Who the Clix? Gentleman Ghost
Who the Clix? is a series of articles featuring information on comic book characters that have been made into figures for the popular tabletop game Heroclix. These articles are meant to help Heroclix players learn more about the characters behind their favorite pieces.
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Appearances in Heroclix: Wizkids DC, Origin
First Appearance: Flash Comics #88
Team Affiliations: Injustice Society, Secret Society of Super Villains
Created By: Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert
Jim Craddock is the son of an English gentleman who abandons both the infant Jim and his mother, forcing them into poverty. Craddock grows up to become a notorious highwayman and robber who terrorizes England in the 19th century, fulfilling a gypsy prophecy. During these nefarious deeds he encounters the ghosts of other highwaymen and Dick Turpin even leaves him a horse. Craddock eventually travels to the United States and encounters Nighthawk and Cinnamon. Nighthawk lynches Craddock after wrongly assuming the Englishman sexually assaulted Cinnamon. Craddock somehow persists after death and becomes a phantom known as the Gentleman Ghost.
Craddock learns he is doomed to wander the earth as the Gentleman ghost until the spirit of his killer moves onto the next plane of existence. However, Nightawk and Cinnamon are the reincarnated spirits of ancient royalty that were exposed to Thanagarian Nth metal and thus can never move on. Their souls eventually resurrect as Hawkman and Hawkgirl with the Gentleman Ghost haunting them during the 1940s. As they became adventuring heroes, the Gentelman Ghost would go on to battle their allies as well. Through time, he even became an occasional friend to his murderers.
When the Secret Society of Supervillains attack Metropolis, Gentleman Ghost is among them. After he faces off against Alan Scott and leaves Scott in a coma. Gentleman Ghost later attacks the JSA by summoning vengeful ghosts from their pasts. This plan is foiled by Stargirl who is impervious to ghostly attacks and an army of ghostly nobles that serve Wildcat, a descendant of the Royal House of England. Wildcat is thus able to decapitate Craddock and causes him to dissipate.
The New 52
The Gentleman Ghost steals the Mortis Orb, a strange artifact that has the power to resurrect the dead. He intends to use the orb to resurrect himself with its power but needs Hawkman’s Nth metal to fully activate it. Hawkman refuses to help Craddock and the two do battle several times over the orb. Gentleman Ghost eventually begins to unlock the power of the orb and creates a portal that Julius Gates exits. Gates grabs Craddock and demands the orb while Hawkman manages to put himself in between the two men and retrieve the orb.
The portal closes with both men inside and leaves them stranded in time and space. Hawkman drops the orb in Antarctica to try and keep it from falling into villainous hands again.
Craddock later resurfaces in Duskhaven and begins robbing wealthy socialites of Gotham. The Midnight Shift apprehend him and interrogate him, forcing him to reveal his origins. This Craddock was a philanderer and angered a powerful witch who cursed him. The curse gives him powerful abilites but forces him to commit criminal acts. At first he believes that the curse will be lifted once the witch dies but it does not and he is left an immortal criminal.