MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 543: VLAMIR KORAN

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 543: VLAMIR KORAN

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(Smash Comics 001, 1939) Vlamir Koran, Argentinean Adolf Hitler pastiche in charge of Nazi pastiche the Black Spot, takes over the entirety of South America in about half a page, because the real action of the story is centred around his attempt to continue his conquering ways into the United States. Koran’s first couple of attempts to invade the US are stymied by technology and tactics, so he hires the “greatest of all spies”, Mata Hari pastiche Mara Hani, to…

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MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 013

MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 013

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More. MORE! Spiritman:  It’s impossible to say if Spiritman’s real name is Spirit Malcolm or if Spirit is just a nickname. The Golden Age is definitely a time in which nicknames are clearly signposted with quotation marks (including names like “Hank” half the time) but they’re also an age of inconsistent editorial standards. Let’s assume it is his given name, because then it’s another fun case of comic book nominative determinism. Spiritman is a scientific hero: armed with a Rayodine…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 542: THE HOODED RAVENS

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 542: THE HOODED RAVENS

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(Silver Streak Comics 001, 1939) Just a regular group of modern-day masked rustlers notable for two things: their better-than-average name and… … their insanely bad opsec. “Adventure-Hunter” Barry Lane waltzes into sight, makes up a fake toughguy name and backstory and before you can blink twice he has the entire lowdown on the gang’s operations and an invitation to join. And all this in a crowded bar. And the local sheriff had to specifically bring in help to hunt these…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 541: THE HOODED FIGURE

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 541: THE HOODED FIGURE

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(Silver Streak Comics 001, 1939) Simply a man who reacts to losing his pilot’s license in a very rational way: he sabotages planes at the local airfield and also booby traps all the parachutes so that they will strangle anyone that uses them. Upon being hunted down by two-fisted detective the Duke, the Hooded Figure makes the common mistake of trying to get away in a plane that he himself had already sabotaged. Ah, irony.

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 540: THE WILL-O-WISP

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 540: THE WILL-O-WISP

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(Silver Streak Comics 001, 1939) As we open, simply everyone’s worried about the Will-o-Wisp, a mysterious crook who shows up at crime scenes and steals what other crooks were about to make off with. The police chief looks bad because he can’t catch the Will-o-Wisp! The gangs are mad because they keep getting robbed by the Will-o-Wisp! The Will-o-Wisp’s big mistake comes when he butts in on the mugging of Neal Carruthers III, aka Mister Midnite, which of course arouses…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 539: THE CLAW

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 539: THE CLAW

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(Silver Streak Comics 001, 1939) The Claw is a character we will be returning to – he’s one of the most prominent Golden Age super-villains, after all – but this entry is concerned only with his first appearance in accordance with my new policy of approaching things as they come. And while the Claw who eventually battles super-heroes like the Ghost and Daredevil and massacres thousands in an attempt at world domination is a size-changing monster-man this first version reads…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 538: THE WHISP

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 538: THE WHISP

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(Funny Pages v3 008, 1939) There’s not much to the Whisp, which I suppose is appropriate. A bloodthirsty jewel thief, the Whisp makes off with some star sapphire bracelets and pulls a switcheroo by using a garage’s loaner car to make their initial getaway before swapping back to their own car for the long haul. The final trick is that the Whisp is not, in fact, a fresh-faced young man but a woman! And unlike some of our other cross-dressing…

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MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 012

MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 012

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They just keep on coming. the Champ: The Champ is Captain America if Dr Erskine was a nutritionist rather than a… biologist? Biochemist? Whatever Dr Erskine was a doctor of. A sickly, bullied boy, the Champ (no other name given) was so-called by his bullies because he won at nothing. Scientist Dr Marlin, pitying the Champ, provides him with an experimental food supplement that over a period of seven years transforms him into a physical and mental paragon, the Champ…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 537: THE SILVER FOX

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 537: THE SILVER FOX

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(Funny Pages v1 007, 1936) Dastardly desert bandit who bedevils scientist Fred Murray and his children Jimmie and Norrie as they search Egypt for the Sapphire Eye of Sehkmet. He’s a pretty basic type villain but I have some affection for these pulp-style fellows as we start to get away from them. Note also the all-purpose accent he’s sporting, which was definitely the go-to for Golden Age creators who didn’t know what, say, an Egyptian sounded like. As far as…

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NOTES – JUNE 2024

NOTES – JUNE 2024

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Memes of Yore – Sheep vs Cows:  It’s not at all surprising that there was conflict between sheep and cattle farmers in the Old West – human tribalism alone might have accounted for that without the sometimes conflicting needs of the two industries coming into play – but the insistence of early Western media that the cattlemen were RIGHT, DAMMIT and those dirty sheep farmers were nothing but a bunch of crooks suitable only for roles as sneaking villains is…

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