History:
BLACKIE BARNES
Real Name: Barnes (first name unrevealed)
Identity/Class: Human (Post-World War II Era)
Occupation: Conman, fake union organizer
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: His "union" members
Enemies: Cemetery owner, Homer and his wife, the undead
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: An unidentified cemetery somewhere in the USA
First Appearance: Strange Tales I#26/3 (March, 1954)
Powers/Abilities: Blackie was a sharp-witted conman. He owned a convertible automobile.
Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'9")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 170 lbs.)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black
History:
(Strange Tales I#26/3) - Blackie Barnes was driving his convertible past a graveyard when he saw some grave diggers at work. It suddenly occurred to him that there was the potentially for a terrific con he could play on the cemetery by convincing the diggers to join a union, then go on strike and force the cemetery to raise their wages. Blackie assumed that when uburied bodies began piling up, the cemetery would be forced to settle the strike quickly.
Blackie quickly convinced the diggers to join his union, insisting they'd earn great benefits with his negotiating skills. Blackie confronted the manager of the cemetery and presented a demand that they raise the diggers' wages by $10 per week. The manager refused but Blackie threatened to strike if they didn't pay. That same day, the diggers went on strike and started picketing the cemetery while bodies in coffins began piling up at the graveyard. The following day, the manager agreed to settle the strike but called it an extortion. Blackie presented his "union" members with the good news of their $10 raise, but after they collected their pay he charged all of them $15 per week in union dues.
A month later, Blackie hit upon an even more fiendish idea; he went to his "union" of diggers and told them he was calling for another strike. The men felt they were earning decent wages and didn't want to break their contract but Blackie grabbed a shovel and struck one of the diggers until he agreed to comply; at this show of force, the other diggers fell in line. Once the diggers went on strike and coffins began piling up at the cemetery, Blackie approached Homer and his wife, who had come to bury a loved one. Claiming he represented the union, Blackie offered to get Homer's loved one buried by offering him the opportunity to dig the grave himself for $1,000. Homer balked at this but his wife insisted he pay the fee so their loved one could be buried. Homer wrote Blackie a check, then dug the grave. Blackie was pleased, believing this new con would earn him even more money than the first con.
Two night later, Blackie was driving past the cemetery when he noticed two figures working shovels silhouetted against the moon. He couldn't recognize who they were but assumed they were two of his "union" men who were breaking the strike. Blackie went to where the new grave was being dug and jumped into the grave, thinking he'd catch the strike breakers, but found no one in the grave. Suddenly, the two figures who had been digging (who were actually two of the unburied corpses, who had risen up to dig their own graves), began shoveling dirt into the grave. Blackie tried to climb out of the grave but one of the undead men struck him in the hand with a shovel, knocking him back into the grave. Ultimately, Blackie was buried alive in the grave and the undead corpses returned to their coffins.
Comments: Created by Paul S. Newman and Tony DiPreta.
The two undead figures who killed Blackie were never seen on panel, just the shovels they wielded against him. After Blackie was dead, we saw the calloused hands of a corpse but that was after it had returned to death.
Profile by Prime Eternal.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Blackie Barnes should not be confused with:
Homer and his wife were a couple who brought a coffin containing the body of a recently-deceased loved one to the cemetery where Blackie Barnes was running his "union" con. Blackie offered a solution to the problem by offering to let Homer dig a grave himself for just $1,000. Homer balked at paying so much money but his wife insisted he should pay the money so their loved one could rest. Beaten, Homer wrote Blackie a check, then dug his loved one a grave.
--Strange Tales I#26/3
images: (without ads)
Strange Tales I#26/3, page 3, panel 5 (main)
Strange Tales I#26/3, page 2, panel 1 (face)
Strange Tales I#26/3, page 5, panel 7 (calloused corpse)
Strange Tales I#26/3, page 4, panel 2 (Homer and wife)
Appearances:
Strange Tales I#26/3 (March, 1954) - Paul S. Newman (writer), Tony DiPreta (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
First posted: 10/31/2026
Last updated:
10/31/2026
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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