Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #16
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeSilver Sable and the Wild Pack #16 earns its place in Marvel history primarily as the debut of Lightbright (Obax Majid), a Somali mutant with photokinetic powers who would go on to join the Wild Pack's superhuman offshoot, the Intruders, and later play a role in events as far-reaching as the superhuman Civil War. The issue is also notable for setting its story directly in Somalia during a humanitarian crisis — a pointed engagement with then-current real-world geopolitics that was unusual for a superhero title in 1993 — framing Silver Sable International as a force hired to protect food and medicine shipments in a conflict zone. Within the series' own continuity, #16 advances two of its most socially conscious long-running threads: the ongoing subplot about team member Raul Quentino quietly concealing his HIV-positive status from his colleagues, a topic few mainstream Marvel books of the era were willing to sustain across multiple issues.
ComicBooks.com Value
This exact issue on ebay
Raw / ungraded ▾ $2.5–$7.36 10 listings
More listings for this title
Read it digitally
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
The issue was written by Gregory Wright and penciled by series regular Steven Butler, with Pam Eklund on inks — the same core creative team that had defined the title since its launch in June 1992. It was released on July 13, 1993, with a September 1993 cover date, placing it squarely within Marvel's Infinity Crusade crossover period (the Goddess is referenced in the issue's character roll, her presence subtly affecting the Wild Pack's effectiveness in combat). Editor-in-Chief Tom DeFalco oversaw the line at the time; the series itself had been launched to give Silver Sable — a character DeFalco himself co-created with Ron Frenz back in Amazing Spider-Man #265 (1985) — her first sustained solo spotlight.
Trivia · 9 facts
- First appearance of Lightbright (real name Obax Majid), a Somali mutant with light- and heat-based (photokinetic) powers, created by writer Gregory Wright and artist Steven Butler.
- Story title: 'Crusaders Against Hunger.' Release date: July 13, 1993; cover-dated September 1993.
- Written by Gregory Wright; pencils by Steven Butler; inks by Pam Eklund; cover art also by Steven Butler.
- The story is set in Somalia, where the U.S. government has hired Silver Sable International to protect humanitarian food and medicine shipments — one of the series' most topically grounded premises.
- Lightbright begins the issue as a member of the Bio-Genes, a Somali mutant rebel group opposing U.S. military presence; she and the Wild Pack are forced into an uneasy alliance when Baron Wolfgang von Strucker's Hydra moves to conquer Somalia. Battlestar subsequently offers her redemption, and she joins the Wild Pack.
- The Infinity Crusade crossover is referenced: the Goddess's 'universal salvation emotions' blanket the battlefield, hampering the Wild Pack's combat effectiveness.
- The issue continues the series' multi-issue HIV-positive storyline: Quentino shows symptoms of his condition but hides them from teammate Amy Chen — a subplot seeded in issue #10 and not resolved until issue #22.
- The Marvel Database records at least one reprint of this issue, confirming some longevity in Marvel's back-catalog awareness of the issue.
- Lightbright proved durable enough to appear across roughly 15 subsequent Marvel issues, retain her powers after M-Day, resist registration during the Civil War alongside Captain America's Secret Avengers, and resurface as recently as the Venom War era.
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in The Infinity Gauntlet #[11] (2018), Infinity Crusade Omnibus #[nn] (2020)
Key issues in Silver Sable and the Wild Pack
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.