13

Real Name: Harold "Hal" Higgins

Identity/Class: Normal human

Occupation: Private investigator;
   former reporter

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Jinx (Darrel Creig, sidekick), Charlie, Mabel Colen, Miss Cummings, Inspector Sullivan of Boston PD, Marie Duvale Sterns, Jeb Toland

Enemies: Baltimore "union" spy ring, Professor Bloodhaur, Mr. Burke, Compello, Moldon Creig, Fong, Inky, Jet (witch of the Everglades), King Questionmark (Carlos Sterns), King Questionmark's gang ("Goebbels" Dodge, "Hitler," "Lord Haw Haw," "Nero," "Pumpkin"), Dr. Klitz, Crusher Koll, Crusher Koll's boss, Ah Ling, Wong Lee, Professor Venom, Rollo, Clyde Roussos, Travers, Weisner, Arthur C. Yates, unidentified aircraft carrier commanding officer

Known Relatives: Bob Higgins (brother, deceased), Captain Higgins Snr (father, deceased), unidentified mother (deceased), Margy (sister)

Aliases: The Nemesis of All-Time

Base of Operations: Boston;
   formerly New York City; Hollywood, Los Angeles

First Appearance: Daredevil Comics #3 (Lev Gleason, September 1941)

Powers/Abilities: 13 lacks actual superpowers, but is extremely fit with peak human strength, and is an exceptional brawler, tending to favor powerhouse punches and throws. He's also fairly acrobatic, for example able to swiftly ascend the sides of buildings by jumping on flagpoles.

Height: Unrevealed, but presumably above average
Weight: Unrevealed; muscular build.
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Black (despite the headshot to the left, as other headshots show the white in different spots - he's not going white, his black hair is just shiny).

Summary: After a string of misfortune all related to the number thirteen led reporter Harold Higgins to conclude he was jinxed, he was inspired to try and break the perceived curse by becoming the masked crimefighter 13, hoping to be "dishing out bad fortune" instead of suffering from it. After a few successful missions he gained a teenage sidekick, Jinx.

History: (Daredevil Comics#5 text story) - Born on Friday the 13th in a small town in Vermont, Harold Higgins found that "the hand of Fate placed a bony hand against his throat and proclaimed him possessor of a fearsome plague to man -- the curse of "13", nemesis number of all time." As he grew, so too did his misfortunes, always centered around that unlucky number. He broke his leg on the 13th of the month, the thirteenth essay he did for History caused him to fail the subject, and so on. But these early incidents were all relatively minor. All that changed on his thirteenth birthday. His family threw a party for him with many of his friends in attendance, including his best friend Helen, a girl he was sweet on who had moved away to Boston, limiting his chances to spend time with her. Thus, when the chance presented itself they slipped away together to find some privacy and catch up on old times. When they returned they found the revelers had formed a seated semi-circle on the floor, grouped into couples to play a guessing game. Naturally a place had been left open for the birthday boy and his gal, but Hal thought to count the places and noted with dread that he and Helen would be thirteenth in line. Before he could say anything, Helen took her place and pulled Hal down to sit beside her. The game began, and soon Helen rose to take her turn, but before she could speak the chandelier above them broke free from the ceiling and came crashing down, tragically ending her life.

   "After this, the trail of tragedy followed the life of Harold Higgins closely. "Thirteen" became an obsession in his mind as the years passed and death struck at his family one by one and all on this fatal date."

(Daredevil Comics#3 (fb)) - When Hal was in his twenties, now working in Los Angeles for the Hollywood Herald, his brother, Bob, died in a plane crash in Cuba on February 13th. A month later, on March 13th, Hal's broker at the New York Stock Exchange informed him that his investments had been wiped out, leaving him broke. On April 13th that year Hal's sister Margy was permanently crippled in a car crash. On July 13th the S.S. Hartland sank, taking all aboard to their graves, including the captain, Hal's father. Then on September 13th Hal's fiancee was killed before his eyes when she was struck by a speeding truck. 

(Daredevil Comics#3) - Hal soldiered on as best he could, throwing himself into his work. In April (presumably of the subsequent year, rather than several years later) he began an investigation into the disappearance of movie star Larry Miller, ignoring his managing editor Clyde Roussos' instructions to drop the matter, as Clyde insisted there was no relevant story to uncover. Coming to suspect night club owner Ah Ling, a well-known Hollywood playgirl, might be involved, Hal dropped by her palatial beach house, but was sent away; soon after, when he presented his theory to Roussos (on April 13th), his enraged boss again insisted Miller dropping out of sight wasn't a story, that Ah Ling had nothing to do with it, and fired Hal on the spot. Though losing his job on the 13th was small in terms of the tragedies he had suffered, nevertheless this proved the final straw for Hal, utterly convincing him that he was jinxed. Determined the break the curse by facing it straight on, he decided to become a crimefighter, hoping to dish out some of his bad fortune to criminals, and put together a simple costume to wear under his street clothes. Still suspecting Ah Ling to be behind Miller's disappearance, Hal returned to her beach house, where he spied through a window his former boss Roussos conferring with Ling, revealing the true reason he had been fired. Eavesdropping, he learned that Ling was holding Miller prisoner in the cellar, torturing the rich movie star in an attempt to extort money from him. Switching into his costume, 13 raced to the star's rescue, smashing his way through Ling's lackeys to free the captive. Ling fled in a motorboat, but Roussos' crimes were publicly exposed, and 13's reputation as a crimefighter began to spread.

(Daredevil Comics#4) - Chancing to be present when thieves raided an art auction at Sacker's Art Gallery to steal an ancient Egyptian Buddha whose history suggested it brought tragedy to whoever owned it, Hal Higgins intervened as 13. The gang's leader, the racketeer Compello, used a bomb to stop 13's pursuit, which slew one of the mobster's own men. Checking the dead man's pockets, 13 discovered a letter linking Compello to the explorer Arthur C. Yates and raced to the man's house, arriving just in time to witness Yates remove a slip of paper hidden within the statue, then shoot Compello to keep him quiet. Racing into the room 13 punched Yates, but as he fell he triggered an alarm which brought some of his goons racing to assist him. While 13 was dealing with them, Yates fled, but though his quarry had escaped, 13 noted he had accidentally left the slip of paper behind.

(Daredevil Comics#5 (fb) - BTS) - Deciphering the message on the paper, 13 learned it detailed a plan for saboteurs in the U.S. to destroy American morale by imminently blowing up the Statue of Liberty. With the time and date outlined, 13 decided to lay in wait and ambush the saboteurs when they showed up, and so, on the day in question, 13 staked out the Statue, hiding out in Lady Liberty's torch.

(Daredevil Comics#5) - However, before the saboteurs arrived, 13 witnessed two men deliberately push a young boy from the Statue's tiara. 13 instantly dived down from his vantage point and managed to catch the lad with one hand while seizing hold of the tiara's spikes to stop both of them from falling. The men swiftly fled down the inner stairs, but 13 lowered himself and the boy down the outside via rope in time to intercept the two recalcitrants on the ground, and while 13 tackled the larger man, the boy proved himself surprisingly capable at both judo and boxing to take down the smaller one. With the pair subdued, 13 now had time to recognize the lad from the news as Darrel Creig, the recently orphaned 13 year old heir to a steel fortune; the two men who had tried to murder him were Darrel's uncle Moldon and Moldon's associate Travers. 13 explained to Darrel how he had chanced to be atop the Statue at the right time to intervene, and since it was now past time for the saboteurs to show, 13 concluded that the fight had probably scared them off and took Darrel back to the mainland, unaware that in fact the saboteurs had arrived just in time to spot them and had abandoned attacking the Statue in favor of tailing the vigilante. With no remaining family (that he could trust and thus stay with), as the pair disembarked at the docks Darrel asked 13 to take him on as a crimefighting partner; recalling Darrel's fighting prowess and taking the lad's age as a sign thanks to his own superstition, 13 agreed. The pair returned to 13's apartment, unaware the saboteurs had followed them there. While the gangsters hastily assembled their forces to take down 13, inside the apartment and oblivious of the imminent danger 13 provided Darrel with a costume and codename, Jinx. Tired after the exciting day, Jinx left the room to take a nap, moments before the gangsters barged through the front door. Caught off guard by superior numbers, 13 put up a fight but was soon pinned to the floor, his limbs pinioned by multiple crooks while another prepared to stab him. Before the fatal blow could fall, Jinx intervened, smashing the knife-man with a thrown electric fan, then bodily hurling into some of the men holding 13 down, reducing the odds sufficiently for 13 to wrench himself free of the others. Together the two heroes swiftly pounded the gangsters into submission, before sirens alerted them to the cops arriving, called by a neighbor. 13 and Jinx raced to the roof and switched clothes, then returned to the apartment after the cops had arrived and acted surprised when the police informed them that 13 had fought gangsters in their apartment.

(Daredevil Comics#6) - Now based in Boston, 13 and Jinx heard of the brutal murder of Rudolph Sterns and Riley, the police officer assigned to protect him, by Rudolph's hunchback brother Carlos, a madman who now called himself the Questionmark. Learning that Carlos had loved Rudolph's wife, Marie, who was locked up in Medford's Insane Asylum because she was convinced she was Cleopatra, the pair swiftly headed there, rightly suspecting Carlos' next move would be to free her. They arrived at her cell just as Carlos was breaking her out, but he managed to fight them off and fled with Marie to a waiting car (a convertible with the hood down). As they began to speed off the pursuing 13 and Jinx jumped into the vehicle so Carlos deliberately drove the car off a cliff, then leapt out carrying Marie and stopped his own fall by grabbing an overhanging tree's branch, leaving the two heroes to plunge down a deep gorge.

(Daredevil Comics#7) - As the vehicle landed in a river the two heroes were thrown clear, the water luckily breaking their fall. Despite this, 13 was stunned; moments later Carlos and Marie also dropped down close by him (the branch having broken). Spotting the insensible hero, Carlos was about to stab him when 13 tackled the killer, who was then washed downstream. Meanwhile Marie, her sanity apparently restored by the fall, helped the waking 13 to his feet. Believing Carlos had drowned, the trio thought the case over, and took Marie back to their base to dry off. However, that evening (see comments) they were listening to the radio when the broadcast was hijacked by a familiar voice, Carlos! Masquerading as 13, he espoused anger at corrupt politicians for not recognizing his crimefighting efforts and threatened to murder the Mayor of New York that very night. Aware that if Carlos carried out his threat then they would likely be blamed, 13, Jinx and Marie all hastened to the vicinity of the Mayor's residence. Presuming that the Mayor's home would be swarming with police, they parked across the street in the grounds of a supposedly vacant house, but this proved to be Carlos' hideout (whether he'd anticipated 13 going there or just chose the house for the same reason 13 had, proximity to the Mayor's home and conveniently empty); now proclaiming himself King Questionmark as he had gathered a small army of equally insane minions, he set his madmen on the trio and trapped them in a steel net. The police, alerted by the noise, approached, so Carlos and his men bundled their captives into a van and sped off to Carlos' base, an estate atop a windswept mountain peak.

   Carlos decided to hold court with his prisoners, so 13 goaded him, insisting he would never achieve anything when his lackeys were all madmen. Carlos insisted he was wrong, taking pride in introducing his minions and explaining each one's position within his organization. When Carlos introduced his advisor, "Goebbels," 13 challenged his choice, insisting that Goebbels couldn't even speak properly, so Carlos decided to prove 13 wrong by holding a debate. Keeping the other two captives bound, Carlos untied 13, but spotting a gavel on the arm of Carlos' throne, 13 slowly moved towards it as he talked, then suddenly snatched the small hammer and threw it at the light, plunging the room into darkness. A short circuit started a fire, and 13 hastily tried to reach Marie and Jinx to release them, but Carlos tackled him, taking both of them through a chamber window and outside. 13 tried to break loose but Carlos continued to grapple him even as Marie and Jinx cried for help while the flames lapped around them.

(Daredevil Comics#8) - Realizing he would never make it into the inferno in time, 13 shouted at Jinx to try to burn his bonds off; luckily the boy managed to do so, and then freed Marie. Finally getting in a solid punch to lay Carlos low momentarily, 13 spotted his two friends now on the building's roof, having retreated there in a bid to avoid the fire; Marie jumped down into 13's arms while Jinx made his safe descent via the branches of a nearby tree. Since burning debris had landed where 13 had left Carlos lying, they again assumed his demise and headed home. However Carlos had survived, and the next day led a murderous raid on an armored car; alerted a day later by the newspaper headlines, 13 and Jinx vowed to find him. Since Goebbels had been captured, 13 decided to see if he could use his former profession as a reporter and convince the police to let him question the captive. However, while they were at the police station Carlos made an attempt to break his lackey out, breaching the cell with a bomb. Racing into action, 13 attacked; Carlos tried to keep him back by lighting the fuse on another explosive, but 13 knocked him down and the bomb went flying (see comments).

(Daredevil Comics#9) - Reaching his getaway truck Carlos leapt in as he threw yet another bomb at the pursuing heroes, but Goebbels caught it while shouting insanely that he was now a football player and jumped in the back of the truck, ignoring Carlos' desperate shrieks at him to stop. As 13 and Jinx watched, the van blew up, finally slaying King Questionmark.

   The next day the two heroes caught a train to Florida, intending to enjoy a well-earned vacation, noticing as they took their seats another passenger with a bizarre cane topped by a sphere that seemed to contain an eye within it; at some point after this they learned the man called Professor Venom. A few hours out of Florida the train screeched to an unexpected stop, and when Hal glanced out the window to see if he could see the reason he spotted armed men robbing the mail car. Switching into costume, 13 and Jinx swiftly overpowered the would-be robbers, but when they interrogated the train driver to find out why he had stopped the befuddled man insisted something had just come over him, compelling him to stop. After the train reached Miami Hal and Darrel decided to check out a casino, and noticed Professor Venom winning a small fortune at the cards table. However, upon closer inspection the pair realized this was because the dealer was seemingly in a hypnotic trance. Realizing Venom might have been responsible for the train incident the two heroes trailed him when he left the casino, following him to the dockyards where he boarded a fishing schooner. Eavesdropping at a porthole, the pair heard Venom explaining in a heavy German accent to the crew that he could mesmerize people with his cane, and that he was under orders to destroy the U.S. Navy. Busting in, the heroes began pounding the enemy agents, but fell victim to Venom's cane's power, causing them to fall asleep. The crew then threw them overboard, but the cold waters broke the spell, allowing 13 and Jinx to swim back to the schooner and covertly board it. The soon overpowered the crew, and found Venom on the bridge, hypnotizing the pilot of a battleship a considerable distance away so he would steer his craft into reefs. Catching Venom off guard 13 forced him to release the battleship pilot in time to avoid hitting the reefs, then used the cane to hypnotize Venom and the crew into handing themselves in to the authorities.

(Daredevil Comics#10) - Still on vacation in Florida 13 and Jinx read a newspaper article mentioning the strange murder of John Blake, the chief engineer of a new airbase being constructed near the Everglades, mentioning that though the body had a fatal chest wound no blood had spilled from said injury. Deciding to start at the airbase itself, the pair slipped up to the administration building under cover of darkness only to spot some workers in the middle of discovering a new corpse, another engineer, and overheard the construction foreman inform the superstitious workers that the man had been killed using black magic by the witch Jet of Black Island. At this the workers panicked, declaring the base hexed. Randomly grabbing one of the men, 13 and Jinx ordered him to take them to the island in question. The man, Mojo, took the pair by boat through the swamps to Black Island, but refused to go ashore himself, insisting dead Chinese walked there. Sure enough, soon after disembarking 13 and Jinx spotted a column of what appeared to be four Chinese zombies walk by, and surreptitiously followed them to a castle. Sneaking inside they saw the zombies gather round their mistress, the mysterious Jet, but were captured. Tauntingly Jet claimed responsibility for the two airbase murders, showing her prisoners small wax effigies of the two victims, each pierced through the heart by a large needle, then promised the two heroes that they were about to die the same way. She swiftly carved two new effigies, this time of 13 and Jinx, then as the pair watched nervously, she rammed pins through them... And nothing happened. While the pair felt a wave of relief, Jet wailed in anguish at her failure and ordered her slaves to take the prisoners to the torture chambers, but at this the two heroes fought back, ripping down a giant curtain to ensnare the zombie and then throwing it, men inside and all, to knock down a fleeing Jet. However, as the pair moved to take her into custody, they were coshed from behind. They woke to find themselves in a stone chamber with a raised and inaccessible exit in which stood Jet and the airbase's construction foreman, who Jet then introduced as her confederate Mr. Burke. Seeing her prisoners were awake, Jet pulled at a brake and bursts of flame began shooting from the chamber walls, forcing 13 and Jinx to retreat. Taunting the pair, Jet suggested they jump into the well at the back of the chamber, but when the two heroes peered down into it they say that it contained several hungry looking crocodiles.

(Daredevil Comics#11) - Thinking quickly 13 told Jinx his plan; they would jump into the well, but catch the ledge and cling to it, safe from both the flames above and crocodiles below and hidden Burke and Jet's view. Their plan worked, with Jinx helping to sell their faked demise by screaming after they had dropped from the two observers' sight; thinking the heroes dead, Jet threw the switch that turned off the flames and lowered the staircase. As soon as it lowered sufficiently the two heroes pulled themselves back up and raced for the exit, leaping up and catching the edge as Jet frantically tried to raise it again. Returning to the castle's main chamber they were confronted by Jet's zombies, but to the heroes' surprise one of the zombies (later identified as Charlie) hastily informed them that they were not foes, and explained that the "zombies" were actually Chinese POWs captured by the Japanese who had then been drugged to turn them into Jet's mindless slaves; however, 13 and Jinx had kept Jet busy long enough to miss giving her slaves their booster dose, and as a result they had regained their wits and free will, and were now offering to assist in capturing their tormentors. Racing outside in pursuit of the two enemy agents, the group was met with a hail of machine-gun fire from Burke, who had been waiting with Jet to ambush them. All of the Chinese soldiers bar Charlie were slain, but Charlie, 13 and Jinx dodged in time and immediately split up to encircle their foes. 13 took to the trees, then swung down onto Burke to disarm him, then began beating the living daylights out of the villain. Sent flying by one the blows, Burke landed by the river momentarily out of 13's sight; realizing he wasn't going to win the combat, he went for subterfuge instead and swiftly threw a nearby log into the waters, riling up the crocodiles, then dived into the dense undergrowth to hide. When 13 came round the hedges he saw the crocodiles thrashing away in a frenzy and assumed they were devouring Burke. Heading back 13 learned that Charlie had caught Jet, who remained defiant that her black magic would destroy them all, and 13 realized she genuinely believed in her own magical powers. 13 and Jinx delivered Jet to the local jail, with Jet still defiantly claiming she would prove her magic was real if they simply provided her with some wax. Intrigued because he still didn't know who and how the murders had actually been committed, 13 suggested that the police chief humor this request come the morning, along with a newspaper; sure enough, supplied with the paper's picture of the new replacement engineer on the airbase, by nightfall Jet had carved his effigy. Observing this, 13 left Jinx to keep an eye on the witch while he went to guard the engineer. Informing the engineer that he suspected the real killer would make an attempt on his life that night, 13 hid in wait, and in the dead of night witnessed someone armed with a blade slip into the engineer's bedroom. Before the killer could carry out his assassination 13 leapt into action, soon hammering him into submission. When the now-awake engineer switched on the light 13 saw that his opponent had been Burke, and found that the murder weapon was an icicle, explaining why the previous murders had spilled no blood - the icy weapon had caused the blood to rapidly congeal before melting away to leave no trace. Confronted by 13 Burke gave a full confession, explaining how he had used Jet's "black magic" as a way of explaining the murders to scare the workers off. With the case now closed, 13 and Jinx checked on Charlie, who revealed he planned to return to China to rejoin the fight against the Japanese forces that had invaded his home.

(Daredevil Comics#12) - Learning that renowned scientist Professor Bloodhaur was a Nazi agent who had developed a giant growing amoeba that would devour anything in its path, and that Miss Cummings, the secretary who had unmasked him, was being held in protective custody, 13 and Jinx decided to lend a hand in the case. They arrived at the hotel she was being held at just after two Nazi spies had broken in and killed the cops protecting Cummings, too late to help the unfortunate policemen, but in time to save her. After overpowering the would-be assassins 13 got them to divulge the Professor's new hideout with a bluff, threatening to unleash some of the amoeba on them. Since there was no time to waste, but they also couldn't leave Cummings unprotected, the heroes took her with them as they raced to confront the Professor before he unleashed his creation. Unfortunately they arrived just after Bloodhaur had finished creating a new batch of his weapon, and he fled, snatching Cummings as he did so. Realizing the Professor would have prepared a counter-agent to disable the amoeba, Cummings managed to shout this to 13, and he quickly grabbed it before setting off in pursuit of the van carrying the fleeing villain. Bloodhaur crashed the van, throwing Cummings free but also accidentally unleashing the amoeba onto the side of a building. Sending Jinx to get Cummings to safety, 13 threw the Neutralizer into the amoeba, which had already nearly engulfed the entire structure. Luckily it worked swiftly, and the threat of Bloodhaur's amoeba was ended.

(Daredevil Comics#13) - Returning by plane from another Florida vacation Hal and Darrel's aircraft had to make an unscheduled layover in Baltimore due to heavy fog. Going for a stroll through the city to pass the time the pair discovered a badly injured man lying in the street, and when they attended to him the man informed them he had been beaten up by agitators who had been trying to stir up the unions at the armaments factory he worked at, and who he suspected were really German spies. The two crimefighters decided to stay on in Baltimore to investigate, and the next day at the factory the now partially recovered man they had helped pointed out the gang's leader. They tailed their suspect when he left the factory and entered a basement filled with shifty looking men, but were spotted, captured and thrown in a cell. Breaking out, they overpowered most of the gang, and covertly hitched a ride on the back of the departing ringleader's car; when he then switched to a plane, the two heroes stowed away on that too. Their eventual destination proved to be a German aircraft carrier out at sea, so the pair slipped out to explore. Inevitably they were spotted, but not before they had located the powder magazine, into which they threw some grenades. As a chain of explosions began to rock the ship, 13 and Jinx hastily commandeered a plane and escaped, watching the carrier blow up behind them.

(Daredevil Comics#14) - Learning that notiorious Nazi spy Weisner was coming into New York by cruise ship 13 and Jinx were waiting for the villain when he disembarked, but he proved a slippery customer, knocking out both of them and escaping. Jinx was taken in to hospital overnight for observation, and the next morning informed his partner that he had witnessed a flash of light from the window of Dr. Klitz, a newly arrived supposed-defector from Nazi Germany, just seconds before a depth charge in the river destroyed a passing freighter. At Jinx's request 13 waited at the hospital dock the next night while Jinx spied on Klitz, and spotted him about to target an aircraft carrier with a weapon able to detonate hidden depth charges the spies had planted in the river. Taking a motorboat 13 and Jinx were able to divert the carrier in time, but in retaliation Klitz blew up their boat with a depth charge. Luckily both of the heroes survived, although they did have to be hospitalized for a time.

(Daredevil Comics#15) - Visiting Norwick, New Jersey, Hal and Darrel checked out a local combined bar and dance hall, and witnessed a heavy called Crusher Koll striking a man for allegedly owing him money. Heading outside the pair found a dead body, which proved to the man they had seen Koll beating, although it seemed unlikely Koll could have carried out the murder as he had still been in the bar when they left. Nevertheless the pair decided to stay and investigate. The next evening outside the bar the two heroes encountered Mabel Colen, the sister of the slain man, who explained she suspected Koll was behind the killing and that she was trying to build up courage to take a job at the bar so she could snoop around the premises for evidence. Hearing this 13 advised her to take the job, promising that he and Jinx would provide back-up. The pair waited outside for a time, but became worried that Mabel had not emerged and so entered the venue in their costumed identities. Koll and other staff confronted them, but the heroes swiftly knocked them out, then searched the building, finding a message left in the upstairs office by Koll's boss telling him to come up to the cabin on the cliff to assist in interrogating Mabel. With Mabel's capture now confirmed, the pair raced to her rescue, soon locating the cabin mentioned and, after a brief scuffle with Koll's boss and his men, freeing Mabel. They also learned that Koll and his boss were Nazis, deliberately trapping defense workers with gambling debts from rigged games of chance as a means to blackmail or intimidate them. Spotting Koll and his heavily armed men approaching the trio retreated, descending the cliff rapidly by using a tall tree on the ground below to break their descent. Anticipating that Koll and his boss would attempt a quick getaway before the police could be called, 13 and Jinx hastily blocked the cliff road with rocks and branches, and when the two villain's car came racing down this blockade caused them to go over the cliff. Since the vehicle was also carrying bombs intended for sabotage, the vehicle exploded, killing both Nazi agents.S

(Daredevil Comics#16) - While visiting an old friend at the U.S. Merchant Marine Maritime Service Hal Higgins overheard another visitor, the Chinese businessman Wong Lee, being told that the two vessels he had generously donated clocks to had both been sunk. Suspicious of this coincidence, 13 and Jinx followed Wong Lee back to his offices and through a window spotted him removing his disguise to reveal that he was really Japanese and part of a larger spy ring. Bursting in the two heroes made short work of the spies, then interrogated Wong Lee who confirmed that the clocks were radio transmitters giving the ships' positions away to German U-Boats. Deciding to set a trap to take down the other part of this operation, 13 arranged with the coast guard to disguise an old tub as a new freighter, then towed it out to sea and left it adrift with one of the clocks on board while a Navy Patrol Blimp observed from above. Sure enough the wake trail of a submarine was soon spotted approaching the decoy vessel, and the blimp dropped depth charges, taking it out. Suspecting that wasn't the only German vessel involved in the clock-operation, the Navy then set up a fake convoy surrounded by contact mines, and once again the clocks lured in more U-Boats to their doom. Having seen the demise of their compatriots in time to avoid suffering the same fate the final U-Boat in the fleet surfaced and sank the U.S. minelayer, and captured the crew as they were forced to abandon ship. However the Germans had overlooked 13 and Jinx, who slipped on board and took the U-Boat's captain prisoner, forcing the Nazis' surrender, and the minelayer's crew sailed the captured U-Boat back to the U.S.

(Daredevil Comics#17) - Hearing on the radio that welders were going missing from the ShipCo yards where new warships were being constructed, 13 and Jinx decided to get involved. They took a hidden vantage point to watch the road that led in and out of the shipyards and eventually witnessed a group of Germans attempting to hijack one of the supply trucks. The heroes put a quick stop to this, but when they tried to question their prisoners someone shot them. Chasing after the gunman 13 saw his quarry leap into a car, and as it sped away the hero leapt unnoticed onto the back. He hung on for the duration of the drive, grabbing a branch from a passing tree and throwing down a trail of twigs for Jinx to follow. Eventually the vehicle reached a lonely cove which proved to contain a a damaged U-Boat being repaired by the kidnapped welders, but when 13 tried to free them he was captured. The Germans pressed 13 into service helping repair their boat, but when he heard Jinx signal he had arrived (by imitating an owl's hoot), 13 blocked the U-Boat's hatch with a heavy steel plate. With most of the U-Boat crew trapped within, the two heroes and the welders were able to overpower the Germans who had been outside on guard, then called the police in to take them all into custody.

Comments: Created by Bernie Klein and Dick Wood.

   Like most, if not all, of Lev Gleason's characters, 13 is now in the public domain. As such his stories are legally available to read online at Comic Book Plus, in the Daredevil Comics archive. So if the character write-up above intrigues you, feel free to go read the stories for yourself!

   I've seen some online sources claim 13 might have had supernatural luck; indeed, prior to reading his stories I assumed that information was correct and said as much on this site. However, having now read all his appearances, I have to say that I see no evidence of any such ability.

   Presumably on the day the saboteurs were meant to blow up the Statue of Liberty it was closed to the public, given the lack of non-saboteur witnesses to 13 stopping the attempted murder of Darrel Creig. Though the Statue was generally open to the public during World War II, we have supporting evidence that on the day in question the normal tourist boats were not going out to Liberty Island: 13 had used his own boat to slip on to the island, Moldon Creig bribed a guard for his party to go up to the Statue's head, and 13 felt the need to ferry Darrel back to the mainland personally.

   In Daredevil Comics#7 we get the impression that Marie stayed with 13 and Jinx for at least a few days; the scene of them listening to the radio starts with the text "One evening" rather than any suggestion it immediately follows the prior scene where they decide the need to go somewhere to dry off, and Carlos would presumably have needed at least a little time to gather his army of madmen and secure his base. However, the next issue Marie asks the heroes if they will tell her who they really are, and it seems inconceivable she could have stayed with them for any length of time without learning that. I guess Carlos had already gathered his army prior to killing his brother, and just chose not to bring them along for that murder or the attempt to break Marie out.

   The end of #8 and the start of #9 are reminiscent of a movie serial, in that the cliffhanger ending and its resolution in the next episode don't properly match up. In #8 the final panels have Carlos holding a bomb and then being punched to the ground with the bomb flying free; in #9 it starts with Carlos throwing the bomb at 13 and Jinx while they are some distance away and approaching him.

Appearance checklist (not including reprints): Daredevil Comics#3-17
   I've seen some online sources stating 13 appears in some of Dynamite's Project Superpowers titles; however, while these do revive many Golden Age heroes now in the public domain, I checked the issues which allegedly include 13, and if he's in there he's remarkably well hidden.

CLARIFICATIONS:
13 should not be confused with:

• any other "13" characters

First Posted: Circa 22/07/2003
Last updated: 09/10/2022

Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.

Back to US Independents Page

Home

All images and characters depicted on this site are copyright their respective holders, and are used for informational purposes only. No infringement is intended and copyrights remain at source.