The Dark Millionaire was a Century Baby – born at midnight on January 1st, 1900. Like so many other Century Babies, he was born with great gifts and a great destiny. This was on top of the legacy that had been left to him by his father, the Dead Ranger.
Leather inherited a vast fortune, and quickly grew bored with it. He tried running a progressive newspaper in Chicago, but eventually followed in his father’s footsteps as a vigilante. Unlike his father, though, Bret Leather was darker and more powerful. He designed a more fearsome mask and fought crime as The Dark Millionaire.
His methods were dark and vicious. He was able to transform his body – into a swarm of “spiders” or “hornets”, for example – and throw his voice. He was an excellent marksman and never used two bullets when one would do. However the twin “Turbo-Pistols” of his own design, gave forth leaden death at a fantastic rate of fire. The true scope of his powers, however, is unknown.
He died in January of 1945, along with nearly all the other major heroes of his era, stopping an incursion into his Earth of metahumans from another.
Bret’s wife had a son, William, by another man while Bret was fighting crime. William Leather went on to gain super-powers of his own and join The Four.