Who's Who in the Superman Comics

Intergang

Intergang is a nationwide crime syndicate formerly head quartered in Metropolis. Run at various times by Morgan Edge, Ugly Mannheim, Boss Moxie, and once taken control of by Luthor, Intergang has displayed many faces through the years of its existence. Intergang was brought up to date by Morgan Edge (with considerable backing from Darkseid of Apokolips) shortly after Superman arrived in Metropolis. This timing was carefully planned to take full advantage of Lex Luthor's devotion of more and more of LexCorp's assets towards curtailing the Kryptonian that had entered 'his' city. Intergang found a niche from where they could make a grab for power. A vast variety of crimes plagued the streets only to be stopped from time to time by Superman and the Metropolis Police Department.

One step behind Intergang as Superman, Clark Kent turned to the journalist side of his persona to attempt to attack the core of the problem. While Kent's stories did not hamper Intergang's activities in a large way at the beginning, Morgan Edge finally decided that Kent knew too much and that he needed to be silenced. Luthor's life was also threatened by Intergang at a news conference and Kent, not able to perform as Superman in the crowd of reporters, foiled the gunman's aim causing a misfire and saving Luthor's life. Luthor later realized from news clips that Kent was the reporter that saved his life. Before he could repay him though, Intergang hit Kent's apartment. A group of Wallcrawers entered the apartment and killed the individual they found there (SUP #28). Unfortunately for Edge, this was the point in Superman's career that he exiled himself to space for killing the three extra-dimentional Kryptonian Supervillains. Edge, who of course had no idea that Kent and Superman were one and the same, thought the job done. No more exposes from Clark Kent.

Luthor, furious that Kent was killed before he could repay him, pledged to find his killers and dispose of them personally (ADV #451). Later, when Kent magically appeared back on the scene (ADV #454) it was realized that the person in the apartment that night was a private detective named Matthew Stockton who had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. At the time, Stockton was working for Amanda McCoy who was trying to tie facts together to prove Superman and Kent were in fact the same person. Stockton's resemblance to Kent was what got him killed. Kent wasn't the only target of Intergang's hit men. Kent continued pushing out the articles left and right to the extreme anger of Morgan Edge. He had no idea how Kent could have so much information on the running of Intergang. A 'Page One' expose by Lois Lane takes Edge to the brink. A call to Mannheim calmed his nerves as Mannheim promised that a thug by the name of Turmoil was coming to Metropolis to help matters. His nerves were shaken once again as shortly after he left his conversation with Mannheim, Darkseid called from Apokolips. Darkseid assured Edge that Turmoil would be enough to deal with two problematic reporters and the newly revealed Intergang mole, Cat Grant.

Complicating matters at this point was the fact that the Clark Kent that was in Metropolis was not Kent but in fact Matrix, the shapeshifter Superman brought back with him from the alternate Earth. While Superman was in outer space, Matrix took it upon herself to help out by taking on Kent's identity. Edge began to lose his nerve as innocent bystanders were being killed as a result of Turmoil's assassination attempt on Lane's life (ADV #456). The destruction continued until Superman made his return to Earth in the nick of time. He makes short work of Turmoil and confronts Edge in his control room. Edge is so worked up that as he's about to spill his guts to Superman he has a heart attack and keels over (ACT #643).

Edge, in critical condition is considered to be a liability Intergang doesn't need. Mannheim assumes leadership and makes the decision to take Edge out of the picture. During everything that transpires on Earth, as Edge lies in a coma, he undergoes a communication of some sort with the Black Racer and Metron who lead him before Darkseid. It is then that Edge realizes that he was conned by Desaad posing as the Lord of Apokolips (SUP #35). When Mannheim's agent fails and Edge recovers, he finds out that in his absence, his father, Vincent Edge had been reinstated to the board of Galaxy Communications, much to his dismay (SUP #42).

In a private communication from Mannheim, Morgan discussed his trial defense and orders Mannheim to start no new Intergang activities. Mannheim obeys to the letter, instead of initiating any new action, he reopens the files on Kent, Lane, and Grant. Grant ex-husband wants Cat to be protected during the extent of the Morgan Edge trial and so hires Joe Delgado, aka Gangbuster, for the job. Intergang flunkies of all sorts try and nab Grant for their boss. Blindspot tries to ambush Delgado, Grant, and her son Adam on the streets of Metropolis. Detective Slam Bradley, MPD was there to help in the fight and Superman finished things by neutralizing Blindspot. Chiller and Shockwave are dispatched by Mannheim to take up where Blindspot failed. They accomplish this by taking Delgado out of the picture before trying to hit Grant. Chiller takes the form of Grant and distracts Delgado while Shockwave brings the building down around them. Chiller assumes Delgado's form and takes an unsuspecting Grant from her apartment and into Intergang's hands (ADV #467).

Meanwhile on an expansive estate owned by Luthor, Intergang makes a diversionary hit on Lane and Kent to keep Superman away from their other activities with Grant and Delgado. Wallcrawlers descend on the estate unknowingly getting themselves into more trouble than they bargained for. Turns out that not only Superman shows up to thwart the attempt, Batman, in town on separate business, brings the lot of would be assassins down. While Grant is captures, Mannheim has decided that her life would be better served by providing testimony to the detriment of the prosecution. With the expertise of Dr. Moon, they plan to reprogram Grant's recollections. Superman and Batman are there once again to free Grant and take another cell of Intergang into custody. With this latest failure, Mannheim decides that it is time to cut Intergang's losses and let Edge take the fall. Edge is found guilty and sentenced to a lengthy prison term (ACT #654).

Intergang has many money laundering fronts but none was as productive as Happyland Amusement Park. Designed by the warped genius of Thaddius Killgrave and Winslow Percival Schott. (aka Toyman) Every cent of illegal income Intergang accrues is funnelled through the facility. Unknown to Intergang, a being of considerable evil already lurks below Happyland by the name of Sleez. After children go missing, Schott rebels and helps Superman locate and stop Sleez from his rein of terror (ADV #475).

Superman encounters a vigilante made of the same caliber that Gangbuster displays, one he thought was in retirement. The Thorn has already made a name for herself by taking down several old crime families in Metropolis. With Intergang increasing their holdings, Thorn felt that it was time again for her return.

Intergang got their hands dirty during the strike at the Daily Planet, inciting rioters to violence. A few thugs were caught and through conversations, Clark Kent got names that he needed to follow up and expose Intergang. Following a few employees in the know, he was lead right to Gillespie at Happyland. Without using his powers, (because of the bet made with Lois Lane) he snatched Gillespie's briefcase and was aided in his escape by the arrival of Agent Liberty. After making his getaway, Kent examines the contents of the briefcase and finds everything he needs to nail the coffin down on Intergang. He makes a call to Collin Thornton, CEO of Newtime, and presents the story to him because of the strike at the Daily Planet. Thornton cannot believe his eyes, after scanning the investigative report he immediately makes a call to his presses at the New York Bulge to get the story out in the morning edition (SUP #60).

Kent's story leads to a snowball effect of police raids on Intergang strongholds across the nation. Superman, with a surprise assist by Agent Liberty, tackles a final Intergang drug shipment at Metropolis Harbor. There they find Mannheim and Gillespie and a score of their henchman. After Mannheim realizes that Gillespie is the source of the information leak, however accidental, he attempts to kill him. He turns to confront Superman and we learn that Mannheim is actually from Apokolips, producing Apokoliptian Bio-Armor strong enough to go a few rounds with Big Blue. After a quick tussle, Superman is victorious and Mannheim is imprisoned at Stryker's Island. Intergang is taken down (SUP #60).

While Superman encounters minor pockets of resistance from some Intergang lackeys still in operation, Gillespie is in serious condition from Mannheim's beating. An Intergang operative, disguised as a nurse pays him a visit and he orders the elimination of Mannheim. Mannheim actually planned for this eventuality by telling the DA that he would trade information for a plea bargain. When the robot Purge came to Stryker's to silence Mannheim, it encountered Superman. The robot sprouts new arms as Superman pulls the first two off. While Superman moves the fight away from the prison, the arms come alive and move against Mannheim. At the same instant Mannheim's power damper collar is broken, Superman stops Purge leaving the technology enclosed in the arms in Mannheim's custody. Mannheim used the technology to draw enough energy to the arms to open a boom tube. Stepping through the dimensional portal, he left Stryker's Island behind and emerged at Outpost #12, a site that only he knew about.

Unfortunately for Mannheim, at the request of Superman Emil Hamilton had broken the code at another outpost and pinpointed Mannheim's location from the energy surges. Superman was there in an instant. Finding Mannheim with a nuclear device, Superman immediately goes on the offensive and tries to take Mannheim out quick. During the encounter Mannheim breaks away and activates a boom tube for his escape. Just as he's going through the tube, Superman used his heat vision to fry the controls and shut down the bridging circuit. All that was left of Mannheim after his horrible scream was a pile of ash (ACT #673). Intergang's back broken the organization sinks from view for many years. Vincent Edge, former head of WGBS Communications, brought all the leaders of the Metropolis gang world together to form another Intergang under the direction of someone he thought to be the father of the first Intergang, Boss Moxie. Unfortunately for Edge, Moxie betrayed him and used an older genetic copy of himself as a bomb and murdered all of his competition in one stroke. He even had Noose finish Edge off as an afterthought. Through the twisted genetic manipulation of Dabney Donovan, this Intergang is brought to a new level by resurrecting the great gangsters from the past. All of these creations have the special talents of the individuals programmed into them. While Boss Moxie is the designated leader of this motley group, he has help. Assisting him in his endeavors are Mike 'Machine' Gunn, Roughhouse, Noose, and Torcher. When Lois Lane brings the light to some of their recent operations, Moxie sends Roughhouse and Torcher to pay her a visit. The fire was set for maximum smoke and minimum flame clearly done by a professional and also a clear message to Lane to keep away from this new Intergang. After the assault makes the news and Jimmy Olsen, now a television reporter for WGBS, goes back over his footage, he attempts to put two and two together and expose the fact that Superman has a secret identity. After bringing Clark Kent and Lois Lane onto his Superman Special Report, he planned to reveal Superman's secret to the world. After a thought provoking commentary by Clark, Jimmy decides that he should have really thought about his decision to expose this secret simply for ratings for WGBS. In the end, he decides to claim that Superman is really no one and that why would he even have a secret identity. Unfortunately for Olsen, Boss Moxie has other ideas. After moving against the Guardian to have Donovan fashion himself a mole into Cadmus, he turns his attention to Olsen. He has the inkling that Olsen DOES know who Superman is and is keeping it to himself.

Intergang goes after Olsen in full force, sending Torcher, Noose, and Roughhouse and Machine Gunn out to pick him from his apartment. Therein begins a series of chases Olsen always seeming to keep one step ahead of the group. Olsen flees to the Wild Area where a battle between the Outsiders and Intergang erupts over Olsen. Meanwhile as Intergang is occupied elsewhere, Morgan Edge enters the scene asking assistance from Desaad in controlling Metropolis. Desaad agrees to loan Edge a detachment of Parademons to do his bidding. Edge uses them to send a warning to both Boss Moxie and Lex Luthor. While Superman Blue is there to help Luthor, the Parademons sent after Moxie appear in the Wild Area in the midst of the fight between Intergang and the Outsiders. The Hairies enter the fray and save Olsen, the Parademons are called off by Desaad, and the Intergang group detaches itself from the Outsiders group and flees back to Metropolis. One of the Parademons makes a stop depositing Hairies technology into Edge's hands (MOS #73). Intergang on a search for new equipment, raids several scientific facilities. They come into contact with Dr Mensa, Luthor's top geneticist and take her hostage. At her own behest, she begins working with Donovan, perfecting the equipment stolen from the labs. Moxie wants more from Luthor and decides to attempt a trade with Luthor. Luthor would retain his top geneticist and Intergang would gain a supplier of anything they required through LexCorp. Luthor declines to do things Moxie's way and after a short battle, Luthor, triumphant, agrees to supply Intergang, but with himself as the head of the organization (ADV #552).

Superman Red stumbles onto Intergang as they are busy taking care of their own business with the Skin Man. During the fight, the Skin Man is apparently killed by Roughhouse as he was attempting to kill Moxie. While the group is distracted by the death, Superman Red forms an energy cage around them and takes them into custody. Jimmy Olsen and Misa of the Hairies, who were with Superman Red when he discovered Intergang came into view of the cage, Moxie grew furious at his presence. Misa, just wanting to help out shoots Olsen with a light ray that while it appeared to disintegrate Olsen, only rendered him invisible to Moxie and his thugs. Superman red turns Moxie, Machine Gunn, Torcher, Noose and Roughhouse over to the Special Crimes Unit and once again an incarnation of Intergang is brought down (ACT #743).

Later Intergang has once again surfaced. Superman learned of their operations in Bludhaven when Nightwing visited Metropolis on an assignment. It seemed that Intergang had set its sights on Bludhaven as a possible base of operations. In Bludhaven the orchestrator was a man called Dudley Soames. In Metropolis, their contact was a man by the name of Bendelwhite. Bendelwhite must have fallen out of favor with his superiors, because an Intergang unit by the name of Ferrous was sent out to silence him. Through the intervention of Superman and Nightwing, the assassination attempt was foiled and the three Ferrous operatives and Bendelwhite went off to Stryker's Island. No matter what Superman or Nightwing did, the captives would not even admit to knowing what 'Intergang' refers to. Nightwing left them a message to stay out of Bludhaven and Superman backed him up by stating that if he had to, he would make Intergang turn tail once again (ACT #771).

Superman isn't the only dedicated foe of the criminal organization. Batman, Mister Miracle, and even the entire Justice League has repeatedly battled Intergang over time. With Gotham City being a leading center of commerce, the Caped Crusader has opposed Intergang more than once. Steelhand, a former leader of Intergang, assassinated the original Mister Miracle, and then met his end when he tried to terminate Scott Free - who cemented his mantle to the Mister Miracle identity.

Another hero that has always been a thorn in Intergang's side has made an appearance in Metropolis. (Pardon the pun) Thorn resurfaced and is taking the fight to the streets. She is fighting crime and spreading the message that with her back, the underworld should be wary (ADV #585).

First Appearance: Forever People #1 (February 1988)



Who's Who in the Superman Comics

Introduction

This is a listing of many of the notable characters and a few places that have appeared in the Superman comics from the 1986 revamp up until around 2008.

NOTE: A new, and more current version of the Who's Who is currently being worked on and can be accessed by clicking here.

Although Superman often appears in other DC Comics, this text's information is limited mainly to what has occurred in the regular Superman comics.

Many thanks to Scotty V, Derrick Lyle Coleman, Dean Vanek, Genevieve Clemens and Benjamin Grose who all helped out at one time or another with writing and updating these Who's Who descriptions.

The listings are displayed as follows:

  • Surname, Firstname - Text describing the character, place, object, etc...

Relevant issues of the Superman comics are listed as such:
  • SUP = Superman
  • MOS = Man of Steel
  • AOS = Adventures of Superman
  • ACT = Action Comics
  • MOT = Man of Tomorrow

The Issue Number for each of these titles is written in this manner: “#000”. (e.g. SUP #123)

“First Appearance” refers to the issue since 1986 unless otherwise noted.



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