The Grim Ghost, created by Michael Fleisher

Michael Fleisher

Michael L. "Mike" Fleisher is an American writer known for his DC Comics of the 1970s and 1980s, particularly for the characters the Spectre and Jonah Hex.-Early life and career:...

, is a fictional character

Fictional character

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

, a superhero

Superhero

A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...

 first featured in Grim Ghost #1 (January 1975) from Atlas/Seaboard Comics

Atlas/Seaboard Comics

Atlas/Seaboard is the term comic-book historians and collectors use to refer to the 1970s line of comics published as Atlas Comics by the American company Seaboard Periodicals, to differentiate from the 1950s' Atlas Comics, a predecessor of Marvel Comics...

. The series lasted only three issues before Atlas Comics ceased publication and the company went out of business in January
1976. A new ongoing series, published by Atlas Comics in association with Ardden Entertainment, debuted in March 2011.

Character biography

In Colonial America

Colonial America

The colonial history of the United States covers the history from the start of European settlement and especially the history of the thirteen colonies of Britain until they declared independence in 1776. In the late 16th century, England, France, Spain and the Netherlands launched major...

, silversmith

Silversmith

A silversmith is a craftsperson who makes objects from silver or gold. The terms 'silversmith' and 'goldsmith' are not synonyms as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are or were largely the same but the end product varies greatly as does the scale of objects created.Silversmithing is the...

 Matthew Dunsinane was secretly the masked highwayman

Highwayman

A highwayman was a thief and brigand who preyed on travellers. This type of outlaw, usually, travelled and robbed by horse, as compared to a footpad who traveled and robbed on foot. Mounted robbers were widely considered to be socially superior to footpads...

 known as the Grim Ghost and was quite successful at his criminal trade until the dashing rogue was finally betrayed by a woman and captured in 1743. After he was hanged, his soul went to Hell

Hell

In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...

 where Satan

Satan

Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...

 gave him a choice: either suffer for his crimes forever or become an agent of Satan's on Earth to bring evil souls to Hell. Returning to Earth in the 20th century (where longer lifespans were keeping the wicked from going to Hell long past when they were due), he became the Grim Ghost in form as well as name, now riding a flying black horse and firing spectral pistols whose "bullets" transported still-living murderers and thieves down to the flames of Perdition

Perdition

Perdition may refer to:*Hell in Christian beliefs*Son of perdition*Perdition , by Jim Allen*Road to Perdition , a series of fictional works by Max Allan Collins...

 while posing as a living descendant

Kinship

Kinship is a relationship between any entities that share a genealogical origin, through either biological, cultural, or historical descent. And descent groups, lineages, etc. are treated in their own subsections....

 of himself who resided in the house he had owned over two centuries before. His greatest mission was to capture the demon Brimstone

Brimstone

Brimstone is an alternative name for sulfur. It may also refer to:* Fire and brimstone, an idiomatic expression of signs of God's wrath in the Bible* Brimstone , a DC Comics character...

 who wanted to overthrow Satan and rule Hell in his place. In order to do this, Satan forced Matthew to work with Lady Sarah Braddock, the woman who originally set him up to get caught and hanged.

2011 Revival

The Grim Ghost and his arch nemesis, Braddock, a man turned dark spirit, struggle in the Fringe, a realm between life and death. A recent arrival, Michael Colavito, is caught between the two.

Trivia

An earlier and somewhat similar character called the Gay Ghost

Gay Ghost

The Gay Ghost is a fictional superhero in the DC Comics universe, whose first appearance was in Sensation Comics #1 , published by one DC's predecessor companies, All-American Publications...

 has since been named the Grim Ghost due to the modern connotations of the word "gay

Gay

Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....

".

External links

• Profile:Grim Ghost Picture, brief story and bio.
• A Look Back History of Atlas/Seabord Comics and the Grim Ghost. Pictures and stories from all three issues.