The Invisible Hood

The Original Invisible Hood (Quality Comics)

Many sources confuse the name of this hero with the name of the feature. In Smash Comics #1 it was titled “Hooded Justice” and it starred the Invisible Hood. In his first appearance, he did not have the power of invisibility. With the second issue, the title changed to “Invisible Justice,” though the hero himself was still—and always would be—called the “Invisible Hood.” 

Kent Thurston was a former private detective whose costumed adventures began with a call from Inspector Bill Blake, seeking Kent’s knowledge of precious gems. Thurston investigated the case of a stolen Indian necklace, donning a red cloak and mask to become the Invisible Hood. He was also armed with a gas gun to help “convince” someone to cooperate. (Smash Comics #1)

Kent was bothered that he was invisible in name only. He’d taken the name because no one knew his identity, but he wished he could be invisible for real. As fate would have it, when he turned on the radio, he learned of a new phosphorescent chemical created by Professor Hans Van Horn which caused invisibility. The news got Van Horn kidnapped and the Invisible Hood leapt to action. Kent found the Professor, who had prepared enough of his chemical to coat Thurston’s uniform. An hour later, he was truly invisible! Van Horn died in the crossfire of the battle, leaving the Invisible Hood the sole beneficiary of his invention. (#2)

The Invisible Hood fought a veritable gallery of freakish rogues, most of whom appeared only once. The first was an extortionist called the Green Lizard. (#4) Others included the vengeful racketeer Judge Hyde (#5); the Voodoo Master, who operated from within an island castle and was killed by the Hood with a sword through the chest (#8); the Green Ghost, who resembled the Hood and was in fact two men working as a team (#11); Ah Sin, the Golden Dragon (#13); and the spy Mr. Mite who looked like Captain Marvel’s foe, Sivana. (#21)

On a tropical island in the south Pacific, he encountered other invisible opponents. In fact it was a ruse by men bent on acquiring valuable gas deposits. How surprised they were to encounter a “real” ghost! (#14)

He failed to add another invention to his repertoire: anti-gravity, which was invented by his friend, Professor James. James discovered an ancient Egyptian artifact imbued with this attribute (like Hawkman’s own “ninth metal”). (#16)

The evil Dr. Moku was the creator of a special light that made the Hood visible. No matter, Thurston dove after the villain and took him down by force. (#18)

After crash landing in the Arctic, Kent and his pal Chuck (who was privy to Kent’s secret) came upon a tropical place with cavemen and extinct animals. Their Cro-Magnon leader Belthor explained that the land was heated by volcanic steam. His people had been enslaved by men who were drilling for oil. (#19)

Pinajian’s artistic tics were on full display in the manly form of the Crystal Queen and her partner Caglio the magician. The two villains squabbled over a mystical and lethal blue gem. Caglio killed the Queen before he himself succumbed to an explosion. (#23)

Only one foe made a return appearance, the White Wizard. The Invisible Hood followed some oddly dressed thugs through the city of Metropolis to an underground lair where he found a hidden city—the Wizard’s domain. When faced with defeat, the Wizard escaped just before his city exploded. (#27) The White Wizard returned to steal Kent’s hood and managed to do what Kent could not—he isolated the invisibility compound. With it, he created a horde of invisible raiders whom the public believed were aliens. Kent managed to burn the Wizard’s hideout but only managed to save one of the cloaks. The Wizard escaped again. (#30)

In his final adventure, he saved the life of one Miss Jane Watson from abusive thugs. (#32) The Invisible Hood was not known for his love interests, but perhaps Jane caught Kent’s fancy. In the Hood’s few DC mentions, he’s reputed to have heirs.

DC/Legacy

The Invisible Hood returned forty years later only to suffer a hasty end in Roy Thomas’ All-Star Squadron #32 (1984). In this wartime story, the Invisible Hood joined Uncle Sam as one of the first members of the Freedom Fighters. Their mission was to stop the Japanese en route to Pearl Harbor. They nearly succeeded, but a surprise attack supposedly left Thurston for dead. Somehow he survived and sired one or more children before his true end. The super-villain called the Mist claimed that he murdered the Invisible Hood. This fact was recorded by the Shade, whose journal recounted his conversation with the Mist: “As I recall, it was the Invisible Hood you killed. He’d semi-retired by then. Moved to Austin, Texas. And… um… wasn’t it ’74?” (Starman v.2 #2)

A young African-American hero called Blindside (Tyson Gilford) believed that he might also be the grandson of the original Invisible Hood. Tyson had the innate power to become invisible. Gilford was adopted by Deborah and Oren Weinberg. When the Weinbergs died, he and his siblings formed a super-group called the Relative Heroes. The first issue of that six-issue mini speculated, “it has been suggested that [Tyson] is the grandson of the Invisible Hood, though that has yet to be confirmed.”

Notes

Art Pinajian had previously created a character for Comics Magazine Co. called "Thurston Hunt." for Detective Picture Stories #1 (Dec. 1936).

Powers

The original Invisible Hood had no superhuman abilities. His cloak was invisible and shielded anything beneath it from view. Kent also had experience in crime fighting as a civilian and was not afraid to use his fists. Like many of his contemporaries, he could also fly airplanes.

The original Invisible Hood had at least one grandson, Kent Thurston II. He and his friend Jenna Raleigh (the new Red Bee) were among heroes kept in reserve by Uncle Sam and called to action with the Freedom Fighters. (Uncle Sam & the FF #5)

Wearing a new version of his grandfather’s invisibility cloak, the Invisible Hood II rescued the F.F. at a critical moment. Kent had just declined full-time membership with the team when a traitor—the Ray III—appeared and killed Kent outright. (#6)

Powers

The second Invisible Hood inherited Kent Thurston’s invisible cloak. It’s unclear whether he was able to duplicate the formulation, or whether he repurposed his grandfather’s own fabric, but the power worked the same.

Blindside’s powers of invisibility are innate.