Captain Stingaree is a supervillain in the

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

universe, and a minor foe of Batman. He first appeared in '' Detective Comics'' #460 (June 1976), and was created by

Bob Rozakis Robert "Bob" Rozakis (; born April 4, 1951) is an American comic book writer and editor known mainly for his work in the 1970s and 1980s at DC Comics, as the writer of Mazing Man'' and in his capacity as DC's "Answer Man". Career Bob Rozakis go ...

Michael Uslan Michael E. Uslan (; born June 2, 1951) is an American lawyer and film producer. Uslan has also dabbled in writing and teaching, he is known for being the first instructor to teach an accredited course on comic book folklore at any university. Ear ...

and Ernie Chan.

Name

In his memoir ''The Boy Who Loved Batman'', Uslan says that he and Rozakis were excited to create a pirate-themed villain for Batman, but disappointed by the name that editor

Julius Schwartz Julius "Julie" Schwartz (; June 19, 1915 – February 8, 2004) was a comic book editor, and a science fiction agent and prominent fan. He was born in The Bronx, New York. He is best known as a longtime editor at DC Comics, where at various ...

gave the character: "Bob said it was the name of some old movie about a notorious highwayman played by

Richard Dix Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'strong ...

or Fort Dix or some old actor. I hated the name Stingaree. Bob hated the name Stingaree. But Julie liked it, and so it came to pass".

Fictional character biography

Born one of a set of

quadruplet A multiple birth is the culmination of one multiple pregnancy, wherein the mother gives birth to two or more babies. A term most applicable to vertebrate species, multiple births occur in most kinds of mammals, with varying frequencies. Such bi ...

s, Karl Courtney was always the black sheep of the family. Donning a cutlass and pirate outfit, Karl becomes Captain Stingaree. In his first outing, Captain Stingaree attempts to uncover Batman's secret identity. Somehow Stingaree has become convinced that his three brothers are actually Batman. Batman approaches the Courtney brothers, asking them to pose as Batman and act as bait for Stingaree. This allows the real Batman and the

Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Barry Allen) ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Wally West, the first Kid F ...

to capture Captain Stingaree. In ''Secret Society of Super-Villains'' #6 (April 1977), Captain Stingaree joins the

Society A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soci ...

. Teaming up with

Captain Cold Captain Cold (Leonard Snart) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the leader of the Rogues, a loose criminal association, as well as the older brother of Golden Glider. An adversary of the various su ...

and Captain Boomerang I, the three captains went on a crime spree kidnapping other captains to show supremacy over air, land and sea, before they are taken down by

Captain Comet Captain Comet (Adam Blake) is a superhero appearing in American Comic Books published by DC Comics, created by editor Julius Schwartz, writer John Broome, and artist Carmine Infantino. Once a minor character in the DC Comics canon, he occupie ...

and Black Canary II. In ''Detective Comics'' #526, Captain Stingaree meets at an old theater with other Bat-Villains. Talia is branded a traitor. While Talia escapes, Captain Stingaree is accidentally frozen by

Mr. Freeze Mr. Freeze is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Dave Wood, Sheldon Moldoff and Bob Kane, and first appeared in ''Batman'' #121 in February 1959 as the ice-based criminal Mr. Ze ...

. This is his last pre-Crisis appearance.

Post-Crisis

In ''Justice League of America'' #2 (November 2006), it is revealed that Captain Stingaree is

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

, and is in a secret relationship with the

Cavalier The term Cavalier () was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of King Charles I and his son Charles II of England during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration (1642 – ) ...

(Mortimer Drake).

Black Lightning Black Lightning (Jefferson Pierce) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character, created by writer Tony Isabella and artist Trevor Von Eeden, first appeared in ''Black Lightning'' #1 (April 1977), during ...

uses this fact to leverage information out of the closeted Cavalier. Both Captain Stingaree and Cavalier are killed during a fight with the

Secret Six The so-called Secret Six, or the Secret Committee of Six, were a group of men who secretly funded the 1859 raid on Harper's Ferry by abolitionist John Brown. Sometimes described as "wealthy," this was true of only two. The other four were in po ...

(although Cavalier, whose back was broken by

Bane Bane may refer to: Fictional characters * Bane (DC Comics), an adversary of Batman * Bane (''Harry Potter''), a centaur in the ''Harry Potter'' series * Bane (''The Matrix''), a character in the ''Matrix'' film trilogy * Bane the Druid, a Gu ...

, may have survived).

DC Rebirth

In the

DC Rebirth DC Rebirth is a 2016 relaunch by the American comic book publisher DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero comic book titles. Using the end of The New 52 initiative in May 2016 as its launching point, DC Rebirth restored the DC ...

reboot, Karl is played as somewhat of a joke villain. He is portrayed as a man who assumes the identity of Stingaree when not under the influence of his

medication A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and ...

. He attempts to murder several people who clearly know him and are dressed as the Batman. They plead with him to go back on his medication, but he says that they will not "deceive him again". He is stopped by the real Batman and "Gotham Girl" before anyone is seriously injured.''Batman'' (vol. 3) #6 (2016)

Powers and abilities

Captain Stingaree has no superpowers but is a skilled swordsman.

References

External links

Cosmic Teams: Captain Stingaree
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stingaree, Captain DC Comics LGBT supervillains DC Comics supervillains Fictional pirates Fictional swordfighters in comics Fictional gay males Comics characters introduced in 1976 de:Schurken im Batman-Universum#Captain Stingaree