Look who is putting on a show in
Gotham City!
Yup, he's got a "
photographic memory" (or, what we would call an "
eidetic memory" is this more picky time).
Bruce Wayne is familiar with
Oliver Hunt's history...
But Bruce is concerned, because Hunt's gift
could be used for evil.
Geez, Bruce, paranoid much?
Well, justifiably so, as Hunt is approached by gangsters...
Yup, you can
always trust criminals' promises not to use violence.
So, anyway, what kind of crimes can they use a man with "
camera memory" for?
Intellectual property crimes!!
For example, as the thugs create a distraction in the front office of a music publishing company...
YOW! Holy copyright theft, Batman!!
They pull the same stunt with patent attorneys and book publishers!! Watch the money flow!!
Then they break into the District Attorney's office:
Umm...doesn't the DA have to disclose all evidence to the defense? So why steal it (for big $)? Or wasn't that the law in 1943?
Anyhow, Bruce and
Dick Rick see Hunt leaving the scene of one of the crimes, and follow him...
By now you're probably saying, "
Hey, snell, you titled this piece the Golden Age Taskmaster. Where the hell is my Taskmaster?"
Here you go:
Hunt memorized
jiu-jitsu, and is using it to kick the
Dynamic Duo's ass!
But Batman knows how to beat that--do the unexpected!
HA! The old "
throw a typewriter" ploy!!
But when they try to fly away with Hunt in the
Batplane...
You can't stop Oliver Hunt!! He even goes so far as to memorize the Batplane's workings...
...and make his comrades their own
evil Batplane!!
Ahh, but you can't count on crooks to be non-violent white collar criminals forever, as they start roughing up people, and turning to...
TREASON!!
Well, Hunt can't cross
that Rubicon, so he betrays his keepers to Batman. After they've all been wrapped up...
But Batman has a better idea!
Oh, yeah, the bad guy was named
Dude Fay. No wonder he turned to crime.
And it turns out that Hunt was a very effective spy...
From World's Finest Comics #10 (1943)