WANTED: Earth-Two's Most Dangerous Super-Villains
The Toyman
Personal information
Name: Unknown
Residence: Metropolis
Occupation: Professional Criminal
First Appearance (Golden Age): Action Comics #64 (September 1943)
Character History
Almost nothing is known about the villain known as the
Toyman before he was first encountered by Superman in 1943. Superman first encountered the Toyman while
on a walk with Lois on his day off when a small toy Superman crosses their
path. The Toyman comes to retrieve it
and Lois expressed delight in his creations and offers an article focusing on
him in the Daily Star. He later pens a
note to Lane inviting her to a “parade” which turns out to a troupe of toy soldiers that gas the
by-stander while the Toyman robs the bank.
While Superman rescues the gassed victims, the Toyman escapes with his loot.
Appearing in the paper next day, Toyman
is delighted with his reputation and sends another letter warning Lane of an
outbreak of fires. This time, he uses
arson to cover jewelry thefts in high-rise apartments, again leaving Superman
behind to rescue the endangered. In a
third letter, he informed Lane of his intention to rob an armored truck
crossing Metropolis’ East Bridge with a troop of explosive toy tanks.
He arranged for his men in scuba gear to wait in the waters as he blew
up the bridge but his plans this time are foiled by Superman. Lois is watching from the water below in a
boat and inadvertently learns that Toyman’s hideout is actually below the bridge. He captures Lois and he plans to kill her to
protect his secrets, Superman’s super-hearing picks up her cries of
distress. He quickly crashes though the
ceiling, rescuing Lois and making short work of Toyman, who swears revenge
(Action Comics #64).
True to his word, the Toyman escaped with toys made in the prison workshop about six months later and adopted to a disguise to create a gaming parlor in Metropolis. He theorized that while ordinary games attracted ordinary people, high end gaming would attract that elite people that could be swindled and robbed and also attract his nemesis, Superman. Opening a “Palace of Play”, his scheme went well until Lois Lane came in looking for a scoop and bumbled into his operations. He captured her to lure Superman and kill them both but his traps were no match for the Man of Steel and the Toyman was once again returned to prison (Superman #27).
During the next year, the Toyman spent an enormous amount
time reading up on historical mysteries in the prison library. There
he discovered that a French Count named du Rochette had hidden his treasure in
a variety of artifacts that had been imported to wealth collectors in the
United States. He then used a toy plane
he was making for the warden’s son to stage an prison break and head for
Metropolis. Creating a French pseudonym, he offered himself as a toymaker for
wealthy children but used the toys he gave them to steal the artifacts and
harvest the treasures within. He managed
to recover three of the treasures but on the third, he was intercepted by
Superman and carted back to prison (Superman #32).
A year later, Toyman was free again. Having befriended the notorious outlaw Jack
James, he learns a secret map hidden on four jades that reveals where the loot
of his unsolved robberies was hidden. He
launches a series of you war ships to steal a millionaires’ cufflinks and
disrupted a society party to steal a dowager’s ring. The fourth piece of jade was found on a
watch’s charm by a railroad conductor but the Toyman accidental destruction of
the tressle almost wrecked the train.
Superman, recovering the train and find the charm, deduces Toyman’s
motives and tracks him to his lair after the criminal apprehends Lois Lane. Feigning fear at the Toyman’s poisonous toys,
he flees but doubles back to catch him unawares and cart him back to prison
(Action Comics #85).
That winter, the Toyman decided that he needed an upgrade. After a recent prison break, he targeted the work of Professor Vining who had developed high tech devices for the government. He used a model airplane to force down one of Vinings plans and rob him of a high tech tracking device attuned to Superman, warning the villain whenever the Man of Steel was near. Targeting a ship for brazen theft, the tracker allowed Toyman to dodge Superman until the hero deduced that he could not be detected underground and using his X-ray vision, tunneled underneath Toyman and then carted him to jail (World’s Finest #20).
Superman encountered Toyman three times in 1947. In Janaury, Superman and Toyman were both drawn into a campaign around the plight of the desperately poor in Metropolis. Superman joined the Daily Star in attempting to pressure the local corporate rich to fund improvement projects. Toyman, sensing an oppourtunity, exploiting the rich by offering toys to distract that poor free of charge on the condition that they repair them. When they brought them for repairs, they were revealed as mechanisms to allow Toyman entry for theft. Superman ultimately thwarted both parties by staging a parade of shame with the images of the rich (which embarrassed them into cooperating) and Toyman (who revealed himself in indignity allowing Superman to take him back to prison) (Superman #44).
When he was sentenced for his crimes, the warden planned to remand him to solitary comfinement. The Toyman pleaded his intention to reform and to prove it, he would make toys as penance. He created a “cops and robbers” game which he claimed illustrated the errors of a life of crime but was actually instructions for his gang on the outside to conduct a robbery. Threatened again with solitary, he produced a toy convict that would show the errors of escape. Instead, it exploded the wall of prison and allowed Toyman to flee. Planning an elaborate ruse to rob a socialite party, Toyman also took the time to kidnap Lois Lane and put her in a death trap in his hidden castle hideaway. Superman feigned to be thwarted but turned the tables on Toyman and threw himself over Lois to absorb the discharge of the traps. Toyman was then returned to prison (Superman #47).
At some point sooner after, the Toyman was involved in a pearl theft and was captured again. In reality, the owner of the pearls and planted fake ones and lured the Toyman to steal them. He then ambushed a prison fan and freed Toyman and used him as a dupe while he planned to kill any witnesses to the theft. Toyman pleaded for Superman to help him “go straight” and aided the Man of Steel in ultimately captured the owner of the pearls who had staged these events to get money to save his business. Not intending to return to prison, Toyman kidnapped Lois Lane and left her in a trap and fled. Superman managed to liberate Lois and catch up to Toyman before he got too far and once more, he was returned to jail (Superman #49).
The next recorded activity of Toyman was in 1949, when the Toyman (like many Earth-Two criminals) upscaled his technology after the end of World War II. In this case, the Toyman acquired an advanced super-computer which he termed a “Super-Brain” and used it to run simulations on a series of crimes. He was marginally successful with a couple of cases before Superman tracked the Toyman to his lair and cornered him. Asking the Super-Brain for an escape route, the computer exploded when it could not calculate an answer and Toyman was back in jail in no time (Superman #60).
One morning in 1950, Toyman escaped prison again but was captured by Superman that afternoon. Humiliated by his fellow inmates, he resolved to create a series of Superman based toys that he would use to avenge himself on his constant nemesis. First he constructed a giant Superman toy to stand watch over the prison yard but in reality, the toy was designed to fling Toyman to freedom. Once free, he created a series of miniature and giant Superman to stage bank robberies and jewel thefts and also to transport him in flight between escapades. As usual Superman thwarted his efforts and use the toys made after him to haul Toyman back to prison, where the giant Superman figure remained to taunt him for his defeats (Superman #63).
The last recorded case of the Toyman was in 1954, when a happenstance meeting between himself, the Prankster and Lex Luthor occurred at an amusement park. All of the criminals lamented their decade-long struggle with the champion of Metropolis and nothing had come of it. They decided to pool their efforts and have a contest of who could best thwart the Man of Steel. One by one they attempted with Luthor going last and scoffing at the failures of the Prankster and the Toyman. When Luthor also failed, his also got them captured by Superman but the Toyman laughed all the way to prison at the haughty Luthor any way.
The activities of Toyman after 1954 are largely unknown and whether he still lives on Earth-Two in the 21st century is subject to a speculation. Circumstantial evidence reports that a Toyman battled Power Girl and her elder cousin which could have been no sooner than the 1970’s but whether this was the original or an inheritor is unknown.
Powers and Abilities
The Toyman had an extensive knowledge of engineering, especially around robotics, remote operations and miniaturization. He had a high level knowledge of ballistics and munitions as well as extensive knowledge of bioactive chemistry, notably for gasses to induce sedation, nausea and disorientation. He was successful at least at some of his criminal efforts to fund device development, acquisition of materials like high-end computers and maintaining a castle-like hideaway outside of Metropolis.
Weaknesses and Limitations
The Toyman was a physically below-average specimen and once cornered, easily captured.
Multiversity
Earth-One
The Toyman of Earth-One is thought to be largely similar (and possibly identical) to the Earth-Two version. On this Earth, The Toyman is Winslow Schott. Bullied as a child, Schott became obsessed with wealth and power, focused on his infatuation with toys (Action Comics #561). The extent to which these details are also true of the Earth-Two version is unknown.
Like his counterpart, the Toyman of Earth-One most frequently tangled with Superman. Cases distinct to Earth-One were first documented in 1966 (Superman #182) and several years after but it was reported that Toyman underwent a measure of rehabilitation, even helping Superman capture the new Toyman, Jack Nimbal (Action Comics #432). A rampage by Bizarro ultimately re-awakened the Toyman's criminal impulses, leading him to murder Nimbal and reclaim the Toyman mantle for himself (Superman #305). He remained a criminal until Crisis on Infinite Earths and his last recorded crime was thwarted by the Blue Devil (Blue Devil #24). His fate on Earth-One is unknown.
Prior Earth-0
The Toyman of the immediate post-Crisis world was similar to his multiversal counterparts (Superman Vol. 2 #13). Also named Winslow Schott, this Toyman is British and significantly more aggressive, murderous and obsessive that other versions, including killing a number of children (Superman vol. 2 #84). Often remanded to Arkham Asylum in Gotham, Toyman insists that malfunctioning android duplicates committed his most heinous crimes, especially since he would never hurt a child.
Earth-0
The Toyman of the current Earth-0 has a similar history to other Toymen but this version is reformed and works for Checkmate.
Earth-29
A version of Toyman exists on Bizarro Earth-29 but nothing is known of him beyond his existence (Action Comics #856)
Earth-30
Winslow Schott exists on this Earth as a henchman, along with Oswald Loomis, of Lex Luthor. Whether he had the habits of his counterparts is not known (Superman: Red Son)
Appearances
|
Issue |
Comment |
Reprinted in |
|
1st Appearance, vs. Superman |
Superman: Action Archives #4, Superman in the Forties TPB, Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 3, Action Comics: 80 Years of Superman |
|
|
Superman #27 |
vs. Superman |
Superman Archives #3, Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 4 |
|
Superman #32 |
vs. Superman |
Superman Archives #8, Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 4 |
|
vs. Superman |
Superman: Action Archives #5, Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 4 |
|
|
vs. Superman |
Superman in World’s Finest Archives #2, Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 5 |
|
|
Superman #44 |
vs. Superman |
Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 6 |
|
Superman #47 |
vs. Superman |
DC Special Series #14, Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 6 |
|
Superman #49 |
vs. Superman |
Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 6 |
|
Superman #60 |
vs. Superman |
|
|
Superman #63 |
vs. Superman |
|
|
Superman #88 |
With Luthor and the Prankster, vs. Superman |
80-Page Giant #11, Greatest Team-Up Stories Ever Told, Superman from the Thirties to the Seventies HC, Superman from the Thirties to the Eighties HC |