ROBIN HOOD

Real Name: Joshua Blaine

Identity/Class: Human conventional weapon user

Occupation: Attorney, medieval weapon collector, thief

Group Membership: Robin Hood & his "Merry Men" (Friar Tuck, Little John)

Affiliations: New York Bar Association

Enemies: Bucky (Fred Davis), Captain America (Jeff Mace), Peter Pinchtight

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "Modern" Robin Hood

Base of Operations: Sedgeham Towers, New York City

First Appearance: Captain America Comics#59/2 (November, 1946)

Powers/Abilities: Joshua Blaine did not possess any inherent superhuman abilities. He has a University law degree and was an expert in medieval weapons and history. He is an expert marksman with a bow and was a decent hand to hand combatant. His wielded a longbow made from either yew or boxwood and was based on English medieval design. Its range as a weapon would be close to 328 meters or 360 yards.

 

History:

(Captain America Comics#59/2 (fb) - BTS) – Joshua Blaine became a successful lawyer in New York City. Being a collector of medieval weapons and artifacts was regarded as New York’s leading authority on the subject.

  Donning a costume based on the mythical Robin Hood he began robbing the rich citizenry of New York with two other accomplices dressed up as Friar Tuck and Little John. Keeping half the stolen loot to himself, he then began dropping the rest of the money from high rise buildings that dotted the poorer sections of the city. This act of kindness on his part gained the trust and respect of the people that lived below which was what he had planned on. This would insure that he would not be frowned on by the people of New York as a villain and would better his chances of not getting caught by the police with the people on his side.

(Captain America Comics#59/2) - He loaned Steve Rogers, a history teacher at the Lee School, one of his medieval swords to use as a prop for a class lecture.

  Steve Rogers and Bucky, after school was over for the day, met with Joshua Blaine at his penthouse apartment to return his sword. Joshua Blaine explained that some of his weapons date as far back as King Arthur and Robin Hood. After both Steve and Bucky had left, he donned his Robin Hood attire and with his two “Merry Men” set out to rob Peter Pinchtight a wealthy miser. The “Modern” Robin Hood shot an arrow with a note attached through Peter’s window stating that the miser should come outside and hand over his money or else the next arrow would target his heart. Fearing for his life, Peter Pinchtight complies and hands over his money to Robin Hood and his men. Steve Rogers and Bucky happen to pass by and witness the scene and quickly don their hero attire as Captain America and Bucky and attempt to stop the robbery. Robin Hood tries shooting arrows at Captain America but all his attempts fail to get past his shield. He calls on Friar Tuck and Little John to help him and they begin battling the two heroes who manage to evade their attacks. Robin Hood next sneaks up behind the two occupied heroes and clubs them both over the head with the stolen loot bag and he and his men escape into the night. The next day Robin Hood once again rains stolen money from a high-rise building onto the poor people below and “lets loose”, one of his arrows into the street with a note stating that he is robbing the rich to give to the poor. The arrow is found and picked up by Steve Rogers and he and Bucky once again change into their superhero identities and race up to the top of the building that Robin Hood was in. Robin Hood and his men are quickly subdued by the heroes and escorted outside of the building. As they reach street level, a crowd of people who were sympathetic towards Robin Hood, bar Captain America’s path and the criminal and his men make their escape. Unable to get past the mob people, Captain America and Bucky give up their chase. Later, Joshua Blaine shoots an arrow with a note demanding money into his own apartment to avoid suspicion on himself, and was unaware that Steve Rogers and Bucky were there inside waiting for his return to ask about information regarding the nature of Robin Hood’s arrows. Captain America and Bucky quickly spring into action and taking the villains by surprise knock Friar Tuck and Little John out of action. Robin Hood feigning unconsciousness slips away and enters his apartment in his Joshua Blaine identity and is met by Captain America who sees that one of his quivers on display was completely empty of arrows. Putting the pieces of the puzzle together, Captain America knocks Joshua Blaine into a chair and accuses him of being the “Modern” Robin Hood. Bucky then discovers his Robin Hood costume in a drawer with the stolen money.

(Captain America Comics#59/2 - BTS) - Presumably, he was then arrested and taken away to jail.

Comments: Created by (unaccredited writer), Al Eadeh (art)

This story took place after the original Captain America and Bucky had disappeared over the English Channel while trying to stop a rocket powered bomb that was launched by Baron Zemo. Both Steve Rogers and Bucky during this time were replaced by the Jeff Mace (as Captain America, formerly known as Patriot) and Fred Davis (as Bucky). The whole replacement deal was a retcon to explain the activity of Captain America and Bucky during the days after World War 2. Other replacements included a couple of hero worshippers that had assumed Cap & Bucky's identities in the postwar and would later reappear as the Grand Director and Nomad when the original Captain America returned to action in the modern era.

Profile by AvatarWarlord72.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Robin Hood has no known connections to:

Friar Tuck has no known connection to:

Little John has no known connection to:

  • Little John (Jesse Johns), a member of the Sky Wolves in WWII@ Marvel Fanfare I#16
  • Little John, a superhumanly strong competitor in the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation @ Thing I#34
  • any other Little John or similar named characters

Friar Tuck and Little John

Robin Hood (Joshua Blaine) recruited two criminals to act as his “Merry Men” and assisted him in robbing from the rich greedy misers of New York City. Friar Tuck was a portly man that wielded a quarterstaff as his primary weapon and Little John who was a taller and stronger acted as the groups muscle. They did not possess any great skills or abilities when it came to fighting. Nothing has been revealed about their background and their identities were never revealed in the story.

--Captain America Comics#59/2





images: (without ads)
Captain America Comics#59/2, p1, pan1 (Robin Hood)

p2, pan2 (shooting at Captain America)
p8, pan5 (Friar Tuck)
p1, pan1 (Little John)


Appearances:
Captain America Comics#59/2 (November 1946) Al Eadeh (art), Art Sulman (editor)


Last updated: 01/29/06

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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