Mr. Scarlet was a comic booksuperhero originally published by Fawcett Comics, and now owned by DC Comics. A Batman-type crimefighter, he had several devices which aided him in apprehending various criminals along with some above level acrobatic and hand-to-hand combatant skills. He was district attorney Brian Butler, who along with his adopted son Pinky the Whiz Kid, fought evil in his city for several years. His success was such that his employment was frequently in jeopardy due to a lack of crime. As a result, he throughout his series took up several odd jobs to supplement his family's income. In his first appearance in Wow Comics #1, Winter, 1940, Brian was based in Gotham City. This may be the first use of the name of this city in comics. Later retcons established Mr. Scarlet's base in either New York City or Fawcett City. Although initially appearing in the 1940's, Mr. Scarlet and Pinky were revealed to still be active and at relatively the same age level in the 1970's during a team-up with the Justice League of America and Justice Society of America. It was during this teamup that the two crimefighters joined with several other heroes to form Shazam's Squadron of Justice, although no further adventures of this team were chronicled thereafter.
Other Versions
After the Crisis, Pinky was revealed to have taken over the identity of his father after his death, having been active in Fawcett City for several years. It was also revealed how they retained their youth since the 1940's, as Shazam provided a protective field around the city for decades allowing its inhabitants to age slower then their contemporaries in other cities. A new version of Mister Scarlet appeared in Elseworlds' Kingdom Come and The Kingdom miniseries'. Mister Scarlet is drawn as a bright red devil of a man known for hanging out at Titans Tower bar with Matrix, the new Joker'sDaughter, and the new Thunder. He has a large "crest" running down his head, based on the fin on the original's cowl, and intended to resemble the Savage Dragon.
