| Dr. Tod | |
| |
| Biographical Information | |
| Real Name | Dr. Tod |
| Gender | Male |
| Class | Nat |
| Social Information | |
| Place of Birth | Wild Card Day |
| Citizenship | Citizen of the United States, deceased |
| Occupation | Criminal mastermind |
| Base of Operations | New Jersey |
| Allies | Filmore, Smooth Eddy, Fred, Thorkeld |
| Origin | |
| First Appearance | Wild Cards |
| Creator | Howard Waldrop |
Dr. Tod was a criminal and war profiteer from the 1930s and 40s. He was Jetboy's greatest enemy. Tod is infamous as the man responsible for releasing the wild card virus over New York City in 1946. He and Jetboy died together, locked in their final battle, just instants before the virus was released.
History[]
Dr. Tod was a criminal boss in the New Jersey area in the 1930s and 1940s. Tod left America when World War II started, intent on making a big profit out of the war. In 1943, he was running a clandestine air fleet in Egypt, taking people in and out of the country for a fee. One day, Dr. Tod and his men were transporting important German officers in a plane, when American fighter pilot Jetboy intercepted them and attacked the plane. The plane crashed on the Mediterranean Sea, and Tod lost one eye and had half of his face disfigured.
He came back to America in August of 1946, tired and planning to retire. But some of his men chanced upon the canister with the alien wild card virus. They took the virus back to Tod who discovered some of the substance's deadly properties when somebody accidentally dropped a sample, resulting in almost all present being killed by the virus. Dr. Tod's scientist Thorkeld became perhaps the first joker Earth has seen, a hideous gelatinous joker that could barely talk. He killed himself almost immediately. Dr. Tod then planned a last caper: he blackmailed the government, demanding 20 million dollars, or else he'd release the virus over a major city. The government refused, and in September 15, Tod and a few of his men approached New York aboard a dirigible, the cannister also on board, taped to a bomb.
Dr. Tod had a spectacular aerial battle with his old nemesis Jetboy. Jetboy boarded the dirigible, and both men were locked in hand-to-hand combat when the bomb exploded, killing them both. The wild card virus was released over New York. A new age was born, and Tod went into history as a mass murderer.
Appearance[]
Tod was an unremarkable man, except for his face. The left half of it was gone, covered by a smooth metal plate from jaw to hairline, nostril to ear.
Personality[]
Dr. Tod defied expectations in that he wasn't a crackling, insane criminal, despite what his actions may have suggested. Tod was calm and collected, his sole motivation seemed to be money. He didn't appear to bear personal malice toward anyone, not even Jetboy, who was responsible for destroying half his face. Tod never considered revenge. When he came back to America in 1946, he only wanted to retire and enjoy a calm life in the country, but felt himself coaxed out of retirement by the gigantic opportunity presented by the virus cannister. Tod was honest and fair with his associates and underlings. On the other hand, he was able to plan mass murder without any hesitation or moral qualm.
Quotes[]
"Everybody who had something against me is either dead or went respectable during the war and made a mint. I'm an old man and I'm tired. I'm going out in the country and raise bees and play the horses and the market."
"Fillmore, some capers you have to pull, whether you want to or not."
Trivia[]
- "Tod" is German for "death". Just as Jetboy is a classic Golden Age style comic book hero, his archnemesis has a campy Golden Age villain name: "Dr. Death".
Selected Reading[]
- Wild Cards Volume I: Wild Cards - "Thirty Minutes Over Broadway!" (Dr. Tod's last criminal enterprise heralds a new age for the world)