MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 574: DUKE DAROLDI

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 574: DUKE DAROLDI

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(Champion Comics 007, 1940)  Someone is kidnapping foreign dignitaries and then hanging their skeletons in public spaces! Weird! Sinister! Diplomatically complicated! The culprit turns out to be gang boss Duke Daroldi, who is killing the diplomats as part of an attempt to involve the US in WWII and then step in and take over once the combatants are all sufficiently weakened. This is a stunningly hubristic plan, especially considering the maybe five other guys in Daroldi’s gang. I assume that…

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MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 018

MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 018

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More of these guys and their antics. Johnny Fox: Johnny Fox is a guy* from the Florida Everglades who visits his grandfather one day to find him the victim of a treacherous murder. And what’s worse, the murderer, one Peter Pokane, did so in order to steal a supply of “sun-shots”, i.e., invisibility pills. *and by “guy” I mean “Native American guy of the Seminole Tribe of Florida” but it’s a tricky thing to work into a concise sentence. Also…

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MAD AND CRIMINAL SCIENTIST ROUND-UP 009

MAD AND CRIMINAL SCIENTIST ROUND-UP 009

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You know how it is with these guys. Their science is mad and/or criminal! Felix Zurich, lab assistant to Professor Trent, has hidden the professor away in a castle improbably located in the middle of the jungle in Africa, all so that Zurich can force him to perfect his invention of the ever-popular engine-killing ray. This is a Blackstone the Magician story so of course Zurich is also an accomplished stage magician and there is a pivotal duel of illusions….

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 573: THE OWL

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 573: THE OWL

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(Champion Comics 005, 1940) Journalist Penny Wright is on the trail of a notorious spy named the Owl! While I am of course broadly anti-spoilers I will give you a hint to the Owl’s identity: there are four named characters in this comic and poor Hafiz Bey is murdered on the first page. Setting aside the compelling and difficult mystery of the Owl’s identity for a moment, we must consider the very concept of the notorious spy known for their…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 572: JULES CARTIER

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 572: JULES CARTIER

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(Champion Comics 005, 1940) “Revenge of the Zombies” is a feature that ran in Champion Comics from issues 003-005 and reads kind like it was written in a free-jazz fugue state, like once the 10-12 characters were introduced by issue 003, page 2, events just proceeded on their own with no real input from the writer. A huge cast gathers at the home of Dr Karl Hartmann in Haiti for no reason that is ever given. Various people are kidnapped….

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 571: THE YELLOW SPIDER

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 571: THE YELLOW SPIDER

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(Champion Comics 004, 1940) Champion Comics 003 featured the murder of the Champ’s mentor Dr Marlin and at the conclusion of that adventure the blame for Marlin’s death seemed to rest squarely on the shoulders of his assistant Dr Katsu. Champion Comics 004, however, introduces a further development: Katsu was in fact working for a greater mastermind, the Yellow Spider! (and here I’m going to contrast my usual delight at a villainous note signed with a little cartoon with my…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 570: OO-LHAT

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 570: OO-LHAT

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(Champion Comics 003, 1940) There’s a lot to like about ol’ Oo-Lhat. He appears in a gross-sounding mist after explorer Walt Worthington and his aide Snowball (did you know that there was a whole category of racist nicknames for African American characters that has largely been forgotten and that involves naming them after something very black or very white? Well now you do) discover a lost Egyptian tomb containing a blazing scarab (the gem cut, not the insect) that drew…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 569: NEPTINA

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 569: NEPTINA

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(Champion Comics 002, 1939)  I can’t say for sure that whoever created Neptina sat down and said “I will make a lady version of Namor the Sub-Mariner” but it’s at least plausible. Neptina is the ruler of the undersea kingdom of Amloza, and has designs on a total conquest of the surface world as well as the depths. Neptina is, like Namor, a horny character. She captures US Navy Lieutenant Brad Fletcher early in her series and spends a considerable…

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MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 017

MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 017

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Another fresh hot basket of also-rans, just for you. the Mask: Scoop Cody, society reporter, is secretly vigilante crimefighter the Mask. He’s not terrific at concealing this fact – both love interest Elaine and villain Carlos figure it out during the course of the one extant Mask story – but he gets the job done. Of mild interest is that Scoop Cody is also the name of the Marvel’s reporter pal. (Star Comics v1 013, 1938*) the Phantom Rider:  The…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 568: THE GORGON

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 568: THE GORGON

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(The Comics 002, 1937) The Gorgon is not the most spectacular villain but does provide us with a couple of interesting contrasts to our last few entries. Firstly, we can contrast him with the Masked Czar and note how his lack of major identifying features enhances the anonymity afforded by a simple black mask. I assume that he was called the Gorgon because “anyone who has seen his face is now dead” but it would have been nice to have…

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