leaving Mac embittered, vengeful and "indifferent to the threat of... death." Algernon Heathcote "Smitty" Smith ("Justice, Inc.") is a gigantic man (6' 9") of incredible strength. Smitty looks slow and stupid, but he is actually a genius with electronics. He was framed – and spent a year in jail – for a crime he did not commit, and initially attacked Benson, believing the Avenger was out to arrest him. Nellie Gray ("The Yellow Hoard"), "the Emma Peel of her day" is a beautiful, delicate-looking young woman who is actually an expert at jujutsu and other martial arts. Her archaeologist father was killed by criminals for the buried Aztec gold he had found. After his murder was solved by Benson's Justice Inc., the treasure "became the equivalent of Doc Savage's hoard of inexhaustible Mayan gold." Josh and Rosabel Newton ("The Sky Walker") are an African American couple whose employers were killed by criminals. They often go undercover as domestic servants, making use of the stereotypes of the time to hide their investigative abilities, in "an ironic comment on the image... in the films and fiction of the day." Both are graduates of the Tuskegee Institute (now University), and the couple have children later in the series. (The Avenger is notable for its presentation of minorities. While many of the pulp magazines of the time are well known for racist stereotypes, both Josh and Rosabel are always presented as brave, intelligent people of good character.) Cole Wilson joins the group near the middle of the series. He is much less distinctive than Benson's other assistants and has a light-hearted manner that contrasts the Avenger's serious tone, described as having "a streak of Robin Hood in him." Avenger novels and short stories The Avenger (1939–1942) Novels written by Paul Ernst and published in The Avenger magazine. The first thirteen stories are believed to have been published in the order in which they were written. After the considerable changes introduced in Murder on Wheels (Nov. 1940), three already-finished stories were reworked by Street & Smith's editors to match them to the new format. Since they were reworked, the stories nevertheless follow internal chronology as well as publication order. The first two volumes appeared monthly (with the exception of the twelfth issue), and featured covers by Harold Winfield Scott ("H.W. Scott"). Volumes III and IV (#'s 13 through 24) were covered in artwork by "Graves