| Publisher: | Marvel Comics |
| Debut: | The Amazing Spider-Man #265 (1985) |
| Creators: | Gregory Wright Steve Butler Jim Sanders |
| Base: | Wild Pack Headquarters, Symkaria Symkarian Embassy, New York City |
| Members: | Known Members |
| Subcat: | Marvel Comics |
| Hero: | y |
The Wild Pack is a fictional mercenary team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team is led by Silver Sable.
The Wild Pack first appears in The Amazing Spider-Man #265 and was created by Gregory Wright, Steve Butler, and Jim Sanders.
The Wild Pack is first formed by Silver Sable's father, Ernst Sablinovia, for the apprehension of international criminals, and the recovery of stolen property for a wide spectrum of clients, from major insurance companies to small nations.[1] As a young girl, Silver Sable witnesses her mother's death at the hands of terrorists and it is then that she becomes determined to take over leadership of the group.[2] She joins her father's team at the age of 17 and is soon promoted to second-in-command. Later, her father embarks alone to track down his wife's killer. Silver and the Wild Pack catch up with him, in time to see the villain kill her father and escape with the body. Believing her father dead, Sable assumes command of the Wild Pack.[3]
When the number of war criminals declines, Sable turns her Wild Pack toward other activities and begins selling her services around the world. The group eventually gains the approval of the Symkarian government and in fact becomes the major source of outside income for Symkaria.[4] While typically composed of elite mercenary soldiers, Sable would occasionally hire superhuman freelance operatives to serve on the Pack such as Paladin,[5] Prowler,[6] Rocket Racer, and Sandman.[7] Alternatively, Sable has twice formed elite versions of the Wild Pack, composed of superhuman agents — first with the Outlaws,[8] and later, the Intruders.[9] Sable has also been known to parcel smaller-scale contracts to reduced versions of the Wild Pack such as the Delta Team.[10]
Once, Silver Sable steps down from leadership of the Wild Pack. This was during a period of soul-searching after Silver Sable is believed to be pregnant, although this is actually due to a computer error. During this time, the Wild Pack is led by Sable's father who had not died, but was rescued from his captors by Sable and the Wild Pack. As Sable monitors the team's progress however, she feels compelled to step in and take an active hand in leadership once more, stating that the team is like a family to her and is where she belongs.[11]
More recently, the Wild Pack has become more and more unstable. The elite agents who have worked with Silver Sable for a long time have gone their separate ways. Sable is left to lead a team that is becoming increasingly lazy and incompetent. After four unsuccessful missions and the betrayal of several agents, Silver Sable decides that the group has become too broken and fractured to maintain. Bringing her agents together one last time, Silver Sable informs them that she is going into retirement and that the Pack themselves will be dissolved.[12]
Sable and the Wild Pack cross paths with many heroes over the years, such as Hawkeye,[13] Le Peregine and Spider-Man. After a number of encounters with superhuman agents, vigilantes and enemies, Sable begins to use them in future assignments. Later, Sable decides to create an elite version of the Wild Pack, the Outlaws. The Outlaws feature Sable associates Prowler, Puma, Rocket Racer, Sandman and Will o' the Wisp. They encounter Excalibur in the course of their adventures[14] but are soon disbanded in favor of the traditional Wild Pack.[15]
Silver Sable continues to lead her Wild Pack in mercenary endeavors. She also hires the hero Battlestar to serve on the team. When the team begins attracting superhuman associates such as the Fin and Man-Eater, Sable forms another elite offshoot of the Wild Pack called the Intruders. Sandman leads the Intruders, which includes Fin, Lightbright, Man-Eater and Paladin. They often engage in assignments independently of the Wild Pack. Although the team never officially disbands, the Intruders are presumably dissolved by Silver Sable several months later.
Silver Sable later resurfaced following her apparent death and has reformed the Wild Pack to help her against Countess Katrina Karkov who has allied with Norman Osborn and his Goblin Army. This team consists of Foxtrot, Juliet, Romeo, Tango, and X-Ray.[16]
During the "Venom War" storyline, Silver Sable is persuaded by Dominic Fortune to reactivate the Wild Pack following their Istanbul job. When called in by Liz Allan to help deal with the Zombiotes unleashed by Meridius (a possible future version of Eddie Brock), Silver Sable assembles a team consisting of Lightbright, Puma, Tarantula, Carl Strickland, Lina Abbas, and Navvab Tadjvar. When they enter the Life Foundation building, the Wild Pack are attacked by some Zombiotes. Silver Sable activates the Lethal Protector mode of their special high-tech armbands that enables them to be possessed by their assigned symbiotes. Carl Strickland gets possessed by the Phage Symbiote, Puma gets possessed by the Riot Symbiote, Tarantula gets possessed by the Lasher Symbiote, Navvab gets possessed by the Agony Symbiote, Lightbright gets possessed by the Scream Symbiote, and Lina gets possessed by the Flicker Symbiote. When Navvab gets bitten by a Zombiote and Agony abandons him, Navvab explodes taking out a lot of Zombiotes in the process. Silver Sable explains that it's part of a failsafe if the host becomes unresponsive. Silver Sable then gets possessed by the Agony symbiote as she briefly gets a transmission from Meridius not to interfere.[17]
The Wild Pack appear in the Ultimate Marvel imprint series Ultimate Spider-Man (2000), led by Silver Sable and consisting of Chen, Powell, and Quentino. Throughout their appearances, they hunt Spider-Man and Venom.[24] [25]