KING
CYCLE
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Human, motorcycle and death-trap user
Occupation: Criminal, art thief
Group membership: Led unnamed motorcycle gang
Affiliations: None
Enemies: Red Wolf (Thomas Thunderhead-see comments) and Lobo, Jill Tomahawk
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Some mansion in Oklahoma
First Appearance: Red Wolf#8 (July, 1973)
Powers: None. King Cycle is skilled on
his Harley-Davidson® and is proficient with the use of a chain
as a weapon. In addition to that, he's an art thief, a Buddhist,
and has access to James Bond-villain caliber death-traps. His
major weapon was the Spinning Disc, which could generate
sufficient force to kill its victim. It was activated by the
proximity of anyone attempting to rescue the victim. He also invented disc guns
that fired small, spinning buzzsaw blades. He equipped the entire gang with
these.
He leads a gang of similarly skilled motorcyclist.
History: No past information given.
(Red Wolf#8) - King Cycle and his gang nearly ran down Red Wolf, who got knocked out in the ensuing struggle after slipping on his own "Slippery Elm Powder." King Cycle got bad vibes from that dude, so he and his gang took off. Red Wolf and Lobo, with the aid of policewoman Jill Tomahawk, tracked them to a museum that they were planning on robbing. Lobo tried to intercept them, but King Cycle fought him off with his chain. Red Wolf and Jill confronted King Cycle and his gang at the museum, but one of the gang members took Jill hostage, forcing him to allow them to escape.
Lobo tracked the gang to King Cycle's mansion
outside the city, where Red Wolf found Jill tied to the Spinning
Disc. Red Wolf couldn't free her because the Disc would activate
as he approached it, so he continued into the upstairs chamber,
which was some sort of Buddhist temple of King Cycle's. The gang
members attacked Red Wolf, who fought them off. King Cycle
himself escaped through a trap door and activated the Spinning
Disc by smashing its controls, such that nothing could possibly
shut it down. However, Red Wolf punched out King Cycle and then
smashed the fuse box supplying the Disc, cutting its power and
shutting it down.
Red Wolf called the cops to come pick up King Cycle and his
viscous gang.
Comments: Created by Gardener F. Fox and Syd Shores.
I'm hard-pressed to come up with a lamer
villain than King Cycle. He beats out Tapping
Tommy and Big Daddy Dawson in my book.
At least those guys were consistent, albeit goofy or stupid.
While on the surface he may appear to be a two-dimensional Hell's
Angels type, he is in fact a two-dimensional Hell's Angels type.
However, he is also inconsistent and poorly thought out. King
Cycle is both head of a gang of motorcyclists and some kind of
Buddhist monk, as well as an art thief.
The story is so bad; it has to be read to be believed.
Due to the inconsistencies/discrepancies/crappy nature/etc. of the events and origin of Red Wolf#7-9, I would really like to make Thomas Thunderhead the predecessor of Will Talltrees, the current Red Wolf. There is nothing in RW#7-9 to link them to the modern era, and they could easily be fixed in time in 1973, as pre-modern era stories. However, the current thought is that Thunderhead is Talltrees, and his origins, etc. revealed in RW#7-9 should be regarded as spurious.
CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connections to:
any of the many other King-somethings or the few
something-Cycles, or any other Buddhist Monk/Hell's Angel/Art
Thief types.
Appearances:
Red Wolf#8 (July, 1973) - Gardener F. Fox (writer), Syd Shores (pencils), Chic Stone (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Last updated: 09/23/10
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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