MATADOR
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Normal human (post World War II-era)
Occupation: Thief
Group Membership: Leader of his small gang of
thugs
Affiliations: His two of thugs (names
unrevealed)
Enemies: Captain America (Jeff Mace), Bucky
(Fred
Davis), Lolita D'Espana, James Ortell, Rob
Simpson
Known Relatives: Ancestor (ca. early 1500s)
(name unrevealed, but was a real matador)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: New York, USA
First Appearance: Captain America Comics#65/2
(January, 1948)
Powers/Abilities: The Matador was an
athletically fit normal
human who was proficient in wielding the rapier. He wore a matador's
traditional traje de luces
outfit. He was obsessed with reclaiming personal past heritage of
wealth with no regard for other human life. He also used chemicals,
including the "creeping fire" and a narcotic knock-out gas. The Matador
had a distinctive long scar from his left eye down his cheek.
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 160 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black
History:
(Captain America Comics#65/2 (fb)) - Circa the early
1500s, Spanish explorer and plunderer Hernando Cortez passed the
Mexican crown trophy to the Spanish
king, who in turn passed it to the greatest matador of his era. But the
matador passed it to his love, who betrayed him to another lover. He
died in a sword fight against the other suitor and cursed her that the
Cortez crown would only bring bloodshed when it changed hands.
(Captain America Comics#65/2) - Centuries later in
the late 1940s, the original
matador's descendant, choosing a life of crime and calling himself the
Matador, sought to reclaim the Cortez crown, which had since passed to
student Lolita D'Espana. She had already sold two of the jewels to
support her studies and the criminal targeted them first with his two
thugs. Pawnbroker Rob Simpson was killed by a trigger-happy thug, but
the Matador only wanted the ruby from the crown and nothing else from
the store. The Matador claimed the ruby had "sentimental meaning" and
revealed the crown's history. But Captain America (Jeff Mace) and Bucky
(Fred Davis) were passing nearby and almost stopped the criminals, but
the Matador exploded a narcotic gas vial to knock the heroes out.
Captain America later traced the stolen item to D'Espana and
recommended she leave it temporarily with collector James Ortell, who
had bought the other jewel. The Matador struck, scaling the walls
easily, but was foiled by Captain America and Bucky. The Matador
escaped again, but the next day captured D'Espana and Bucky (in his
civilian guise), and took the crown. Careful to avoid the curse, the
Matador tied the victims up and threw a miniature bomb that released
"creeping fire" ("as in the days of the Spanish Inquisition"). Captain
America followed clues to the burning house and he fought the Matador,
whose rapier broke against Cap's shield. The fight continued indoors,
where Captain America freed D'Espana and Bucky, but the Matador was
readying "one more trick" when the creeping flames apparently took him.
While he was of Spanish descent, it's not revealed if
he was a Spanish citizen.
Comments: Created by uncredited writer, Al Avison, Syd Shores.
A curious character. There was probably more intended
for this
character; he wanted only the ruby for its "sentimental meaning" (was
he the original matador?), leaving other jewels behind from the
pawnbroker, and he had "one more trick hidden" on himself as the
creeping fire apparently reached him (or did he escape, was he an early
type of the villain Diablo with various chemicals, including
longevity?).
In Spanish, "D'Espana" (or "de Espana") would approximately translate to "from Spain" in English, while Lolita apparently means "sorrows" or "pains" in Spanish. "Sorrows from Spain"...there's a certain destiny there.
Conquistador Hernando Cortez in the story is today
also known as Hernán
Cortés. The Spanish king of that era was very likely King Charles V
as per the "real" world.
Death by "creeping fire" as in "the days of the
Spanish Inquisition" -- nobody expects that!
Grand Comics Database suggests Bill Woolfolk as the likely author.
Main image refurbed by Ron Fredricks.
Profile by Grendel Prime.
CLARIFICATIONS
:
Matador has no known connections to:
Lolita D'Espana's family traced their roots back to
Spain in the early 1500s. She came into the possession (presumably via
her
family) of a special crown that Hernando Cortez took from Mexico to
Spain. D'Espana offered to show lecturer Steve Rogers (Jeff Mace,
secretly Captain America) at her home, where she revealed that she had
already pawned two of the jewels to help with her studies. Knowing the
criminal Matador was after the crown, Captain America advised her to
keep the crown safe with collector James Ortell. Unable to steal the
crown, the Matador captured D'Espana and Rogers' assistant Bucky (Fred
Davis), setting fire to the room to satisfy the crown's curse demanding
death for new possession, but Captain America arrived and freed them.
Matador stumbled back into the flames and died, and the crown
remained with D'Espana.
--Captain America Comics#65/2
images:
(without ads)
Captain America Comics#65/2, p5, pan2 (main image)
p10, pan4 (headshot)
p6, pan1 (D'Espana)
Appearances:
Captain America Comics#65/2 (January, 1948) - uncredited writer, Al
Avison (pencils), Syd Shores (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
First posted: 02/17/2023
Last updated: 02/17/2023
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™
and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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