![](\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEh4pWko8I4nREnd6Imz9k_d9UYyFPgPGRXv_zFMJybf4qk9fEvdupk_fSCEuZXDCqgt9GpcMU262Mmql_ATiMY04WawM6S_HOVz5s02sydw9E_LjPtgSSHKKJY3ZzCa_yLFkZC24iWoYBWFuwyPdjHoBcOm4bHesBBTuraF1AKVp9ZccXcNGkn3DjgZOQ\/w640-h306\/215a.%20the%20three%20devils%20detective%20050%201941.JPG\" "\\"the")
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The Three Devils are an early example of a fairly common minor super-villain archetype: the acrobat who turns their skill to criminal ends (and of course this is a subset of “circus folk who use their talents for crime” which itself is a subset of “talented professional turns their talent to crime” and then I guess above that is “criminals”). <\/p>\n
I don’t think I’m going to bother calling it out every time it happens but they also appear in an early example of what will eventually be a staple of Batman story structure through the 60s, told in three acts:<\/p>\n
Act I: the villain’s novel methods allow them to triumph over Batman and Robin and get away with their goal – a lot of stories following this structure take place after the Comics Code, so usually this is a theft of some kind.<\/p>\n
Act II: Batman and Robin foil the villain’s scheme but they still get away.<\/p>\n
Act III: the villain is captured while attempting to achieve their goal.<\/p>\n
In this case, the Three Devils are flung to their deaths from a clock tower rather than being captured but like I said, it’s an early iteration of the format. It’s also a format that I noticed while reading Silver Age Batman stories, so it’ll be interesting to take note of how it develops and how much it is reflected in other super-hero comics of the time.<\/p>\n
The other <\/i>interesting thing about the Three Devils is that despite falling to their deaths in 1941 they return in Batman Comics <\/i>v1 107 in 1957 as the Daredevils:<\/p>\n