Argentum Arms

image borrowed from bing

Argentum Arms

“To my great surprise, Twitter is not housed in a silver pod

that orbits the earth; no, it is in a bland building in San 

Francisco, next to a bowling alley.”--Susan Orlean

Silver is more than the Lone Ranger’s stallion,

more than mere coinage coatings, even

more than an alloy with gold, copper, zinc

and lead; much more, for Marvel Comics

has been drawn to its luster like a pack

of wild dogs chasing a wolf bitch in heat. 

From the Golden Age, through the Silver Age

of comics, the Marvel universe has been laced

with Silver, crowned with it, and many

of their super heroes have been forged

and fused with it, an amazing amalgam,

with characters coated & placed heavy into it

like beautiful & clunky Navaho jewelry.

My absolute favorite shining superhero,

drawn by Neal Adams, is the Silver Surfer,

of course; once just an eager young

astronomer, Norrin Radd, living on  Zenn-La,

who saved his homeworld from Galactus,

a planet devourer, by agreeing to become

his herald, to zoom through the cosmic

dust on his silver surfboard searching for

planets to consume--

until he came upon the Earth, 

met up with the Fantastic Four,

who helped him regain his humanity,

saving Terra Firma, betraying Galactus,

and being exiled on Earth for punishment. 

Silver Sable was a female mutant mercenary,

an acquaintance of Dr. Doom, who hunted

war criminals so relentlessly that she often

angered other superheroes, like Spider-Man

and Captain America. 

Silver Dagger was a former Cardinal in the Catholic

Church, who hunted demons with his magical

dagger, often went astray, and has fought

Spider-Man and Dr. Strange.

Silver Scorpion, Elizabeth Barstow, was a Golden Age

character who was a companion to the Human Torch. 

Silver Samurai, who just fought the Wolverine in his

latest film, is a Japanese mutant, who energizes

his sword & armor, who became a criminal,

and has fought Daredevil, Black Widow, and Spider-Man.

Silverclaw is a female mutant who is a reserve member

of the Avengers, named Maria, and has the power

to shape shift into several different were-forms. 

Silvermane has always been a super villain, 

and is a long time nemesis of Spider-Man,

and he has fought Daredevil, and Nick Fury.

Silver Scarab is a superhero named Hector Hall,

who is the son of Hawkman & Hawkgirl,

who became for a time the Sandman,

and then later Dr. Fate. 

Quicksilver is a mutant, the son of Magneto,

the twin brother to the Scarlet Witch, possessing

superhuman speed, and was recruited by

Iron Man to be a member of the New Avengers. 

I don’t know why the other Comics behemoth,

DC, never got as attached to silver superheroes,

but there probably is a good reason, like maybe

Jack Kirby would have punched them out,

or Stan Lee would have sued them. 

Glenn Buttkus

July 2013

Posted over on Poetry Jam  

Would you like to hear the author read this poem to you?