Sinister Supervillain Squad of Hub City

The sinister Squad was a one-time assemblage of antagonists founded by the Manipulator, a corrupt corporate seeking power to dominate his world. To that end, he has enlisted the aid of Iron-Arms, Fiery-Icer, the Banshee as well as the Madmen.

Following their initial appearance unopposed, the Squad drew the attention of their World’s Greatest Heroes, the Sentinels of Justice. These Sentinels were the second incarnation of this heroic team, following the adventures of Helio, Mentalia and Brute who were the group’s original members.

The new Sentinels were the fantastic four of Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, Question and Nightshade. Like their counterparts of Earths One, Two and S (the Justice League, Justice Society, Squadron of Justice), the Sentinels “dark mirror” followed a long line of opposing opposite numbers, just as Injustice Gang, Injustice Society, and the Monster Society of Evil. 

However, the Squad members doppelgängers were far more successful than the Squad themselves. While Ironarms and Fiery-Icer were only occasional annoyances of Captain Atom, Metallo/Metalo and Captain Cold/Icicle were persistent pests of the Supermen, the Flash and Green Lantern. Although Banshee was a two-time failure, Ragman and Rag Doll were like him tied to the circus life with specialized suits and skills. The menacing Madmen were more street-level thugs than the Jokers and the equally numerous Secret Society of Super-Villains.

Arkham Asylum and Gotham Prison: How Insanity is Dealt with on Each Earth

Arkham Asylum was founded in 1921 by Dr. Amadeus Arkham in honor of his mother who bequeathed him the property upon which it was built. As his mother was afflicted with mental illness, Amadeus developed this facility in Gotham City to incarcerate and rehabilitate those individuals with similar traits. On both Earths One and Two, these became notable institutions until falling into the hands of disreputable individuals in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The men who steered the asylums temporarily into criminal use were Professor Milo and Professor Tether, the former of whom was brought to justice by the Batman of Earth-One and the latter of whom was confronted by the Huntress of Earth-Two.

Interestingly, on Earth-Two the asylum's focus was more narrowly based. The only notable resident of that asylum was a Mister Billings, a once wealthy man who became insane during the 1929 stockmarket crash, and once regaining his sanity he molded the ancient Chinese emerald lamp into the modern power battery which Alan "Green Lantern" Scott would a decade later inherit. Most of the city’s famous insane criminals were incarcerated at Gotham Prison island, such as Joker and Two-Face along with the mentally stable yet equally evil Penguin, Riddler and Catwoman's former henchman Lionmane.

Contrary to this, on Earth-One, several rogues who quarreled with Batman were repeatedly held in Arkham Asylum. These included Joker, Two-Face, Jason "Plantmaster" Woodroe, Jervis "Mad Hatter" Tetch, and Preston "Clayface" Payne. While there was a Gotham Prison on this Earth, it primarily focused on the more sane criminal element.

It seems neither the Arkham Asylum of Earth-One nor Gotham Prison of Earth-Two were capable of holding these infamous crooks, as they routinely escaped throughout the years, only to be subdued and brought back to these confines by Gotham's Caped Crusaders.

Parallel Problematic Pests for Gotham's Guardians

Many of the enemies of the Batmen were mirror images of one another on Earths One and Two, such as:

• Doctor Death
• Hugo Strange
• Joker
• Penguin
• Catwoman
• Two-Face (more than one)
• Scarecrow
• Riddler
• Crime Doctor
• Cavalier
• Killer Moth
• Mad Hatter
• Tweedledum and Tweedledummer
• Deadshot
• Firefly
• Mister Zero / Mister Freeze
• Doctor Double X / Doctor Doog - Thinker

In fact, moreso than any other hero, the Batmen had remarkably similar rogues galleries and many of their early tales mirrored one another. 

Fawcett's Finest: Evil Emoters

The madman known as the Joker is an original and cannot be duplicated. Well, actually, he can be and has... at least on Earth-One and Two, where there are two Harlequins of Hate plaguing each Gotham City. And, just like them, other parallel planes have equally appauling emotional enemies of everyone. On Earth-S, instead of a laughing maniac there is a sobbing sycophant... the Weeper!

Actually there were two Weepers who appeared on the scene. The first was Mortimer Gloom, a former circus performer turned master criminal using various devices including tear gas on his victims. Facing Bulletman and Bulletgirl on a few occasions, including as a member of the Revenge Syndicate, he ultimately met his end through undisclosed means. Nevertheless, his son Mortimer Jr. took over for him, seeking retribution by trapping Bulletgirl, although the heroine was able to defeat him with the aid of Mary Marvel.

On Earth-One, there was a Willie the Weeper who on one occasion assisted the Joker there as had Earth-Two's Joker when he journeyed to Earth-S to meet the son of the original. Each time, the pairing was short lived and led to defeat of the pair, showing that opposite temperments didn't mix well in their aspirations of villany.

Harlequins of Hate: A Tale of Two Jokers

Originally, the cosmic twins who would one day become the Jokers of two parallel planets were lab workers, until they decided to steal a large sum of money. Adopting the masked alias of the Red Hood, they were eventually cornered by both their respective Batman and the local authorities atop a catwalk within the Monarch Playing Card plant. Leaping into a chemical pool of toxins and swimming through an escape valve to elude their pursuers, these men found upon removing their masks that their skin was chalky white, their hair was emerald green and their lips were ruby red due to the vapors in the waste products they had been immersed in. Resembling a clown, each of these men adopted the new identity of the Joker and tormented Gotham City for years to come. Their tremendous intellect in both chemistry and gadgetry was matched by their incessant insanity.

The Joker of Earth-One eventually decided to challenge his arch-enemy's group, the Justice League of America. Pretending to be a social activist opposed to super humans for upsetting the natural order, he manipulated the League's former mascot Lucas "Snapper" Carr into betraying Batman and his teammates, even bringing the Joker to their secret headquarters before he was finally exposed. Later, the Joker pursued other capers apart from tormenting Batman and other superheroes, which led to his partnership with a fellow convict known as Willie the Weeper. 

This partnership ended when a pair of guards from the asylum the two criminals escaped from tracked them down, leading to Willie finally laughing rather than crying. The Joker of Earth-Two also had one conflict versus the Justice Society of America, when he was recruited along with other supervillains by King Kull who was attempting to control three Earths including his native Earth-S, where the Joker was matched with one of that world's Weepers. This particular Weeper, son of the original who was himself the counterpart of both Jokers, aided and abetted the Joker's schemes until his old foes Batman and Robin, along with the Dynamic Duo of Earth-S... Mister Scarlet and Pinky... defeated the two cons. Joker was brought back to Earth-Two, where he would escape once more and face the Huntress and Robin, after Batman had himself died shortly before.

The Joker Isn't Playing with a Full Deck of Cards!

Before the animated Joker founded a team of troubled teens to become his own gang under the same name, the Royal Flush Gang and the Crime Prince of Crime had a long if not storied history in comic books.

There were two official incarnations of the Gang, each comprised of one of two suits... first the Clubs and later the Spades... with three Aces, two Kings, two Queens, three Jacks and three Tens. Behind each was a mastermind who made his claim to fame as a solo supervillain before realizing that such pawns may prove advantageous against the Justice League.

Meanwhile, the members of the Justice Society had their own threats to face in the form of the Four Cards and the Black Sphere Gang, each with four felons, as well as the golden age Joker and fellow Gotham goon the Gambler, a pair of problematic players as well.

To start with, Professor Amos Fortune recruited four of his childhood friends into the initial Royal Flush Gang, using "Stellaration" energy to attempt to manipulate the outcome of their felonies. With Amos as the Ace of Clubs, he had the following occupy the remaining positions in his quintet: Kerry was the King of Clubs, Queenie the Queen of Clubs, an unnamed ally as the Jack of Clubs, and Thomas Dillon as the Ten of Clubs. Twice the Justice League defeated these Gangsters, after which Fortune abandoned them to seek out other schemes, whereby his former fiendish friends found leadership elsewhere later.

However, a card-classified cadre of crooks was first introduced on Earth-Two. In Batman #5, after his last encounter with his arch-foe, the Joker was found out of in the sea by three struggling criminals looking for a new angle. After saving the Earth-Two Joker's life, he christens Queenie as the Black Queen, Diamond Jack Deegan as the Jack of Diamonds, and Clubsy as the King of Clubs. The Four Cards of the Joker! Concurrent to these events, the adventurer know as Tex Thomson aka Mister America had twice encountered a Colonel Rushmore, the first time facing the colonel in his other identity as the Ace of Spades where he threatened the lives of others, and later when his own life was lost leading to Tex tracking down his killer. This Ace had a cosmic twin in a second Ace leading the Royal Flush Gang under a new clubs suit versus the Joker.

While the golden age Joker was at least initially amiable to rival "cards" cutting into his action, his Earth-One counterpart was not. The four remaining members struck off on their own under the leadership of the new Ace of Spades. Under this new boss, the Gang found their taste in stolen artwork was shared by the Chaplain of Chicanery in Joker #5 (same issue number as the Four Cards introduction... odd ain't it?). This Ace of Spades transformed this fearsome foursome into the King, Queen, Jack and Ten of Spades.

As for Ace aka Professor Fortune, he created a "Luck League" that had even less success then his Gang, while his Earth-Two counterpart Professor Zobar Zodiak had a different modus operandi with his own henchmen while adopting his Alchemist alias.

However, how would this newly reconstituted Gang fare against the Joker in this battle of gimmicks and greed?

In fact, they were beaten and left imprisoned by their clownish competition (it was HIS comic book after all). Sometime later, a new leader retrieved Ace, King, Queen and recruited a new Jack with a different mission. Their thefts led to battles with Wonder Woman at Lyndon B Johnson Space Centre in Houston. Once more, the Gang flopped.

Returning to the spring of 1941, the golden age Joker decided to setup shop on a casino ship three miles from the coastline of Gotham City. One of his Cards, the Black Queen, quickly fell under the charms of Bruce Wayne... who was investigating a strange series of crimes aboard the vessel over several weeks.

The Joker decided to setup shop on a casino ship three miles from the coastline of Gotham City. One of his Cards, the Black Queen, quickly fell under the charms of Bruce Wayne... who was investigating a strange series of crimes aboard the vessel over several weeks.

After being left for dead by a disguised Joker, and then finding his partner Robin captured by the quartet, a simple nick of the chin while shaving tipped of Queenie to Bruce's double identity. And saved his life... at the cost of her own! Or did she lose it?

Interestingly, Batman mused that the one suit that Joker overlooked for his gang was a heart, which was what Queenie ultimately became.

Actually, his three card criminals corresponding with members of a later Royal Flush Gang, with Clubsy the King of Clubs corresponding to Kerry the King of Clubs, Queenie the Black Queen corresponding to the Queenie Queen of Spades, and Diamond Jack Deegan corresponding to the later Jack of Spades. These three crooks never met either of their contemporaries, Deuces Wilde nor Ace Wolfe, as they operated in a different city than the pair.

The Ten of Spades who orchestrated this latest foray into felony was in actuality a coworker of Diana Prince, Mike Bailey. Bailey replaced Ten of Clubs aka Thomas Dillon, who was the muscle man of the original Gang, a role he didn't relish which led to his abandoning his teammates at this time.

Stephen Sharpe aka the Gambler of Earth-Two would correspond to the Jack of Clubs who would later become the more infamous  Hi-Jack (there would be a Jack Jackson and Jack Spade on each Earth who also used this alter ego once).

Both gamblers joined sinister Societies and worked alongside the Wizard. And both would face a Green Lantern during their initial solo missions as well as alongside their criminal confederates who opposed the Lantern's teammates on their respective Justice teams.

Sharpe attempted to hit the big time alongside other masterminds in the Injustice Society on two occasions, as had his counterpart Jack of Spaces/Hi-Jack, and each time this too was a bad bet for the bad guy. In each instance, these rogues bet the house that they could break the back of their heroic adversaries. Each time, they came up short and had to fold.

This caper led by Bailey, with his new recruits clad in outfits matching his suit,  would correspond to the caper wherein the Gambler recruited a gang on board the Pleasure Queen gambling boat, and were also quickly vanquished by the Emerald Crusader.

Back on Earth-Two, Deuces Wilde was a professional gambler who like Dillon kept being unwillingly drawn into criminal endeavors by crooks like Ace Wolfe, himself a master strategist and gadgeteer like Bailey.

Both Wilde and Dillon were frequent foils of their world's respective Flashs, although Wilde was in the end an ally of his scarlet speedster.

Besides being the first case to introduce the Batmobile, which thanks to the Joker's schemes was totaled as it collided over a cliff, this initial incident of Joker’s Four Cards which started this all was memorable for one other event. A femme fatale, prior to Catwoman, who was able to deduce the dual identity of the Dark Knight. Despite seeming to meet her tragic end, this moment perhaps humanized the then hardened Batman and conditioned him for accepting his future one true love. Meanwhile, Joker ended up again drifting in the surf.

The Black Queen had not perished but was saved by Clubsy aka Ivan, and instead returned shortly thereafter. Disguising herself as chess champion Olga Romanoff, Queenie was involved in a con job with Ivan "Clubsy" that ensnared assistant museum curator Justin Arthur, who'd alter ego of the Shining Knight discovered her ruse and avoided her deadly traps. The hero soon captured "Olga" and left her with the authorities, who imprisoned her for her crimes. Still, she ended up pining for two knights, first a dark one and then a shining one.

Her doppelgänger Queenie returned along with her allies in the Royal Flush Gang on a second occasion wherein she adopted the disguise of Queen Elizabeth and she worked alongside her teammates who appeared as a knight, a judge, a politician and a snake. The Justice League vanquished them for a second time.

And this would not be the last time that Earth-Two's Joker dealt with these particular card characters. In the later 1940's, he would base a series of capers revolving around a royal flush, targeting various prominent individuals along with his henchmen. These five persons were dime store owner Harley Cottonworth, baseball tycoon Diamond Jack Barnes, beauty queen Roxane Wilder, match king Rupert Dazel, and air force Eddie Hoyle. The Dynamic Duo once more defeated the Joker's scheme. While this innocent quintet were not counterparts to the original Gang of Earth-One, this tale corresponded to the introductory tale wherein Amos "Ace" first enlisted his childhood colleagues in their initial battle versus Batman and his Justice League allies.

As for the aforementioned last incarnation of Royal Flush Gang on Earth-One, this involved Green Lantern's foe Hector Hammond recruiting hobo Joe Carny, alcoholic Mona Taylor, a gigolo named Jack and test pilot Wanda Wayland to be his King, Queen, Jack and Ten respectively. This Gang was more successful than its predecessor, and outshined another felony flush of foes who were financial pawns of the Red Sage (aka Gadgeteer, cousin of Hammond’s Earth-Two counterpart Spirit King)..

This Eaerh-Two quintet like their mirror images in the newest Royal Flush Gang only had one appearance before disappearing. Whereas Hector's gang faced the Justice League as a team, Red Sage's diabolical deck only encountered the Justice Socialite known as Doctor Fate. Seeing his scheme fail, Red Sage escaped capture and resurfaced a couple years later to duel with Green Lantern. Like all the other card carrying criminals, he ended up folding.