Origin

King Standish was a man who wore a tuxedo, top hat and a domino mask. The King was a wealthy master of disguise so good that he could pretend to be someone else so well that not even people who had known that person for years could detect he was not the genuine article.

Creation

The King was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist William Smith in 1940. His first appearance was in Flash Comics #3.

Additionally, artist Harry Lampert, co-creator of the Flash, was lettering the first appearance of the King and he also had some creative input on the character: Lampert designed the character logo and his calling card, one of his more prominent accessories.

From the next issue of Flash Comics, actually Lampert took over as the regular artist for the series. Eventually he started signing the series and in Flash Comics #16 he redesigned the series title turning King Standish into The King.

Character Evolution

The King, aka King Standish, spent most of his adventures taking on the appearance of someone else, his only motivation seemed to be for the fun of it. Thought by the law to be a criminal, the King was really working in the underworld to bring it down.

His main adversary was a woman known as The Witch who was as good at disguise as he was, only she actually was up to no good. Eventually the two developed feelings for each other despite never seeing the true face of one another.

In 1945, near the End of World War II the King helped the Justice Society of America in defeating the Stalker of the Soulless. His further whereabouts and adventures are, as of yet, unrecorded.

Major Story Arcs

Like most of the Golden Age heroes, his adventures didn't have a lot of continuity. Just stories that were contained to one issue

Skills and Abilities

The King didn't have any powers, but he was adept in many skills, especially at disguising himself & infiltration. He was a competent fighter and used gadgets against his foes. He was also a skilled acrobat.