He may not be the Black Cat or the Catwoman, but he has been a burglar for decades. In reality, it was he who taught the cat thieves Walter Hardy and his daughter Felicia Hardy a.k.a. the Black Cat how to break into houses.
Marvel’s Black Fox has a long history as a thief in both the United States and Europe. That does not, however, imply that this elderly gentleman is a ruthless thief to be avoided. Because Spider-Man did not take him seriously enough, the old man has failed at times, fallen into traps set for him, and gotten himself out of sticky circumstances.
Because Black Fox has been in his sixties since his debut, little is known about him. He is merely a guy looking for a comfortable, retired life with sizable money. Is it possible to blame him? It is a tough world out there.
We will go over his debut appearance in a comic book and his stint as a meek villain who always appears to receive the short end of the stick in this video.
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His First Comic Book Appearance
Black Fox made his debut in 1984 in The Amazing Spider-Man comics – Issue number 255. He was created by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz.
In his debut, Even A Ghost Can Fear The Night, Raul Chalmers (which is his real name) tries to break into a luxurious apartment in New York City. His needs are simple. He’s an old man who wants to retire and live comfortably, oblivious to the fact that he is going to be foiled by superbeings.
He might’ve had a long, international career but what can a mere old man do against beings with cosmic powers? He infiltrates the building masterfully and gets his hands on an expensive vase. But, that vase shapeshifts into an ape called Igor. He is then attacked by the super ape Peotor, who has magnetic abilities, and Mikhlo, the gorilla. With Black Fox caught, the Red Ghost phases through the floor and appears in front of the thief.
He hands the burglar a glass of brandy and reveals his true intentions. In reality, one of Red Ghost’s employees had recommended his luxurious apartment to Black Fox as the Red Ghost needed a skillful thief. This was a way to get the burglar into his apartment and needless to say, it worked out.
He had devised a machine called the Cosmicizer. It could multiply Red Ghost’s cosmic powers by a thousandfold. However, his wealth wasn’t enough to fund this entire project. This is why he needed Black Fox to steal for him. And the thief would be accompanied by his apes who would overlook the situation to make sure Black Fox does not betray them.
Black Fox heads out to rob a jewelry store with the apes. However, these apes are far from being subtle. The commotion they cause and their aggressive conduct call for the police’s attention. The cops arrive but the super apes show no mercy as they flip over the cars and probably cause the people inside to die.
Witnessing this, Black Fox begins to panic and needs a way out. He had been disarmed by the Red Ghost but he still had his flash grenades. Black Fox uses them to escape the apes but he can’t go too far without being caught once again. However, Spider-Man notices the commotion as he swings across New York and arrives before the apes can harm poor old Raul.
Spidey tries to get some information out of him but Black Fox is reluctant to help, as it can get him into trouble as well. But Spider-Man overpowers him with ease and without any aggression at all, and Black Fox is left with no choice. He spills the details and Spider-Man even lets the old mango as he sets off in pursuit of Red Ghost.
In the end, Black Fox gets his hands on a good loot as he finds jewelry from the loot lying on the ground. Satisfied, he steals them with hopes of retirement.
Black Cat And Black Fox
By himself, Black Fox hasn’t been much of a threat. But as a mentor, he has created one of Marvel’s most notorious thieves who is infamous for pulling off heist after heist. Felicia Hardy or the Black Cat is a cat-burglar who has also been Spider-Man’s on-again-off-again romance.
When in college, she was assaulted by her ex-boyfriend. Tired of feeling victimized, she decided to murder her ex-boyfriend. The traumatizing experience caused her to train in acrobatics and fighting styles. She could even bring bad luck to her opponents by subconsciously manipulating the probability fields (don’t walk past when she crosses the road). However, the guy died from an accident before she could kill her.
She did not want to waste her stellar skills and decided to become a cat burglar like her father Walter Hardy. However, she ended up being arrested.
Her bad luck ran out when the Black Fox came to her rescue. Raul was her father’s mentor and he freed Felicia from prison. After this, he took her as a pupil. And having a guy with a long international career as a thief worked out brilliantly. Under his guidance, the Black Cat succeeded at making a fortune via burglary and even wore a costumed suit like Black Fox. Ultimately, she was able to free her father from prison.
She decided to pull off the ultimate heist on the New York Thieves Guild with her mentor Black Fox. However, Raul Chambers wasn’t completely transparent with his apprentice when it boiled down to the details and the target. Felicia had stolen several valuable artifacts from all over New York to break into this vault, causing big names like Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and the Fantastic Four to be her victims. However, Black Fox had a different plan in mind.
He never wanted to enter the vault. As they conducted their ritual, the Gilded Saint i.e. the god-entity that looked over the vaults, appeared in front of them. And this is exactly what Black Fox wanted. His plan was to make a deal with her and gain eternal life for himself and Felicia in exchange for the deed of Manhattan.
After Black Cat learned of this, it was already too late. She was immortal now and so was Black Fox. Stuck in a terrible situation and desperate to get out of the deal, she reached out to Odessa Drake, her rival. She was then sent to the vault to confront the Gilded Saint.
The Black Cat offered her immortality to the Saint for the deed of Manhattan. Then, she secretly placed an explosive on the deed. She met up with her mentor to confront him at Coney Island when the deed exploded, causing the Saint to believe that Fox had betrayed him.
With this, Black Fox found himself at the Saint’s line of fire and his claim to Manhattan was lost as well. Ultimately, Black Fox and Black Cat parted ways. The two cared for each other deeply but Black Cat did what she did to save the people of Manhattan. Quite ironic how the notorious thief gave up someone she loved for a greater cause.
When Black Fox Met Antman
Black Fox came across Eric O’Grady’s Ant-Man during a fight between the Mighty Avengers and Mole Man. As Black Fox tried to loot a jewelry shop, Ant-Man stopped him. However, Eric was a thief himself. He had stolen his Ant-Man suit from Hank Pym. He took the stolen loot from Black Fox and sold it for money.
An enraged Black Fox threatened Eric later so the latter decided to help Black Fox out by regaining the jewelry from a pawn shop. Eric got 20% of the cut and the two bonded over playing Nintendo together.
When S.H.I.E.L.D. arrested Eric for stealing the suit, Black Fox tried to help him. However, Black Fox was oblivious to Eric double-crossing him which caused Black Fox to get arrested.
He Is A Threat Even Without His Superpowers
Black Fox has no superpowers but it takes tremendous skill to have a career with longevity like his.
He is not feared when it comes to things like hand-to-hand combat or strength. In fact, he prefers to avoid violence. However, his agility as a skilled and trained athlete is immense. As a burglar, this is all he needs as it helps him scale the sides of buildings and swing from one building to another via lines.
He used to be a lot more agile when he was younger though but you cannot underestimate an old Raul Chambers either. You could be awake and he’d still manage to steal your stuff.
What comes in handy is his equipment. Black Fox uses flash grenades and smoke grenades. He carries ropes that help him swing across buildings. Glass cutters that help him infiltrate places, and a device that can disable burglar alarms.
Spider-Man often feels sympathetic towards the old man. He’s a friendly neighborhood superhero. Of course he doesn’t wanna fight Raul Chambers. However, despite Black Fox not coming off as a formidable foe, he can be quite deceitful to make things go according to his favor. He has often used the wallcrawler’s sympathy to his own advantage and lied about his failing health to escape. He’s not someone you can underestimate either.
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