PROFESSOR GOJO

Real Name: Gojo

Identity/Class: Human (World War II Era) (Japanese)

Occupation: Assassin, espionage agent

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Imperial Japan

Enemies: Sub-Mariner (Namor McKenzie)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Number 22, Harrison Road, Los Angeles, California, USA

First Appearance: All-Winners Comics I#6 (Fall, 1942)

Powers/Abilities: Professor Gojo was an experienced assassin who studied numerous methods of killing people in hand-to-hand combat. He had perfected a stabbing motion with his knife which he called "the Gojo stroke." He carried a pistol and a knife.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'2")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 120 lbs.)
Eyes: Black
Hair: White

History: (All-Winners Comics I#6/5 (fb) - BTS) - Professor Gojo was a Japanese citizen who took up residence in Los Angeles, California. When Japan declared war on the United States, Gojo offered his assistance to the office of Naval Intelligence. The US Navy found him a useful source of information and so prevented him from being sent to an internment camp with other people of Japanese ancestry. However, Gojo's true loyalties were to Japan and he used his relationship with the Navy as a cover for his crimes. He also held classes for spies in his home, where he demonstrated assassination techniques and maintained a case which displayed mementos of his various targets.

When a US spy in Tokyo discovered Japan had a secret air base on an island in Central America, he tattooed the location on his scalp so that he could smuggle the map back to the United States. However, upon the spy's arrival in Los Angeles, he was assassinated by Gojo, who used a knife to scalp the spy.

(All-Winners Comics I#6/5) - As Gojo was leaving the murder scene, he bumped into the Sub-Mariner, who had heard spy's dying shrieks. Thinking quickly, Gojo stabbed the Sub-Mariner in the left shoulder with his knife and left him in an alleyway.

The Sub-Mariner recovered from the attack and, from studying Gojo's knife with cutlery expert J.J. Harris, learned his identity. Namor snuck into Gojo's house through the chimney while he was demonstrating to his pupils how to choke a man to death. Gojo went on to demonstrate his "Gojo stroke" to his pupils then showed off exhibits from his display case including a skull that "belonged to an American spy with too many brains for his own good" and a woman's severed finger. Observing, Namor saw he also had the scalp of the assassinated spy. As Gojo finished the lecture, his pupils departed and Namor finally made his presence known to Gojo.

Gojo drew his gun and fired at him but Namor dodged the bullets then began punching Gojo until he explained why he scalped the dead man. Namor held Gojo by his beard while he gazed at the scalp when Gojo drew a knife and cut off his beard to free himself. Gojo fled up a flight of stairs in his home and when Namor followed, he simply pulled up the rug from underneath him, causing Namor to fall off the stairs and bump his head.

Gojo took the unconscious Namor to a room where he manacled him to a wall and prepared to flay him alive. Just then, there was a Japanese air assault on Los Angeles, causing air raid sirens to go off. Gojo turned off his lights and went to his basement for shelter. However, the manacled Namor was able to reach the lightswitch. The active lights brought attention from the police, who looked into the house to find out why the lights were on. Seeing the manacled Namor, the police entered and set him free. The Sub-Mariner led the police to the basement in pursuit of Gojo but when Gojo saw he had been cornered, he committed hari-kari with a sword.

Subsequently, the Sub-Mariner led the US Navy to the Japanese air base in Central America and aided in its destruction.

Comments: Created by Mickey Spillane and Carl Pfeufer.

Mickey Spillane was a mystery author - and boy, it shows. It isn't until after Gojo is killed that Namor uses any of his superhuman powers - I suppose aside from his endurance saving him from being stabbed to death at the start of the story. Spillane could've easily written this story for the Angel, the Destroyer or Headline Hunter - there's nothing particularly Namor-ish in this yarn.

Profile by Prime Eternal.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Professor Gojo should not be confused with:

J. J. Harris

J. J. Harris was the head of a cutlery company whose products included knives. When World War II broke out, his company shifted priorities to manufacturing materials for defense projects. After the Sub-Mariner was stabbed with a knife by Gojo, he brought the knife to Harris, who identified it as one they had manufactured. Harris gave Namor a list of all the retailers who sold their knives so that he could find out who the knife belonged to.







--All-Winners Comics I#6/5








images: (without ads)
All-Winners Comics I#6/5, page 7, panel 6 (main)
All-Winners Comics I#6/5, page 7, panel 9 (face)
All-Winners Comics I#6/5, page 4, panel 4 (Harris)

Appearances:
All-Winners Comics I#6/5 (Fall, 1942) - Mickey Spillane (writer), Carl Pfeufer (penciler), unidentified inker, Stan Lee (editor)

First posted: 05/13/2022
Last updated: 05/13/2022

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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