Bob Benton: Super-Hero and Super-Pharmacist
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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.

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.












After World War II ended and the 
Spitfire was a super-speedster who first appeared in the pages of The Invaders, a 1970s comic that chronicled the adventures of a team of super-heroes during World War II. In the past few years, she has been seen in Captain America and the Union Jack mini-series. More recently, she has been appearing in Captain Britain and M.I. 13. Her origin story takes place in 1942.











Here’s Vance Astrovik, then known as Marvel Boy, now known as Justice, showing that he’s got a problem with the psychic nosebleeds as well — not to mention a little psychic otorrhagia as well. (These panels are all from New Warriors #3 (first series), by Nicieza and Bagley.)





In the early 1990, Captain America writer 





In Nightwing, the Mother of Champions (a Chinese super-hero who gives birth to “litters” of super-powered children every few days) has been kidnapped by Talia Al Ghul so that she can raise her own super-powered army. To make the process even more efficient, one of Talia’s (mad) scientists explains the the plan.
Chemicals that induce labor? We have them now: 

The
The good old days: when mad scientists could concoct evil drugs and schemes in their own basement labs. Nowadays, it seems to take at least a university lab — more commonly an entire industrial chemical research lab — just to create one marketable evil drug. Just ask Norman Osborne (especially the “Ultimate” version) — how many scientists did he have working for him?


