетический столб, а также может нарушить нервную систему жертвы, не причиняя ей физических повреждений.

В разное время Дэйн Витман ездил на различных конях: Арагорне, Валиноре, атомном коне и Страйдере.

Арагорн

Арагорн это конь, которому Дэйн дал крылья и способность летать с помощью технологии генной инженерии, созданной его уголовным дядей. При первой поездке Дэйна во времени в эпоху крестовых походов, он был разделён с Арагорном, и конь был взят Валькирией Брунгильдой и остался под её стражей с благословения Дэйна.

Валинор

Во время пребывания в двенадцатом веке, Дэйн завладел крылатым конём по имени Валинор. Но позже Валинор был украден Кровавым призраком .

Атомный конь

В течение некоторого времени, Дэйн использовал атомного коня, один из механических летательных аппаратов рыцарей Высшего Эволюционера из Вандагоры. С тех пор он отказался от него, хотя и оставил его на хранение в Особняке Мстителей, где он был использован Мечником .

Страйдер

Крылатый конь Страйдер был получен Дэйном от Владычицы Озера с условием того, что он снова станет Чёрным рыцарем. Страйдер может летать на больших скоростях и даже способен путешествовать под водой. Дэйн, пока сидит верхом, приобретает способность дышать независимо от окружающий его среды.

Зомби Marvel

Во вселенной Marvel Zombies Дэйн Витман становится одним из десятков зомби, которые осадили замок Доктора Дума .

Проктор

Проктор — версия Дэйна Витмана на Земле-374 . Он является лидером «Собирателей», группы, которую он создает в результате того, что в этой вселенной Серси отвергает его. Целью создания команды является убийство ради мести всех версий Серси по мультивселенной Marvel . Его миссия приводит его к Земле Мстителей, где он пытается завоевать любовь Магдалины и проникнуть к Мстителям. В конце своей конфронтации с Мстителями он пронзает себя Эбеновым лезвием, но умудряется спастись.

Animated

• Дэйн Витман появляется в качестве камео в серии «Приход Завоевателя» мультсериала « Мстители: Могучие герои Земли », где защищает Лондон от захватчиков Канга.

Video Games

• Чёрный рыцарь является игровым персонажем в игре « Avengers in Galactic Storm ».

• BT Lupack. Adapting the Arthurian legends for children: essays on Arthurian juvenalia. — ISBN 1-4039-6296-0 .
• AF Howey and SR Reimer. A bibliography of modern Arthuriana. — ISBN 1-84384-068-5 .

• Дэйн Витман на Marvel.com
• Дэйн Витман на Сomicvine.com
• Дэйн Витман на СomicBookDB.com