Real Name: Unrevealed
Occupation: Houngan (voodoo priest)
Legal Status: Citizen of the United States with no criminal record
Identity: Secret
Other Aliases: None known
Place of Birth: Unrevealed
Marital Status: Unrevealed
Known Relatives: None
Group Affiliation: Ally of the Grim Reaper
Base of Operations: New Orleans area
First Appearance: (original) STRANGE TALES #173, (new) AVENGERS #152
Final Appearance: TALES OF THE ZOMBIE #6

History: The first known Black Talon was millionaire Desmond Drew, who secretly led a voodoo cult that dealt in human sacrifice. As the Black Talon, Drew wore the garb of the Black Rooster, which symbolized "he who dwells in the fiery pit," and he claimed to be a "living loa," a voodoo god in human form.

In actuality Drew was a mere human being whose supernatural feats were the work of his mother, the blind houngan Mama Limbo. The Talon had his cultists kidnap young female virgins to serve supposedly as human sacrifices to the loa. However, the Talon was really carrying out the plan of his mother, who believed she had learned a means of restoring her youth, beauty, and sight by bathing in the blood of four virgins. Learning that Drew was an imposter, the cultists beat the Black Talon to death.

Afterwards, a Creole whose true name is unknown but who possesses actual voodoo powers, took on the name and costume of the Black Talon and gathered his own group of cultists. The new Black Talon was contacted by the Grim Reaper, who wished to see his supposedly dead brother Wonder Man resurrected as a zombie. When the Black Talon accomplished the task, the Reaper sent his brother's body to Avengers Mansion where he hoped the zombie might wreak havoc. The Avengers subdued the zombie and then tracked down and defeated the Black Talon.

Some time later, the Grim Reaper enlisted the Black Talon in a new scheme to restore his brother to a closer semblance of what he had been. He assigned the Talon the task of creating a zombie who physically resembled his brother before becoming Wonder Man. The West Coast Avengers, the Vision, and the Scarlet Witch thwarted the Reaper's plans.

The Black Talon escaped, however, and remains at large.

Height: 6 ft. 2 in.
Weight: 240 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black

Strength Level: Black Talon possesses the normal human strength of a man of his age, height, and build who engages in regular exercise.

Known Superhuman Powers: The Black Talon is a true houngan, or voodoo priest, with actual supernatural abilities. Voodoo is a religion that originated in Haiti.

The Black Talon's principal power is his ability to create and control zombies. A zombie is a human corpse whose spirit has entirely left its body, but which has nevertheless been given a semblance of life and consciousness by voodoo magic. Zombies have minimal reasoning capabilities, superhuman strength, and immunity to most forms of pain. The Black Talon must perform a voodoo ritual in order to reanimate corpses as zombies. The Talon can give his zombies commands verbally or, when they are in his presence, by telepathy. However, the Talon cannot mentally communicate with his zombies when they are beyond his immediate vicinity.