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Category: 1941

GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 036

GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 036

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Every one of them a disappointment to their parents.  Mr Axis:  He may just be a regular Nazi spy* lurking around Washington DC and disrupting trade deals between the US and the rubber-rich nation of Rumbia, but his name is Mr Axis! Such a perfect name for a fascist super-villain and yet one that seemingly was only used once**. Patriotic super-hero Miss Victory really puts the boots to him in her debut adventure. (Captain Fearless Comics 001, 1941) * Technically…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 916: THE STINGER

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 916: THE STINGER

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(Cat-Man Comics 003, 1941) The Stinger is in most respects an extremely generic masked gang boss of the kind that we have seen so frequently before, right down to the fact that he is wearing one of those hanging cloth face masks, an item only worn by generic masked gang bosses of the 1940s. The real difference between all those other guys and the Stinger is that the Stinger’s very first move was to send out some goons to ambush and murder local…

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MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 075

MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 075

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Every hero comes with a free sidekick!  the Deacon: An otherwise unnamed man headquartered in the disused Marshlands Church that is located in a kind of liminal space just outside of several urban areas (including but not limited to: Coast Town, Midland City and Central City), the Deacon was himself once a young criminal mastermind. Two years after his original gang is rounded up by the police, the future Deacon is still on the wrong side of the law as…

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ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 025

ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 025

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We got Fish-Men, we got Fishmen, we got other kinds of men. Fishmen: Adventurer Lance Rand has acquired a map showing the location of the sunken continent of Atlantis and so naturally he sets out to see if it’s accurate and more importantly to find out if there’s any ancient Atlantean treasure there for him to loot. Making his way to the ocean floor, Lance and his pal Tubby are almost immediately accosted by a Fishman riding on a sea…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 915: THE BAT

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 915: THE BAT

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(Cat-Man Comics 002, 1941) While rescuing the inhabitants of the mining town of Red Creek from the forest fire that threatens their town, Flying Legion leader Chute Harmon learns that the fire might in fact have been deliberately set and that the arsonist might be nearby. Donning his Asbestium suit, he sets off to investigate and soon finds himself in a confrontation with a masked man who calls himself the Bat. The Bat has a very succinct five-panel appearance, which…

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MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 074

MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 074

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Some more of those “minor super-heroes” you like so much.  the Cat-Man **Update**: Hey, it’s the Cat-Man! As you may or may not recall, the Cat Man (sans hyphen) debuted in Crash Comics Adventures in 1940 and was the only survivor of that comics short run. The most obvious change to his character is his costume, which goes from its former jungle chic look through a blue-and-orange phase  before settling on the orange-and-darker orange look that he will stick with for the…

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GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 035

GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 035

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Not every villain is super and they must learn to accept that. Miguel Greeze:  He may just be a regular style crooked gambler looking to murder Golden Arrow in order to win a bet, but Miguel Greeze here is decked out in too good a costume to just ignore. Plus it’s impressive that he can make his legs go like that. (Whiz Comics 023, 1941) Konrad Schtienker:  Fascist assassin Konrad Schtienker is all-in on a tobacco product theme: he uses…

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CATALOGUE OF WOUNDS 001

CATALOGUE OF WOUNDS 001

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Among the many things that I have found interesting enough to keep track of over the years is just how many times super-heroes get wounded while going about their business. What does a shoulder look like after it’s been shot a dozen times, for example? If I had been really on the ball I would have also been noting every time someone was knocked out with a blow to the head as well, but we can’t all be perfect. Full catalogue here,…

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MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 073

MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 073

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It’s a fine day for a dose of minor super-heroes.  Alias X:  Alias, aka just X, is a mysterious master of disguise who has been cleaning up crime in NYC for the better part of a year and who, as of his first appearance, has now deigned to tell his origin story to Police Commissioner Malley and newspaper editor Hunch Armstrong. Turns out that X was a small-town taxi company owner who was railroaded and sent to prison for a…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 914: THE BRIDGE-DESTROYERS

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 914: THE BRIDGE-DESTROYERS

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(Cat-Man Comics 001, 1941) Some villains are puzzles, high-concept enigmas whose motivations and goals are a mystery that must be solved to understand them. The Bridge-Destroyers are not that. They are exactly what their name declares them to be: a couple of guys in a tower who destroy bridges using a long-range heat-ray cannon. But why the Bridge-Destroyers destroy bridges, that must be a mystery, yes? Perhaps it is, but the authorities are pretty certain that they are working for “some foreign…

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