The Black Hood
Encyclopedia
The Black Hood was originally a golden age
character created by MLJ Comics
, later known as Archie Comics
. The Black Hood first appeared in Top-Notch Comics
#9, October 1940 and became one of MLJ's most popular characters. He also had his own title, Black Hood Comics
, a pulp magazine, and his own radio show. In recent decades, the Black Hood (along with other Archie Comics superheroes) has been licensed and sporadically published by DC Comics
.
His real name was Matthew Kipling "Kip" Burland, an ex-cop who had been framed for grand larceny and left for dead by a villain known as The Skull. Burland eventually cleared his name, but continued to wear the costume. Matthew Burland's love interest was newspaper reporter named Barbara Sutton.
The Black Hood is not the only man of mystery whose secret identity is a police officer. Other superheroes who were also cops included Charlton
's Blue Beetle
and DC
's Guardian
.
The Black Hood enjoyed popularity for a while until he dropped from the covers and was gradually replaced by funny animal characters, as the popularity of the superhero genre faded in the late 1940s. His last few stories were as a private detective without wearing a costume.
. In the 1960s, he was also seen teaching Karate in issues of Adventures of the Jaguar. Revived again in the 1980s under Archie's Red Circle Comics
line, the Black Hood's second incarnation was the nephew of the first. Thomas "Kip" Burland was given the secret identity by the "first" Black Hood, who recanted that the family had in fact used the pseudonym throughout history. This version is less flamboyantly costumed, preferring to wear the mask with regular biker leathers, rides a high performance motorcycle
and is typically armed with a custom designed Pepper-box
pistol with multiple functions.
The Kip Burland Black Hood was unmasked in court by a character named "Neelednoodle". Thereafter, Burland became a private detective.
, DC Comics revived the character briefly in its Impact Comics
imprint. The Black Hood ran for a total of 12 issues, including one annual.
During the Impact Comics series, there were three major Black Hoods featured: a bitter vigilante who was featured in the other Impact Comics titles and killed in the first issue of The Black Hood; a high school student who reluctantly took the hood and later abandoned it; and a former mobster, the same mobster who killed the first Black Hood. Numerous other Black Hoods from various time periods were featured in stories from the comics annuals, such as a female Black Hood who lived in medieval France patterned after Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc) and a western Hood whose adventures served as an inspiration for the fictional adventures of the Lone Ranger.
The Black Hood focused on the adventures of a series of vigilante characters with the same name throughout history. Each Black Hood character would somehow come in possession of a black hood and when the character wore the hood, he or she was given heightened awareness, and increased strength, speed, and agility. The hood caused each of its wearers to become a vigilante and fight injustice. An interesting feature of the hood was what appeared to be a curse. After a certain period of time, each wearer of the black hood would die. After the death of the Black Hood, the hood would find its way into the hands of another individual with the potential to become the next Black Hood.
The titular black hood was originally an executioner's mask. As a witch was being executed for the crime of witchcraft, she cursed not the executioner, but his hood. From that point on, whoever wore the hood would be compelled to "do only good".
in 2009
. The DC Universe version of the Black Hood made his debut in January 2010's issue of The Web
. He is Mateo Burland, a young Detroit criminal whose sister is murdered by the same criminals Mateo worked with, when Mateo himself tries to escape their influence. After using weapons and equipment found in the defunct headquarters of the Justice League Detroit, Mateo confronts the drug dealer responsible for his sister's death and takes his black bandana
. It is unclear whether or not he kills the drug dealer when he says he has meted out justice. It remains to be seen how much of a hero Mateo will become as he adopts the persona of the Black Hood .
Burland was recently shown to be a member of the "second team" of the Mighty Crusaders known as the Shadow Crusaders, helping to rescue Director (former General) Latham.
Golden Age of Comic Books
The Golden Age of Comic Books was a period in the history of American comic books, generally thought of as lasting from the late 1930s until the late 1940s or early 1950s...
character created by MLJ Comics
Archie Comics
Archie Comics is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the Village of Mamaroneck, Town of Mamaroneck, New York, known for its many series featuring the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle and Jughead Jones. The characters were created by...
, later known as Archie Comics
Archie Comics
Archie Comics is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the Village of Mamaroneck, Town of Mamaroneck, New York, known for its many series featuring the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle and Jughead Jones. The characters were created by...
. The Black Hood first appeared in Top-Notch Comics
Top-Notch Comics
- Top-Notch Laugh Comics/Laugh Comix :In a change of editorial direction, from issue #28 the story emphasis changed to humor strips and the title became Top-Notch Laugh Comics to reflect this. All the long-running adventure series from Top-Notch Comics ended between issue #24 - Top-Notch Laugh...
#9, October 1940 and became one of MLJ's most popular characters. He also had his own title, Black Hood Comics
Black Hood Comics
Black Hood Comics was the name of an American anthology comic book series published by MLJ Magazines Inc., more commonly known as MLJ Comics, for eleven issues between Winter 1943 and Summer 1946...
, a pulp magazine, and his own radio show. In recent decades, the Black Hood (along with other Archie Comics superheroes) has been licensed and sporadically published by DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
.
Matthew Burland
In his first incarnation, the Black Hood was a costumed man of mystery who had been trained by a hermit to battle evil. The comic book was at first intentionally vague as to whether he possessed superpowers, or simply had the unusual strength, agility, and healing abilities that costumed crime fighters seem to possess.His real name was Matthew Kipling "Kip" Burland, an ex-cop who had been framed for grand larceny and left for dead by a villain known as The Skull. Burland eventually cleared his name, but continued to wear the costume. Matthew Burland's love interest was newspaper reporter named Barbara Sutton.
The Black Hood is not the only man of mystery whose secret identity is a police officer. Other superheroes who were also cops included Charlton
Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1946 to 1985, having begun under a different name in 1944. It was based in Derby, Connecticut...
's Blue Beetle
Blue Beetle
Blue Beetle is the name of three fictional superheroes that appear in American comic books published by a variety of companies since 1939.-Publication history:...
and DC
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
's Guardian
Guardian (DC Comics)
Guardian is a comic book fictional character, a DC Comics superhero, created by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon. He first appeared in Star Spangled Comics #7...
.
The Black Hood enjoyed popularity for a while until he dropped from the covers and was gradually replaced by funny animal characters, as the popularity of the superhero genre faded in the late 1940s. His last few stories were as a private detective without wearing a costume.
Mighty Crusaders
During the 1960s the Black Hood returned as a founding member of The Mighty Crusaders published by Archie ComicsArchie Comics
Archie Comics is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the Village of Mamaroneck, Town of Mamaroneck, New York, known for its many series featuring the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle and Jughead Jones. The characters were created by...
. In the 1960s, he was also seen teaching Karate in issues of Adventures of the Jaguar. Revived again in the 1980s under Archie's Red Circle Comics
Red Circle Comics
Red Circle Comics was an imprint used by Archie Comics Publications, Inc. to publish non-Archie characters, especially their superheroes, in the 1970s and '80s.-Phase 1: 1970s:...
line, the Black Hood's second incarnation was the nephew of the first. Thomas "Kip" Burland was given the secret identity by the "first" Black Hood, who recanted that the family had in fact used the pseudonym throughout history. This version is less flamboyantly costumed, preferring to wear the mask with regular biker leathers, rides a high performance motorcycle
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
and is typically armed with a custom designed Pepper-box
Pepper-box
The pepper-box revolver or simply pepperbox is a multiple-barrel repeating firearm that has three or more barrels grouped around a central axis. It mostly appears in the form of a multi-shot handheld firearm...
pistol with multiple functions.
The Kip Burland Black Hood was unmasked in court by a character named "Neelednoodle". Thereafter, Burland became a private detective.
Impact Revival
In 19911991 in comics
-January:* Checkmate is canceled by DC Comics with issue #33.* El Diablo vol. 2 is canceled by DC with issue #16.* Count Duckula is canceled by the Marvel Comics imprint Star Comics with issue #15....
, DC Comics revived the character briefly in its Impact Comics
Impact Comics
Impact Comics was an imprint of DC Comics that was aimed at younger audiences. It was begun in 1991 and ended by 1993....
imprint. The Black Hood ran for a total of 12 issues, including one annual.
During the Impact Comics series, there were three major Black Hoods featured: a bitter vigilante who was featured in the other Impact Comics titles and killed in the first issue of The Black Hood; a high school student who reluctantly took the hood and later abandoned it; and a former mobster, the same mobster who killed the first Black Hood. Numerous other Black Hoods from various time periods were featured in stories from the comics annuals, such as a female Black Hood who lived in medieval France patterned after Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc) and a western Hood whose adventures served as an inspiration for the fictional adventures of the Lone Ranger.
The Black Hood focused on the adventures of a series of vigilante characters with the same name throughout history. Each Black Hood character would somehow come in possession of a black hood and when the character wore the hood, he or she was given heightened awareness, and increased strength, speed, and agility. The hood caused each of its wearers to become a vigilante and fight injustice. An interesting feature of the hood was what appeared to be a curse. After a certain period of time, each wearer of the black hood would die. After the death of the Black Hood, the hood would find its way into the hands of another individual with the potential to become the next Black Hood.
The titular black hood was originally an executioner's mask. As a witch was being executed for the crime of witchcraft, she cursed not the executioner, but his hood. From that point on, whoever wore the hood would be compelled to "do only good".
Mateo Burland
DC Comics licensed the Archie Comics superheroes and began integrating them into the DC UniverseDC Universe
The DC Universe is the shared universe where most of the comic stories published by DC Comics take place. The fictional characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are well-known superheroes from this universe. Note that in context, "DC Universe" is usually used to refer to the main DC continuity...
in 2009
2009 in comics
-January:*January 1: The direct-to-DVD movie Hulk Vs was released.*January 6: The third and final volume of Hollow Fields has been released.-February:...
. The DC Universe version of the Black Hood made his debut in January 2010's issue of The Web
WEB (comics)
The Web is a team of superpowered agents published under DC Comics Impact Comics line. The team is based on Archie Comics old superhero, The Web.Created by Len Strazewski and Tom Artis, its first appearance was in The Web #1 September 1991 .-Members:...
. He is Mateo Burland, a young Detroit criminal whose sister is murdered by the same criminals Mateo worked with, when Mateo himself tries to escape their influence. After using weapons and equipment found in the defunct headquarters of the Justice League Detroit, Mateo confronts the drug dealer responsible for his sister's death and takes his black bandana
Bandana
Bandana can refer to:*Another name for a kerchief*Bandana *Bandana *Bandana, Kentucky, a small town in the United States*Y Bandana, a Welsh alternative rock band.**Y Bandana , their self-titled debut album....
. It is unclear whether or not he kills the drug dealer when he says he has meted out justice. It remains to be seen how much of a hero Mateo will become as he adopts the persona of the Black Hood .
Burland was recently shown to be a member of the "second team" of the Mighty Crusaders known as the Shadow Crusaders, helping to rescue Director (former General) Latham.