The Mouthpiece

The Mouthpiece was curiously similar to two predecessors, Will Eisner’s Spirit, and its copy, Jack Cole’s Midnight. Was this another attempt by Busy Arnold to cash in on “The Spirit”? The Mouthpiece ran in Police Comics until just after that book began reprinting the Spirit’s Sunday adventures (the two features co-existed for two issues). Like all of Fred Guardineer’s features, the Mouthpiece was great fun to look at, but writing was not his strength. Stories tended to be jerky.

Newly elected District Attorney, Bill Perkins, didn’t bother to wear a different suit when he donned a mask to become the Mouthpiece. He used this alter ego as a tool to gather evidence more… creatively. Freed from the confines of the law, the Mouthpiece even placed a chain around an opponents’ wrist, twisting to cause pain. His first case was against Peg-Leg Friel, who smuggled European refugees inside fish carcasses! When Peg-Leg made for escape, the Mouthpiece didn’t think twice before grabbing a harpoon and sending him into the deep. (Police #1) He also sent another foe, the Nazi Underwaterman, to a watery grave. (#12)

The Mouthpiece’s foes were brutal thugs (whom he miraculously knew where to find) and maniacs like the hooded Professor Snook. Snook took a plunge over a castle wall rather than be captured. (#5) He caught brothers Skul and Morbidd Van Deth in the act of disposing of a body. In the course of the ensuing chase, Skul too died, tumbling from the rooftop. (#8) 

Notes

A person named the “Mouthpiece” appeared in Dr. Mid-Nite #1. He was a modern-day man who’d lost his family to AIDS and advised Dr. Mid-Nite.