Polite Dissent

By day, Bob Benton is a seemingly normal — and incredibly brilliant — pharmacist who runs his own small drug store. However, whenever evil or danger appears, he becomes the costumed crime-fighter known as the Black Terror. Thanks to “formic ethers” he invented, he has gained heightened strength, speed, agility, and endurance. But even more than that, he has the power of pharmacy.

In this story from America’s Best Comics #24, Ben Benton and his assistant Tim were attending an estate auction when a group of thugs “forcibly” persuaded an elderly antique buff from bidding on a certain old chair. The chair had been used to hide some priceless jewelry, which the gang stole, fought off the Black Terror, and then escaped.

This is impressive detective work on the Terror’s part. He is able to recognize the exact drug in the pill, despite the fact that it was a specially compounded pill. In other words, this was no mass-produced pill, but instead one that was created from the constituent chemicals by a local pharmacist — no easy to read manufacturer’s markings! That’s why it’s so impressive that the Terror was able to identify the medication just by looking at it and without having to run any tests at all.

Dilantin sodium (more commonly known as just “Dilantin“, or by its generic name “phenytoin“) is a potent anti-seizure drug. It was first discovered in the early 1900s, but it wasn’t until 1938 that its ability to treat seizures was recognized. It was approved by the FDA for epilepsy in 1953, and quickly became one of the main seizure medications because it lacked the severe sedative side effects of previous medications. It is still a common medication for epilepsy today. (This story appeared in 1947, several years before Dilantin was FDA approved, so the Terror is probably correct in referring to it as a “rare drug” — at that point it was, for a few more years anyway).

There has been some evidence over the years to suggest that Dilantin has a role as a psychiatric medication as well; it seems to show both anti-anxiety and mood stabilization properties. It is these anti-anxiety properties that the Terror is referring to, implying that one of the crooks was using it to treat his anxious tic. (For the record, Dilantin has never been FDA approved for these psychiatric conditions.)

Bob Benton tracks down the local pharmacy that made the pills, and the pharmacist helpfully tells him exactly who the pills were for. So much for patient confidentiality. (This may have been before HIPAA, but I suspect sharing such information so freely was at the very least a breach of pharmacist ethics, if not state law). Thanks to the helpful pharmacist, the Black Terror shows up the crooks’ front door step, apprehends them, return the stolen jewelry, and gives the antique chair to the old man. Just another day in the life of a super-pharmacist.

The Black Terror was published by Nedor/Better comics in a variety of comic titles starting in 1941, and running until 1949. He was later revived by Eclipse Comics and then AC Comics to little success. More recently, he appeared (in a much modified form) first in Tom Strong and then Terra Obscura, both published by America’s Best Comics. Currently, he is one of the public domain super-heroes appearing in Dynamite’s Project Superpowers.

Bob Benton’s pharmacist background wasn’t just superficial color, as many of the Black Terror’s Golden Age stories involved mysterious medications, chemical concoctions, or dangerous drugs in one way or another. His pharmacy was fascinating too. It may have only been a small town pharmacy, but for some reason he stored the most unusual medications: huge drums of ether, giant jugs or chloroform, and jars of radioactive elements were all commonly shown on his shelves.