History
Tom Douglas was an idealistic young lawyer in Newton City who was promoted to district attorney on the orders of Tim Skelly, the boss of the town's political machine. Skelly believed Douglas would be an easily manipulated puppet, but Douglas soon proved a thorn in the side of Skelly's criminal ally, Heine Mayers. Afraid that their alliance would be uncovered, Skelly and Mayers had Douglas framed for murder of his political rival, Daniel Reardon, who was shot with Douglas's gun which was abandoned at the murder scene.
While stewing in his cell despondently, Douglas smoked a cigarette, and its smoke allowed the Vision to appear to him. The Vision offered his help to find justice, and Douglas told him of the two henchmen of Heinie Mayers he suspected were the real killers. Confronting them, the Vision soon learned the truth, resulting in a confrontation with the celebrating Mayers and Skelly that resulted in the crime boss's accidental death. Arrested for murdering Mayers, Skelly was thus unable to continue using his influence to get Douglas convicted. Freed when Mayers's killers confessed to the actual murder, Douglas was released from prison and reinstated, determined to see that Newton City had a new, honest administration.[1]