History
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Bran Carter
Bran Kunze was a German citizen who immigrated to the United States prior to World War II. Legally changing his last name to Carter, he eventually became the supervisor of a wartime manufacturing plant by 1944. Maintaining loyalties to the Nazis, he created the costumed identity of Madame X to conceal his spy activities. With his minions, he called all an invitation to all the female workers at the munitions plants as Madame X where "she" demanded that they assist in stealing defense plans and destroying the factories for the Nazis. When one of Carter's employees, Eva Barry, refused to participate, Madame X strangled her to death as a warning to the others and disappeared.
Unknown to Carter at the time was that Eva's sister Lorraine learned Madame X's true identity. The following day, Carter was called into police headquarters for questioning but provided the authorities with no information. There, he met the Human Torch and Toro who were called in to investigate the case and was present when Lorraine called in her tip and asked the Torch to meet her at Riverside Park.
Carter then slipped away and as Madame X, got to Riverside Park before the Torch and Toro and strangled Lorraine to death as well, and managed to evade the two heroes. Having called another meeting with the factory workers, Madame X ordered them to "her" bidding or risk their family members being killed in response. Just then, the Torch and Toro (finding an invitation on Lorraine's body) burst in and attempted to round up Madame X and her men. Madame X managed to escape, landing a punch in the Torch's jaw and leaving the mark of "her" insignia ring on his face.
Spotting Madame X fleeing into the factory, the Torch and Toro followed after her and ran into Carter, who had just slipped out of his costume. Unfazed by the heroes' appearance, Carter told them that he "saw" Madame X escape in a getaway car before shaking hands with the Torch. The Torch then noticed that Carter and Madame X wore the same exact ring, prompting the hero to investigate Carter's background.
Suspecting that the Torch might have deduced his double identity, Carter prepared a trap for the Torch and Toro at his home. When the Torch and Toro arrived to investigate the property, they were then captured by Madame X who placed them in a refrigerated glass coffin to freeze to death. Going back to the meeting hall, Madame X then began handing out bombs to the workers to place in the boiler rooms of their respective places of employments, not telling them that the bombs were set to go off earlier than scheduled to kill the women as well. Before the women could leave, the Torch and Toro then arrived -- having freed themselves from Madame X's trap -- and subdued Madame X and her gang, revealing her to be Bran Carter in disguise.[1]