Lobster Johnson, A 1930s Crimefighter

Lobster Johnson is a vigilante who fought street level criminals and paranormal threats in New York City in the 1930s. He was created by Mike Mignola and set in the Hellboy/Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD) universe. The character debuted 25 years ago in Hellboy: Box Full of Evil #1 (August 1999).

His crimefighting career began in 1932 when he and a few other vigilantes set up a base of operations in the sewers below the city streets. They spent years stopping gangsters and thugs, until they came across the powerful Memnan Saa. The group investigated his criminal activities, so he retaliated by taking out the vigilantes one by one. To stop the violence, Lobster quit searching into Memnan Saa. The deaths of his teammates weighed on Lobster, turning him into a colder, more reserved version of himself.

Deciding it was time to gain more resources in his fight against crime, Lobster started working for the US government. He spent the later part of the ’30 fighting Nazis, but he was met by more tragedy. While trying to stop a Nazi from destroying a train carrying scientists who were going to work on the Manhattan Project, his new partner was killed.

His final mission was to prevent Nazis from launching a space capsule in Austria. He arrived at the Hunte Castle too late to stop the launch, so he forced the roof closed in the hope of stopping its capsule’s momentum. The combustion was trapped inside the castle, killing everyone inside, including Lobster. Later, he returned as a ghost and did work with the BPRD.