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Harlan Krueger (Earth-616)

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Don't be afraid of me, woman -- I mean you no harm -- Rather, it is-- all those who think themselves greater than the law -- above all society who should find fear in me -- and in the waiting noose of the Hangman!

—The Hangman[6]

Harlan Krueger was a deranged vigilante with a black-and-white view of morality who chased and executed criminals through the streets of Los Angeles using a noose and scythe as the weapons of choice of the Hangman. Having grown up watching many Hollywood movies of the 1930s to the 1950s, he admired the silver screen heroes and their characters, and in an attempt to be like them, he joined the Army, but was court-martialed for being too brutal. Rejected when he applied to the police, he concluded that the authorities were too weak to stop crime, and decided to take matters into his own hands, and became the Hangman. He believed women to be weak-minded so, instead of killing women, he kidnapped them and kept them in his dungeon; a number of women were starved that way.

The Hangman clashed with a number of superhuman and costumed characters through his career: When he first met the Werewolf by Night, he immediately concluded that the Werewolf was evil, and tried to chase him, but while fighting the Werewolf, his dungeon was destroyed and his prisoners escaped. The Hangman found the Werewolf again while chasing the evil superhuman DePrayve, but failed to stop either of them and was instead arrested himself. The Hangman later tracked the crimelord Brother Grimm, but when facing him, the Hangman instead captured the original Spider-Woman, kidnapping her in an attempt to protect her. The Hangman himself was captured by the Locksmith, who tried to capture every superhuman and costume character in Los Angeles, and kept controlled with mind-dumbing drugs and TV shows. The Hangman also had an encounter with Iron Man, which ended with him going to jail, and eventually to a mental institution.

The Hangman decided to track the people responsible for the corruption of the youth, and concluded that recent horror movies provided the wrong role models to youth, so he decided to track and murder the people in charge of movies, by using the cast and credits as reference. In the premiere of the movie Gore Galore, movie critic Matt O'Brien unwittingly gave the Hangman that information; but when those people appeared murdered, O'Brien tried to find a way to help them. O'Brien found the Hangman in a costume party celebrating the wrap-up of another movie, "Splatterday". The Hangman murdered a hooded woman he believed was one of his targets, but checking the corpse he noticed he had accidentally killed a woman. Devastated at having accidentally broken his own code, he had a breakdown, dropping in tears and dropping the scythe. O'Brien found him, approached him from behind, grabbed the scythe and killed the Hangman to stop him. The Hangman's death at the hands of a movie critic became public knowledge.

History

Harlan Krueger was born in Los Angeles, California[1][2][3][4] in what he would later perceive as "an earlier time."[6] Spellbound by cinema[6][5][1][2][3] from an early age,[6][5] Krueger often went to see movies,[6][5][1][2][3] especially the Saturday morning session when he would try to be first in line[6] at the Bijou theater.[5] Fascinated by watching heroic characters on screen defeat irredeemable villains,[6][5] and impressed by how his heroes remained true to their principles in the face of adversity,[6] Krueger based his personal principles on them,[2][3] drawing on a dividing line between good and evil that he saw as very clear.[2][3] Krueger identified himself personally with heroic characters,[2][3] especially admiring Hopalong Cassidy[6] and the characters played by Humphrey Bogart,[6][1][2][3] Alan Ladd,[1][2][3] Tom Mix,[6] and John Wayne.[6][10][1][2][3] Inspired by the courage of these fictional heroes[5] that he considered good influences,[10] Krueger, a brawny young man,[2][3] swore to be like a hero[10][6] like they were,[6][10] and wanted to punish criminals[5] with the brutal doom that appeared in the movies.[6][5]

After graduating high school,[4] Krueger enlisted in the army[1] as a soldier[1][2][3][4] and was sent to the front lines in wartime.[1] While Krueger killed a number of enemies gladly, the high-ranking American officers began to believe that he was going too far and that he obtained pleasure through cruelty and torture.[6] Krueger was court-martialed[6][1][2][3] for torturing prisoners of war,[1][2][3] and was sent to an army stockade for six years.[6][1][2][3]

Once released, he returned to Los Angeles and looked for a police job[6][1][2][3] in the Los Angeles Police Department,[2][3] but was rejected[6][1][2][3] because of his military record.[6] He decided that all public officials have become weak and corrupt,[6][1][2][3] apathetic toward their duty to capture criminals; and even the judiciary was unable or unwilling to keep the criminals out of the streets.[2][3]

He also believed that modern movies, such as Clint Eastwood's, were a bad influence for the young[10] by not presenting a clear dichotomy between good and evil[6] (At some point, the Bijou ceased operations, thou the Hangman still went to the ruined locale discreetly).[5] Deciding to become a crime-fighting vigilante,[6][1][2][3] he first went underground and trained himself[6] while also creating the costumed identity of the Hangman[6][1][2][3][4] to start his own crusade against those who would disagree with Krueger's narrow, merciless idea of morality[1][2][3] in what he believed was a way to serve the greater good of society, and what he also believed was an emulation of his movie heroes' fictional exploits.[2][3] For several years,[2][3] Krueger, as the Hangman, stalked the streets[1][2][3] of Los Angeles[6][2][3] wielding a noose and a scythe as his weapons of choice,[6][2][3] and murdering his targets by either hanging, dismembering,[1][2][3] or impaling them with the scythe.[2][3] The Hangman only murdered males, believing that women could not be held responsible for their evil deeds[1] because women were, in his opinion, too emotional and weak-willed,[2][3] so he locked the women in a brutal medieval-style dungeon,[6] apparently on a high floor in Los Angeles,[7] with the idea of preventing them from being further corrupted,[6][2][3] and claiming that he would protect them and provide for their needs, but also that he would hold them for the rest of their lives. He even revealed to them his origin and his face (since he did not expect that they would ever escape).[6] The murders caused by the Hangman reached the city newspapers, which proclaimed him a demented vigilante who acted quickly, cruelly and without law; even thou they recognized that the victims could be guilty, the newspapers reproached him the Hangman for not following procedure.[7]

After stabbing a knife-wielding drug addict in the back when the latter was trying to mug a woman, the Hangman took the woman back to his lair and explained his motivations; unable to convince her of his insane views, he left her with other prisoners. The Hangman went out on patrol again and noticed a forty-something man, Buck Cowan, running after a crying teenager, Lissa Russell; initially skeptical, he approached quietly, concluding that Cowan had good intentions, possibly to protect Russell.[6] A werewolf then approached Cowan and Russell[6] (The werewolf was Russell's brother Jack,[6][2][3] a secret only she knew). Believing the creature to be a costumed criminal out to attack two innocents, the Hangman leaped from a ledge and stood before the werewolf and his would-be victims, threatening the monster. Much to his surprise, Lissa tried to protect the werewolf by chasing the Hangman away even violently, but the Hangman insisted that the werewolf was clearly evil (although the werewolf had yet to do anything evil), and even against his principles, the Hangman brutally pushed the woman into Cowen, knocking them both down. The werewolf, who recognized Lissa Russell as someone he cared about, grew enraged at the sight of the Hangman hitting her, and leapt at the stranger, starting a fight.[6][17][2][3][18][4] Understanding even in his bestiality that the Hangman was a madman, the werewolf was quick enough to dodge a slash from his scythe, but still suffered a minor cut. The werewolf realized that the Hangman was fast, but decided not to run away because he wanted to protect Russell, even though he couldn't find a way to hurt Hangman due to the scythe's superior reach; and the Hangman realized that he had that advantage. Taunting the werewolf and damaging the street furniture with blows, Hangman continued his relentless horizontal slashes, forcing the werewolf to dodge by ducking or jumping; the Hangman was determined to crush this new enemy. Finally, the werewolf got an opportunity and kicked the Hangman, knocking him down into a trash can. During this pause in the fight, Cowan tried to escape with Russell, telling the Hangman that Cowan and Russell had nothing to do with his conflict with the werewolf. The werewolf then decided to flee into the forest, hoping that the evil Hangman would follow him and thus be able to get him away from Russell; but the escape was interrupted by the arrival of the police. The werewolf attempted to lose his pursuers through darkened alleys,[6] but the Hangman followed his trail, and when the werewolf was off guard, he caught him by surprise with his lasso and choked him, stretching the rope over a street lamp and hoisting the werewolf up by hand.[6][7] Russell, worried for her brother, revealed the werewolf's secret identity to Cowan at that moment. The werewolf managed to free himself by grabbing the rope to lift it and snapping it with his teeth, but as he fell to the ground, he still had to face the Hangman, who again insulted him for his supposed wickedness. Again the arrival of the police interrupted the conflict, and this time the Hangman decided to retire to his lair for the night, and continue his personal crusade at another time.[7]

Back in the dungeon the following night, the Hangman heard his newest prisoner begging for his release. Once again, the Hangman attempted to explain his insane point of view, insisting that the society she wanted to return to was full of falsehood and corruption, suggesting that the police fueled crime to maintain the status quo, and vowing to give his life if necessary. The Hangman went out on patrol and, from a rooftop, let a police car pass. The Hangman was unaware that the werewolf had tracked him and was stalking him: The werewolf jumped on the Hangman. The Hangman quickly recovered and faced him with his scythe, but the noise attracted the attention of the policemen. The Hangman quickly escaped, running across rooftops and through alleys with leaps and flips, never noticing that the werewolf was following him. The Hangman returned to his dungeon, where he convinced himself of the need to stick to his plans: and then he was surprised to hear the werewolf's roars there. The werewolf sensed Hangman's surprise and attacked him again from above, throwing him against a wall and breaking the shaft of his scythe. This terrified the Hangman; although the Hangman continued to fight, he felt at a disadvantage with his sanctuary invaded, and he did not even realize that the fight was damaging its structures: The girl he had captured the day before was freed when her chains broke in the fight, and she quickly began to free the other women. The Hangman tried to strangle the werewolf with his rope, but the werewolf threw the Hangman onward into a wall-supporting pillar that broke with the impact, causing the ceiling to collapse and partially bury the Hangman, immobilizing him. The Hangman roared at the werewolf that he would fight to the death, and that therefore the werewolf must kill him; but the werewolf did not understand or did not hear his words. The Hangman looked around as everything he had tried to build was falling apart, and again he called out to the werewolf to kill him because he had nothing left to live for; but the werewolf left and abandoned him. The Hangman's insane pleas were so loud and intense that the werewolf's human form remembered them the next morning.[7]

The Hangman possibly escaped somehow and continued his crusade,[14] though he was already known to the police especially for his conflict with the werewolf; LAPD Lt. Lou Hacket questioned Jack Russell about, among other things, the confrontation between "a werewolf" and "the mad Hangman" (although his interrogation was interrupted).[19] The Hangman himself did not forget the werewolf, whom he considered an important personal enemy.[4] Possibly tracking the werewolf,[2][3] the Hangman encountered the monstrous DePrayve (a scientist affected by a body-altering formula that made him more aggressive); DePrayve, who believed that only evil should thrive, attempted to attack a couple of innocents on the street, but the werewolf, who had already confronted DePrayve, intervened.[14] The Hangman, in hiding, saw this confrontation and concluded that DePrayve "reeked of pure evil". The Hangman planned to let them fight and attack only the weakened winner after the fight ended, but they were interrupted and DePrayve reverted to his original form as Winston Redditch, a seemingly good man. The Hangman was left confused; he saw the werewolf escape, and the police take Redditch to Metro General Hospital, and the Hangman spent a month trying to figure out who Redditch was. He decided that Redditch,[5] who had created the formula but had accidentally consumed it,[14] was guilty of creating the monstrous DePrayve, so he wanted to go to the Hospital and hang him.[5]

On the way to the hospital, the Hangman encountered the werewolf again, who was heading out of there towards the forest.[14] The Hangman, from a ledge, tried to strangle the werewolf by surprise and swung him, insulting him.[14][5] The werewolf, out of pure survival instinct, snatched the rope, swung for a flagpole, clutched and yanked, so that the other end of the rope would fall. Since the Hangman had wrapped the rope around his arm, the Hangman fell from the ledge and, since they were quite high up, the Hangman was left hanging from the werewolf. Not fully understanding what was happening, the werewolf dropped the Hangman, and fell himself. The Hangman fell from a much lower height, so he recovered before the werewolf, took his scythe and attacked the werewolf. The werewolf, seeing the glow, fled and made the Hangman cut the rope. The werewolf then had a chance to escape; and the Hangman allowed him to do so in order to focus on Redditch.[5]

The Hangman then burst into Redditch's room through the window. A nurse attempted to protect the patient, but the Hangman, even in conscious breach of his code of honor, knocked her out with one blow. He then ripped Redditch off his tubes, telling him that he did not deserve to live, and carried him on his back, performing cartwheels. Although Redditch was unconscious, the Hangman continued his rants as he carried him to the rundown Bijou cinema: In this case, the Hangman wanted to execute him there for what he perceived to be poetic reasons. Not wanting to murder an unconscious man, the Hangman waited for Redditch to wake up, hoping to beat him in a fair fight. Redditch did not wake up until the following night, by which time the werewolf was once again active under the full moon, tracking both Redditch and the Hangman (both his enemies and prey) to the Bijou: As the Hangman urged Redditch to rise from the ground to fight, the werewolf roared from an upper-floor balcony and lunged at the Hangman, attempting to bite his arm. The Hangman had to drop his scythe, and was knocked to the ground by the werewolf's lunge. Meanwhile, Redditch had turned back into DePrayve, and as the Hangman was recovering, the werewolf focused on the new intruder. DePrayve lifted the werewolf over his head, and as the Hangman recovered, DePrayve threw the werewolf at him; but the Hangman dodged. The Hangman then threw a left hook at DePrayve's face, but with his superhuman stamina, DePrayve was not even affected. This confused the Hangman, giving DePrayve the opportunity to land a straight punch, knock the Hangman down, and focus on fighting the werewolf. The werewolf and DePrayve left the theater to continue their fight, and the Hangman gave chase; but a police car saw this from outside and was surprised, because the theater had been closed for years. When Hangman left last, the police arrested him and handcuffed him, although he resisted and berated them for their actions as unfair.[5]

The Hangman was presumably imprisoned, though the arresting police expected him to be released soon as they didn't have a strong case against him.[5] Though the Hangman did go on to have a criminal record,[1][2][3][4] the police were unable to hold him for long and he apparently escaped from prison.[2][3]

Some time later, while the werewolf and his allies were exploring the haunted mansion of the wizard Belaric Marcosa,[20] Marcosa conjured solid illusions of the werewolf's previous enemies: Doctor Glitternight, Moon Knight, and finally the Hangman, who attempted to hang the werewolf by working in tandem with his companions. With the aid of the ghosts of Marcosa's victims, the werewolf, with the mind of Jack Russell, used cunning and strength to defeat them, pulling the rope hard so that the Hangman fell on Glitternight, eliminating both threats; Glitternight's uncontrolled attacks eliminated the false Moon Knight, and then Marcosa was destroyed.[16]

The Hangman uncovered a criminal organization that had been making jewelers disappear for several weeks. Following the trail, he found a petty criminal, Looie, standing over the body of a jeweler staging a fake car accident to make it look like the jeweler had died from drunk driving. The Hangman intercepted Looie, choked him to immobilize him, and interrogated him before killing him, beating him severely. Looie, realizing that the Hangman was going to kill him now, betrayed the gang's leader:[11] The supervillain Brother Grimm,[11][2][3][21] who killed the jewelers, kept their jewels, but now planned to reveal the jewelers' deaths so the police wouldn't come after him. Looie told the Hangman that Grimm operated out of a warehouse on Fifth Street; but the Hangman killed Looie anyway by choking him. The Hangman then broke into the warehouse, finding two other gang members, including Frank, with a prisoner they had orders to release within two hours. The Hangman killed Frank with his scythe, and the other criminal, terrified, agreed to give the Hangman information, mistakenly believing that it might save him. The Hangman then discovered that Brother Grimm had gone to the Pyrotechnics facility (one of the company's owners, James Wyatt, wanted Grimm to get him out of trouble caused by the superheroine Spider-Woman).[11]

The Hangman entered a Pyrotechnics building,[11] apparently Section 4,[22] where Brother Grimm was confronting Spider-Woman during a fire. Approaching her from behind,[11] the Hangman lassoed Spider-Woman,[11][2][3][4] immobilizing her by surprise, and pulled her out of the building just before it exploded. The Hangman explained to Spider-Woman, in his usual demeanor, that he was saving her from the evil influence of the Grimm and protecting her as befitted a weak creature, for which he would keep her in his dungeon forever.[11] Keeping Spider-Woman hogtied and gagged, the Hangman carried her to a small house surrounded by leafless trees on a small hill, apparently her new lair.[10] The Hangman tied Spider-Woman to a chair there,[10][4] with a rope around her neck that could choke her without her trying to break free, and once again explained his intentions of protecting her by keeping her isolated from the world; the Hangman also told her of his origin. When the Hangman left, presumably on patrol in Los Angeles, Spider-Woman managed to break free and had supernatural encounters in the house, encountering ghosts and magical beings such as Morgan Le Fay and Magnus.[10] Because of the magic, the house disappeared, but Spider-Woman escaped safely.[23] The Hangman would however remember her as his enemy.[4]

The Hangman was later captured by a man named the Locksmith,[9][4][24] who was determined to lock up all superhumans[9] in the Los Angeles area (Although the Hangman had no superpowers himself, it is believed that the Locksmith captured him because he was a costumed adventurer).[9][2][3] The Locksmith, an expert escape artist, wanted to keep people with extraordinary powers away from the world, because they belittled the accomplishments of normal humans, and imprisoned each of his prisoners with different methods and tools tailored to the prisoner's abilities. As for the Hangman, whom the Locksmith described as one of the most violent men he had ever seen,[9] he was pacified with a constant supply of tranquilizing drugs, and a feed of videocassettes of banal and simplistic television programs for chuildren to occupy his mind.[9][2][3] The Locksmith admitted to having been secretly following Spider-Woman for months, as it led him to find several of her victims; it is possible that he found the Hangman this way.[9] However, when the Locksmith captured Spider-Woman, she escaped in a jailbreak with several of the other prisoners,[9][2][3] and she decided to free those captives she believed to be trustworthy, such as superheroes or petty villains. The Hangman[9] and other dangerous criminals, Spider-Woman made sure that they were turned over to the police and ended up in prison[2][3][24] or, in the case of the Hangman, to a mental institution.[1]

By this time, the Hangman had killed over thirty men (many of them criminals) and five women of the women he had captured had died of starvation in his dungeon; Ten other women were freed,[1] but he was likely responsible for many more deaths.[2][3]

On the run, the Hangman returned to his old ways in a subtly different uniform and, in broad daylight, attempted to hang Tyree Robinson, a mentally ill African-American homeless engineer. Anthony Stark, by then hopeless due to his conflict with Obadiah Stane, saw what was happening and used his armor (MK II) to cut the rope and confront the Hangman. Iron Man disagreed with the Hangman's words, and took the scythe from him using an electro-magnet; but Iron Man ran out of fuel while flying over a dumpster. The Hangman approached the dumpster to try and hang him with a rope, but Iron Man suckerpunched him, knocking him out, after which he took Robinson to his sister;[13] Barely conscious, the Hangman overheard some of the words exchanged between Stark and Robinson.[15] Stark introduced himself to Robinson's sister and explained the encounter they had had, describing the Hangman as one of the city's many "charming local psychopaths" who had attempted to kill Robinson.[13] The Hangman was then sent to the brig against his will (delaying the time to allow him to make a phone call), and while he was locked alone in a cell, three women teleported into the cell: Alice Hayes, Janet Stein, and Catherine Wilder, members of the Pride crime syndicate in Los Angeles. They considered the Hangman a pitiful but easily controlled criminal, and wanted to question him about his encounter with Anthony Stark. The Hangman, who had not realized that Iron Man was Anthony Stark, resisted speaking, but Hayes hypnotized him, and the Hangman gave them Robinson's contact information. Wilder, an African-American woman herself, was also personally offended that the Hangman had attempted to lynch a black man like Robinson (although there is no reason to believe the Hangman was racist, as he had treated many white men similarly), so Stein suggested that the Hangman hang himself as punishment. The Pride teleported out of the cell, and moments later a police guard found the Hangman in time to save his life.[15]

Returned to a mental institution, the Hangman realized that he would not live long enough to kill everyone he considered corrupt, and decided to reconsider his ways. He decided instead to attack those who caused the corruption of others,[1][2][3] and came to the conclusion that modern films, contrary to those he had enjoyed in his youth, promoted immorality[2][3] by giving poor role models and prurient entertainment to young people,[1] inducing them to commit crimes.[2][3] The Hangman then turned to attack the filmmakers and crew, whom he held responsible.[2][3][4] The Hangman escaped from the institution and went into hiding[1][2][3] for a year[1] to build his body up to peak strength, before resuming his crusade.[1][2][3]

The Hangman attended a showing of Gore Galore,[12][2][3] a low-budget[2][3] horror film from Blood'N'Guts Productions.[12] The Hangman intended to copy the names that appeared in the credits, to track down and kill these people afterwards; however, the text was not given enough screen time for this.[12][2][3] Protesting loudly, the Hangman caught the attention of another viewer in his vicinity, movie critic Matt O'Brien, who had a low opinion of the film - yet not as low as the Hangman's. Striking up a casual conversation with O'Brien, the Hangman accidentally intimidated him with his unusual attire and musculature; when the Hangman asked O'Brien for the credits,[12] O'Brien, not realizing that the Hangman was a dangerous killer, gave him a press kit listing the movie's full cast and crew.[12][2][3]

That same night,[12][2][3] the Hangman visited the suburban home of Earl R. Brown, director of Gore Galore. When Brown finished a pool party and was left alone, the Hangman went after him, accusing him of corrupting youth with films like Gore Galore. Brown tried to flee to the diving board at his pool while telling the Hangman that he had given up on the horror genre. Ignoring his pleas,[12] the Hangman hanged Brown[12][2][3] when he tried to escape. The Hangman manually crossed Brown's name off his list,[12] and the next day he went after the film's producer Andrew Paffenroth, whom he also choked. He then killed James Schumann, the movie's screenwriter. The police and the press only knew about the first two victims, but when O'Brien saw the headlines in the paper, he realized that he had unwittingly contributed to this disaster. He called the police to tell them that the killer was targeting the Gore Galore crew, but they told him that they did not have enough manpower to protect everyone connected to the film. He tried to call Schumann, but found only his body.[12][2][3] The Hangman discovered that several of the Gore Galore cast had been acting in another film, Splatterday, and were attending a costume party[12][2][3] at the Paragon Studios facilities[12] in Hollywood,[4] celebrating the wrap-up of Splatterday.[12] The Hangman lay low[12][2][3] while waiting for opportunities to kill his victims; he actually did kill one man. O'Brien also snuck into the party and saw the Hangman unrecognized; he also found the victim's body.[12][2] The Hangman then killed,[12][2][3] from behind,[12] a person in a hooded costume whom he mistook for one of his intended victims; however, upon approaching the body, he discovered that he had unwittingly killed a woman, breaking his own moral code. Desolate and tearful, the Hangman knelt before the body, dropping his scythe, and failed to notice O'Brien approaching from behind. Knowing that the Hangman would kill again and must be stopped (and that he might at any moment set his sights on O'Brien),[12][2][3] the film critic picked up the Hangman's scythe and stabbed the Hangman dead.[12][2][3][4]

The Hangman's death at the hands of the film critic became common knowledge[25] (though O'Brien continued to work, apparently exonerated of murder)[12] and, when a new Hangman[25] (Jason Roland) appeared,[25][24][21] even the superhero and actor Wonder Man believed him to be Krueger; the new Hangman had to tell his accomplices that he was not the same person.[25] This second Hangman led the group Night Shift,[25][21] ironically formed by the Shroud, after the encounter with the Locksmith, recruiting several of the Locksmith's former criminal prisoners with terror-related identities, but not the original Hangman.[24]

Personality

The Hangman was a psychopathic killer[1][2][3] with a delusional sense of right and wrong,[6][8] and a very violent one at that.[9] He was inspired by fictional movie stars[5] to the point of swearing to become a hero like them,[10][6] with the idea of punishing the criminals brutally:[6][5] In war, he was court-martialed for torturing war prisoners.[1][2][3] Believing that the police and the judiciary system were either weak milksops[1][2][3] or directly corrupt,[6][1][2][3] he decided that the law could not be counted on to punish the guilty[7][11] (Still, the Hangman was reluctant to confront policemen directly).[7][5] The Hangman thus decided to embark on a personal, one-man crusade against crime,[7][5][1][2][3] including in it people who had not broken the law but whose morality clashed with the Hangman's.[6][1][12] In his narrow mind, he often decided whether a person was a valid target based on circumstantial evidence,[6][5] and then single-mindedly tracked that person[7] and those on the same class.[7][3] When the Hangman saw mature male Buck Cowan chasing teenage female Lissa Russell, he initially thought Cowan had evil intent; but then listened their words and concluded that they knew each other and Cowan was trying to protect Russell, which the Hangman approved.[6]

The Hangman defined his own set of rules in his mind,[7][5] and strove to follow them, lest he could feel emotionally blocked;[7][12][3] however, he was often willing to stretch the letter of his own law if he felt it was needed for a greater purpose,[7][5] as he felt strong men like him could not be indecisive.[7] An important rule for the Hangman, based on his outdated movies' plots,[6] was that women should not be killed directly:[2][3] He felt that women were weak-minded, emotional creatures,[2][3] and thus could not be held responsible when committing evil deeds;[1][2][3] if that were the case, surely the woman had been misled by evil men.[2][3] Instead of killing women who committed crimes, he imprisoned them[2][3] in his dungeon to protect them from further corruption.[6][2][3] He also imprisoned women who were, in his opinion, in need of protection.[6][10] However, he sometimes failed to fed this women; five women died in his dungeon.[2][3] Even then, if a woman tried to protect the Hangman's male targets, the Hangman felt that he was entitled to batter such a woman, only as much as needed to reach his intended victim.[6][5] During his career, the Hangman was confirmed to have killed over thirty men, many of whom were known criminals, and imprisoned fifteen women, ten of whom were rescued by the police (the other five had died of starvation);[1][2][3] the Hangman was also seen trying to kill Tyree Robinson, a psychotic vagrant who was not dangerous and apparently had committed no crime.[13] The Hangman was known to dislike drug users,[5] but ironically the Locksmith kept the Hangman imprisoned by feeding him with drugs and children's TV shows.[9]

The Hangman seemed to love the sound of his own voice, as he constantly spoke about his morals and actions,[6][7] even when nobody could hear him.[5] He taunted and insulted his intended victims,[14][5] tried to convince innocents to stay away from evil, and explained his origin to his prisoners.[6] His speeches often talked of justice, either of him looking for it[5] or of how justice has been corrupted,[7] and of how he was a paladin of goodness and honor.[5] In jail, he was asking for his rights (which his victims were denied) thou, when the Pride tried to question him, he asked for a lawyer.[15] The illusion of the Hangman generated by the wizard Marcosa was eerily silent.[16]

Attributes

Powers

None.[1][2][3][4]

Abilities

The Hangman was exceptionally strong and athletic compared to a typical man his age.[1] Due to his intensive routine of regular exercise,[2] he could lift 425 pounds over his head and had the endurance of a healthy 32-year-old man.[1] Like an athlete, he could sustain peak exertion for several minutes before fatigue impaired performance; could run at a peak range of at least 32 miles per hour; had above-average reaction time, flexibility and coordination; and recovered quickly from bodily injury or diseases,[4] as demonstrated during his crusade against DePrayve: He fell four feet onto the floor to recover quickly, and later was only temporarily stunned when DePrayve hit him with superhuman strength.[5] The Hangman also recovered from gunshot wounds, stabbings and hangings.[1] About the Hangman's strength, he moved his scythe with so much power that he accidentally reaped a street lamp,[6] and he was seen balancing himself on his rope even carrying the Werewolf by Night;[14][5] however, his still-human punches were not enough to make superhuman DePrayve blink.[5]

Trained in hand-to-hand combat training in the U.S. Army,[4] the Hanman developed the natural instincts of a fighter[1] and was especially trained in the use of his weapons of choice, the noose and the scythe:[3] He could swing the scything with unerring aim and deadly intent,[7] and also used his weapons for transport.[7][5]

While not especially intelligent in the traditional sense,[3][4] he developed street smarts and was able to investigate his victims, like he did with Winston Redditch.[5] He developed an intimidating social approach to question criminals he captured so that they'd lead him to higher-ranking criminals.[11]

The Hangman also had extensive knowledge of Hollywood films,[3][4] especially of the 1930s,[4] 1940s and 1950s.[3][4]

Weaknesses

Sociopathy: Harlan had a delusional sense of right and wrong.[6][8] Whenever his view of the universe was challenged, the Hangman, who refused to doubt about his crusade,[7] could be shattered and crumble in tears, like when he murdered a woman (believing that the victim was a male), and saw how he had unwittingly broken his own honor code that forbid him to hurt women[12] (notwithstanding that he did hurt women consciously in other occasions),[6][5] or when he perceived that "the work of his life" had been spoiled when his female prisoners were released.[7] His mind was confirmed weaker than his body when he could be pacified with a constant stream of cartoons (and a supply of drugs).[9]

Not being superhuman, the Hangman had the typical limitations of common men: He was surprised by an attack from his back,[12] and was affected by the memory-erasing magic of Magnus the Magician.[9]

Paraphernalia

Equipment

The Hangman had a costume reminiscent of medieval executioners. This costume has had variations throughout his career:

  • The Hangman's original uniform, worn through most of his career, included blue old-style boots, a sleeveless one-piece open on the chest area with a cleavage tied over his pecs, blue armbands, and a blue executioner's mask with holes for the eyes, worn in a way that allowed a peak to protrude on the top of his head. He often wore a rope as a makeshift belt,[6][7][14][5][11][10] either his own noose or another rope.[5] During his first encounter with Spider-Woman, the hood's peak was longer than it was when he faced the Werewolf by Night.[6][7][14][5][11][10]
  • However, when he confronted Iron Man, his uniform was different: He had modern black boots, with a different top that lacked the cleavage (thou it had a sewing on the center of his chest, not reaching the neck), gloves reaching his forearm instead of wrist bands, and a hood without any peak.[13][15]
  • When chasing the moviemakers, he seemed to have returned to the original style (mostly the Werewolf times), with the main difference of having replaced the makeshift-belt rope with a traditional belt.[12] This is also the style seen in his Official Handbook profiles.[1][2][3][4]
The Hangman's uniform was made of synthetic stretch fabric, except for the boots, wristbands and belt[4] (when applicable),[13][15][12] which were leather.[4]

Weapons

The Hangman used only two specific weapons: The noose and the scythe,[2][3][4] to hang, dismember[1][2][3] or impale his enemies.[2][3]

  • Noose:[2][3] The Hangman carried a traditional thirteen-coil[1][2] Executioner's noose,[1][2][2][3][4] measuring thirty-feet in length, and woven from half-inch hemp.[1][2][3][4] The rope was not specially manufactured, as he bought it openly,[4] and it was not strong enough to resist the power of Iron Man Armor MK II[13] The Hangman used this to stalk people through the streets,[1][2][3] often by walking through the ledges of buildings,[6][7] and used the rope, in combination with urban furniture,[5] for ensnaring and subsequently hanging his prey,[6][7][14][5][1] often to their surprise.[6][14] The Hangman was strong enough to lift the Werewolf by Night[6] (300 lbs.)[26] freehand this way.[6] When not using it, the Hangman sometimes wore the rope around his waist as a makeshift belt.[6][7][14][5][11][10]
  • Scythe: The Hangman used a typical[4] harvesting scythe[1][2] with an eight-foot long[1][2][3][4] wooden[1][2][4] handle,[1][2][3][4] capped by a curved[4] four-foot long[1][2][3][4] single-edged steel[1][2][4] blade.[1][2][3] While the Hangman may attack his victims by surprise by impaling them with a stabbing attack from their backs,[6][12] he could also use the scythe in combat, often making horizontal attacks to make use of a superior range;[6] he was also known to dismember some of his victims.[1] When moving, the Hangman sometimes attached the scythe to his back as a shoulder belt of sorts.[6]

Transportation

The Hangman resorted to different transportations,[4] but was often seen jumping through the cornices of buildings, sometimes using his scythe for balancing,[7] and sometimes using his rope to move in the style of Tarzan.[5]

Notes

  • The Hangman has dedicated profiles in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #5 (1983), Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (Vol. 2) #17 (1987), Gamer's Handbook of the Marvel Universe #2 (1988), and Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition #7 (1991).
    • Weirdly, Official Handbook Vol 1 does not mention the Hangman's encounters with the Werewolf by Night, Spider-Woman or the Locksmith, which had already been published. It tells the start of the story published in Bizarre Adventures #31, but not the end; nor it includes the fields Place of Death or Last Appearance, that are typically included in deceased characters. However, if the authors had access to the start of the story in Bizarre Adventures, they should also have had access to the last pages where he dies.
    • Official Handbook Vol 1 and Gamer's Handbook list the Hangman's identity as "Known to the police". Official Handbook Vol 2 specifies it is known to the Los Angeles Police Department. Masters Edition just lists it as Secret.
    • Gamer's Handbook repeated a good part of the text in Official Handbook Vol 2, with minor modifications like removing references in italics to other articles, replacing italics for quotes when naming movies like Gore Galore, and omitting a few sentences and lines or adding words without altering the real context. Gamer also removed the section "Place of death". In the gaming stats, the damage of scythes is stated, but the noose's is not.
    • Master Edition has several issues: The text misspells DePrayve's name as Deprave; it considers the solid hallucination of the Hangman seen in Werewolf by Night #37 to be the real name (It says that the Hangman allied with Dr. Glitternight and the Moon Knight against the Werewolf by Night, but Krueger never met Dr. Glitternight or the Moon Knight); and it misnames Krueger's murderer as Jack O'Brien: Bizarre Adventures #31 calls the man Matt O'Brien, and Official Handbook Vol 2 (and Gamer's Handbook) identifies him as Matthew O'Brien.
      • On that subject, in Avengers West Coast #76, the second Hangman (Jason Roland) also says that the man who had killed Krueger was named Jack O'Brien. Roland may have been mistaken, or maybe Matt O'Brien sometimes used the name Jack O'Brien as an alias.
  • The Hangman's death was shown in Bizarre Adventures #31 (cover date April 1982), but the Hangman appeared later in Spider-Woman #50 (cover date June 1983). Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (Vol. 2) #17 explicitly confirms that the events in Bizarre Adventures take place after the events in Spider-Woman #50, even if they were published before.
    • The Hangman's encounters with Iron Man are difficult to fit in continuity, as they should take place during the time when Obadiah Stane had evicted Anthony Stark, which started barely before the events in Spider-Woman #50.
  • The photo on the cover of Spider-Woman Vol 1 50 was taken by Eliot R. Brown in the alley behind Marvel artist Bob Camp's loft in New York. Barely visible, Marvel penciler Brian Postman modeled as the Hangman. Painted "enhancements" were provided by Bob Larkin.[27][28] In his 2019 reminiscing of this moment, photographer Brown mistakenly identifies the Hangman as the Grim Reaper (The Grim Reaper did not appear in the story and had not even met Spider-Woman).[29]

Trivia

  • The Hangman constantly gave his speeches, even when nobody could listen.[5] His words were often confusing and not well-rehearsed (like when he accused policemen to "corrupt justice in the name of justice").[7] The illusory Hangman created by Belaric Marcosa's magics was, on the other hand, always silent.[16]
    • Especially after hearing the Hangman's words, Iron Man accused the Hangman of being a "poor-quality villain", especially for Los Angeles, the second biggest city in the country.[13] Soon after this, the Pride women also described the Hangman as an incredibly lame criminal, again considering that the second biggest city in the country deserved better.[15]
  • The Pride described the Hangman as "this Charles Addams reject", suggesting he looked like a character from Addams Family.[15] Iron Man described the Hangman trying to hang Robinson as "One of the many charming local psychopaths in your city cast him against his will in an amateur production of the Ox-Bow Incident." This is a reference to The Ox-Bow Incident, a 1943 western about characters being lynched by hanging.[13]
  • The Hangman had no known contacts[3] or trusted friends.[4] It is unclear who he intended to phone when he was arrested.[15]
  • Catherine Wilder, a black woman, decided to punish the Hangman because he had tried to lynch a black man, Tyree Robinson and considered it a historical insensitivity.[15] The Hangman has however also lynched many white men,[6][11] so there is no reason to believe his attack on Robinson had any racist undertone.
  • The Shroud, one of the former prisoners of the Locksmith, recruited a team of horror-themed criminals among the other former prisoners to create Night Shift. While the Hangman fitted the requirement, he did not became a member of the Night Shift; it's unclear whether the Shroud decided to not approach him, failed to reach the Hangman before the latter's death, or the Hangman rejected the Shroud's offer.[24]

See Also

Links and References

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 1.30 1.31 1.32 1.33 1.34 1.35 1.36 1.37 1.38 1.39 1.40 1.41 1.42 1.43 1.44 1.45 1.46 1.47 1.48 1.49 1.50 1.51 1.52 1.53 1.54 1.55 1.56 1.57 1.58 1.59 1.60 1.61 1.62 1.63 1.64 1.65 1.66 1.67 1.68 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #5 ; Hangman's profile
  2. ↑ 2.000 2.001 2.002 2.003 2.004 2.005 2.006 2.007 2.008 2.009 2.010 2.011 2.012 2.013 2.014 2.015 2.016 2.017 2.018 2.019 2.020 2.021 2.022 2.023 2.024 2.025 2.026 2.027 2.028 2.029 2.030 2.031 2.032 2.033 2.034 2.035 2.036 2.037 2.038 2.039 2.040 2.041 2.042 2.043 2.044 2.045 2.046 2.047 2.048 2.049 2.050 2.051 2.052 2.053 2.054 2.055 2.056 2.057 2.058 2.059 2.060 2.061 2.062 2.063 2.064 2.065 2.066 2.067 2.068 2.069 2.070 2.071 2.072 2.073 2.074 2.075 2.076 2.077 2.078 2.079 2.080 2.081 2.082 2.083 2.084 2.085 2.086 2.087 2.088 2.089 2.090 2.091 2.092 2.093 2.094 2.095 2.096 2.097 2.098 2.099 2.100 2.101 2.102 2.103 2.104 2.105 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (Vol. 2) #17 ; Hangman's profile
  3. ↑ 3.000 3.001 3.002 3.003 3.004 3.005 3.006 3.007 3.008 3.009 3.010 3.011 3.012 3.013 3.014 3.015 3.016 3.017 3.018 3.019 3.020 3.021 3.022 3.023 3.024 3.025 3.026 3.027 3.028 3.029 3.030 3.031 3.032 3.033 3.034 3.035 3.036 3.037 3.038 3.039 3.040 3.041 3.042 3.043 3.044 3.045 3.046 3.047 3.048 3.049 3.050 3.051 3.052 3.053 3.054 3.055 3.056 3.057 3.058 3.059 3.060 3.061 3.062 3.063 3.064 3.065 3.066 3.067 3.068 3.069 3.070 3.071 3.072 3.073 3.074 3.075 3.076 3.077 3.078 3.079 3.080 3.081 3.082 3.083 3.084 3.085 3.086 3.087 3.088 3.089 3.090 3.091 3.092 3.093 3.094 3.095 3.096 3.097 3.098 3.099 3.100 Gamer's Handbook of the Marvel Universe #2 ; Hangman's profile
  4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 4.19 4.20 4.21 4.22 4.23 4.24 4.25 4.26 4.27 4.28 4.29 4.30 4.31 4.32 4.33 4.34 4.35 4.36 4.37 4.38 4.39 4.40 4.41 4.42 4.43 4.44 4.45 4.46 4.47 4.48 4.49 4.50 4.51 4.52 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition #7 ; Hangman's profile
  5. ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 5.15 5.16 5.17 5.18 5.19 5.20 5.21 5.22 5.23 5.24 5.25 5.26 5.27 5.28 5.29 5.30 5.31 5.32 5.33 5.34 5.35 5.36 5.37 5.38 5.39 5.40 5.41 5.42 Werewolf by Night #26
  6. ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 6.15 6.16 6.17 6.18 6.19 6.20 6.21 6.22 6.23 6.24 6.25 6.26 6.27 6.28 6.29 6.30 6.31 6.32 6.33 6.34 6.35 6.36 6.37 6.38 6.39 6.40 6.41 6.42 6.43 6.44 6.45 6.46 6.47 6.48 6.49 6.50 6.51 6.52 6.53 6.54 6.55 6.56 6.57 6.58 6.59 6.60 6.61 6.62 6.63 6.64 6.65 6.66 6.67 6.68 6.69 6.70 6.71 6.72 Werewolf by Night #11
  7. ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 7.12 7.13 7.14 7.15 7.16 7.17 7.18 7.19 7.20 7.21 7.22 7.23 7.24 7.25 7.26 7.27 7.28 Werewolf by Night #12
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Spider-Woman #4–5
  9. ↑ 9.00 9.01 9.02 9.03 9.04 9.05 9.06 9.07 9.08 9.09 9.10 9.11 Spider-Woman #50
  10. ↑ 10.00 10.01 10.02 10.03 10.04 10.05 10.06 10.07 10.08 10.09 10.10 10.11 10.12 10.13 Spider-Woman #5
  11. ↑ 11.00 11.01 11.02 11.03 11.04 11.05 11.06 11.07 11.08 11.09 11.10 11.11 11.12 Spider-Woman #4
  12. ↑ 12.00 12.01 12.02 12.03 12.04 12.05 12.06 12.07 12.08 12.09 12.10 12.11 12.12 12.13 12.14 12.15 12.16 12.17 12.18 12.19 12.20 12.21 12.22 12.23 12.24 12.25 12.26 Bizarre Adventures #31 ; Gore Galore
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 13.7 Iron Man: Legacy #6
  14. ↑ 14.00 14.01 14.02 14.03 14.04 14.05 14.06 14.07 14.08 14.09 14.10 14.11 Werewolf by Night #25
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 15.7 15.8 Iron Man: Legacy #7
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Werewolf by Night #37
  17. ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (Vol. 2) #14 ; Werewolf's profile
  18. ↑ Gamer's Handbook of the Marvel Universe #4 ; Werewolf's profile
  19. ↑ Werewolf by Night #18
  20. ↑ Werewolf by Night #34
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 New Avengers Most Wanted Files #1 ; Brothers Grimm's profile
  22. ↑ Spider-Woman #7
  23. ↑ Spider-Woman #6
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 24.4 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update #2 ; Night Shift's profile
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 25.4 Avengers West Coast #76
  26. ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Horror 2005 #1
  27. ↑ Marvel Age #4 Behind the Lines - Grumblings from the Gru Crew
  28. ↑ Howe, Sean (28 August 2012) Sean Howe on Tumblr THE UNTOLD STORY. Retrieved on 20 May 2020.
  29. ↑ Brown, Eliot R. (28 December 2019) Spider-Woman #60: The Most Expensive Comic Cover Ever Made! Part 2 Behind the Universe - the Marvel Comics Bullpen - 1979-1995. Retrieved on 12 December 2024.
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