Impresario

IMPRESARIO

Real Name: Schuyler Van Wert

Class: Human

Occupation: Theatre critic, racketeer, former actor

Group Affiliation: None

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Keystone City, Kansas, 1940s era

First Appearance: Flash Comics #85 (July, 1947)

Powers: Impresario was a scheming racketeer armed with a Tommy gun and equipped with a monocle that functioned as a walkie-talkie.

History: (Flash Comics #85) - Schuyler Van Wert was an actor who fancied himself a genius, but when he made his debut in Shakespeare’s Macbeth he got stage fright and froze. The audience pelted him with rubbish, and Wert’s acting career was finished. The experience broke him, and he vowed to take revenge on all of theatre for depriving the world of his genius. He became a famous theatre critic, but under the masked identity of the Impresario he ran a gang that blackmailed theatre productions, threatening to ruin their performances unless he was paid immense amounts of money. Van Wert told Joan Williams he was interested in her ballet Crime Wave. Joan called up Flash, asking him to come to the Royal Theatre. When he arrived he saw a ballet performance interrupted by a masked man in the audience firing on the stage and knocked him out with a punch. Joan told Flash she’d written a ballet called Crime Wave, and the man in the audience was an actor firing blanks. She just wanted to see Flash’s reaction to see how convincing the scene would appear. Jay attended the opening night performance with Joan and when the masked man showed up and opened fire Jay congratulated him on his performance. Jay and Joan realized the man was not the actor, who was tied up backstage, and he’d fired off live rounds, killing two of the ballet dancers. The masked man was the Impresario, who quickly changed back into his civilian identity. Joan realized she’d be forced to close her show, and introduced Jay to Van Wertk. He suggested she change her ballet to an ice capades show. The show was a success, but the show’s producer Torg seemed terrified of another attack and suffered a fatal heart attack. Jay saw some goons in the audience who were startled, saying Torg wasn’t supposed to die. Jay changed into Flash and investigated Torg’s backstage room, finding a letter from the Impresario, who demanded protection money or else he’d kill Torg. Flash realized Impresario and his gang were running a protection racket on local theatre companies and decided to tail the goons. They lost him in the theatre’s basement where they shot pipes full of freezing chlorine gas, disabling Flash. Flash came up with a plan; if a show protected by the Impresario had something happen to ruin it the producers would stop paying and Impresario would be forced to make a move. Flash created gale force winds by spinning around outside a theatre company, keeping anyone from entering. The producers were so infuriated that they didn’t have a single customer that they refused payment to Impresario’s men. Impresario realized Flash was responsible and told his men they’d have to kill the hero. They ambushed Flash and Joan outside another theatre and tied them up. Impresario revealed himself as Van Wert, and told the story of how his acting career was ruined by a case of stage fright, forcing him to destroy the theatre. Flash called him a failure as an actor, hoping to goad him into a mistake. Impresario said he’d give a demonstration of his abilities, and after changing costumes he began performing Macbeth. Flash taunted him until he leapt at the hero with a knife. Flash dodged, and the knife cut his bonds. Flash easily defeated Impresario and his gang, saying he’d have a starring role as a prisoner for the rest of his life.

Comments: Created by Robert Kanigher & E.E. Hibbard.

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