KRAUSS

Real Name: Krauss (first name unrevealed)

Identity/Class: Human (World War II Era)

Occupation: Assassin, posed as fortune teller;
    former newspaper distributor

Group Membership: An unidentified bundist organization

Affiliations: Nazis, Polly

Enemies: Angel (Tom Halloway), Ronson, Dr. White

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Manhattan, New York, USA

First Appearance: Marvel Mystery Comics I#36 (October, 1942)

Powers/Abilities: Krauss was blind and required a cane while traveling by foot. Despite this, he was a brilliant scientist and clever assassin who trained birds to kill his targets by poisoning the tips of their beaks. His pet parrot Polly was his chief aide. His hearing ability was well above average, as he had to locate his targets by the sound of their voices.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'9")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 140 lbs.)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: White

History:
(Marvel Mystery Comics I#36/7 (fb) - BTS) - Although blind, Krauss worked in the USA as an operative of a German-American bundist organization and distributed their newspaper, Beobachter. At some point, Dr. White served as Krauss' physician. After the Beobachter ceased publishing, Krauss became an assassin for the Nazis using his trained parrot Polly to kill his targets by dipping Polly's beak in poison. After successfully killing four men, Krauss' crimes were investigated by Ronson of the FBI. Krauss chose Ronson as his next target.

(Marvel Mystery Comics I#36/7) - Ronson was meeting with the super hero the Angel on the street when Krauss located Ronson by his voice. Posing as a veteran, Krauss offered to let Polly tell Ronson his fortune. Polly behaved as though he was reading Ronson's palm, delivering a subtle scratch to Ronson's hand while Krauss gave Ronson a card telling him his fortune: "You will not live very long!" Soon after Krauss left, the poison took its effect and Ronson died; the Angel realized Krauss was responsible and learned his identity from Dr. White. To draw Krauss out, the Angel leaked information to the press that Dr. White could identify Ronson's killer.

    As expected, Krauss targeted Dr. White for murder and ventured to White's apartment building with Polly. Krauss sent Polly to fly into White's apartment and poison him to death but the Angel was waiting inside the apartment and caught Polly. Krauss could hear Polly calling out but when he summoned Polly to return, the parrot didn't obey. Wondering whether Polly had been successful, Krauss ventured up a fire escape to White's apartment. The Angel jumped out on the fire escape and clashed with Krauss. Nimbly avoiding the Angel's attack, Krauss landed a lucky blow over the Angel's head with his cane. As Krauss retrieved Polly, Dr. White attacked him with a handgun but all of White's bullets missed Krauss. Krauss fled downstairs and took a taxi back to his hideout.

    The Angel tracked Krauss back to his hideout but fell through a booby-trapped floor and was captured by Krauss. Krauss tied up the Angel in a dungeon next to the cages of his other pet birds, who hadn't been fed for days. Having removed the poison from Polly's beak so that the Angel would die a slow death, Krauss, basing himself in a control room above the dungeon, released the birds from their cages so that they could peck and scratch the Angel to death. However, the Angel swung himself through the air and snapped his chains, smashing through the window into Krauss' control room. The frenzied and famished birds swarmed over Krauss and slew him.

Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and artist.

    This profile was prepared to celebrate our own Snood's birthday!

Profile by Prime Eternal.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Krauss should not be confused with:

 

Polly

Polly was Krauss' pet parrot. Polly had an astonishingly large vocabulary, having apparently learned a multitude of phrases from his master, including "Heil Hitler" and "Polly wants a murder." Most unusual of all, Polly once declared "All we want is lebensraum! But I'll settle for a cracker!" Krauss used Polly to administer poison to those he had targeted for murder, placing poison on Polly's beak. Krauss would pretend to be a fortune teller and had Polly "read" people's palms, permitting Polly a chance to subtly scratch the target's palm with his beak.

Polly assisted Krauss in five successful murders, including that of Ronson of the FBI. When Krauss attempted to kill Dr. White, the Angel intercepted Polly and prevented him from reaching his target. Krauss retrieved Polly and brought him back to his hideout. When the Angel was later captured inside Krauss' base, Krauss removed the poison from Polly's beak and sent him and his other pet birds to kill the Angel. However, the Angel led the deadly avians into Krauss' control room; starved for food, the birds attacked and killed Krauss.

--Marvel Mystery Comics I#36/7

 

Ronson

Ronson was an agent of the FBI who investigated the deaths caused by Krauss. Ronson determined the four men Krauss killed had been poisoned and contacted the Angel to share what he had learned. Unfortunately for Ronson, Krauss knew that the FBI were investigating his crimes. Posing as a fortune teller, Krauss stopped Ronson in the street and offered to have his parrot Polly read his palm. While "reading" Ronson's palm, Polly administered a scratch from his beak that fatally poisoned Ronson. Ronson died moments later and a subsequent autopsy proved it was through the same method as the murders Ronson had been investigating.

--Marvel Mystery Comics I#36/7

 

Dr. White

Dr. White was a physician who at one time treated the blind man Krauss. When Krauss caused the death of Ronson, the Angel telephoned physicians in New York until he found one who recognized Krauss' description. Dr. White shared what he knew about Krauss' background with the Angel and agreed to let the Angel use him as a decoy to draw Krauss into the open by telling the press that White had information that would expose Ronson's murderer. As expected, Krauss came after Dr. White to kill him with Polly but the Angel was prepared for him and prevented White's murder. When Krauss struck down the Angel, White attacked Krauss with an automatic pistol but all of his shots missed.

--Marvel Mystery Comics I#36/7

images: (without ads)
Marvel Mystery Comics I#36/7, page 7, panel 1 (Krauss, main)
Marvel Mystery Comics I#36/7, page 2, panel 7 (Krauss, face)
Marvel Mystery Comics I#36/7, page 1 (Polly)
Marvel Mystery Comics I#36/7, page 2, panel 2 (Ronson)
Marvel Mystery Comics I#36/7, page 4, panel 5 (White)

Appearances:
Marvel Mystery Comics I#36/7 (October, 1942) - unidentified writer, unidentified artist, Lloyd Jacquett (editor)

First posted: 07/15/2023
Last updated: 07/15/2023

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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