Black Patch (Sub-Mariner Foe) (Earth-616)

The man known as Black Patch lived a life on the seas. His obsession with lost gold has its beginnings before he was even born.

In the year 1889 a treasure shipment was destined to the United States when the ship floundered near an atoll. As the ship began to sink, the captain ordered one of the crew -- a man by the name of Billy Glow -- to bring the treasure to the atoll and bury it there. The ship sank and Billy was trapped on the island for many years until he was able to build a ship to escape the island. He then led an expedition to the atoll's location but could not find the island. The shipping company collected the insurance and considered the gold lost and forgot about it. However Billy did not, and some years after that he funded his own expedition to find the treasure hiring Black Patch and his crew but it was also unsuccessful. During the voyage Glow allowed Black Patch to see the map.

By 1948, Black Patch had decided that the atoll must still be out there somewhere and he and his band of pirates became determined to find it. By then, Billy Glow was an old man who owned the Grey Goat Tavern where he worked with his granddaughter, always telling tales about the lost gold but nobody believed him. Black Patch sent one of his men to get the map from Billy. The attempt left Billy and his attacker dead and Sub-Mariner and Namora got involved. Billy's last wish was for his granddaughter to use his insurance to charter one last attempt to search for the lost treasure.

As cruel fate would have it, the granddaughter hired Black Patch and his crew to pilot the schooner. That night, Black Patch recounted the tale of the treasure and how he intended to collect the treasure himself. Overhearing this, Billy's granddaughter tossed the map in a bottle overboard before she was subdued by Black Patch. Sub-Mariner and Namora came to the girl's rescue, but they too were overpowered and tied up.

Happening upon the atoll by pure luck, Black Patch and most of his crew went to the island and uncovered the gold. After the gold was dug up he killed his crew so he could claim it all for himself. By this point, Namor and Namora had freed themselves and were in pursuit of Black Patch. However, Mother Nature sealed Black Patch's fate -- as the atoll was really a sinking island -- and shortly after the gold was uncovered, it rapidly sank, drowning Black Patch and losing the treasure for all time.^[1]

Black Patch carried a pistol. In place of his left hand, he had a large wooden stake.