Foolkiller (Gerhardt)

Origin

Kurt Gerhardt was the third man to adopt the mantle of the Foolkiller. After his father was shot and killed in the course of a mugging, Gerhardt’s world began to fall apart. He lost his job, his wife left him, and he increasingly began to despair of the mindless cruelty in the world. He became enthralled with Greg Salinger’s message about the moral decay of society after seeing him on a late night talk show. Shortly thereafter, he took up a correspondence with Salinger, who eventually led him to the place he’d stored the Foolkiller costume and purifier gun. Uncertain what Salinger expected of him, or even if he wanted to take the items, he inadvertently stumbled upon a pair of skinheads beating a woman. When the men turned on him, Gerhardt incinerated them with the purifier gun in self-defense. After dealing with the horror of what he’d done, Gerhardt took up the cause of the Foolkiller in earnest.

Creation

Kurt Gerhardt (the third Foolkiller) was created by Steve Gerber and Tony DeZuniga and first appeared in Foolkiller Vol.1 issue 1 (1990).

Major Story Arcs

Taking up the Mantle

He began an exercise regimen to make himself more fit and trained himself to be able to deal with disgusting and unusual situations, should they arise (falling into garbage, being stabbed). Gerhardt even made himself a new costume and clarified his vision of the Foolkiller mission, elevating himself beyond just a copycat killer.

Over the course of several months, Gerhardt killed many fools in the Manhattan area, including a pair of corrupt policemen and real estate mogul Darren Waite. Now branded a cop-killer and actively pursued by the NYPD and citizenry, Gerhardt knew his time was limited. For his last target, he set his sights on Emilio Mendosa, an influential drug trafficker. Gerhardt tracked Mendosa to his penthouse suite and killed him, faking his own death in the process. He had his own face scarred by acid and moved to Nevada, taking the false identity of Greg Curtiss, retiring the Foolkiller identity seemingly forever.

Escape from the Raft and Hood’s Gang

Many years later, a man named Kurt Gerhardt was among the many inmates who escaped from the Raft when Electro broke them out. It is therefore presumed that the authorities eventually figured out his secret identity. After the prison-break, he was later seen joining the Hood’s gang of criminals. This man seemed to look like Gerhardt prior to his scarring, and his criminal associations were uncharacteristic. It remains to be seen whether this man was actually Gerhardt or someone assuming his identity.