(Thrilling Comics 010, 1940)
Perry Knight has a problem: instead of starring as the titular costumed antagonist of stage production "The Black Death" he has been jailed for murder. He can't remember doing it, but evidently he gunned down his costar Tinker in cold blood during the dress rehearsal.
Enter Peggy Allen, the Woman in Red, who quickly discovers that there is a second Black Death running around when they have a confrontation in the wings. Is this a foolish move on the part of the second Black Death, who presumably wants Perry Knight to be the sole suspect in the murder? Absolutely it is.
Peggy manages to get Knight bailed out to continue the role of the Black Death as bait for the real killer, and indeed the false Black Death attempts to murder Tinker's replacement at the same point in the show as before. The Woman in Red of course manages to prevent this second murder, and after some running around etc the Black Death is unmasked to reveal... Weber, the theatre owner!
It turns out that Weber is in love with lead actress Linda Lytell and that this murder/framing/attempted murder/kidnapping (he kidnaps Lytell before the second murder attempt) is all part of an effort to get him out of the way so that Weber can woo her. A foolish plan, and not just because Weber does not appear to have shared his feelings with Lytell at any point, but because literally the first thing that happens in the story is Lytell rejecting Knight, something that Weber might have learned if he had engaged in some conventional human conversation and courtship before jumping straight to adopting a costumed persona.
Also, the critics hate the play.
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