JESTER (Chuck Lane)	BIOGRAPHY
Created by Paul Gustavson

PERSONAL DATA

Real Name: Chuck Lane
Full Name: Charles "Chuck" Lane
Identity: Secret
Occupation: Policeman
Status: Deceased
Citizenship: American
Marital Status: Single through 1948, later married
Known Relatives: Unnamed father (deceased), Unnamed mother, unnamed wife, unnamed son, (deceased), unnamed daughter, Charles Lane (grandson)
Base of Operation: New York City
Group Affiliation(s): NYPD, All-Star Squadron, Freedom Fighters, Arcadians
Gender: Male
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 179 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black (balding in the early 1950s)
First Appearance: Smash Comics #22/5 (May 1941) [Quality]
Creators: Paul Gustavson

This... superheroics... is growing tired. A year, maybe less and I'm done with the bells and trickery. I'm getting old... and too responsible... respectable. - The Jester Quote taken from Starman Vol. 2 #46 (September 1998)

HISTORY

In 1941, during a time when, as he once put it himself, "everyone with a gimmick was slipping into bright long johns", rookie policeman Chuck Lane decided that fighting crime in a police uniform was not enough, and secretly became the costumed vigilante known as the Jester, partly as a way to do good, partly for the thrills of it. The gimmick was chosen mainly because Lane was said to be a direct descendent of a medieval court jester.

Time and again, the Jester would make criminals into laughing-stocks, joking at their expense and often using slapstick comedy tricks to defeat them. But despite his lighthearted manner, the sound of the bells of his costume and his high-pitched, squealing laugh was dreaded by criminals, who never knew were they had their nemesis. They feared him for being so intense, so unpredictable and strange.

The Jester was fairly respected in the community of mystery-men. In 1942, he became a member both of Uncle Sam's Freedom Fighters, and of the wartime All-Star Squadron, of which he was a semi-active member until the war ended in 1945.

At the end of the 1940s, Charles Lane became a plainclothes Detective of the NYPD, and spent less and less time in his colorful Jester costume.

The last recorded adventure of the Jester, is from 1952, when he traveled to Opal City to bring in the supervillain Bobo Benetti, who had previously robbed a factory in New York. During this time Jester got involved in a combat against the original Icicle, the original Gambler, and the Fiddler, who had joined forces to kill Ted Knight, the Golden Age Starman, make a fast crime spree in Opal, and then retire. With the help from the Shade and Benetti himself, Starman and Jester defeated the super-villains and their plans. About six months later, Starman captured Benetti, and Detective Charles Lane appeared to bring Bobo to New York, where he was charged with his crimes.

The Jester has not been seen since and is now largely forgotten.

POWERS AND WEAPONS

The Jester had no super-powers but was an Olympic level athlete and acrobat, and a brilliant hand-to-hand combatant. One of his greatest assets in combat was his unpredictability and his manic appearance. The Jester also had superior detective skills.

CHRONOLOGY

For a definitive list of appearances of Jester in chronological order click here

PROFILE REFERENCES

Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #11 (January 1986)