SILK STOCKING STRANGLER
Real Name: Victor (last name unrevealed)
Identity/Class: Normal human (late
1940s era)
Occupation: Fugitive, songwriter
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: None
Enemies: Bucky (Fred Davis), Captain
America (William Nasland), police, various female victims
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: San Francisco, USA
First Appearance: All-Winners Comics I#18/2
(Summer, 1946)
Powers/Abilities: Victor is an egotistical
songwriter whose songs were considered too "highbrow" for popular
taste. He is a sociopath whose anger can lead him to murder.
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 145 lbs.
Eyes: Dark brown
Hair: Brown
History:
(All-Winners Comics I#18/2 (fb) - BTS) - Victor wrote
songs for a stage singer (name unrevealed) for several years, but his
songs
were concerned too "highbrow" and proved unpopular with audiences. The
singer
chose to sing renditions of popular songs and found greater demand.
However, Victor grew increasingly angry with her decision.
(All-Winners Comics I#18/2) - After she completed the crowd-pleasing song "Let Me Call You Sweetheart", Victor confronted the singer in her dressing room. He forbade her from singing what he considered "cheap tunes" and instead sing his lyrics, but she refused. Furious in a mix of emotions, Victor grabbed a nearby silk stocking and strangled her to death.
(All-Winners Comics I#18/2 (fb) - BTS) - Delusional, Victor couldn't accept her death but focused on the Sweetheart song he loathed, and strangled lone women he found singing or humming the tune. With the fourth found murder, the police dubbed him the Silk Stocking Strangler. Months passed with no lead.
(All-Winners Comics I#18/2) - Victor attacked a couple on a foggy night on the Golden Gate Bridge. Nearby, Captain America (William Nasland) and Bucky (Fred Davis) unsuccessfully tried to stop Victor but the villain escaped. Not far away, crooks Jigger and Tippy saw the commotion and undertook copycat murders, stripping their victims of valuables and causing confusion for the police. But Captain America became suspicious when a man was uncharacteristically a victim, and a waterfront cordon secured four suspects including Victor. The police pursued their suspect, but Cap went after the calm Victor, who had exhibited peculiar body language. Victor returned to his waterfront hideout, but Cap had convinced the villain's female neighbor to sing the Sweetheart tune. Victor burst in, thinking his former singer partner had returned from the grave yet again, and moved to kill her. Cap and Bucky intervened; Victor fled to the rooftop and attempted to jump to the next building to escape, but lost his grip and fell to his death.
Comments: Created by uncredited writer, Maurice Gutwirth, George Klein.
The song the murderer railed against, "Let
Me
Call You Sweetheart", was published in 1910 and has been recorded
many times, notably by Bing Crosby in 1934 and 1944.
Art credits revealed in the collected Marvel Masterworks edition.
This profile was completed 09/05/2026, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th anniversary 's celebratory event.
Profile by Grendel Prime.
CLARIFICATIONS
:
The Silk Stocking Strangler has no known connections to:
images:
(without ads)
All-Winners Comics I#18/2, p12, pan3 (main image)
p9, pan5 (headshot)
Appearances:
All-Winners Comics I#18/2 (Summer, 1946) - uncredited writer, Maurice
Gutwirth (pencils), George Klein (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
First posted: 09/05/2026
Last updated:
09/29/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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