The Black Hood
Real Name Thomas “Kip” Burland

Prowess 4
Coordination 4
Strength 4
Intellect 3
Awareness 4
Willpower 5

Stamina 9

Powers
*The Hoodcycle – in its normal form, it has the following stats: Handling 7, Speed 4, Structure 4. The bike can also convert into a Sub-Cycle form that possesses Aquatic 6.
*The Black Hood has a battery of weapons provided by his armorer Doyle Damian:
**The Pepperbox: a six-chamber steel revolver. It can fire underwater with no penalties. Damage 4.
**Stun Gun: a Sky Marshall “bean-bag” gun. Damage 3.
**The Bat: a martial arts weapon. A blackjack with a heavy-duty spring used for street fighting. Strength +1 damage.

Specialties
Athletics, Drive (motorcycles) – Expert +2 bonus, Investigation – Expert +2 bonus, Martial Arts, Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Weapons

Qualities
*The Black Hood Legacy
*Street-level Hero
*Mighty Crusader

Background:

In his first incarnation, the Black Hood is a costumed man of mystery who has been trained by a hermit to battle evil. The comic book is at first intentionally vague as to whether he possesses superpowers, or simply has the unusual strength, agility, and healing abilities that costumed crime fighters seem to possess.

His real name is Matthew Kipling “Kip” Burland, an ex-cop who has been framed for grand larceny and left for dead by a villain known as the Skull. Burland eventually clears his name, but continues to wear the costume. Matthew Burland’s love interest is a newspaper reporter named Barbara “Babs” Sutton. He drives a motorcycle called the Hoodcycle that can transform into other vehicles. The Kip Burland Black Hood is unmasked in court by a character named “Needlenoodle”. Thereafter, Burland becomes a private detective.

During the 1960s the Black Hood returned in Mighty Comics for two issues of Adventures of The Fly (#7, July 1960 and #11, March, 1961). He was also seen teaching Karate in issues of Adventures of the Jaguar and Adventures of The Fly. After returning as a founding member of The Mighty Crusaders in Fly-Man #31–33, he appeared regularly as part of the team in Mighty Crusaders #1–6 (November 1965 – August 1966) during the period of Archie Comics’ Mighty Comics period. This version of The Black Hood rides initially on a robot horse called Nightmare (destroyed in Mighty Crusaders #1) before switching to a motorcycle.

The Black Hood was revived by artist Gray Morrow during his time as an editor at Archie’s Red Circle Comics line in the early 1970s, and was first published years later in Archie’s Super Hero Comic Digest Magazine #2 (1979). In these stories, which includes one drawn by Neal Adams, The Black Hood’s second incarnation, Thomas “Kip” Burland, was given the secret identity by his uncle, the “first” Black Hood, who revealed that the family had in fact used the pseudonym throughout history. This version is less flamboyantly costumed, preferring to wear the mask with regular biker leathers, rides a high performance motorcycle and is typically armed with a custom designed Pepper-box pistol with multiple functions. This Black Hood appeared in three issues of his own title (June–October 1983) and the thirteen issues of The Mighty Crusaders (March 1983 – September 1985), as well as two issues of Blue Ribbon (a new story in #11 [August 1984] and a reprint of the Super Hero Comic Digest material in #8 [May 1984]). In the final issues of Mighty Crusaders, the younger Black Hood reverts to the yellow and black/blue costume worn by the prior incarnation of the character and it is in this outfit that he appeared in the Archie Superteens vs. Crusaders limited series (2018).