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The Eel is an alias used by two fictional characters in comic books published by Marvel Comics.

The original Eel first appeared in Strange Tales #112 (September 1963). Leopold Stryke and his brother Jordan, who was the original Viper, were members of the first and second Serpent Squads, remaining unaware that the organizer of the second Serpent Squad, the former Madame Hydra, had murdered his brother and taken his alias. Stryke was also a teammate of Plantman, Scarecrow, Unicorn and Porcupine when they worked for Count Nefaria. He was killed by Gladiator, who was sent to acquire a disintegrator ray that the Eel had in his possession.^[1]

The second Eel first appeared in Power Man and Iron Fist #92 (April 1983). Edward Lavell was seen attempting to break Hammerhead out of prison. Later working with Nightshade, the second Eel was defeated again by Iron Fist and reformed criminals Discus and Stilleto. Lavell was a member of Justine Hammer's Masters of Evil, and was defeated by the Thunderbolts. After the Masters of Evil were apprehended, Lavell was next seen participating in the Bloodsport tournamnet at Madripoor. There, he put on a poor showing and was defeated by Toad, who seemingly crushed Lavell using his extremely long and poweful tongue. Lavell apparently survived.

He is briefly seen in She-Hulk Volume 2 #6 as a client for the law firm Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway. He is discussing action to be taken against Power Man and refers to an 'Eel-Mobile'.

Eel is apprehended by the Thunderbolts to serve in the so-called Thunderbolt Army. Following the disbanding of the Thunderbolt Army, Lavell has turned up as a member of a new Serpent Squad led by Sin, the daughter of the Red Skull.

The Eel costume possessed devices capable of generating large and small bursts of electricity, though insulated to protect its user. It could fire electrical bolts (initially only through his suit's chest prod) and give off bright glows, as well as set up an electric current in the costume that would shock anyone touching it. The costume was coated with a greasy silicon substance (which was sometimes asbestos grease) that made it slippery. The costume could operate underwater. The Eel used various weapons, including a specially designed helicopter, an Aqua-Attractor gun, and an Eel-Cannon.

• Leopold Styke at MarvelDirectory.com
• Marvel Appendix Entry for Stryke
• Marvel Database Entry for Stryke
• Marvel Database Entry for Lavell