Monocle

I'll be real with you, I don't get the monocle. You only need magnification in one eye? An article of clothing favored by Count from Sesame Street, 1800s robber barons, and the Nazi high command, the monocle is a very particular accessory that definitely sends a message that, in the 1950s, the world was a little tired of hearing.

Monocle Mania

Unfortunately, Jonathan Cheval, hadn't noticed that monocles were no longer in vogue. In the 1950s he said he had come from a long list of ocularists, which is not actually the correct name for his profession. He meant it as one who made eyeglasses where it's actually the title of someone who makes prosthetic eyes. Jonathan Cheval wasn't one for details that weren't monocle related. But when it came to making monocles, the guy was monocle version of Leonardo da Vinci or Thomas Edison without all the elephant death. Cheval could make monocles out of nothing but glass that would gather the light, x-rays, and cosmic rays all around and focus them in such a way that it could turn lead to dust.

His hands shook with the power he wielded, but, as he put his newest monocle away, he mused aloud that he was grateful that he was such an honest citizen who had no reason to be tempted by the power of the monocles.

As if on cue, the bank was at the door.

Remember how I said that Jonathan didn't really focus on non-monocle related details? Well, he also didn't keep track of receipts. Bank receipts that is.

He does not have the receipts

In a plot so boringly evil and milquetoast that it actually sounds like it could be real, the bank board, ruthless capitalists who would have probably been super into a monocle store, wanted to tear down the monocle store and replace it with a high-rise, a super expensive hotel, but Jonathan was fastidious about paying his mortgage. The bank conveniently lost Jonathan Cheval's mortgage receipts and, without a way to prove he paid, the monocle shop that had been in his family for generations was foreclosed on, sold, and torn down.

That temptation that Jonathan was happy he didn't feel? Yeah, it was now all he felt. He had lost his store and his business and now had nothing but a pack of laser monocles and a list of bank executives he knew wronged him.

And it worked. One by one he started picking them off with his laser monocles...but he soon gained the attention of Hawkman.

Note, this isn't Hawkeye, the Jeremy Renner Marvel hero. Hawkman, if you didn't know, was a guy who was a reincarnated Egyptian prince with the not at all Egyptian name of Carter Hall. Carter had metal wings that allowed him to defy gravity...like...most wings...and flies around shirtless in straps that make him look he just got off his shift at an all male Vegas show. Anyway, he can fly, has a mace, super strength, and absolutely lost the first fight due to an unforced error. When the fight begins with you punching a magic monocle out of the guy who calls himself the monocle, and he somehow gets to the monocle and manages to blast you in the chest with a ray and escape, that's on you.

Lacking Focus

I think the comic let Monocle go so he could completely massacre the entirety of the bank board, which he does, and even Hawkman feels sympathy for the villain, chastising the last surviving member of the bank for swindling Cheval after a brief interrogation. The problem was that they were in a diner for some reason and Monocle showed up. Hawkman did what he should have done the first time punching Monocle in the head AND then recovering the monocle, completely neutralizing the guy who didn't have any backup monocles on him for some reason.

When he was released prison for multiple pre-meditated murders...I'm not sure if that happens in real life. Anyway, he was recruited by the Secret Society of Super Villains, whose name is immediately undercut by their business cards, and he became the first monocle maker to be banished to an interdimensional prison. Probably.

Monocle's descent into evil was probably inevitable. All it took was losing his store to send him over the edge and, after the 1940s and with monocles only being used by cartoons and Nazis at that point, he was probably on borrowed time anyway.

Disclaimer: The Monocle and every other character mentioned in this post are owned by DC Comics and all images are reproduced for educational and historical purposes. "Best of the Worst" (the blog and podcast) and Nextpod are not affiliated with, or endorsed by, any publisher or media company.

Concerned that this infringes on your copyrights or trademarks? Please contact us using the following form: https://www.nextpod.com/contact