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Category: 1941

GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 034

GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 034

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Since we’re currently reading Whiz Comics for 1941, it’s time yet again for another load of unscrupulous people to get their hands on the Ibistick and then kill themselves with it. And here they are: the Widow Zorn: Ibis lends the Ibistick to old Professor Grubb  for scientific study after Grubb finds it outside of an exploded building and uses its magic to restore the building and everyone inside – which included both Ibis and Taia, along with their their young ward…

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SUPER-HERO 001 UPDATE: CAPTAIN MARVEL (1941)

SUPER-HERO 001 UPDATE: CAPTAIN MARVEL (1941)

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Just a few notes on developments in the character of Captain Marvel in 1941:  In Whiz Comics 014, Captain Marvel contends with a Dr Sivana who has worked out a mathematical formula for passing through solid matter, and thanks to the Wisdom of Solomon is able to replicate this feat. Even more remarkably this power turns up again in Whiz Comics 016 after Captain Marvel is sealed up in a pit by Smasher Spy. It’s virtually unprecedented to see something like this crop up…

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MEMES OF YORE: GE-SPEAK

MEMES OF YORE: GE-SPEAK

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Here’s an obscure one that I have only encountered in early Golden Age comics: the German or pseudo-German accent that includes a prominent use of the prefix “ge-” as a word modifier, in the same way that a bad French accent might append “la” or a bad Russian accent might add “-ski” to the end of words. How widespread was this? Did it exist outside of comics? No clue. How widespread was it within comics? That we can attempt to solve by…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 909: THE SPIDER

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 909: THE SPIDER

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(Whiz Comics 022, 1941) In what turns out to be Dan Dare’s final recorded case, he is asked to protect a man named Dr Phoebus Weber from being murdered by a mysterious figure known only as the Spider. Upon entering Weber’s home, Dan and Carol are almost immediately attacked by the Spider, who I have to give partial credit to for the costume. Sure it appears to have a more beetle-like body plan and the head of a mosquito, but…

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DIVINE ROUND-UP 026

DIVINE ROUND-UP 026

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I’ve finally caught up on my god backlog so these are all piping fresh deities for you to peruse. Itzalotahui: On an expedition to Guatemala to locate their missing friend John Malcolm, Billy Batson and Whitey Murphy make camp in the lost temple of the monkey god Itzalotahui and are awoken from their slumber by the god himself, flaming and steaming and flailing about. After an initial panic and an in-retrospect-embarassing fistfight, Captain Marvel discovers the truth: Itzalotahui is not…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 908: THE RATTLER

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 908: THE RATTLER

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(Whiz Comics 022, 1941) As we join the action, a passing stranger informs us and also Golden Arrow that the Rattler has broken jail! And he’s handing out calling cards!  Turns out that the Rattler, notorious outlaw of the West, is out to get the men who served on the jury at his trial (and, we must assume, the judge and prosecutor as well), and he’s being impressively proactive about it: the above scene takes place the morning after he breaks jail…

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DIVINE ROUND-UP 025

DIVINE ROUND-UP 025

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Gods gods gods.  Puni, God of Fire:  Sea-faring adventurer Lance O’Casey almost gets sacrificed to this fire god by the cannibalistic inhabitants of a tropical Antarctic island before escaping, entering the volcano in question and meeting the other Puni. Not sure how much the volcano-dwelling madman and the actual religion influenced each other, but it must have been at least a little. Also: cool idol. God Style: Idol (Whiz Comics 019, 1941)  the War God: This War God idol functions like one…

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NOTES – JANUARY 2026

NOTES – JANUARY 2026

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Honours:  Aviator Cloud Curtis and his pals are personally thanked by FDR for stopping a spy plot against the US. (Silver Streak Comics 007, 1941)  Decorations:  Check out Presto Martin’s portrait of Silver Streak and Whiz! (Silver Streak Comics 011, 1941) 

GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 033

GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 033

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Just another buncha jerks. John Elton:  This fellow brings us right back to the roots of the Generic Costumed Villain Round-Up, being a businessman who puts on a mask to run a gang and kill off the other officers of his company so that he can buy up all their shares and make a fortune. Plus, his name is John Elton, which doesn’t mean anything but is still a fun coincidence. Dan Dare gets ‘im. (Whiz Comics 016, 1941) the…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 907: HALF-MAN

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 907: HALF-MAN

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(Whiz Comics 021, 1941) Due to Allied concerns about the Nazis generic Axis use of black magic to ensure victory, Ibis the Invincible is recruited and sent to the front as a counter-sorcerer. His foe: the mysterious Half-Man, occultist and rumoured worshipper of an ancient evil god called the Dark Spirit. The Half-Man served with distinction in WWI, until an artillery shell cost him a leg, an arm and an eye and he was no longer able to lead troops…

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