History:
OWNEY ROGERS
Real Name: Owney Rogers
Identity/Class: Human (1910s
Era)
Occupation: Criminal
Group Membership: The Gopher Gang
Enemies: Steve Hogan, Jackson, McCabe, Wilson
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: New York City, New York, USA; formerly Chicago, Illinois
First Appearance: Lawbreakers Always Lose I#3 (August, 1948)
Powers/Abilities: Owney Rogers was a violent gangster who usually carried a revolver. He had a short temper.
Height: Unrevealed
(approximately 6')
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 175 lbs.)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black
History:
(Lawbreakers Always Lose I#3/5) - Owney Rogers was a criminal in New York City who belonged to the Gopher Gang robbed stores for money. He also accepted paid jobs to assassinate targets such as Jackson, whom he murdered for $250. When he wasn't working, Owney would stand outside of a factory watching people with ordinary jobs going to and from work and laugh at them. He considered the work they had "crummy" and exalted himself for having never done a day's work in his life.
One day in 1912, Owney took part in a warehouse robbery and killed a policeman during escape. Afterward he went on a date with his girlfriend Mickey and showed her a newspaper telling of the robbery he'd committed but Mickey wasn't interested and asked him to take her to a show at the Academy of Music. Owney had to attend a meeting of the Gopher Gang, upsetting Mickey who claimed his rival Steve Hogan would take her to the Academy of Music. This engraged Owney, who began striking Mickey in the middle of the street. This drew notice from McCabe, a police patrolman, who tried to break up the fight. McCabe immediately recognized Owney as a wanted man but Owney drew his gun and shot McCabe to death. When Mickey cried for help, Owney shot her, thinking she would have given him away if he'd left her alive.
However, Mickey survived the gunshot wound long enough to tell Steve Hogan what Owney had done. Owney went on to his meeting with the Gopher Gang and learned their member Petey had been caught by the police and confessed everything about the warehouse robbery. Just as Owney was making plans to journey to Chicago to avoid the police the room was raided by Steve Hogan and his gang, come for revenge over Mickey's death. The rest of the Gopher Gang were killed by Hogan's mob but Owney escaped out the back of the building and over a fence, vowing he'd see Hogan again.
Owney fled to Chicago for six months. On his return to New York in December 1912, Owney saw a dance was being put on in Steve Hogan's honor at Merster Hall. Owney resolved to confront Hogan at Merster Hall and bring an end to his warring with Hogan. Hogan's girlfriend Dixie recognized Owney at the dance and Hogan sent her to Owney's table to help distract him but Owney had already seen Dixie dancing with Hogan and knew they were together. When Hogan and his men burst in on Owney and Dixie, Owney was prepared and used Dixie as a human shield as he shot Hogan and his henchmen. However, Wilson and another plainclothes police detective confronted Owney and forced him to surrender to them. When two more policemen surrounded him, Owney surrendered but claimed he'd win eventually.
Owney was tried for murder and in March 1913 he was executed in the electric chair.
Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and John Severin.
This profile was completed on 01/21/2026 but its publication was delayed, as it was intended for the Appendix's 25th anniversary celebratory event.
Profile by Prime Eternal.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Owney Rogers should not be confused with:
After Mickey's death, Dixie became Steve Hogan's girlfriend. He considered her good luck. When she spotted Owney Rogers at a dance in Merster Hall, Hogan thought she'd proved herself good luck to him. Hogan sent Dixie to distract Owney so that Hogan and his men could ambush Owney but Owney had already seen Dixie dancing with Hogan and was prepared for their attack. Using Dixie as a human shield, Owney killed Hogan and his men but was subsequently confronted by the police and released Dixie to them.
--Lawbreakers Always Lose I#3/5
Steve Hogan was a mobster who was romantically interested in Owney Rogers' girlfriend Mickey. When Owney fatally shot Mickey, she went to Steve's hangout and told him Owney was responsible before dying. Steve was determined to have revenge on Owney and took his mob to Owney's place, where they killed Owney's fellow members of the Gopher Gang although Owney himself escaped. Six months later, a dance was held in Hogan's honor at Merster Hall and Owney came, hoping to kill Hogan and end their feud. Hogan believed he'd seen Owney first and sent his girlfriend Dixie to distract Owney but Owney was prepared for an ambush and when Hogan and his men rushed his table, Owney held Dixie as a human shield and killed Hogan and his men.
--Lawbreakers Always Lose I#3/5
Jackson was a man Owney Rogers was hired to kill. For $250, Owney agreed to the job and killed Jackson from an alleyway.
--Lawbreakers Always Lose I#3/5
McCabe was a police patrolman. He happened to come across Owney Rogers when he was beating his girlfriend Mickey in the street. In attempting to break up the beating, McCabe recognized Owney as a wanted man who had robbed a warehouse and killed a policeman earlier that day. Drawing his gun, Owney shot and killed McCabe. McCabe's death increased the police's efforts at catching Owney Rogers.
--Lawbreakers Always Lose I#3/5
Mickey was Owney Rogers' girlfriend but had also been attached to his rival Steve Hogan. When Owney refused to take her to the Academy of Music for a date, Mickey claimed Steve Hogan would have escorted here there. This enraged Owney, who began beating her. When police patrolman McCabe tried to intervene, Owney shot him. Mickey called out for help and Owney shot her too then left her in the street, thinking she was dead. Alive but near death, Mickey crawled to Steve Hogan's hangout and told him what Owney had done before passing away. Steve Hogan put his entire mob into efforts to kill Owney Rogers in retaliation for Mickey's death.
--Lawbreakers Always Lose I#3/5
Petey was a member of the Gopher Gang who participated in the warehouse robbery that resulted in a policeman's death. The police caught Petey later on the same day as the robbery and he gave up information to the police, including Owney Rogers' identity.
--[Lawbreakers Always Lose I#3/5]
Wilson was a police detective who participated in the hunt for Owney Rogers after McCabe's death. When Rogers returned to New York in December, 1912 and went to the dance at Merster Hall, Wilson and a fellow detective were present and recognized Owney. They intervened too late to prevent the deaths of Steve Hogan and his men at Owney's hands but, joined by two more policemen, Wilson and his ally oversaw Owney Rogers' arrest.
--Lawbreakers Always Lose I#3/5
images: (without ads)
Lawbreakers Always Lose I#3/5, page 3, panel 1 (main)
Lawbreakers Always Lose I#3/5, page 4, panel 4 (face)
Lawbreakers Always Lose I#3/5, paeg 6, panel 1 (Dixie)
Lawbreakers Always Lose I#3/5, page 4, panel 2 (Steve)
Lawbreakers Always Lose I#3/5, page 2, panel 1 (Jackson)
Lawbreakers Always Lose I#3/5, page 3, panel 2 (McCabe)
Lawbreakers Always Lose I#3/5, page 3, panel 7 (Mickey)
Lawbreakers Always Lose I#3/5, page 5, panel 7 (Wilson)
Appearances:
Lawbreakers Always Lose I#3/5 (August, 1948) - unidentified writer, John
Severin (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
First posted: 09/16/2026
Last updated:
01/21/2026
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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