In the 16th Century, a British privateer, Jon Valor, sailed the Atlantic Ocean with a fleet of ships. Guided by a strong moral code of justice, he defeated many crews of pirates. In 1558, he became known as, “The Black Pirate.”
Boarding a craft one day, he discovered the captain was a woman, Donna “Bonnie” Bonita….
Ho! A fine mess of pirates you be… taking orders from a girl in skirts!
In a sea fight with Spanish men-o’-war, Bonnie was taken prisoner by the Black Pirate’s arch enemy, Don Carlos, son of the King Phillip of Spain. Attempting to rescue her, Jon was captured and sentenced to death. However, Bonnie was able to sway the king, promising that Jon would help him stop the Black Pirate…
(Obviously, neither the king nor his son knew that Jon Valor and the Black Pirate were on in the same!)
Bonnie soon gave birth to a son, Justin, who eventually joined his father on his adventures. Although he never assume the identity of the Black Pirate, he wore a similar costume.
One day during a fight…
Jon retired, but was called back into service when “brigands were raiding English ships in the new world.” Fighting a Puritan who was “taking booty to fund more of his faith coming to the Americas”, Jon was shocked to learn he was fighting his son, who was long thought dead.
After a sudden attack by English men-of-war, in which the Black Pirate fought on behalf of his son…
A year of so later, Jon received a letter that Justin was in trouble and needed him. He set sail once again and landed at “a thriving place of commerce and trade, Port o’ Souls, where…
And there I saw my son. For the last time. He was already dead. Stabbed.
Jon was framed for Justin’s murder and…
I learned of curses some twenty years ago. I encountered witches in Madagascar and fierce moors on the quays of Norther Africa. Both knew their hexes. Both knew the dire art. And so I know the means to curse you now. All of you. To torment.
I shall see you again. Some sooner than you’d like.
The Black Pirate remained in the city for centuries… as a ghost.
Action Comics #30
Nov. 1940 (Sept. 24, 1940)
$0.10
(The Attack)
4 pages
Artist: Sheldon Moldoff
Editor: Fredric Whitney Ellsworth
Action Comics #32
Jan. 1941 (May 6, 1982)
$0.10
(Single Combat)
4 pages
Artist: Sheldon Moldoff
Editor: Fredric Whitney Ellsworth
DC Comics Presents #48
Aug. 1982 (May 6, 1982)
$0.60
“Whatever Happened to the Black Pirate & Son?”
8 pages
Writer: Roy Thomas
Artist: Alfredo P. Alcala
Editor: Julius Schwartz
Sensation Comics #1
Jan. 1942 (Nov. 7, 1941)
$0.10
(The Marriage of Jon Valor)
8 pages
Artist: Sheldon Moldoff
Editor: Maxwell Charles Gaines
Sensation Comics #5
May. 1942, (March 6, 1942)
$0.0
(The Treason of Don Diablo)
8 pages
Artist: Sheldon Moldoff
Editor: Maxwell Charles Gaines
Starman (vol. 2) #31
June 1997 (April 9, 1997)
$2.25
“Infernal Devices Part 2”
22 pages
Writer: James Robinson
Penciller: Tony Harris
Inker: Wade P. Von Grabadger
Inker: Ray Snyder
Editor: Archie Goodwin
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