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Category: 1941

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 946: THE GHOUL

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 946: THE GHOUL

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(Silver Streak Comics 017, 1941) Here’s the thing about the Ghoul, aka “the Most Dangerous Madman of All Time”: he’s a stock character, the basic 1940s idea of the homicidal madman. He does have an obsession with collecting dead bodies as part of his attempts to restore the dead to life – hence the name – but he’s otherwise very regular. There are, however, several interesting things to note in the Ghoul’s appearance: First is the fact that the Daredevil’s initial…

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REAL PERSON ROUND-UP 022

REAL PERSON ROUND-UP 022

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What percentage of these people knew that they had ever been portrayed in a comic book, you reckon? Adolf Hitler: Hitler gets beaten up by the Silver Streak after he captures and attempts to kill Meteor. (Silver Streak Comics 016, 1941) A particularly parodic version of Hitler deploys a super weapon that is ultimately thwarted by Dickie Dean.  (Silver Streak Comics 017, 1941)  Charles Biro: Gangster Chick Biro almost gets killed by his boss the Domino but is saved when…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 945: DR DRACULA

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 945: DR DRACULA

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(Silver Streak Comics 017, 1941)  With Dr Dracula, Captain Battle has now faced four Nazi or Nazi-adjacent villains in a row whose plans involve gathering up a bunch of guys and pretending to be monsters, in this case vampires. Was there a meeting about this at the regional Nazi spy headquarters or is this one of those things like when Hollywood makes two volcano movies at the same time? Maybe one guy had a good idea and the other three…

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CATALOGUE OF WOUNDS 007

CATALOGUE OF WOUNDS 007

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The right shoulder: unsung victim of the comics pages.  Captain Battle:  Captain Battle gets a fashionable bullet-creased skull on the docks of San Francisco. (Captain Battle Comics 001, 1941)  the Cloak: Being shot in the left shoulder is the inciting incident that leads Jeff Cardiff to adopt the Cloak identity in the first place. (Big Shot Comics 015, 1941) the Face: Shot in the right shoulder (Big Shot Comics 011, 1941) Shot in the right shoulder again. (Big Shot Comics 018,…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 944: PROFESSOR MARKUSYI

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 944: PROFESSOR MARKUSYI

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(Silver Streak Comics 016, 1941) Professor Markusyi, the music teacher in question, is a man who is never seen at night and who *refuses* to go out at night, much to the amusement and consternation of those around him. There are plenty of reasons why one might not want to go out at night (nyctophobia, love of an early bedtime, a jealous spouse, etc) but only a few of them are worthy of being the focus of a comic book…

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FASCIST GOON CLEARING HOUSE 013

FASCIST GOON CLEARING HOUSE 013

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Another batch of dumb-dumbs for the fire. the Green Shirts: Though only mentioned by crooked political boss and aspiring fascist bigwig Pete Rosky, these Green Shirts are the same kind of palate-swap allusion to the Nazi Brownshirts and/or the Italian Blackshirts that we’ve seen so many times before. Their Rosky-led attempt to take over the US-government is nipped in the bud by the Human Meteor. (Champ Comics 012, 1941) Categorized in: Colours (Green), Ideology (Crypto-Fascists), Objects (Shirts) the Black Legion:…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 943: HERR DEATH

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 943: HERR DEATH

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(Silver Streak Comics 016, 1941) This issue continues the trend of Captain Battle foes being fascist spies who are weaponizing fear by dressing up as the undead. In this case Herr Death is, as the name implies, a desiccated corpse version of Death, accompanied by a horde of the walking dead (not, I must stress, zombies. This is more “the dead have come out of their graves” kind of thing which, yes, would be classified as zombie behaviour now but which…

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CATALOGUE OF WOUNDS 006

CATALOGUE OF WOUNDS 006

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Why of why do they keep on hurting our boys? Meteor: Silver Streak’s partner Meteor is shot in the back by a Nazi, but it’s okay: the bullet only “nicked” his back. (Silver Streak Comics 016, 1941) Electro: Professor Zog, the brains behind Electro, is shot in the left arm. (Marvel Mystery Comics 016, 1941) the Sandman: The Sandman has a very rough 1940, starting with a shot to the right shoulder… (Adventure Comics 047, 1940) … then a shot…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 942: THE SERPENT

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 942: THE SERPENT

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(Silver Streak Comics 015, 1941) The Serpent, a well-established and powerful crimelord, has been laying low due to the threat posed by the Daredevil, but all that is at an end now because as far as she can tell the Daredevil isn’t around any longer. She puts in a call to her men, and I really like the sequence that follows. Nothing can stop these guys from getting to work, not prison, not pool, not partying with babes. The Serpent’s…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 941: THE MUMMY MASTER

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 941: THE MUMMY MASTER

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(Silver Streak Comics 015, 1941) In a very comic book series of events, a rash of mummy thefts at the City Museum in NYC is followed by the emergence of a Nazi super-crook calling himself the Mummy Master. While my normal modus operandi is to lay out the story of the villains I cover in an abridged but linear fashion, here I must jump ahead to the reveal that the Mummy Master is in fact City Museum director Dr Kolb, because I…

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