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Black Dragon Society
BlackDragonSociety

Real Name

Kokuryūkai (translated as Black Dragon Society)

Year Established

1901

Created by

Uchida Ryohei

Origin[]

The Black Dragon Society (Kokuryūkai in Japanese) was a prominent paramilitary, ultra-nationalist right-wing group in real-life Japan founded in 1901 by Uchida Ryohei. Its name originated from the Amur River, called Heilongjiang or "Black Dragon River" in Chinese and read as Kokuryū-kō in Japanese.

The society was created to drive the Russian Empire out of east Asia, south of the Amur River. The Imperial Japanese Army made use of the Kokuryūkai network for espionage, sabotage and assassination as well as to spread propaganda and disinformation.

In the Golden Age comics, the Black Dragon Society was generally depicted as a sinister secret society bent on world domination, that sent highly trained agents such as the Man of a Thousand Faces, Mr. Kato, and Neper on important missions.

Heroes such as Minute-Man, Rusty Ryan, the Rangers of Freedom, the Cloak, Spy Smasher, the Black Condor, Captain Future, the Agatha Detective Agency, Pat Parker and her Girl CommandosCommando Yank, and the Sniper all fought the Black Dragon Society or its agents at one point or another.

Public Domain Appearances[]

Columbia[]

  • Big Shot Comics #26

Fawcett[]

  • Master Comics #21
  • Spy Smasher #9
  • Wow #18

Fiction House[]

  • Rangers of Freedom Comics #5

Harvey[]

  • Green Hornet Comics #22-23
  • Speed Comics #31

Quality[]

  • Feature Comics #57, 59
  • Crack Comics #28
  • Military Comics #24

See Also[]

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