HERR MOLE

Real Name: Unrevealed (see comments)

Identity/Class: Human (World War II era)

Occupation: Saboteur

Group Membership: Nazi Party

Affiliations: His agents (including Otto Heinkle, Reich (first name unrevealed), and four others (unidentified)

Enemies: Human Torch (Jim Hammond), Toro (Thomas Raymond), police and FBI agents (including Casey and Kennedy)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "The Mole"

Base of Operations: His hideout

First Appearance: Captain America Comics#34/4 (January, 1944)

Powers/Abilities: Apparently possessing no paranormal abilities, Herr Mole masterminded a Nazi sabotage ring that was attempting to destroy an American military factory.

Herr Mole employed such devices as a powerful time-bomb, and electrically-controlled glass vats.


Height: 5' 9" (by approximation)
Weight: 150 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Brown

History: (Captain America Comics#34/4 (fb) - BTS) - The past of Herr Mole is largely unrevealed, but he and his agents eventually established a hideout near Hartford, Connecticut, with the intent of destroying the Hartford Cannon Plant. Herr Mole sent Heinkle (who had secured employment at the cannon plant) to recruit German-American plant-worker Peter Lauber to their cause.

(Captain America Comics#34/4) - At night, Heinkle met with Lauber in a wooded area; but Lauber was loyal to America and refused to join the saboteurs, so Heinkle murdered him. The Human Torch and Toro happened to be flying overhead, and the fiery duo came swooping down to investigate the crime--they extinguished their flames, so as not to start a forest-fire. Although Heinkle fled further into the wilderness, the Torch managed to throw a small fireball, which burned the side of the killer's face. The Torch and Toro searched the corpse and found papers identifying Lauber as a worker at the cannon plant--suspecting it could be a clue to potential sabotage, the Torch secretly spoke with the plant's president, who arranged for the Torch to be employed under the assumed name of "Hans," a German-American who was loyal to Hitler.

Meanwhile, Heinkle returned to the hideout to report to Herr Mole; the sadistic saboteur dispatched Heinkle and Reich to plant a powerful time-bomb--which was set to detonate the following night--in the cannon plant.

The next morning, the Torch (as "Hans") began working at the plant, and he started a conversation with Heinkle (whom he easily recognized, for Heinkle now wore a bandage on the side of his burned face); "Hans" admitted that he was loyal to der Fuhrer, and that he had previously worked for Herr Blitz; "Hans" also mentioned that he had a like-minded friend, "Fritz" (Toro). Thinking "Hans" and "Fritz" would be perfect recruits for the sabotage ring, Heinkle told him the location of the hideout.

That night, Heinkle went to the hideout and told his leader about "Hans" and "Fritz"--Herr Mole was quite pleased that his sabotage ring would soon have two new members. But as Herr Mole and his men were meeting in the basement, they were shocked when the Human Torch and Toro made a flaming entrance into their evil house of intrigue. As the fiery pair extinguished their flames and began a physical assault on the saboteurs, Herr Mole shot Heinkle in the back, as punishment for his blunder of leading the heroes there. But suddenly, the lights went out, and the Torch and Toro were overwhelmed by heavily-chloroformed rags slapped over their noses.

Herr Mole had his men carry the unconscious heroes into a sub-basement and put them into a pair of electrically-controlled glass vats; then he went to a control panel and slowly filled the vats with poisonous gas--Herr Mole wanted to prolong the pleasure of watching the Torch and Toro die..

But after waiting hours for the heroes return, the president of the cannon plant--aware of the Torch and Toro's whereabouts, and concerned about their safety--notified the police and FBI. The agents of the law raided Herr Mole's hideout, took him and his men into custody, and rescued the heroes.

The Torch and Toro quickly revived and flew to the cannon plant. They found the bomb, and although they dunked it in a barrel of water to deaden its explosive force, it could still do plenty of damage, so the Torch wanted to get it out of the plant. They flew the bomb right back where it came from--the saboteurs' hideout--and dropped it; as the house exploded, and another evil Nazi scheme went up in smoke, the Torch's only regret was that Herr Mole and his crew were no longer there to receive it.

Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and Jimmy Thompson. 

I assume "Mole" wasn't his real surname, so I'm guessing he was called that because of the appearance of his face; or perhaps he was an expert at secretly digging tunnels into Allied military installations to commit sabotage?

And Herr Mole was a chain-smoker--he had a cigarette in his mouth in every panel he appeared.

Profile by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Herr Mole/"The Mole" has no known connections to:

Otto Heinkle has no known connections to:

Otto Heinkle

He was a Nazi saboteur and one of the agents of Herr Mole. Earlier, he got a job working at the Hartford Cannon Plant, for the purpose of eventually destroying the facility.

One night, Heinkle tried to recruit a fellow plant worker, German-American Peter Lauber, to their cause. But Lauber was a loyal American, and he refused to join, so Heinkle stabbed him in the back. Heinkle's crime was seen by the Human Torch (Jim Hammond), who threw a small fireball at the side of the killer's face as he fled--Heinkle eventually covered his burn with a bandage.

Later, Heinkle planted a powerful time-bomb that was set to explode the following night in the cannon plant .

The next day, Heinkle was working at the plant, when he was approached by fellow worker "Hans" (actually the Human Torch in disguise), who expressed interest in joining the sabotage ring, so Heinkle told "Hans" the location of their hideout.

But later that night, after the Human Torch and Toro came blazing into the saboteurs' meeting, Heinkle was shot in the back by Herr Mole, as punishment for his incompetence--presumably, Otto Heinkle died. 

--Captain America Comics#34/4

Herr Mole's hideout

An ordinary-looking house located in the woods near Hartford, Connecticut, it was the headquarters of a ring of Nazi saboteurs led by Herr Mole. 

The house had a basement, where the saboteurs held their meetings, and a sub-basement, where Herr Mole kept a pair of electrically-controlled glass vats.

The hideout was later destroyed when the Human Torch and Toro dropped Herr Mole's time-bomb on it.

--Captain America Comics#34/4

Herr Mole's electrically-controlled glass vats

A pair of transparent cylinders located in the sub-cellar of Herr Mole's hideout, they were controlled by an external control panel. When activated, the two cylinders began to spin, and a lethal gas was released within.

Herr Mole had his men put the unconscious Human Torch and Toro into the the vats, then he started the mechanism--he manipulated the controls to cut down the current releasing the gas, because he wanted to prolong the pleasure of watching the heroes die.

But the Torch and Toro were eventually rescued by police and FBI agents, who broke the vats with a fire-ax and freed them.

(Comment: It was unrevealed why Herr Mole just happened to have these on hand in his hideout--maybe he built them as a hobby?)

--Captain America Comics#34/4

Herr Mole's time-bomb

A small but powerful explosive, it was constructed with a "new type of dynamite". Herr Mole had Otto Heinkle place it in the Hartford Cannon Plant--not only would it reduce the plant to dust and kill the thousands of workers in it, but also destroy the streets for blocks around.

But the bomb was later found by the Human Torch and Toro; the heroes dunked it in a barrel of water, to deaden the explosive force. But the Torch was concerned that it would still do plenty of damage to the plant, so he and Toro flew off with it; they dropped the bomb on Herr Mole's former hideout, and the resultant explosion completely destroyed the structure.

--Captain America Comics#34/4

images: (without ads)
Captain America Comics#34/4, p1, pan1 (Main Image - Herr Mole)
Captain America Comics#34/4, p6, pan5 (Headshot - Herr Mole)
Captain America Comics#34/4, p5, pan3 (Herr Mole (left), meeting with his agents, as Human Torch and Toro come flying in)
Captain America Comics#34/4, p7, pan2 (Herr Mole (right) captured by authorities)
Captain America Comics#34/4, p4, pan5 (Headshot - Otto Heinkle)
Captain America Comics#34/4, p2, pan2 (Otto Heinkle stabs Peter Lauber)
Captain America Comics#34/4, p5, pan4 (Otto Heinkle, shot from behind by Herr Mole)
Captain America Comics#34/4, p5, pan2 (Human Torch and Toro flying over Herr Mole's hideout)
Captain America Comics#34/4, p7, pan7 (Herr Mole's hideout explodes after Human Torch and Toro drop time-bomb on it)
Captain America Comics#34/4, p6, pan4 (Herr Mole and his men put unconscious Human Torch and Toro into glass vats)
Captain America Comics#34/4, p6, pan6 (Herr Mole activates glass vats)
Captain America Comics#34/4, p7, pan3 (authorities rescue Human Torch and Toro from glass vats)
Captain America Comics#34/4, p7, pan5 (in Hartford Cannon Plant, Toro and Human Torch dunk time-bomb in water barrel)
Captain America Comics#34/4, p7, pan6 (Human Torch and Toro drop time-bomb on Herr Mole's hideout)

Appearances:
Captain America Comics#34/4 (January, 1944) - unidentified writer, Jimmy Thompson (pencils) Al Gabriele (inks), Vince Fago (editor)

First Posted: 04/05/2021
Last updated: 04/05/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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