The Candle

The Candle was a supervillain in the 1960s and the archnemesis of Middleman Guy Goddard.

Rise and Supervillain Days
Before becoming a supervillain, The Candle was Professor Lloyd Cramden, Ph.D. His family died in a freak ice-rink meltdown and, grief-stricken, Cramden vowed to devise a weapon that would subject the entire world to his private pain. When he completed a melting ray, The Candle was born.

The Candle and Guy Goddard had numerous encounters through the 1960s, most of them ending with Goddard shutting down the Candle's melting ray at the last minute. The Candle contacted fences in code through the Thrifty Nickel, using them to secure supplies of Balthorium G.

Toward the end of his supervillain career, the Candle grew exasperated with the Middleman constantly defeating him by shutting down his melting rays, and built one at his hideout on Snake Island without an "Off" switch. Before he had a chance to deploy it, however, he faked his death.

Redemption
Either after faking his death, or causing him to fake his death, the Candle came to believe in Jesus and renounced his supervillain ways. Assuming the identity of "Mr. McCandle", he moved to a quiet neighborhood and became a kind, unassuming man. He befriended a boy next door, whose father had died of cancer, and would often help the boy and his mother by doing maintenance around their house.

The Candle is known to have had at least one granddaughter; it is unclear if he started a second family following his redemption, or if his children from his first marriage had children of their own before their untimely ice-rink deaths.

The Candle died some time before the events of "The Obsolescent Cryogenic Meltdown". The evidence of his total redemption was plain to see; his funeral was "packed with friends and family", hundreds of mourners lined up to honor a man who had done them only good. His granddaughter recited a poem she had written as a eulogy.

Legacy
The Candle left to his neighbor instructions on how to find his melting ray, hoping the boy would donate it to science so someone could find a way to use it for good. Instead, the boy went on a crime spree before being apprehended by the Middleman and Guy Goddard.

Appearance
While acting as a supervillain, the Candle wore a black overcoat, with a red scarf, and had blond or white hair. He was described as "looking like Andy Warhol".