Oscar Jones

Golden Age Origin
Oscar Jones was the man who killed the crimefighter 711.

Oscar was a noted career criminal and gangster, who by his own account at least, at the height of his career was "THE Big Shot racketeer, What I don't control, ain't woith controllin'".

According to the lengthy, first person biography Jones delivers in his first appearance, he was born to honest, hard-working parents who wished him to pursue a law degree (which he figured he didn't disappoint them... his current career had plenty to do with the law), since he "couldn't see wastin' me time in school" he ran away at an early age and became a newsboy. Inspired by tales of gangsters in the papers he set up his own protection racket among his fellow newsboys, which he later extended to beggers and panhandlers, which brought him to the attention of the Carbodi crime family, under who's aegis he did (among other things) armed robbery, arson and eliminating witnesses. At some point, he assembled his own crew and "Th' name of Oscar Jones meant somethin' t'th'underwoild". The killing of a policeman led to his arrest, conviction and imprisonment. After ten years, he escaped prison, but was shunned as a cop-killer by his old gang and was forced to go on the run.

Hiding out, he was finally located and confronted by the crimefighter 711. After a lengthy battle, he managed to get the upper hand and fatally shoot the hero dead. In his exultation after his victory, he kidnapped a plastic surgeon and planned to have his face changed and begin his career anew, but was interrupted by 711's successor, the newly-minted powered crimefighter Destiny.

After escaping Destiny the first time, by swinging to safety on a downed telephone wire, Jones sought out Destiny, ambushing him in his room and nearly killing him as well, although the bullet just grazed Destiny's head. Jones, thinking he had killed his second crimefighter, then went on a massive crime spree, culminating in his attempted robbery of a hundred-thousand dollar prize from a charity party. Destiny cornered Jones at the party and defeated him, using Jones' perception that he had risen from the dead to get the upper hand.

The mobster was then turned over to the police with the note "This is Oscar Jones, Racketeer - guilty of crime and murder. A foot of rubber hose will make him confess everything..."

Oscar Jones was a large, unshaven man who dressed in brightly-colored suits and a slouch hat. He almost always seemed to have a cigar clenched in his teeth. Although notably lacking in an academic education, as evidenced both by his ungrammatical manner of speech and his own accounts, he seemed to possess a notable tactical cunning, escaping from prison and making his way out of nearly every situation he encountered until he ran afoul of the psychic powers of Destiny. He was a skilled hand-to-hand combatant, fighting both Destiny and 711 to a standstill in their confrontations, although he seemed to prefer his pistol as a weapon, which named 'Colt' and referred to as "my old pal" and stating "Nobody ever had a better friend".

Golden Age Appearances

 * Police Comics #15-17