Kent Thurston

This page is for the original Invisible Hood, Kent Thurston 
For the current Invisible Hood, Ken Thurston, see the Invisible Hood page. 

Origin

Wishing to fight crime, former private detective Kent Thurston donned a crimson robe and a mask to fight crime under the alias the Invisible Hood. He would secretly aid Police Inspector Bill Blake, who was a friend of Thurston’s. When Professor Hans Van Dorn, a master chemist who developed a formula for invisibility, was kidnapped, the Invisible Hood investigated. He found Van Dorn kidnapped by gangster Garrick Spade. The Hood snuck in, and Van Dorn sprayed the Hood’s crimson robe with his invisibility formula, which gave the Hood the upper hand against Spade’s gang. The Hood escaped, contacted the F.B.I., and then rescued Van Dorn. The Hood continued to use his invisible cloak in his fight on crime.
 

Creation

The first Invisible Hood was created for Quality Comics by Art Pinajian, who also created Madame Fatal. Pinajian published the stories of Kent Thurston under the pen names “Art Gordon.” Debuting in Smash Comics #1 (August 1939), Invisible Hood would not gain any superhuman abilities until issue #2. Thurston’s identity would also later change to Invisible Justice in Smash Comics #8. Invisible Hood would last in Smash Comics for 32 issues.
 

Character Evolution

Silver Age and the End of Quality Comics

In 1956, Quality Comics, the original publishers of the Invisible Hood, closed shop. In 1957, DC Comics purchased the right to publish the Quality stable of characters, which included characters like the Invisible Hood, Blackhawks, Plastic Man, and a host of others. Unlike Plastic Man or the Blackhawks, Invisible Hood sat on the shelf throughout the silver age.
 

Bronze Age and a New Origin

As DC Comics entered the Bronze Age, writer Roy Thomas took ownership of DC’s stable of golden age heroes. Thomas sought to revitalize the golden age heroes, and retroactively created a new wartime super-team called the All-Star Squadron. Thomas wanted all of the golden age heroes to be part of this group. With All-Star Squadron issue #31, Thomas brought the Quality characters into Earth-2 continuity. Thomas retconned that Invisible Hood joined an earlier version of the Freedom Fighters (including Miss America and Uncle Sam) that he created prior to their exploits in Justice League of America #107. This version of the Freedom Fighters were actually from Earth-2 with the other heroes of the Justice Society of America, and that they migrated from Earth-2 to Earth-X to aid that Earth’s fight against the Nazis.
 
In the wake of the multiverse-changing Crisis on Infinite Earths, there was no more Earth-2 or Earth-X. Thomas needed to revamp some of the histories he had just fleshed out. Now, instead of multiple Earths, the exploits of the Invisible Hood, the Freedom Fighters and the All-Star Squadron happened on the same Earth, all during World War II. In addition, Thomas wrote an origin story for retconned Freedom Fighter member Miss America in Secret Origins #26, where he revealed she and her Freedom Fighters (including Invisible Hood) did not die and actually survived World War II.
 

The Modern Age

In his hit series Starman, James Robinson would reveal that the Invisible Hood actually died at the hands of the Mist and the Icicle in 1974.
 

Key Story Arcs

Invisible Hood’s Early Adventures

After gaining the power of invisibility, the Invisible Hood continued to fight crime. He defeated pirates that tried to hijack the S.S. James, faced the criminal Green Lizard, saved kidnapped prosecutor Tom Bradley, thwarted a gang stealing supplies from the U.S. Navy, and saved his friend banker John Steele from an asbestos-garbed gang of thieves. After a while, though, Thurston decided to change his name to Invisible Justice. With the code name Invisible Justice, Thurston saved the Unionville Chemical Plant, rescued a trio of treasure hunters from pirates, rescued his friend Professor Clark’s schooner from thieves, and fought two criminals who pretended to be one villain: the Green Ghost.
 

World War II and the Freedom Fighters

During World War II on Earth-2, the embodiment of America, Uncle Sam, discovered a parallel Earth. On this Earth, later called Earth-X, the Nazi’s were winning World War II. Uncle Sam recruited a group of heroes to traverse the multiverse to Earth-X to stop the Nazis on this world. Uncle Sam invited Hourman, Invisible Hood, Magno the Magnetic Man, Miss America, Neon the Unknown, and the Red Torpedo to join the Freedom Fighters. This team traveled to Earth-X and fought combined Nazi and Japanese forces at Pearl Harbor. They prevented the attack on Pearl Harbor, but, with the exception of Uncle Sam and Hourman, all hands died in the line of duty.
 

Crisis on Infinite Earths

In the wake of the Crisis, the DC multiverse was condensed into a universe. Because of that, the Invisible Hood’s history changed. With a single Earth, there was no longer an Earth-X or Earth-2. The Invisible Hood’s exploits took place during the unified Earth’s World War II. Also, it was revealed that Invisible Hood and his Freedom Fighters did not die during World War II, but were rescued by the U.S. Navy, after which the Invisible Hood went into retirement.
 

Death of the Invisible Hood

While sharing a drink, the Mist reveals to his old partner-in-crime the Shade that he and the Icicle killed the Invisible Hood in an unrecorded adventure in 1974.
 

Weapons and Equipment

The Invisible Hood’s main piece of equipment is a cloak sprayed with an invisibility paint developed by Professor Hans Van Dorn. This painted cloak bent the light around Thurston, rendering him invisible. 

Thurston also carried a gun and a device that shot out gas, which caused his enemies to pass out.