| The Weeper | |
|---|---|
The second Weeper and Dr. Riddle threaten Susan Barr (a.k.a. Bulletgirl). From Mary Marvel #8 (December, 1946). |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Fawcett Comics (1942) DC Comics (1976) |
| First appearance | (original) Master Comics #23 (Feb. 1942) (second) Mary Marvel #8 (Dec. 1946) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | (original) Mortimer Gloom (second) Unknown |
| Notable aliases | The Crying Clown, Weeping Willie. Trades-Man-Of-Tears |
The Weeper is the name of two fictitious comic book supervillains, originally published by Fawcett Comics and today owned by DC Comics. The original Weeper first appeared in Master Comics #23 in February 1942.
The arch-foe of Bulletman and Bulletgirl, the Weeper is capable of the most brutal of murders, but sheds tears for his victims; he hates to see people happy but feels bad after he hurts them. The Weeper wears a blue opera cape, a top hat and carries a small walking stick and tear gas bombs. He also drives a hearse and is accompanied by his henchman, the Bittermen.
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Formerly known as the "Crying Clown" or "Weeping Willie," Mortimer Gloom is fired for dishonesty from his work as a circus performer. Sometime afterward, he commits several acts of revenge. He then takes on the name, the Weeper.
On Thanksgiving, the Weeper sends letters and visits a number of families telling them tragic news. He tells one family their son has died in the war. Another family, the father is fired from his job after years of dutiful service. Another family, he tells the husband his business has burned to the ground. Later, the families discover that the Weeper has lied to them. The Weeper tells these lies so he could either case the families' homes for robbery, or they would lead him to where they hid their valuable possessions.
The Weeper puts an ad in the paper looking for men who feel life has given them a raw deal. A lot of men reply to the ad. He interviews them all and picks ten of the saddest men. He calls them the Bittermen. The Weeper along with the Bittermen, sets out to make the lives of other people very unhappy.
They start by riding through a parade in a hearse and tossing tear gas into the crowd. This causes a stampede which kills a great many people. The Weeper drives through the street littered with dead bodies weeping at that horrible tragedy.
The Weeper and the Bittermen commit a series of ghastly acts. He suceeds in capturing Bulletgirl. However Bulletman is able to save her and the Weeper is apparantly drowned. However he returns.
Sometime after being defeated by Bulletman and Bulletgirl, the Weeper returns and looks to gather his Bittermen back together. One of them refuses, saying he makes enough money now to choke a horse and he is very happy. The Weeper replies, saying he hates to hear that people are happy. The next day, the man is found dead after having choked on his wad of money.
The Weeper then shows his other Bittermen the newspaper account of what has happened. Fearing for their lives they join his group again. The Weeper is later betrayed by one of them.
The Weeper is a founding member of the Revenge Syndicate. The Revenge Syndicate is started by the Murder Prophet and joined by the Weeper and the Black Rat. At first, they are at odds with each one wanting to be the chief of the group. The Weeper comes up with the idea that they roll dice to see who would be chief, the person with the highest roll would go first; the person with the second highest would go second; and the person with the third highest would go third.
The Murder Prophet wins the first roll. His plan is to rob an art museum, by pretending to be a visitor, with the aid of the Black Rat emerging from the sewer with a machine gun. Bulletman and Bulletgirl stop them, but they escape.
The Weeper goes second. His plan is for the Murder Prophet to pretend to be a psychic at a carnival after kidnapping the real psychic. The Murder Prophet tells a rich woman to move her money so it will not be stolen. They are going to steal the money while it is being moved. Bulletman and Bulletgirl stop them after realizing their plot. They lift the car the villains are in and throw it in a lake. The Black Rat is thrown in also, and saves the Murder Prophet and the Weeper.
The three realize that Bulletman has always thwarted their plans, and they need to eliminate him if they ever want to succeed. The Black Rat meets several criminals, who agree to pay $100,000 if he gets rid of Bulletman.
The Black Rat goes third. His plan is to send out a radio broadcast to lure Bulletman to an abandoned shack. They set up a dummy of the Black Rat. Bulletman and Bulletgirl go inside the shack. The Revenge Syndicate goes inside and beats up Bulletman. To their surprise, Bulletman has set up a dummy of his own. Bulletman and Bulletgirl beat them up and a fire is started when the radio is broken which possibly kills them as nobody gets out.[1]
At some point between 1942 and 1946, possibly during his last recorded encounter with Bulletman, the Weeper dies and is replaced by his son--the second Weeper. In 1946, Bulletgirl and her friend Mary Marvel fight the second Weeper and Dr. Riddle. The second Weeper says, "My father, the true Weeper, is dead -- Sob! But I am carrying on with his name!" He and Dr Riddle first try to hang Bulletgirl in her civilian identity of Susan Barr after surprising her and pulling her up with a noose and the Weeper tries to stab her also, but Mary Marvel stops them as she was with Susan when the villains attacked. The villains escape while Mary frees Susan from the noose and she changes to Bulletgirl, however a riddle left behind allows the two to track the villains to an abandoned asylum on the outskirts of town. The villains are then able to capture both Bulletgirl and Mary Batson, first the Weeper catching Bulletgirl in a straitjacket from behind while she fights Dr Riddle, then using Bulletgirl as bait to capture Mary when she walks into their hideout the Weeper uses a hose to prevent her from speaking, and seal them inside an airtight chamber while both bound and gagged, but they escape when Bulletgirl removes Mary's gag with her helmet. After solving another riddle they defeat the two villains after they attempt to rob a plane of gold bullion by Doctor Riddle knocking out the pilots and dropping the gold to the Weeper. He is able to land on Bulletgirl and knock her out, but Mary is then able to save her and the villains are defeated. They are then jailed.[2]
The second Weeper teams up with the Earth-Two version of the Joker during King Kull's plan to wipe out humanity on three Earths. Members of Earth-One's Justice League and Earth-Two's Justice Society of America travel to Earth-S and meet Shazam's Squadron of Justice--Bulletman and Bulletgirl, Mister Scarlet and Pinky the Whiz Kid, Ibis the Invincible and the Spy Smasher.
The Joker teaches the Weeper his style of committing crimes on Earth-S, stealing jewels and transforming people into different materials, with his trademark grin, although the Weeper can't understand why the Joker laughs about crime. They are stopped by the Earth-Two Batman, the Earth-Two Robin, Mister Scarlet and Pinky, who follow a trail left by jewels on the pavement. Robin is unaffected by the Weeper's tear gas because he is wearing contact lenses and the villains are imprisoned.[3]