AVERY KINGSLEY

Real Name: Avery Kingsley

Class: Human

Occupation: Millionaire playboy, pirate, highwayman, swashbuckler

Group Affiliation: None

Known Relatives: Hugh Avery (great-great-grandfather, deceased), John Kingsley (ancestor, deceased), Rory Avery (great-grandfather, deceased), unnamed cousin, unnamed grandparents, unnamed parents

Aliases: Hugh the black, Red Blade, Red Rory

Base of Operations: New York City, New York, 1940s era

First Appearance: Flash Comics #73 (July, 1946)

Powers: Avery was a split-personality, with his personalities being the embodiment of his criminal ancestors. Hugh the Black was a highwayman skilled on horseback and armed with pistols, Red Rory was a pirate armed with a cutlass, and the Red Blade was a swashbuckler and trained swordsman.

History: (Flash Comics #73) - Avery Kingsley was from a family of millionaires, and raised to be secretive, with his grandmother telling him not to talk to anyone whose station in life was beneath his, I.e. not a Kingsley. One day he discovered his family’s diaries, learning that his grandfather was a smuggler, his great-grandfather Red Rory was a pirate, and his great-great-grandfather Hugh the Black was an infamous highwayman. He realized his grandparents didn’t want him speaking to people about the family since they’d made their fortune on criminal enterprises. Over the years Avery became obsessed with the diaries and his ancestors until he developed multiple personality disorder, with the personalities of his ancestors taking over and compelling him to commit crimes. Shiera Hall (Hawkgirl) attended a ball thrown by the Kingsleys, which was was interrupted by Hugh the Black, who rode in on a horse, and robbed the guests. Shiera told Carter Hall about what happened, and said she noticed Avery Kingsley slipped away before Hugh the Black appeared. After changing into Hawkman and Hawkgirl they returned to the Kingsley mansion, where Red Rory was setting sail with his gang to rob a houseboat. Hawkman and Hawkgirl engaged them in combat, but they got away when Hawkgirl’s flail snapped, with the flailhead knocking Hawkman unconscious. Red Rory left behind a page from the Kingsley diaries, describing the Red Rory that had died centuries ago. Hawkgirl correctly deduced that Avery suffered from multiple personality disorder and was both Hugh the Black and Red Rory. They caught up to him at the Waster Aldorff Hotel, where, as the swashbuckling Red Blade he was robbing a jewelry expo. Hawkman knocked him for a loop with one punch, curing Avery’s personality disorder. Avery was thrilled to be free of the voices that haunted him all the time, and Hawkman offered to testify for him at his trial so he could be found not guilty due to temporary insanity. Before the police arrived Hawkman allowed Avery to return to the Kingsley mansion to burn the family diaries so they’d never harm anyone else.

Comments: Created by Gardner Fox & Joe Kubert.

In the pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths DCU Avery lived on Earth-2.