History: (JSA #83-86 (fb)) - In the reign of King George a gentleman named Jim and a peasant woman name Nell fathered a child, but the gentleman said that the illegitimate boy, Jim Craddock, would never be part of his life. He cut ties with Nell and the boy. Jim’s mother told him he was a born gentleman, despite their humble circumstances. Jim idolized his absent father, and was filled with pride by his station as “gentleman.” Jim and Nell were fired from working in a tavern when Jim battered the tavern owner’s son for disputing his claim to being a gentleman. After Jim’s mother died he made his living as a pickpocket, and traded gold and silver to the Gypsy Queen for coppers. She read his fortune and told him he would one day be hanged, but that he would rise as a ghost and steal for hundreds of years. He could only return to life by killing those he hated in the castle of the decedents of King George. The prophecy frightened Jim, and he ran off. Jim heard stories of highwaymen, and decided it was his destiny to be one of them. He went to the Great North Road they frequented, and found the ghosts of Dick Turpin and other legendary highwaymen. They foretold he would be the last and greatest highwayman, and gifted him with pistols and a steed. Jim grew up to become the legend Gentleman Jim Craddock, and was a successful highwayman for years. 

(Hawkman IV #7) - Gentleman Jim was in a bar in St. Roch when the western hero Nighthawk rode into town. He noticed a commotion at the nearby jailhouse, and Jim informed him that beloved rich Bois Garvey had been shot to death, and his servant, a former slave named Cyrus Evans stood accused. Craddock thought he was innocent, and that Garvey's niece Matilda Dunney, who'd rounded up a lynch mob, was the one responsible. Nighthawk became fast friends with Gentleman Jim, believing him to have a similar sense of justice.

(JSA #86 (fb)) - Jim met his ruin when he offered his plunder to a pretty lady and made advances on her. She recognized him as a rogue and called the king’s men. Gentleman Jim was hung for his crimes, but promised to return. Jim’s soul traveled through Hell, but wouldn't stay there. He returned to Earth as the Gentleman Ghost in the 1940s’. He still had a compulsion to loot and steal even though having riches no longer benefited him.

(Flash Comics #88) - The Ghost gained fame as a supposedly spectral thief who went on a crimespree across Europe. With the police helpless American heroes Hawkman and Hawkgirl decided to intervene. The Ghost alerted the police that the Avon Bank was his next target, wanting a challenge from them. Hawkman and Hawkgirl got the drop on Ghost’s gang but the Ghost’s disembodied voice boomed out, saying he had a gun trained on them. His gang took Hawkgirl, and Ghost told Hawkman he’d keep her hostage to give him more of a motivation to catch him. The crooks sped away and Hawkman realized the Ghost’s voice was coming from a wire receiver. Hawkman had managed to sprinkle fluorescent powder on the crooks’ car, allowing him to track them to the Tower of London. The Ghost planned his most ambitious heist to date, but decided to kill Hawkgirl because she already knew too much. Hawkman made the save in the nick of time, but found the ghost was only an empty suit and tophat held up with wires. The wires to the speaking system he was using led to the belfry, and Hawkman confronted the Ghost again. The Ghost seemingly plummeted to his demise, but it turned out he wasn’t confronting the real ghost, but a movie projection. The Ghost’s voice assured the heroes he was a real ghost, he just used gimmicks to amuse himself.

(Flash Comics #90) - The Ghost came to America and stole rare gems from a guarded bank vault, leaving behind an empty satchel. Hawkman and Hawkgirl investigated, and were suspicious when no fingerprints were found on the satchel. They found that the Ghost had killed the bank teller, assumed his identity and stole the gems before placing the satchel in the vault. The Ghost then stole the Pharaoh's Ruby from the Central Museum by pumping sleeping gas into the museum, knocking out the guards. To lure the Ghost in Hawkman and Hawkgirl planted a story in the news that they’d come back from Africa with an enormous diamond. The Ghost tried to steal the diamond, which was actually a fake, and it was hooked up to a camera that took a picture of the Ghost. The Ghost was irritated at being fooled and blinded Hawkman and Hawkgirl with a flashgun, but it blew up and seemingly destroyed the Ghost. Hawkman looked at the picture the camera snapped, and it gave weight to the Ghost being a spirit because he had no face, but seemed to be an invisible being wearing a tophat and monocle.

(Flash Comics #92) - The Ghost went on a crimespree in Paris, and anytime the police came close to catching him they were left with only an empty cape and tophat. The Ghost threatened to rob the Louvre, and the staff had security wire their valuable De Core paintings to burglar alarms. Ghost and his men had disguised themselves as security, and the alarm system was actually connected to smoke bombs inside the museum that caused a diversion allowing the Ghost to pilfer the paintings. Hawkman and Hawkgirl, having heard Ghost was up to his old tricks, came to Paris and confronted him in the museum. The Ghost was pleased his enemies would see him pull a spectacular crime. The Ghost kidnapped Hawkgirl and left Hawkman a riddle about a crying clown who would only laugh when a bird died. Hawkman realized he was referencing The Saga of Pagliacci, which was playing in a nearby opera house. The Ghost tied Hawkgirl to a chandelier and cut it lose, hoping to kill her and members of the audience, but Hawkman arrived in time to keep anyone from getting hurt. Hawkman was confronted by three identical Ghosts, but they all turned out to be empty clothing. The Ghost taunted Hawkman and then seemingly exploded in a flash of light, but Hawkman was far from convinced that the Ghost was actually dead.

(pre-Crisis only) (JSA #82) <March 21, 1951> Gentleman Ghost raided the JSA hq files, uncovering the locations of numerous rare valuables from their past cases. He stole synthetic gems from Midwestern University, an escaped Superman, who tried to catch him. He avoided Batman’s clutches stealing a first-edition Shakespeare from Wayne Manor. He tried to steal artifacts uncovered by Carter Hall from the Metropolis warehouse district, but was chased off by Superman and Wonder Woman.

(JSA #87) - The Gentleman Ghost visited his mother’s grave; bemoaning the pain Wonder Woman once caused him when she lassoed him. He knew that those descended from royalty could hurt him. Nell’s spirit rose from the grave and after a joyful reunion she promised to talk to her friends in the spirit world and assemble an army of ghosts loyal only to her son.

(Batman I #310) - Batman responded to a robbery at the Antiquities Wing of the Riverside Museum, and was met by the Gentleman Ghost and his gang. Ghost shot his pistol at Batman, who grabbed an antique shield. The bullet never reached him, simply hovering in the air until it exploded in a magnesium flare, blinding him. Gentleman Ghost thanked him for the sport as he left with his men, assuring Batman wouldn’t see him again. Batman took the robbery personally because Ghost stole two solid gold lanterns that once hung from Wayne Manor. Batman returned to the Wayne foundation, surprised to see Alfred wasn’t home yet, but went to sleep, confident Alfred was fine wherever he was. When he woke Bruce was starting to worry that Alfred was still missing and had his secretary Gwen call every police precinct and hospital in Gotham, but she couldn’t turn anything up. Bruce visited Ye Pipe and Hearth, the British pub where Alfred spent most of his nights off and learned that someone tailed Alfred when he left. Batman returned to his Foundation to find Gentleman Ghost and his gang admiring their haul, and noticed Alfred was present. Batman held his own against Ghost’s gang, but when he tried to approach Ghost a blast of chilled air paralyzed him, and Alfred knocked him out with a vase. Batman woke a short time later, wondering what kind of spell the Ghost held over Alfred. He also wondered why the Gentleman Ghost was interested in antiques when his M.O. was a jewel thief. On a hunch Batman went to Wayne Manor, where Ghost was regaling Alfred about how Wayne Manor reminded him of his old London home. Ghost was drinking at the Pipe and Hearth when he heard Alfred bragging about Wayne Manor when he decided to see it for himself. Ghost had come to Gotham City for a change of scenery, but dearly missed London and decided Wayne Manor was a base where he could be reminded of his home and robbed the antiquities to decorate it, restoring it to its’ 1700s era state, living in a manner which he was accustomed. Batman confronted him and when Ghost ordered Alfred to shoot Batman Alfred overcame his mental control and refused. Ghost tried to flee in his ghostly carriage, but Batman fought with him, exasperating Gentleman Ghost. Batman refused to believe he was an actual spirit, believing his powers to be a clever gimmick. The carriage went over a cliff, and when Batman investigated he found only Gentleman Ghost’s tophat and heard a haunting laugh mocking him.

(Batman I #318, 319) - Small time crooks Reggie and Alf broke into a millionaire’s crypt at Gotham City’s Eternal Gate Cemetery and were surprised to meet the Gentleman Ghost, who was waiting for them. Gentleman Ghost, along with his new underlings Alfie and Reggie made the Shadyville funeral home their hideout. They broke into a diamond manufacturing plant, but were confronted by Batman. Ghost activated a hoist-hook that snagged Batman and allowed him to make his escape, but not before Batman threw a batarang that retrieved his purloined bag of diamonds. Ghost told his men they’d make another attempt on the plant, and Alfie and Reggie thought he was trying to get caught. Gentleman Ghost said he fully expected Batman to try to stop them, but wanted to be rid of the Caped Crusader once and for all because Gotham City wasn’t big enough for both of them. During the robbery Batman showed up and leapt at Gentleman Ghost but found an empty costume supported with a wire frame and hiding a microphone. The real Ghost snuck up behind him, knocking him out with his cane. Batman woke to find himself chained over a vat of sulfuric acid. Ghost said he knew death-traps were melodramatic, but he loved drama and thought murder had become too pedestrian as of late. Ghost and his men left to pull off another heist, and Batman freed himself by using the grinding gears of the winch he was bound to to break his chains. Ghost, Alfie and Reggie tried to rob Bruce Wayne’s costumed ball celebrating the reopening of Wayne Manor, and Batman easily overpowered Alfie and Reggie. He pursued Ghost outside Wayne Manor, but when he tried to tackle him he passed through Ghost and nearly fell off a cliff. He found a projector in nearby bushes that created the image of the Gentleman Ghost. Ghost told Batman he did like using tricks, but assured him he was a real spirit before vanishing into thin air.

(Hawkman IV #2) -Gentleman Ghost visited St. Roch's Stonechat Museum, and after collector Kristopher Renard Roderic bought out the collection, the Gentleman found a broken picture frame of the curators Danny and Oliver Evans, and affixed it to a wall.

(Villains United #1) - Gentleman Ghost joined “Lex Luthor’s” Society.

(JSA #83-87) - <one year later> Gentleman Ghost summoned the ghosts of the JSA’s deceased love ones to appear to them. He visited the JSA and told them the ghosts they saw were his warning to them that they would all soon die by his hand. After hospitalizing Green Lantern the Ghost returned to the JSA hq, meaning Ma tell him where Wonder Woman was, but was beaten off by Power Girl, who found she could physically affect him. The Ghost struck against Stargirl, but was once again driven off by Power Girl. J.J. Thunder entered the spirit world to learn more about the Ghost, but the Ghost and a gang of spirits loyal to him attacked. They were forced to flee when J.J.’s Thunderbolt summoned the spirits of several deceased JSAers to do battle with them. Gentleman Ghost stole the crown jewels from the royals castle in London, and was confronted by the JSA. He remembered the Gypsy Queen’s prophecy of his youth an knew this was his chance to return to life, by slaying those he hated most in the castle of the descendents of King George. The Ghost summoned an army of spirits to kill the JSA an their fight led to a chapel in Windsor, where an army of ghost knights arose and battled Ghost’s army for daring to defile the temple. Mr. Terrific learned that the Ghost was only vulnerable to one descended from English royalty, and by searching his computer database he learned that Wildcat was a collateral descendant of a 17^th Century duke. Wildcat decapitated the Ghost with a sword from the chapel, ending the Ghost’s existence.

Comments: Created by Robert Kanigher & Joe Kubert

In the pre-Crisis DC Universe Gentleman Ghost lived Earth-2. JLA #82-87 hinted that he was a pre-Crisis holdover like Power Girl, who entered the post-Crisis DCU from the pre-Crisis DCU, as opposed to having her history altered or erased. At the very least he definitely remembered what his life was like in the pre-Crisis DCU.

Gentleman Ghost was named simply The Ghost in his early appearances in Flash Comics.

Gentleman Ghost received a profile in Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #9.

Gentleman Ghost's appearance in Flash Comics #88 was reprinted in Secret Origins I #1, Flash Comics #90 was reprinted in Wanted. The World’s Most Dangerous Villains #7, Flash Comics #92 was reprinted in Detective Comics I #442.

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