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WAX MAN

Real Name: Dobbs (first name unrevealed)

Identity/Class: Normal human (World War II era)

Occupation: Mayor, Nazi agent

Group Membership: City Council (Virginian city unrevealed), possibly Nazi Party

Affiliations: Henchmen, politically sympathetic American politicians, spy network, US-based German (?) military (Captain Klotz, Fritz, others), Nazi Germany

Enemies: Bucky (James Barnes), Captain America (Steve Rogers), Camp Lehigh soldiers and trainees, Senator Keats, Senator Thomas

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Virginia, USA

First Appearance: Captain America Comics#2/3 (April, 1941)

Powers/Abilities: Dobbs is an aggressive and ambitious leader with little loyalty except to himself. In his identity as Wax Man, he is psychotically murderous, using the signature of an individually tailored wax mask to suffocate his victim with the wax-coated head then put on display in a museum to an unsuspecting public. As Wax Man, he wears an expressionless mask, and demands absolute loyalty and success from those he commands. Paid by Nazi Germany, he heads a large and technologically advanced secret underground base with an extra base at a wax museum. He has a spy network that stretches to Washington, DC.

Height: 5'10" (by approximation)
Weight: 170 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Brown

History:

(Captain America Comics#2/3 (fb) - BTS) - The ambitious Dobbs became mayor of a Virginian city near US military base Camp Lehigh. He cultivated contacts in Washington, DC, and, as war escalated in Europe and Asia with subversion locally, he still lowered police wages. As a secret Nazi agent, he established a second identity as the murderous masked Wax Man and commanded a large hidden Nazi base of specialized weaponry with a spy network. He kidnapped and killed various opponents, encasing their heads in wax masks that suffocated them. He would decapitate their heads, still coated in wax, and mount them on a wall in the city's wax museum. Dobbs would spread word of the Wax Man's activities via the newspaper to sow public panic and dissatisfaction with local police and military.

(Captain America Comics#2/3) - The Wax Man killed henchman Fritz in front of others using a wax mask for failing him, then instructed the others to capture Bucky. Meanwhile, US Senator Keats warned soldiers at Camp Lehigh of Wax Man but was murdered with a mask soon after. At his underground base, Wax Man oversaw the completion of his specialized tanks commanded by Captain Klotz; the military force was unleashed that night via huge trapdoors and ordered by Wax Man to crush Camp Lehigh as their first American military target. But Lehigh soldiers Steve Rogers and James Barnes became the fighting duo Captain America and Bucky, hijacking one tank that eventually ended the chaos. Soon after, Bucky was kidnapped from Lehigh with only a taunting wax mask left behind that enraged Captain America. Meanwhile, Dobbs frustrated Lehigh's General Stevens, threatening to have the General removed using his Washington contacts. Captain America's hunt led to the wax museum where he found a macabre shelf spot for him and Bucky. Quickly captured, Captain America was led to Wax Man, who revealed his plot to ravage America using his remote-controlled rocket bomber. But Cap broke free and rescued Bucky. Wax Man fled while his henchmen fought the patriot duo, but eventually they caught Wax Man and unmasked him. Seeing it was Mayor Dobbs, they strung him up next to the waxen mannequin of historical traitor Benedict Arnold. Soon after, investigating commotion, several police broke into the wax museum and, discovering Dobbs was the Wax Man, mocked him.

Comments: Created by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby.

A surprising diversion of materials, staff and funds that went undetected within the USA -- although this was prior to the USA's formal entry into WWII and very likely facilitated by influential Nazi sympathizers in Washington, DC at the time.

Remastered images are taken from the Marvel Masterworks reprints, not the original comics.

This profile was completed 08/12/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary's celebratory event.

Profile by Grendel Prime.

CLARIFICATIONS :
Wax Man/Mayor Dobbs has no known connections to:

Wax Man's weaponry

Wax Man's massive underground base included a large amount of advanced weaponry, included streamlined tanks (presumably built for speed, maneuverability and battering, given their sleek design and side-mounted guns). Wax Man also had a remote-controlled rocket bomber to fly around the USA and ravage the country.

 

 

 

 

 

 

--Captain America Comics#2/3

images: (without ads)
Captain America Comics#2/3, p13, pan7 (main image)
   p10, pan1 (headshot as mayor)
   p15, pan3 (unmasked)
   p5, pan5 (tanks)
   p12, pan5 (unmanned rocket, uh-oh)

Appearances:
Captain America Comics#2/3 (April, 1941) - Joe Simon (writer, pencils, inks, editor), Jack Kirby (writer, pencils)

First posted: 09/23/2021
Last updated: 09/22/2021

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. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com.

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix!

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