WILHELM VON SIN

Real Name: Wilhelm von Sin

Identity/Class: Human technology user (World War II era);
   citizen of Germany

Occupation: Unrevealed

Group Membership: Nazi Party

Affiliations: Adolf Hitler

Enemies: Destroyer (Keen Marlowe)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Herr Sin

Base of Operations: Crolor Mountain, somewhere in Germany

First Appearance: Mystic Comics I#7/1 (December, 1941)

Powers/Abilities: Displaying no paranormal physical abilities, von Sin was an inventive genius who built his "machine of death", which he used to remotely-control a squadron of drone planes.

Height: 5'8" (by approximation)
Weight: 160 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Black

History:
(Mystic Comics I#7/1) - The past of Wilhelm von Sin is largely unrevealed, but after creating his "machine of death" and drone planes, he demonstrated his inventions for two Nazi officials--von Sin sent a plane over the English Channel and destroyed a British warship. When the Nazis warned Herr Sin about the Destroyer, he raved that the Destroyer would be his next victim.

   Some time later, von Sin and the Nazis were still on the coast, waiting for the newest and largest British battleship to sail into the English Channel, but they were interrupted by two "hikers"--Keen Marlowe (AKA The Destroyer) and Florence von Banger (see comments). Herr Sin invited the "hikers" to stay and watch what he was going to do, because he thought they would find it very interesting. Herr Sin launched another drone plane, and it flew toward the British dreadnaught; but Marlowe pretended to stumble and fell against von Sin as he operated the control panel, causing a malfunction--as a result, the plane flew out of control and crashed into the water, thus sparing the warship from destruction. The enraged von Sin ordered the two "hikers" to be taken into custody.

   After having the "hikers" imprisoned and deciding to deal with them later, von Sin went to visit Hitler. Nervously entering Hitler's office (and interrupting der Führer's game of paddle ball), Herr Sin reported his failure to sink the battleship. Upon hearing the bad news, the depressed Hitler burst into tears and began to bemoan a litany of his troubles; von Sin comforted his distraught Führer and promised him he would sink a ship for him the next day. To make amends for his failure, Hitler ordered Herr Sin to capture the Destroyer.

   Von Sin returned to the prison and ordered for Marlowe to be executed by a firing squad.

(Mystic Comics I#7/1 (fb) - BTS) - Meanwhile, von Sin and a group of Nazi soldiers went to Crolor Mountain, where he planned to launch a squadron of his planes for his largest and most ambitious attack yet.

(Mystic Comics I#7/1) - As he was led to a stonewall to be shot, Marlowe managed to escape, then he changed into his costume to become the Destroyer. After forcing a Nazi soldier to tell him where he could find Wilhelm von Sin, the Destroyer learned that Herr Sin was on Crolor Mountain, and he was about to use his "machine of death" against the British army.

   On Crolor Mountain, von Sin had just executed his fiendish plan by launching a squadron of drone planes to every army post in England, planning to wipe them out one at a time; in the interim, von Sin showed a picture of a medal to one of the soldiers--he anticipated that der Führer would award the medal to him after the British army was destroyed, and he figured he would be the most honored man in Germany.

   But suddenly, a thrown knife tore the picture of the medal from von Sin's hand, for the Destroyer had arrived! As he grappled with von Sin, a gunshot from a soldier struck the Destroyer in the shoulder, and the hero fell to the ground. While Herr Sin turned his attention back to his planes and watched their flight with binoculars, the wounded Destroyer got back on his feet and fought his way through the soldiers, then pulled a lever on the control panel--the "machine of death" was deactivated, and as a result, all the drone planes plunged into the English Channel.

   Maddened by defeat, the enraged Wilhelm von Sin charged at the Destroyer, vowing to kill the hero, but he met his downfall when the Destroyer threw him off a cliff.

   Taking care of one last detail, the Destroyer used von Sin's radio transmitter--the hero imitated Wilhelm von Sin's voice and ordered the release of Florence von Banger from prison.

Comments: Created by Stan Lee (writer) and Al Avison (artist).

Maybe one of Wilhelm von Sin's planes was recovered from the English Channel by the Allies, and it was eventually reverse-engineered into that infamous drone plane that Heinrich Zemo would later steal in 1945 (@ Avengers I#4).

In regards to Florence von Banger: She had been introduced in the previous issue's story; the Destroyer first met her after her father had been killed by the Scar--at that time, she only introduced herself as "Florence," and she became the Destroyer's ally in his fight against the Nazis. This particular story revealed her full name, but in her next appearance (@ Mystic Comics I#9/1) and afterward, her name was given as "Flora von Bangor".

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Wilhelm von Sin has no known connections to:

Wilhelm von Sin's "machine of death"

The "machine of death" was a device used by von Sin to remotely-control his drone planes. It also included a two-way radio transmitter for voice communication.

When von Sin used the "machine of death" to launch a squadron of his planes for an assault on all the army bases in England, the Destroyer deactivated it by pulling a lever, thus causing all the planes to crash into the English Channel.

(This device was never given a specific name, so I just identified it by what it was referred to in the story title. The limitations and maximum number of drone planes that the "machine of death" could control were unrevealed, but when von Sin launched his attempted final assault on England, I counted perhaps forty-seven planes.)

--Mystic Comics I#7/1

Wilhelm von Sin's drone planes

Robotic propeller-powered airplanes, they were remotely-controlled by von Sin using his "machine of death". Each plane carried an explosive torpedo on its underbelly. Von Sin's usual method of attack was to fly the torpedo-laden drone planes directly into targets.

The first plane was used by von Sin to destroy a British warship sailing in the English Channel. That plane was equipped with a magnet that drew it towards the ship.

Von Sin then attempted to use the second plane to destroy England's newest and largest battleship, but his plan was fouled when Keen Marlowe (AKA The Destroyer) pretended to stumble into von Sin and the control panel, thus causing a malfunction--the second plane crashed into the waters of the English Channel, completely missing the battleship.

Later, von Sin launched an entire squadron of his drone planes, with their intended destinations being every army base in England, but his plan failed when the Destroyer deactivated the "machine of death," and all the remaining planes crashed into the English Channel.

(The total number of planes von Sin had at his disposal was unrevealed, but when he launched his attempted final assault on England, I counted perhaps forty-seven.)

--Mystic Comics I#7/1

images: (without ads)
Mystic Comics I#7/1, p2, pan7 (Main Image - Wilhelm von Sin at controls of his "machine of death")
Mystic Comics I#7/1, p7, pan7 (Headshot - Wilhelm von Sin)
Mystic Comics I#7/1, p15, pan1 (Destroyer (left) in final confrontation with Wilhelm von Sin)
Mystic Comics I#7/1, p15, pan2 (final downfall of Wilhelm von Sin as he's thrown from cliff; Destroyer (background))
Mystic Comics I#7/1, p6, pan1 ("machine of death"; Wilhelm von Sin plots an attack; Nazi officials (background))
Mystic Comics I#7/1, p2, pan4 (Wilhelm von Sin operates "machine of death")
Mystic Comics I#7/1, p3, pan1 (von Sin's drone plane about to attack British warship)
Mystic Comics I#7/1, p3, pan4 (von Sin's drone plane dives at British warship)
Mystic Comics I#7/1, p12, pan2 (von Sin prepares to launch squadron of drone planes)

Appearances:
Mystic Comics I#7/1 (December, 1941) - Stan Lee (writer), Al Avison (pencils and inks), Joe Simon (editor)

First Posted: 11/24/2018
Last updated: 11/24/2018

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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