Manhunter I

MANHUNTER I

Real Name: Donald "Dan" Richards

Class: Human

Occupation: Mysteryman, police officer

Group Affiliation: All-Star Squadron, Freedom Fighters

Known Relatives: Marcia Cooper (granddaughter)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: "A Great City," 1940s era

First Appearance: Police Comics #8 (Quality) (March, 1942)

Powers: Manhunter was a skilled detective, athlete, hand-to-hand-combatant, and gymnast. He was accompanied by Thor, a trained half-hound / half-mastiff, and commanded him with a supersonic whistle.

History: Donald Richards came in at the bottom of his class at police academy, disappointing his girlfriend Kit Kelly, whose brother Jim was in the top class. Jim refused to kill a man for a crooked politician, and when the politician killed his target anyway, he had Jim framed for murder. Donald knew his girl's brother was innocent, so he became the mysteryman Manhunter to clear his name. He vowed to become the Manhunter whenever the law was inadequate in bringing about justice.

(Police Comics #21 (Quality)) - Clancy sent Richards to investigate the murders in Hugh Blandings castle, anyone who staid in the blue room died by morning. Hugh’s daughter Alice’s fiancée Bob Drake spent a night in the blue room, and Richards changed into Manhunter an saved him from a spectral figure that drugged him an tried to kill him. The murderer was Alice, who was quite mad and suffered from paranoid delusions.

(Police Comics #27 (Quality)) - Manhunter investigated the death of socialite Martin L. Mirth. The prime suspect was ex-con Poker, and Poker told him he’d gone to jail because Martin’s expose his gambling racket because his gambling debts to Poker would have bankrupted him. Poker wanted to kill him, but found Mirth a changed man who donated to charity and set Poker up in his own business. Manhunter knew Mirth’ been spending time with a homeless man and visited him. The homeless man was actually Mirth, who’d switched places with his doppelganger Ben Bumb to hide from Poker. Manhunter learned that Mirth had killed Bumb when he refused to give up his social standing because he could use it to help people. Manhunter turned in Mirth, who was sentenced to death for the crime of murder, the murder of himself.

Comments: Created by Tex Blaisdell & Alex Kotzky.

Manhunter was originally published by Quality Comics, which DC obtained the rights to in 1956.

In the pre-Crisis DC Universe Manhunter lived on Earth-2.

Manhunter received a profile in Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #14