Number 1881: The Man in Black...called Death or Mr Twilight or Fate or Kismet...

Researching the Man in Black in Toonopedia.com, I see that only his incarnation in the 1950s and '60s is mentioned, and his history from the 1940s is not. It is true that they seem to be two characters with the same name and appearance, both drawn by Bob Powell and his studio. The Man in Black (also called Fate, or Kismet) of the 1950s (see the link below) is a character who observes people at that moment when they have arrived at a fork in the road, and are deciding which one to take. The character we are showing today is also called Mr Twilight, or Death. In this incarnation he guides the spirits of the recently deceased to an afterlife. The afterlife is even referred to in one panel as Valhalla, although it doesn’t sound, from Mr Twilight’s description, to be the Viking Valhalla.

There is a bad guy, Dr Hideki, who is obviously Japanese, but the story was published in 1947, and the late unpleasantness of war against the Japanese is not mentioned. People die, and Dr Hideki brings 'em back to life. In this story we are supposed to root for them to die and be taken to their reward by Mr Twilight. If it sounds confusing...well, I guess it is. If anything, it probably isn’t a standard comic book plot. It is beautifully illustrated by Powell, who did his usual superb job, no matter how screwball the story.

From Green Hornet Fights Crime #34 (1947):

As promised, here is the Man in Black from 1957. Just click on the thumbnail.

Number 1183: Caught with her panthers down

"Fangs of the Panther," from Harvey's All-New Comics #11, which is cover-dated Spring 1945, is probably at least partially inspired by the movie, Cat People, which was a big hit in 1942. Jerry Robinson, who had started his career assisting Bob Kane on Batman, is the artist. He was proud of this story, or appeared to be, since he signed it in both the splash and last panels. Signed comic book stories weren't unusual, but signed in two places was unusual.

Robinson died December 8, 2011, at age 89. He was active at that late stage in his life, based on this drawing of Robinson which appeared in The New Yorker magazine in May, 2011. Robinson was one of the pioneers of comic books, having joined Kane's studio as a teenager in those days when comics were finding their form.

Another pioneer, Bob Powell, was also represented in the same issue of All-New Comics, with a predecessor to the character, The Man in Black Called Fate*, the Man in Black Called Death, a name with a morbid air about it. It's the same character, though, with the gimmick of the Fate/Death character's face always in shadow.

*The Man in Black Called Fate is represented here by issues number 1 and 2 from 1957 in Pappy's #822, and Pappy's #1019. In 1947 the character appeared in Green Hornet Comics as The Man in Black, who introduced himself as Mr. Twilight! I showed a story in Pappy's #867.

Number 1019


What is your fate?


I wonder if Harvey Comics' Man In Black, which I read new as a '50s pre-teen, helped shape my view of fate as an unseen force over which we have little or no control. Or maybe it's just me who thinks our lives are some sort of cosmic joke. What decisions over the decades led to where I am now, and what I do...sitting at a computer scanning old comic books and posting them on a blog. It's fate, I tell ya! At the age of 10, poring over Bob Powell's great artwork and the intriguing premise of Man In Black I could not have foreseen my future, but I remember reading the comic, wondering what fate held in store for me.

I showed you Man in Black #1 in Pappy's #822.

From Man in Black #2, 1957: