MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 884: DOCTOR DEATH

(Wow Comics 002, 1941)

We open as concert pianist Campani plays the "Symphony of Death," a piece of music anonymously dedicated to him, only to die at its conclusion. What will eventually become clear is that the sheet music he was reading from was coated in poison and slightly stuck together so that Campani would need to lick his finger in order to turn the pages, thus poisoning himself in the process.

This is a pretty good plan! If pulled off carefully, it might even be done so anonymously that the perpetrator would be effectively untraceable. There's no chance of that, however, because said perpetrator is in fact a comic book super-villain who calls himself Doctor Death and who has all of the subtlety of his kind. Not only does he have a goon conspicuously parked outside Campani's apartment to report back on the whether the scheme has worked, but the day before he sent a threatening note to Campani, complete with signature and little skull and coffin illustrations.

(as can be seen in the note above, even though Doctor Death does music-based crimes and is kind of dressed like a concert musician his actual theme is that of a medical doctor. It's a bit of a muddle)

Doctor Death's next stated target is another musician, Ravelle, and though Mr Scarlet prevents Ravelle's copy of the "Symphony of Death" from being mailed to him this doesn't stop Doctor Death; he just goes to Ravelle's house, and when Mr Scarlet shows up there he gets captured and slated to die as well.

Doctor Death of course does not contend with the fact that while Mr Scarlet is technically not a super-human he is nonetheless a super-hero and thus able to, for instance, lift a grand piano over his head and throw it at Doctor Death's body. Among other things, this splits the Doctor Death mask asunder, revealing that the villain is in fact... Ravelle! 

It turns out that Ravelle was recently fired and presumably replaced by Campani and his response to this insult was to turn to elaborate murder plots for solace. The attempt on Ravelle's own life was a bluff designed to draw suspicion away from himself that was repurposed into a trap for Mr Scarlet. But what of Sigowitz, the third name on the revenge list? Alas, we shall never know.