(Mystic Comics v1 003, 1940) The Hood is a dude in a sheet ghost costume who is seemingly the head of an extortion gang targeting bankers and ruthlessly killing any who defy him. And perhaps you’ve noted that “seemingly” and are wondering what it could mean. Well, This ruthless banker-murderer… is actually a banker! He’s Willard Thomas and his extortion scheme was a front for a murder scheme that would have left him, the last banker standing, holding the keys…
(Mystic Comics v1 003, 1940) Just a gang boss running an arson scheme, but a particularly ruthless one with a particularly great name. Having a cool name doesn’t help you when a couple of brothers rock up with their super-powered rubber robot. Still, the Iron Duke! What a name!
(Mystic Comics v1 003, 1940) It must be something of a point of pride for a super-hero to get to the point where they are effective enough that super-villains are being hired specifically to get rid of them, and that’s where the Star-Gazer comes in. A criminal astronomer and/or astrologer, the Star-Gazer is approached by crimelord Dr Gair to get rid of the pesky Blue Blaze. In fact, not only has the Blue Blaze reached “super-villain contract hit” levels, he…
(Big 3 004, 1941) In a change of pace from the usual heaping of honours on the various costumed do-gooders of comics we have here the Flame giving out an award called the “Flame Badge of Merit” to someone who helped out on a case. A fun twist!
(Mystic Comics v1 002, 1940) Barko is a mere extortionist who has blown up one mineshaft already and is heavily implying that another can be blown up if the mining concern doesn’t see clear to paying him off. Beyond that he is remarkable mostly for how seriously and thoroughly he responds to the appearance of the Blue Blaze on the scene: Boulder. Sniper rifle. Attack dogs. And finally dual-wielded freeze ray guns. All of this during the Blue Blaze’s short…
(Mystic Comics v1 002, 1940) Scourge of the year 2300, the Black Hawk and his Mercurian space pirates loot the spaceways of radioactive plinium in a bid to take over the entire Solar System. He’s also a pretty bad father, a fact that comes back to bite him (fatally) when his daughter Alyse teams up with the Space Rangers to take him down. Kids, amirite?
(Mystic Comics v1 001, 1940) King Bascom, the first foe faced by Dynamic Man, is nothing more than a grubby little capitalist pig. I almost forgot to write him and his land-grab scheme up due to disinterest. Trouble is, while King Bascom is utterly uninteresting he is cocooned in a dense shell of interesting things: his land grab is aided by a drought that he himself is causing using a rain-prevention machine, he has anti-Dymanic Man weaponry and a deathtrap…
(Mystic Comics v1 001, 1940) The Devil of the Deep AKA the Deep Sea Demon AKA the Water Ghost, like the Sea-Devil before him, is a fellow who dresses up in a modified diving suit in order to scare pearl divers away from a particular oyster bed. Unlike the Sea-Devil, the Devil of the Deep costume is quite elaborate and convincing – you can’t, for example, clearly see the breathing apparatus strapped to his back. He’s also gone for a…
(Mystic Comics v1 001, 1940) The Green Terror gets off on the right foot with me, let me tell you. Sure he’s a mysterious figure who sends goons out to kidnap healthy young New Yorkers for unknown but surely sinister purposes, but those goons are dressed in green costumes and drive around in a green car with a green smokescreen and if there’s one thing I love, my friend, it’s a villain who sticks to a theme. The Green Terror…
(Mystic Comics v1 001, 1940) Spencer Keen AKA the Blue Blaze is an interesting character. His origin for example has a couple of classic elements that were not yet classic at the time because it was 1940. Or rather it was 1852 because Spencer Keen is from the Past. Costume: like Barbara Gordon twenty-odd years later, the reason that the Blue Blaze has a super-suit ready to go is that he was on the way to a costume party when…