The Comedian was a cigar-chomping, gun-toting vigilante-turned-paramilitary agent. When he first became a costumed adventurer in 1939, he dressed in a clown-like costume with a simple domino mask. A brutal vigilante, Blake manages to expunge most organized crime from the New York harbor. He became the youngest member of The Minutemen, a prominent group of heroes. After a photography shoot, he attempts to rape fellow Minuteman Silk Spectre; she escapes only when another Minuteman, Hooded Justice, interrupted the assault and beat Blake, breaking his nose. The Comedian was expelled from the group—but Silk Spectre's agent persuaded her not to press charges against him for fear of what it would do to the group's image. Blake impregnated Silk Spectre with her daughter and successor, Laurie, during a secret, consensual encounter years later. In the 1940s, Blake updated his Comedian uniform, after being stabbed by a small-time hood. He adopted a leather outfit that served as light body armor, adorned with short star-and-stripe-themed sleeves and a small happy face button. He retained the small domino mask and began carrying a pistol. He fought in World War II, becoming a war hero in the Pacific theater. It is also implied, but not directly stated, that he murdered Hooded Justice in revenge for the beating he suffered.Watchmen #2. DC Comics.
