Iron Mask (Quality)

Golden Age Origin
== Dan Vittorio, the kingpin of an unnamed but substantial crime syndicate, was being pursued by police for a simple hit-and-run accident when he was first confronted by the heroic Doll Man (who had been testing out his brand new Dollplane at the time). Surprised by the tiny hero's sudden appearance, Vittorio lost control of the wheel and careened off a bridge into a raging river with his car engulfed in flames. After dragging himself to shore, the dying crime-boss was saved by the timely intervention of an elderly locksmith who quickly nursed him back to health. While staying at the locksmith's cabin, Vittorio inquired about a strange headpiece in the old man's possession: a medieval iron mask with an unbreakable lock that made it impossible for the wearer to consume and water or food, thus torturing and slowly killing them through starvation. In fact, the lock on the mask was so complex that it had taken the expert locksmith two months just to construct a key for the relic. Later, Vittorio removed the bandages from his face, discovering to his horror that he had been disfigured to the point of looking inhuman. Enraged, Vittorio drowned the locksmith and stole the mask, vowing to keep his burned face hidden from "any living soul." Renaming himself "Iron Mask," Vittorio returned to his old gang and immediately took control (even killing his former second-in-command to silence any questions regarding his identity). However, immediately after taking control of the syndicate he found himself battling the Doll Man. While Doll Man initially had the upper hand on the unpowered criminal, Iron Mask was eventually able to render him unconscious by head-butting him with his helmet. He then attempted to kill the Doll Man by drowning him in a goldfish tank, but the hero escaped in time to ambush Iron Mask at his attempted robbery of the world's most expensive wallpaper. During their second battle the Iron Mask was once again able to best Doll Man by using his helmet as a weapon and briefly escaped capture. However, he was soon forced to return to the scene of the crime upon realizing that Doll Man had stolen his only copy of the key, which he would slowly starve to death without. ==

Golden Age Appearances

 * Doll Man Quarterly #15