Harold Kramer (Earth-One)

Red Death
Mainstream Universe‎, 1950s-1986
Gallery
Real Name	Harold "Hal" Kramer
Main Alias	Red Death
Base Of Operations	Fairfax
Status
Alignment	Bad
Characteristics
Gender	Male
Eyes	Red
Hair	Brown
Origin
Universe	Earth-One
Creators	Marv Wolfman · Carmine Infantino
First Appearance	Adventure Comics #479 (March, 1981)

Red Death is an enemy of the H-Dial users Christopher King and Victoria Grant.

History

Harold Kramer was a scientist who was expelled from college for copying the lab notes of classmate Richard Wilder, to whom Kramer was unfavorably compared in academics. Later, while attempting to develop a method of preventing the aging process, Kramer discovered a method of doing the reverse—instantly aging anything he touched. Seeing his ability as an opportunity to gain revenge on Wilder, he took on the costumed identity of the Red Death.

In Fairfax, Vermont, the Red Death witnessed a battle between the supervillain the Silver Fog and H-Dial users Christopher King and Victoria Grant. Perturbed by the superheroes' presence, Kramer nonetheless used his "decay touch" to gain access to the classroom of Richard Wilder, now a teacher at Hamilton Junior High. Though King and Grant, students of Wilder's, attempted to protect their teacher, Kramer distracted the heroes by causing the floor and doorpost of the classroom to disintegrate and escaped with his enemy to an underground laboratory.

Using the powers of his "Composite Man" identity, King sent duplicates of himself to search for the Red Death, discovering him in the process of revealing his identity and motivations to Wilder. Blinded by the black light of Grant's "Twilight" identity, Kramer reached out for a Composite Man duplicate which King recalled, leading the villain to touch his hands together. With his hands withered and powerless, the Red Death was taken into police custody.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

• Disintegration: Red Death has a disintegrating touch.

Trivia

• The Red Death is a reader-submitted character, created by sixteen-year-old Russell Frakes of Carrollton, Missouri.

Related

• 1 Appearances of Harold Kramer (Earth-One)
• 1 Images featuring Harold Kramer (Earth-One)
• Quotations by or about Harold Kramer (Earth-One)
• Character Gallery: Harold Kramer (Earth-One)

Footnotes

Dial H for Hero Villain This character is or was primarily an enemy of the bearers of the Hero Dial: Robby Reed, Chris King, and Vicki Grant. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Dial H for Hero Villains."