Maggia (Earth-616)

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Maggia
Name	Maggia
Aliases	Five Families, Syndicate, Undermob
Members
Current Member(s)	Blackie, Phil Bradshaw (Earth-616), Caesar Cicero, Man Mountain Marko, Ace, Bruno, Danny, Mojo, Silvio, Vito
Former Member(s)	Jason Dean, Simon Marshall Moran, Roak, Joey Tartaglione Turk
Affiliation and Identity
Identity	Public
Enemies	Avengers, Captain America, Daredevil, Defenders, Dragon Lords, Fantastic Four, Gambit, Hawkeye, Hulk, Iron Man, Luke Cage, Nomad, S.H.I.E.L.D, Silver Sable, Spider-Man, Thing, Thor, Thunderbolts, X-Men, Mister Negative and his confederates (Snakeheads, etc)
Origin and Status
Status	Active
Reality	Earth-616
Base of Operations	Global, though primarily centered in the United States
Place of Formation	Southern Europe
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Stan Lee, Don Heck
First	Avengers #13 (December, 1964)
First	Avengers #13 (December, 1964)

History

The Maggia is an international crime syndicate. Unlike other prominent criminal organizations (Hydra, AIM) the Maggia are not involved with any subversive activities.

The Maggia is not a single organization but is instead comprised of many independent "families." The Maggia also has affiliations with other criminal groups such as Boss Morgan's organization in Harlem. Several "families" are based in the New York area. Three of these families have come to preeminence:

The Silvermane Family: Led by Silvio "Silvermane" Manfredi, this group conducts its activities along traditional Maggia lines, and is heavily involved with the drug trade. Silvermane uses unusual scientific means only for the personal goal of staving off his own death, and not for the family's activities. Although Silvermane has a son, Joseph, once known as Blackwing, his successor as family head will probably be his longtime rival, top Maggia lawyer Caesar "Big C" Cicero. It is unclear whether or not Silvermane has again assumed control of his organization since being turned into a cyborg.

The Hammerhead Family: This family was initially lead by a man known only as "Top Man". His family clashed with the Fantastic Four when they attempted to legally gain ownership of the Baxter Building in order to gain the advanced technology inside. When the Fantastic Four defeated the Top Man, his ownership claims the Baxter Building were dismissed by the courts, and he was assassinated on order of his own family due to his failure. The family then sought a new leader who would direct operations along more traditional lines, and chose a newcomer known as Hammerhead, an amnesiac with an Adamantium skull and an affinity for 1930s gangster films. Hammerhead bases his methods, and even his personality, on these movies.

The Nefaria Family: This group bears little resemblance to the rest of the Maggia. Italian nobleman, Count Luchino Nefaria, a scientific genius, was the world's most powerful Maggia leader until his initial defeat by the Avengers. Afterwards he moved his base of operations to the New York City area, and then imprisoned Washington, D.C. within an impenetrable force-dome and held it for ransom. After his defeat and capture, his daughter Giuletta Nefaria, also known as Whitney Frost, succeeded him as family head and led an unsuccessful attempt to capture the advanced weaponry of Tony Stark. She was eventually succeeded by a costumed criminal, the Masked Marauder, who demanded complete control of New York City or else he would detonate a nuclear device there. After his capture, the family again apparently came under control of Whitney Frost, by then known as Madame Masque. Contrary to standard Maggia practice, the Nefaria family principally consisted of men under 40, has employed futuristic weaponry and even robots (like the Dreadnoughts), as well as costumed super-powered agents (Unicorn, Whiplash, Gladiator, etc.), and has launched open attacks on society. Its leader is always known as "Big M."

The Costa Family: Headed by Frank Costa and his brother, Bruno, this clan was involved in a drug dealing operation arranged by San Lorenzo diplomat Hector Montoya. The deal eventually led to the execution of Forrest Hunt and the resultant Castle family massacre (Bruno, along with hitmen Byron Hannigan, Leon Kolsky, Luis Allegre and Matt Skinner were responsible). Billy Russo also worked as a hitman for the Costas, before turning into Jigsaw after Frank Castle, by then known as the Punisher, disfigured him. Eventually, the entire family was wiped out when the Punisher attacked their headquarters in Punta Verde, Florida. Frank and Bruno Costa were both killed by Audrey, a Maggia hitwoman disguised as a hooker, for their failure towards the organization. It was later revealed Frank Costa was actually a facade for the demon Olivier, whom arranged Frank Castle's family to be killed as a means to turn him into the Punisher, whom Olivier employed as a "soul collector" until his defeat at the hands of the vigilante and the angel Gadriel.

There are many other Maggia "families" in the United States and Europe which do not employ superhuman agents.

Various criminals have attempted to unify the American East Coast's independent criminal groups so as to compete with the Maggia domination of organized crime. The most successful of these has been the Kingpin.

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Dreadnoughts

Transportation

Maggia Gambling Ship

Trivia

• Often the Maggia marks one of its members for execution by having a Maggioso grasp the intended victim by the chin in the so-called "Maggia touch."

See Also

• 200 appearance(s) of Maggia (Earth-616)
• 10 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Maggia (Earth-616)
• 11 minor appearance(s) of Maggia (Earth-616)
• 106 mention(s) of Maggia (Earth-616)
• 10 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Maggia (Earth-616)
• 12 image(s) of Maggia (Earth-616)
• 96 member(s) of Maggia (Earth-616)
• 5 item(s) used/owned by Maggia (Earth-616)

Links and References

• Maggia at MarvelDirectory.com