History
Moppino was a spy for Imperial Japan during World War II. Shortly after America's entry into the war in 1941, Moppino was sent to New York where he posed as the religious leader at the Sun Temple. He and his men captured New York's defense director and stole his atom expansion ray. During one of the defense director's emergency blackout tests, Moppino had his men run the director over in an alley. Dragging his body out into the street, they made it appear as though the director was run down in the street, an accident victim of his own blackout.
When the police investigated the death, the Human Torch and Toro were suspicious. Investigating the alley near the temple, they found blood hastily covered up with newspaper. Spotting the Torch and Toro, Moppino focused the atom expander ray on the building in front of them, causing it to explode and bury the two heroes in rubble. This hardly stopped the flaming duo, and they then broke into the temple. Prepared for such a measure, Moppino had installed giant fans to blow out their flames and trapped them in an asbestos lined room.
Leaving the temple with his fellow spies, Moppino and his men started a campaign of terror across the city, mowing down police officers and using the atom expansion ray to destroy both the Statue of Liberty and Government Island. Later, the Torch and Toro freed themselves and used their flames to capture Moppino's men and destroy all the atom expansion weapons in Moppino's employ. Fleeing the authorities in Battery Park, Moppino attempted to escape in a Japanese sub into the Atlantic. Chasing after them, the Torch and Toro forced the sub to surface by dropping a depth charge on it. Using their flames they melted through the hull of the sub, causing it to sink to the bottom of the ocean, drowning Moppino and his men.[1]