(The Spirit, "Palyachi the Killer Clown", 28 July, 1940)
Ah, the crime clown. Always glad to see another one, and one with such an illustrious name, kind of! (I wanted to do some sort of riff on "but doctor, I am Palyachi" but a) it seems like the basic joke has existed jince the 1800s, the first place that Pagliacci was specifically named as the sad clown on the doctor's couch might actually have been in Watchmen and b) I couldn't think of one)
This particular clown turns to crime at the urging of Nonspecific Circus Performer Marka, who puts off his marriage proposals with suggestions that he first kill her enemy Flipo the acrobat and then steal various riches for her. As is obvious to the reader but not to Palyachi, he will never actually do enough to win her heart, but that Palyachi, he just keeps on killing and trying.
Marva does eventually see the danger of turning your unrequited suitor into an unstoppable killing machine, and so sells him out to the Spirit at the first opportunity. Unfortunately for her, while the Spirit is out hunting for Palyachi, Palyachi returns to where Marva is waiting for the Spirit (completely nude, by the way, because Marva is the horniest woman in a comic full of horny women). Palyachi finally goes completely mad and Marva meets her end at his hands.
That's a wrap on Palyachi, and despite the Spirit's weird defense of him in the final panels, I have to say that no, I don't think that it was all Marva's fault. Call me a crank, but I don't think that being really, really horny is a valid excuse for committing at least four murders, even if you sincerely believe that murdering people might help you get some.
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