In keeping with what seems to be a recurring theme in comic history, Pruneface emerges as one of the deeply scarred (literally) villains. In a sea of relatively faceless goons, Dick Tracy's Pruneface emerged as one of the most memorable and thus warranted a significant amount of back story.

Since his debut in 1942 closely coincided with World War II, Pruneface was conveniently developed as a spy, saboteur and leader for the Nazi cause. An employee of the notorious mobster Big Boy, he soon proved himself to be a master henchman.

Alas, his reign at the top of the crime pyramid was to be (seemingly) shortlived, as readers were led to believe that he died just one year after his introduction into the series. After being captured by Dick Tracy, Pruneface appeared to have frozen to death in a blizzard.

Mourning the loss of her hideously sun-singed husband, Mrs. Pruneface was introduced in 1943 as a ruthless, noseless Amazon shrew who vowed to avenge Pruneface at the expense of Tracy.

Though she never quite succeeded at killing the private eye, she proved quite the harrowing and formidable opponent for the detective. In one especially intense scene, she captures Tracy, ties him up and drives a spike through his chest.

But enough about withered, wretched witches.

After years of silence, Pruneface was revived by writer Max Collins in the 1980s. He even appeared in the 1990 feature film, Dick Tracy, starring alongside Warren Beatty. Pruneface remains among the most visually startling villains in comic history.

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