Religion: religious 
Name: unnamed messenger
Classification:
supporting character
Publisher(s): 
First Appearance: Action Comics (vol. 1) #17 (Oct. 1939): "The Return of the Ultra-Humanite"
Creators: Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster
Number of Appearances: 1
Enemy of: The Ultra-Humanite
Employer: Deering Lines
Ally: Superman
Occupation: messenger
Gender: male
An unnamed messenger was assigned by the general manager of Deering Lines to take "protection" money to the racketeer who was blackmailing his company. The amount was $5,000,000, which the general manager felt he had to pay lest the racketeer's gang sabotage yet another of their ships. (Four had been destroyed thus far.)
Superman tailed the messenger to the hideout of the racketeering gang. There Superman was able to break up the gang and recover the "protection" money. But the mastermind, the Ultra-Humanite, eluded capture.
The messenger is very fortunate that Superman was on the case, because after he turned over the money the Ultra-Humanite, the villain ordered his henchmen to kill him.
Superman left the scene with the henchmen all disarmed and the messenger himself holding them at gunpoint. Superman told the messenger, "See that they get turned over to the authorities!"
It is not entirely clear that the messenger was a Deering Lines employee or a private courier hired by the company's general manager. It would seem strange for the general manager of the company to entrust such a large amount in cash to an entirely unknown person. The general manager specifically told the messenger that the suitcase contained the proection money, so the messenger was apparently aware of the racketeering scheme the company was being victimized with. Nothing was really revealed about the messenger's background or his beliefs, but he was evidently a very honorable man. He didn't try to slip away with what he knew was a fortune in cash. Instead he risked his life for his employer.
Action Comics (vol. 1) #17 (Oct. 1939): "The Return of the Ultra-Humanite" (3-panel cameo)
Suggested links for further research about this character and the character's religious affiliation:
- http://comicbookdb.com/issue.php?ID=60127
- https://www.comics.org/issue/526/