Manta is the vehicle of Vanessa Warfield, V.E.N.O.M.’s self-described Queen of Espionage. It is a purple Nissan 300ZX Z31 that converts into an assault jet.
Kenner released it in Series Three in 1987. A collector guide lists grill cannons, trident missiles, a quick-escape seat, a propulsion turbine with fuselage, dual raked wings with magazine guns, canard wings with laser blasters, and a stabilizing airfoil with jet boosters.
Warfield wears the Whip mask, which emits long strands of electronic energy.
Manta is in the opening of the cartoon and appears in the first episode’s intro, so it was on screen from 1985 even though the toy came later. Warfield becomes V.E.N.O.M.’s unofficial team leader by the start of the second season and falls for Brad Turner in the series finale. Sharon Noble voices her in the cartoon. Her figure was also sold in Europe in a pairing with Floyd Malloy. Her codename on the Kenner figure is Ice Queen.
