Post-Crisis
In post- Crisis continuity, James "Jim" Craddock is the son of an English gentleman who abandoned both him and his mother, forcing them into poverty. Craddock grew up to become a notorious highwayman and robber who terrorized England in the 19th century under the name "Gentleman Jim". He journeyed to the United States and encountered the gunslingers Nighthawk and Cinnamon. Nighthawk lynched Craddock after wrongly assuming that he sexually assaulted Cinnamon, but Craddock eludes death to rise again as a ghost. [5]
The Gentleman Ghost learns he must wander Earth until the spirit of his killer moves on to the next plane of existence. [6] Nighthawk and Cinnamon turn out to be the reincarnations of Ancient Egyptian royalty Prince Khufu and Chay-Ara: their souls (due to their exposure to the Thanagarian Nth metal) continuously reincarnate and can never truly die. Both are eventually resurrected as Hawkman and Hawkgirl, and the Gentleman Ghost becomes their recurring nemesis during the 1940s. [7]
Gentleman Ghost later appears as a member of the Injustice Society. [8]
During Infinite Crisis , Gentleman Ghost joins Alexander Luthor Jr.'s Secret Society of Super Villains. He fights Alan Scott and places him in a coma. [9]
His origin is explored and altered in the pages of JSA #82-87 (2006). The son of an abusive father and a poor mother, young Jim Craddock soon slips into a life of crime, making contacts with the supernatural. After a gypsy prophesies that he will be able to transcend death and return to life fighting and killing his enemies on English soil, his villainous career is put to an end when he is captured and sentenced to death by hanging after he is tricked by a woman he is trying to seduce who summons Redcoats. Returning as a ghost, he battles those on JSA, hoping for the prophecy to come true. [10]
His origin is explored and altered in the pages of JSA #82-87 (2006). The son of an abusive father and a poor mother, young Jim Craddock slips into a life of crime, making contacts with the supernatural. He is eventually captured and sentenced to death, but returns as a ghost. [11]
Gentleman Ghost is one of the villains sent to retrieve the Get Out of Hell Free card from the Secret Six.
DC Rebirth
In 2016, DC Comics implemented a relaunch of its books called "DC Rebirth", which restored its continuity to a form much as it was prior to The New 52. Gentleman Ghost joins Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad Black to fight Sebastian Faust after he steals several artifacts in A.R.G.U.S. storage. [13]
In "The New Golden Age", Gentleman Ghost obtains a special sphere to summon an army of zombies. He fights the Justice Society until Icicle unknowingly uses his ice attack on the sphere, which summons Surtur. Legionnaire borrows some of Hawkman's lifeforce and uses it to revive Gentleman Ghost, causing Surtur to explode and the zombies to disappear. [14]
In the "DC All In" initiative, Gentleman Ghost joins Scandal Savage's Injustice Society. [15] Wotan dispatches Gentleman Ghost and Solomon Grundy to head to Hell and meet up with the Demons Three. [16] Upon arrival, Gentleman Ghost and Solomon Grundy learn from the Demons Three that Hawkman was freed by Hawkgirl and Kid Eternity. While using Solomon Grundy to track a dead spirit, Gentleman Ghost summons his ghostly horse as they go looking for them. [17] Gentleman Ghost, Solomon Grundy, and the Demons Three lure Hawkman and Hawkgirl into a trap. After Gentleman Ghost shoots Hawkgirl, Kid Eternity returns and harnesses Doctor Fate's magic to repel the attackers. [18]
