In 18th-century Ireland, Keith Everet, the Earl of Strethmere, is killed by footpads as he is on his way to propose to his beloved Deborah Wallace.

Everet's spirit haunts his castle until 1941, when the last remaining descendant of Deborah Wallace, who shares her name, returns to Ireland together with Charles Collins, her would-be fiance.

[4] According to Jess Nevins' Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes, the Gay Ghost's enemies include "the Nazi mad scientist Dr. Vozak, the one-armed, torch-handed Flaming Hand, the heat-ray-wielding Japanese spy Togio, and the immortal Mexican El Espada".

[4] Grant Morrison's run on Animal Man conjectures that all characters which were once published by DC Comics but are no longer active are sent to a dimension called "Limbo", where they remain until they are revived by returning to active publication.

In Animal Man #25, Animal Man becomes the first character to visit Limbo while still "current" and encounters a large number of old Golden Age and Silver Age DC comic book characters.