| Mr. Bribery | |
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First Appearance: |
July 3rd, 1965 |
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Real Name: |
Unrevealed |
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Known Aliases: |
Mr. Bigg |
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Known Relatives: |
Ugly Christine, Sister (Deceased) |
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Known Associates: |
Miss Deal |
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Created By: |
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Mr. Bribery was a murderer, drug smuggler, pickpocket, influence peddler, and blackmailer. He was also the leader of a criminal operation which he ran with the aid of his loyal sister Ugly Christine. He was a thin, bespectacled man with short dark hair that he wore slicked back.
One of the most eccentric and ghoulish villains that Dick Tracy encountered, Bribery had several bizarre habits, including talking to his rose bush, allowing his pet cat Kitty to smoke cigars, making decisions with the aid of a Ouija board, branding his underlings on the forehead with the letter "B", and decapitating people and shrinking their heads.
Bribery's Early Schemes
Bribery had been a mentor and patron of the criminal Matty Square, and he devised the trap for Tracy that ultimately cost Square his life.
Bribery also employed the Ecuadoran native Nah Tay as a front for his criminal enterprise, and used Nah Tay's skill a head shrinker to intimidate his associates. Bribery made an unsuccessful attempt to kidnap Honeymoon Tracy shortly after she was born, and he and his sister were rescued by Nah Tay.
Bribery then assigned Nah Tay to murder Dick Tracy. When Nah Tay refused to kill Tracy, Bribery arranged for Nah Tah to be kidnapped by the Space Coupe pilot Maay, who ejected Nah Tay into Earth's orbit.
The Stolen Space Coupe
Later, Bribery arranged for the theft of a Space Coupe. He attempted to double-cross his twin pilots, but they managed to gain an advantage on Bribery. In the process, $100,000 cash (supposedly the twins' pay for the theft) was ejected into space in orbit around Earth, much like Nah Tay had been.
The stolen Space Coupe returned to Earth and was put in a secluded hiding spot. The twins held Ugly Christine hostage while Bribery arranged for another payoff. Christine and Bribery managed to surprise the twins and killed them, depositing their bodies at a construction site.
When Bribery and Christine attempted to return to the hidden Space Coupe, they attracted the attention of Dick Tracy, who had found the stolen vehicle and was waiting for them. Tracy followed the pair back to their hideout, and discovered evidence of their many crimes. Ugly Christine was taken into custody (but quickly committed suicide by throwing herself from a magnetic Air Car and falling into a fiery chimney) while Bribery, his cat, and his secretary Miss Deal escaped.
Later, Miss Deal inadvertently led police to their new hideout. Bribery attempted to kill her as punishment and she kicked him in the face. Bribery was eventually apprehended by Tracy (January 18th, 1965) and sent to the State Prison, where his prisoner number was 620. His cat (which he had stolen from Matty Square) gave up cigars and become part of the Police Department menagerie.
Alliance with the Chin Chillars
Mr. Bribery & the Chin Chillars, June 1967
Bribery escaped from prison by bribing the Warden and hiring George and Notta Chin Chillar to steal a Space Coupe, with the offer of trying to recover his money that was still in orbit. After recovering the cash, the Chin Chillars gave Bribery alcohol to drink until he passed out and then "returned" Bribery to prison by dropping him from a great height through the roof of the prison carpentry shop. The Chin Chillars had intended that Bribery would die in the fall (June 26th, 1967). His body was never shown, but several characters commented on his gory condition. The money was later destroyed while the Chin Chillars were escaping from Dick Tracy. The Warden was dismissed from his job for letting Bribery escape.
The Return of Bribery
Mr. Bribery, aka "Mr. Bigg", as drawn by Joe Staton.
Mr. Bribery survived the fall. Years later, it was revealed that he had taken on a new identity - Mr. Bigg. Under this name, Bribery became leader of the criminal organization known as The Black Hearts. He continued his practice of branding the high-ranking members (such as Venus and Apollo) with a letter B on their foreheads.
Bribery returned to Dick Tracy's city and adopted the upper floors of the 52 Gallery as his base of operations. He worked closely with T-Bolt, his driver and bodyguard.
Bribery's operatives kidnapped the industrialist Diet Smith, planning to use him to gain access to a Space Coupe. Smith was brought to Black Hearts headquarters, where he recognized Bribery and was surprised. Shortly thereafter, the building was raided by the combined forces of the city's MCU and the FBI. Bribery had a brief encounter with Mysta (who had arrived by her own means), during which he took credit for her creation. He then escaped in an Air Car that had been concealed in his offices.
Bribery later commissioned the creation of a computer program with an artificial intelligence that he dubbed "Matty Squared" after his deceased subordinate. He also agreed to aid (from a distance) Notta Fallar in her revenge scheme against Dick Tracy.
Notes
- Unlike many of the other successful criminal figures depicted in the strip (both before and since), Mr. Bribery does not seem to have been at all connected to The Apparatus, or any of that group's ancillary operations. His organization appears to have functioned completely independently, with Bribery answering to no higher authority. It is possible that some of the corrupt public officials that Bribery influenced later became beholden to The Apparatus as well. It is reasonable to presume that the remnants of Bribery's organization became the original foundation of the Black Hearts, and that Bribery was consistently at odds with that other group.
- The circumstances of Bribery's life after his nearly-fatal fall have not been revealed. It is not known if he served the remainder of his prison term and was released, or if he escaped (possibly after being presumed dead). He revealed to Diet Smith that his body double (whom he identified as Joie Packet) had taken his place. It was not established when the switch took place, or if it was Bribery or Packet that had been dropped from the Space Coupe.
- The revelation that Joie Packet was a body double calls into question the accuracy of information that Pat Patton had read in an official police report about Bribery, which identified "Joie Packet" as Bribery's real name.
- Bribery was dismayed by the death of his sister, and while he has shown animosity towards Tracy and the MCU, it doesn't seem to be motivated by a desire to avenge his sister's death. Brirbery would therefore not qualify as a Revenge-Seeking Relative.
- Bribery's long stint in Europe while presumed dead in America is reminiscent of the Spider-Man villain Norman Osborn (aka The Green Goblin), who was considered "dead" for over twenty years before it was revealed (in the mid-1990s) that he had faked his death and had been living in Europe.