(Batman Comics 005, 1941) A while ago I decided that groups were going to go into my lists (and charts and graphs) of super-villains. After all, if I was willing to accord one fellow who went around as the Masked Bandit, why should I spurn four guys who do exactly the same, only pluralized? Accordingly, masked gangs get as much credit as masked crooks, if they fulfil enough other criteria. The Four Cards, however, introduce a new wrinkle. Simply put: if…
(All-Star Comics 005, 1941) Mister X is another team comic overboss, like the Leader before him. Outwardly an unassuming little man, he has managed to gather a wide range of organized crime under his control while remaining completely anonymous, even to his own underlings. His only mistake (and the inciting event of the story) is being so threatened by the crimefighting activities of the Justice Society that he mobilizes his forces in an attempt to kill them even though they…
(All-Star Comics 004, 1941) What makes them a super-villain? Sheer scale! The Leader AKA Fritz Klaver is the top spy for the “dictator nations” in America, commanding units of his subversive Grey-Shirts as well as other less blatant agents in numbers estimated at 30 000. They come real close to saying he’s a Nazi, too, but it’s about a year out from comics folks being willing to actually do that. What makes them interesting? The real deal interesting thing about…
(All American 029, 1941) A simple first costumed foe for Dr Mid-Nite: a mine owner founds his own secret society in order to control public opinion about such things as unionization and also to have a ready-made lynch mob if needed. Really appreciate how on-theme the Cobra Kingdom – wearing a version of King Cobra’s own costume, natch – were at all times, down to referring to their enemies as “mongoose.” It wasn’t a big shock that they almost killed…
(All American 028, 1941) Just a weird little creep with a drug that can mind control someone and then kill them. The Spider hits on a scheme where he is paid by ne’er-do-wells to have their rich relatives write them back into their wills and then mysteriously keel over – and he would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for Green Lantern and his pesky pals.
(All American Comics 025, 1941) A masked man running a gang of saboteurs to ruin production of war goods as a US steel plant in the name of a vague Cause – at this time most likely fascism – is pretty run-of-the-mill for 1941, but it turns out that the Leader’s real scheme is to drive down the steel mill’s stock price so that he can gain a controlling interest and make big bucks! He’s just duping the fascists-or-maybe-anarchists-or-communists into doing…
(Adventure 069, 1941) An early example of quite a few villain tropes, the Red Dragon is a guy who turns to evil because he was rejected by society due to his deformed face (1). He then decides to set himself up in opposition to the heroic Shining Knight, choosing to become the Red Dragon – less dramatic than a Bizarro-style evil opposite situation but still an evil opposite situation (2). After his first (unsuccessful) foray into crime, he is recruited…
(Adventure 068, 1941) An orchestra conductor who goes off the deep end when he gets fired. Not a terribly deep concept, but he kills his replacements with an electrified conductor’s baton trap and he leaves comedy and tragedy mask symbols to show his involvement so there’s a lot for me, a themed crime enthusiast, to enjoy.
(Adventure 067, 1941) Sometimes you have to admit to yourself that your judgement is subjective enough that you’re going to count an ordinary “I invented a shrinking formula and shall now crime” scientist as a super-villain just because you like the name “Doombie”.
(Captain Marvel Adventures 002, 1941) Captain Marvel gets a statue!