Robert Wood, Creator of the Ghost, and Killer

Public Domain Super Heroes 

I created the Blue Blogsman to publish stuff that randomly captures my fancy. I have been a major fan of the Public Domain Comic Book Characters. I will check out this site daily. I also go back and forth with the Facebook groups that deal with the same culture.  

Their popularity is because: 

American Crusader
Source: Google - Public Domain Super Heroes 

 #1. If I can’t have Superman, I can have the American Crusader (who is like Superman).

 #2. Instead of me creating a hero, I can explore what existed and take it from there. 

One of my favorite heroes is the Ghost. He is basically Batman but with a ghost motif:  

The Ghost
 Source: Google - Public Domain Super Heroes 

The Ghost 

Right now, I am working on two stories with him as the hero for two anthologies.  

The Ghost was created by an artist named Bob Wood. He appeared in Daredevil Comics in 1941 (not the blind Marvel lawyer) for publisher Lev Gleason. 

The Ghost’s real name is Brad Hendricks. He was a criminologist and pilot and would routinely fight the Yellow Claw. For some reason, the Claw would receive top billing in the comic over the Ghost, which I never understood. 

Bob Wood 

  

The creator of the Ghost, Bob Wood was famous for his book “Crime Does Not Pay.” I came across this unusual fact about Wood in Wikipedia:  

“In 1958, after the cancellation of Crime Does Not Pay, Wood's drinking and gambling problems worsened, culminating in his arrest for manslaughter. After spending several days with a prostitute in a Gramercy Park hotel, Wood beat and killed her in an argument.”

I tried to do some research on the subject via Newspapers.com. And I came across this from "The Daily News" (New York) Sunday, Jan. 18th, 1959:  

Now having written some True Crime in my life (see here), this caught my attention.

I plan on writing a great deal more about this, but I wanted to get started on Wood's arrest and conviction.

What else will I find out?

We shall see!