The Circus of Crime is a travelling band of circus performers formerly led by Maynard Tiboldt, better known as the Ringmaster.

The Circus of Crime was originally Tiboldt's Circus, a small Austrain traveling circus managed for generations by members of the Tiboldt family. In the 1930's, Fritz Tiboldt, then the manager and ringmaster of the circus, became active in Nazi party activities. After World War II began, he was asked by German intelligence to take his circus to America, supposedly just to give performances in major cities, but actually in order to use the talents of the Nazi sympathizers among his performers to murder high government officials. However, Tiboldt, who came to be known as the "Ringmaster of Death," was captured by Captain America and both Tiboldt and the members of his circus who had aided him in his subversive activities were deported. Fritz Tiboldt and his wife Lola continued to manage Tiboldt's Circus after the war. Eventually, Fritz and Lola were murdered by Nazis and their son Maynard succeeded as leader and ringmaster, moving the circus to America-- far from the scene of Hitler and his parents' deaths.

But once in America, Tiboldt's Circus proved incapable of competing successfully with larger American circuses. Blaming Americans not only for ignoring his circus, but also for his father's humiliating capture and thus eventual death, Tiboldt decided to turn to crime. Tiboldt outlined his plans to the members of his troupe, a number of whom had accompanied him from Europe, and although a good percentage of the troupe quit, a surprising number of the circus members eagerly agreed to join Tiboldt in this new direction, becoming the first members of the Circus of Crime.

The Circus of Crime's usual modus operandi is the following: They will give a performance before a large audience. At some point, the Ringmaster will use the powerful hypnotic device concealed in his hat to put the audience into a trance. The Circus members then rob the audience, who remember nothing about the thefts when the Ringmaster releases them from the trance and the performance continues. The Circus of Crime performs under different names so that audiences will no suspect they are the Circus of Crime.

Over the years, the membership of the Circus of Crime has varied, although there is a core group that has participated in most of its criminal ventures. The Ringmaster and his accomplices have been imprisoned by the law numerous times, but rarely for long, given the difficulties of proving the charges against them, since their victims usually have no memory of being robbed by them.

Occasionally, the Circus of Crime has operated without the Ringmaster, either because he is in prison, or because some have become dissatisfied with his leadership. Currently, for example, the Ringmaster is estranged from the Circus. In fact, he recently hypnotized the Hulk's alter ego, Bruce

Banner, to attack the Circus in Las Vegas, where they were operating from the Three Rings Casino, a legitimate front for their base of operations. The Circus managed to capture the Hulk and began to ran a book on him, when he managed to escape, wrecking the casino and landing the Circus in jail once again.

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Blackwing (Joseph Manfredi, alias Joe Silvermane; Maggia thug and costumed criminal)
The son of Maggia family leader Silvio "Silverman" Manfredi, Joseph joined the Circus of Crime in the guise of Blackwing while he and his father were secretly associated with the worldwide terrorist organization HYDRA. so that they might observe the Circus' criminal activities. HYDRA scientists orginally supplied Manfredi with special devices which enabled him to control bats, and he used bats to steal for the circus and employed bat-motif weapons. With the dissolution of the Silverman Maggia family, Manfredi embarked on a solo criminal career as Blackwing, but often joined other supervillains, namely the lackeys of criminal industrialist Justin Hammer and the Crimson Cowl's most recent team of Masters of Evil.

Bruto the Strongman (Bruce "Bruto" Olafsen, costumed villain, criminal) Bruto was a weightlifter born in Sweden who turned circus performer and emigrated with Tiboldt's Circus to become an American citizen. He joined the Ringmaster in forming the Circus of Crime and has been with the Circus ever since. Bruto has no superhuman powers, but relies on his naturally developed strength.

Clown (Eliot "Crafty" Frank, costumed villain, criminal) Frank, the son of Corky the Clown, was an American circus performer when he joined the Ringmaster in forming the Circus of Crime. Frank has been with the Circus ever since. Occaisionally, Frank would pursue other criminal endeavors outside the Circus, and once even attempted to have the Circus of Crime captured by the law. However, he often returned to the Circus simply because he felt he had nowhere else to go. The Clown currently leads the Circus in the Ringmaster's absence, a job which he held in previous times under similar circumstances. The Clown possesses no superhuman powers, but often uses his clown paraphenalia in attacking his victims, such as using his juggling balls and trick canes.

Fire-eater (Tomas Ramirez, costumed villian, criminal) Ramirez was a circus performer from Spain who emigrated with Tiboldt's Circus to become an American citizen. He joined the Ringmaster in forming the Circus of Crime and has been with the Circus ever since. Ramirez has no superhuman powers, but has developed a low resistence to flame. He also created "Inferno Discs" which, when placed in his mouth, allow him to release a stream of fire.

Flying Gambonnos (Ernesto and Luigi Gambonno, costumed villians, criminals)
The Gambonnos, identical twins, were acrobats and cat burglars from Italy who emigrated with Tiboldt's Circus to become an American citizens. They joined the Ringmaster in forming the Circus of Crime and have been with the Circus ever since.

The Gambonnos do not possess any superhuman powers, but rely on their natural agility and skill acrobatics. When fighting opponents, they fight in tandem and often use each other as a weapon.

Human Cannonball (Jack Pulver, costumed villian, criminal)
Pulver was an acrobat/circus performer who joined the Ringmaster in forming the Circus of Crime and has been with the Circus ever since.

Pulver has no superhuman powers, but relies on his natural agility. He wears padded armor with his costume and uses a trailer-mounted air cannon to fire himself at his victims or into the scene of a crime, such as onto high buildings. Occaisionally, he uses a mace to swing at opponents as he flies at them.

Live Wire (Rance Preston, weapons specialist, criminal) Preston, was a cowboy and rodeo roper when he joined the Ringmaster in forming the Circus of Crime. Preston has been with the Circus ever since. At one point, Preston was the lackey of the villainous alien, the Psycho-Man.. Preston possesses no superhuman abilities, but relies on his skill with a lariat. He uses an electrified cable as a weapon, stunning the victims he lassoes.

Rajah (Kabir Mahadevu, costumed villian, criminal)
Mahadevu was an elephant trainer from India who first performed with the Circus of Crime during a stay of theirs in Europe, and recently rejoined them in the United States.

Mahadevu has no superhuman powers, but uses his trained elephants in commiting crimes and attacking his victims.

Ringmaster (Maynard Tiboldt; leader of the Circus of Crime) For generations, the Tiboldt family has run a small travelling circus in Austria. During the 1930s, Franz Ti-boldt became more ambitious and turned his circus into a front for crimi-hal activities. During World War II, he was directed by Hitler to travel the U.S. to recruit people for the Maggia and to murder U.S. government offi-ciaIs. These activities were eventually foiled by Captain America, and Tiboldt and his circus was deported. After the war, Tiboldt and his wife Lola cooperated with the Allied offi-ciaIs by testifying against various war criminals. Fritz and Lola Tiboldt continued to manage Tiboldt's circus, and brought up their only child, Maynard, to become its ringmaster some day. Maynard, a born showman, developed a deep and sincere love for the circus, and proved to be a master at staging performances. Eventually Fritz Tiboldt and his wife were murdered by Nazis who had escaped capture at the war's end who were seeking retribution for their testimony against Nazi leaders. Maynard, who did not share his parents' sympathy for Nazism, became leader of the circus and decided to move it to America, far from the scene of Hitler's rise to power and his parents' death. There, Maynard planned to build a new, honest life. But once in America, Maynard found that he could not compete against enormous troupes such as the circus owned by Amos Jardine (see Nightcrawler). Tiboldt had dreamed of making his circus a major success, but instead he could barely cover his expenses. Blaming Americans for the failure of his circus, and for his parents' humiliating capture, Tiboldt decided to turn to crime; if Americans would not enrich him and his performers willingly, they would be forced to do so. The key lay in the plans of the "Nulla-tron," a device designed by unknown scientists in Nazi Germany. The Red Skull murdered these scientists and then used the device to enslave several superheroes during the war. Somehow Fritz Tiboldt had acquired the plans of the Nullatron during the war; Maynard inherited these from, him and decided to put its principles to his own uses. Using his own talent for electronics, Tiboldt adapted the Nullatron plans so as to construct a small but powerful device, which he could hide in his large ringmaster's hat and use to mesmerize an enormous crowd all at once. Tiboldt then formed the Circus of Crime out of the members of the circus troupe that agreed to join him in criminal activities, hypnotizing those who wouldn't join so they forgot about his illegal proposal. The Circus of Crime have met with mixed success, with many of their actions being foiled by superheroes such as Daredevil and Spider-Man. Nonetheless, because most of his victims have been hypnotized, few charges against him or his troupe have stuck. The Ringmaster possesses no superhuman powers, but relies on hi-tech equipment disguised in his hat to hypnotize his victims. He can affect all individuals in a large range at least as large as Madison Square Garden.

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Teena the Fat Lady (Tina, full name unknown, costumed villain, criminal)
Tina was an American sideshow performer who joined the Ringmaster in forming the Circus of Crime. She breifly left the Circus in the hope of marrying and raising a family, but has recently returned to it and has been with the Circus ever since.

Tina has no superhuman powers, but is more agile than she seems and can use her vast bulk as a weapon against opponents.

Princess Python
(See individual entry)

Professor (real name unknown, make-up artist)
It is unknown at what point the Professor joined the Circus of Crime. Presumably, he has been with the Circus ever since.

The Professor has no superhuman powers.

OTHER MEMBERS:

• The Circus has had many other members, such as would be in any circus-- more clowns, a bearded lady, little people, a skinny "human skeleton," etc. All of which remain unnamed, but presumably are criminals or know about the Ringmaster's plans.
• She-Hulk was hypnotized by the Ringmaster to work for them for a short while as "Glamazonia: the strongest woman alive."
• the Hulk did work for the Circus on his own volition, as a strongman. He was annoyed when the Ringmaster hypnotised the audience and the crowd froze; he didn't understand why they were no longer applauding.