Matthew Burland
In his first incarnation, the Black Hood is a costumed man of mystery who has been trained by a hermit to battle evil. The comic book is at first intentionally vague as to whether he possesses superpowers, or simply has the unusual strength, agility, and healing abilities that costumed crime fighters seem to possess.
His real name is Matthew Kipling "Kip" Burland, an ex-cop who has been framed for grand larceny and left for dead by a villain known as the Skull.[6][7] Burland eventually clears his name, but continues to wear the costume. Matthew Burland's love interest is a newspaper reporter named Barbara "Babs" Sutton. He drives a motorcycle called the Hoodcycle that can transform into other vehicles. The Kip Burland Black Hood is unmasked in court by a character named "Needlenoodle". Thereafter, Burland becomes a private detective.[8]
According to Jess Nevins' Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes, the Black Hood's other enemies include "Panther Men, the Animal Man, the Mist (who can change into a cloud of mist at will), the Mold (who transforms humans into mold), and Octavius, the violinist and author of "the Dance of Death".[9] He also fights the Crow.[10]
The Black Hood enjoyed popularity for a while until he dropped from the covers and was gradually replaced by talking animal characters, as the popularity of the superhero genre faded in the late 1940s. His last few stories were as a private detective without wearing a costume.
During the 1960s the Black Hood returned in Mighty Comics for two issues of Adventures of The Fly (#7, July 1960 and #11, March, 1961). He was also seen teaching Karate in issues of Adventures of the Jaguar and Adventures of The Fly. After returning as a founding member of The Mighty Crusaders in Fly-Man #31–33, he appeared regularly as part of the team in Mighty Crusaders #1–6 (November 1965 – August 1966) during the period of Archie Comics' Mighty Comics period. He also appeared through 1967 in solo stories in Fly-Man #34 & 35 and Mighty Comics #41–44, 46, 47 & 50.[11][12] This version of The Black Hood rides initially on a robot horse called Nightmare (destroyed in Mighty Crusaders #1) before switching to a motorcycle.[11]
In Brazil, this version of the Black Hood was known as Titan O Homem Mistério (Titan the Mystery Man).
