It’s a dangerous ol’ job, heroing. Thus, the Catalogue of Wounds! Green Lantern: While tied up in a burning house, Green Lantern must thrust his hands into the flames to escape. (All American Comics 031, 1941) Hawkgirl: Hawkgirl is shot in the back by an agent of Mister X while acting as a Hawkman decoy on her very first outing in costume (All-Star Comics 005, 1941) Hawkman: Shot in the left shoulder by Alexander the Great. (Flash Comics 002, 1940)…
(Champion Comics 003, 1940/ Champ Comics 011, 1940) Half sister to the mercurial undersea tyrant Neptina, Mhersa originally appears as the head of the Maella, a rebel group comprised of female members of the same race of underwater beings as Neptina (I’m not going into that again). Mhersa and the Maella are isolationist but reasonable compared to Neptina’s capricious ways. (Champion Comics 003, 1940) The Maella help Lt Brad Fletcher off and on during his conflict with Neptina, but Mhersa’s…
I know we’re all tired of fascist, but these are fake, historical fascists who get beat up, so it’s cathartic at least. the Blitzys: The Blitzys, aka the Yellowshirts, have a never-clearly-articulated plan to divide American society by beating people up for not joining the Army. I assume that there must be more to it than that but the focus of the adventure is not on Spy Smasher beating up these particular fascists (though beat them he does) but in…
(Cat-Man Comics 005, 1941) There are three remarkable things about the story of the Werewolf. The first is that it finally establishes that the city that the Pied Piper operates out of has a name and that it is Central City – this both a nice thing to have cleared up and a fun coincidence, given that the other comic book Pied Piper, the Flash villain, also lives in a place with that name. The second thing is just how clearly and…
Costume Materials: The Daredevil’s mask is made out of rubber. (Silver Streak Comics 017, 1941) Cops Shooting at Fleeing Suspects: The NYPD attempts to gun down Nightro (and his dog!) for fleeing the scene of a suicide. (Daredevil Comics 003, 1941) Honours – Dash Dillon: University sports hero Dash Dillon captures a U-Boat off the coast of Connecticut and receives a whole host of awards. (Daredevil Comics 004, 1941)
Perhaps we should make ethics a mandatory subject for the sciences again. Kruger: While tooling around in the desert one day, Diamond Jack encounters a young woman named Ruth West, whose physician brother has been captured by the diabolical scientist Kruger and taken to Terror Valley in order to help in Kruger’s work turning men into hybrid creatures called Vulture Men, with the ultimate goal of using them to take over the world. If that plot sounds at all familiar,…
(Cat-Man Comics 004, 1941) The district attorney of Central City, the NYC clone that the Pied Piper inhabits, has been murdered by what the authorities can only conceive of as a beast! The city is in a real tizzy, especially once Police Commissioner Gurry receives a note informing him that he will be the next victim (and the cute little signature on this note is why I am calling this villain the Black Panther when it is not used elsewhere…
Yet more super-heroes for your delectation. the Black Widow: There are a lot of Black Widows in comics, but Linda Masters is the first one who I have encountered who is actually a widow and not just a woman named after a spider as a way of emphasizing how creepy-deadly she is. And since her husband was Murdered by a Crimeâ„¢, she expresses her grief by becoming a crimefighter. We don’t see a lot of the Black Widow’s modus operandi during her…
Just which comic book character has taken the most punishment down through the years? join me as we compile the definitive guide to bodily trauma in the super class. Blackhawk: Blackhawk must set off an explosion from closer-than-optimal range and ends up getting lightly shredded. (Military Comics 003, 1941) Blackhawk’s next two adventures feature him getting whipped badly enough to mark up his torso, by the Black Tigress and the Scavengers, respectively. (Military Comics 004 & 005, 1941) Blackhawks: Blackhawk…
(Cat-Man Comics 004, 1941) The Upper New York Castle District appears to also exist in the Temerson/Helnit universe, because when NYC-based vigilante the Ragman is hired to investigate a supposed haunting at a place called Glascow Castle he hops in his car and drives there. Glascow Castle’s owner, Sir Wilkens Sidney, claims to have seen the ghost of 18th Century murder victim Duke Edgeroy wandering the halls of his home and believes that the Ragman is the man to get…