Edmund Allen (Earth-616)

When Edmund Allen was younger, his brother James came into possession of an alien suit while working for A.I.M.. Even though Edmund wasn't the genius engineer his brother was, he helped James test the suit and discover that it had the ability to lock into a fixed position in space. By adjusting the settings of the suit's boots and gloves to keep them in a position fixed in relation to the Earth's, it was possible to get their wearer to stand above the ground and walk on air.

Edmund kept the suit's gloves and boots, which cost James his life after his superior discovered he didn't have all of it. James sacrificed himself to spare Edmund's life, refusing to tell his superior about their location, in case both Edmund and him were killed when the suit's parts were found.

Following James' death, Edmund decided to use the suit's parts to become a cat burglar known as the Silver Bandit, stealing from the rich, namely banking executives, keeping little to himself, and giving away most of it. Edmund's wife Sharon left him when she found out about Edmund's criminal career, and his son Greg became estranged from him.

Edmund's career as the Silver Bandit came to an abrupt end after the then-debuting vigilante Daredevil followed his trail and confronted him inside one of the penthouses he was breaking into. Even though Edmund managed to escape, he decided to quit.^[1]

When Edmund became a senior citizen, Greg placed him at the Winters Retirement Community in Jersey City, New Jersey at the request of Edmund's wife. Greg also paid for a program called Golden Friends, which consisted of the presence of a companion to hang out with Edmund.

Edmund's companion turned out to be Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord, who was required to work one-hundred hours of community service. On his first day, Peter took the reluctant old man for a walk outside. When they caught notice of a bank robbery in process being committed by Mindblast, Quill jumped into action and ordered Edmund to stay behind. Edmund refused to do so, and subsequently helped Peter and young hero Ms. Marvel defeat the villain by distracting her, asking directions to take a bus.

Peter then returned Edmund to his room, and they encountered Greg inside. Peter jumped at him, initially believing him to be an intruder. The confusion was cleared up, and when Greg threatened to cancel the program to get rid of Quill, Edmund suggested he gave Peter a job at the Bar with No Name, so he could pay his court fine in order to be able to leave as Greg wanted.^[2]

Weeks later, Peter was informed by Daredevil that $4,000 was missing from the foiled robbery. After noticing Edmund's wallet was suspiciously full of money, Quill got him to admit that he had taken the money. Edmund tried to bribe Peter by giving him the remaining $3,200 he hadn't spent, but Quill combined that money with the tip money from the bar to return all of the missing money to Daredevil instead. When Daredevil insisted Peter give him the identity of the thief, he was surprised to hear Edmund's name.^[3] Daredevil and Peter subsequently confronted Edmund, getting him to fully disclose his past as the Silver Bandit.

Not long after revealing his past to Peter, Edmund was blackmailed by crimelord Black Cat, who had kidnapped Greg, to put his expertise and equipment at her service.^[1] Black Cat had Edmund and Star-Lord break into the apartment of notorious thief Javelynn in order to steal information of potential targets. Even though Black Cat intended to continue forcing Edmund to work for her, Star-Lord had enlisted Daredevil's help to rescue Greg. During a confrontation between Edmund, Star-Lord, Daredevil and Black Cat and her goons, Edmund tried to stop Black Cat from escaping, using the boots to hold her meters above the ground. Unfortunately, Black Cat managed to get Edmund to lose grip of her, causing him to plummet into the ground to his death.^[4]

Peter, Greg, and Sharon later attended to Edmund's funeral. As part of his will, Edmund left his boots and gloves to his son. However, it turned out they didn't fit him, which Greg found hilarious.^[5]

• As of Star-Lord (Vol. 2) #3, Edmund was 73 years old.
  • Applying the sliding timescale to Edmund at the time Star-Lord first came out would indicate he was in his late 50s when he quit being the Silver Bandit.
• Edmund really likes soft serve, in spite of considering it really unhealthy.^[3]