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Category: Centaur

MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 022

MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 022

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There’s a little super-hero in all of us, I reckon. Volton:  Volton comes on strong. I mean, look at the guy: crotch-forward, power device on a chain welded around his waist, moisturized, in his lane. The very second he figured out how to have super-powers he was in his element. And because Volton (aka Guy Newton) HATES CRIME and HATES CRIMINALS he heads on down to the local police station in his only-the-most-confident-heroes-wear-them sweater vest and beats up cops until…

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REAL PERSON ROUND-UP 005

REAL PERSON ROUND-UP 005

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You can’t deny that they were real people. Adolf Hitler: This unnamed leader of the unnamed forces that the Flying Trio are battling on behalf of the little nation of Sylvania is a real Hitlerian fellow (Crash Comics Adventures 005, 1940)  Amelia Earhart: Two variations on a theme: using the story of the disappearance of Amelia Earhart as fodder for a damsel-in-distress story. The first (Amazing-Man Comics 018, 1940) involves the Shark rescuing Amelia Reinhardt from an old man who…

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REAL PERSON ROUND-UP 004

REAL PERSON ROUND-UP 004

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More of those pesky real people have gotten into my comic books! Andrew Jackson: Character Keith Kornell, aka the West Pointer, is a descendant of Andrew Jackson, something you would perhaps be more proud of in 1939 than today. (Top-Notch Comics 001, 1939) Benito Mussolini: He’s a fairly oblique reference to Benito Mussolini but I reckon that up-and-coming Filipino dictator Remy Mussoni fits the brief. (Wonderworld Comics 008, 1939) Billy the Kid: Appears in a questionably true story told by…

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MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 017

MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 017

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Another fresh hot basket of also-rans, just for you. the Mask: Scoop Cody, society reporter, is secretly vigilante crimefighter the Mask. He’s not terrific at concealing this fact – both love interest Elaine and villain Carlos figure it out during the course of the one extant Mask story – but he gets the job done. Of mild interest is that Scoop Cody is also the name of the Marvel’s reporter pal. (Star Comics v1 013, 1938*) the Phantom Rider:  The…

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MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 016

MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 016

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A pretty motley collection this time. the Ermine: A frontier vigilante who wears a reversible ermine skin outfit (white for winter wear, brown for regular), leaves an ermine tail as his calling card and can communicate/ is friends with with all the creatures of the forest (except for the ermine, presumably). The Ermine would be an interesting character if he wasn’t explicitly and murderously racist against Native peoples. He’s classed as a minor hero here because all of his recorded…

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NOTES – JULY 2024

NOTES – JULY 2024

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Cops Shooting Fleeing Suspects:  The cops send a “shower of bullets” after the Fantom of the Fair as he swings over the densely-populated New York World’s Fair. (Amazing Adventure Funnies 001, 1940) Spider Drawn Without Reference: Tarantula: a perfect black sphere covered in root structures. (Champion Comics 006, 1940) Memes of Yore: COWARD!: The “cowardly and superstitious lot” line that Batman is quoted as saying was not a one-off thing but it was in fact a widely-promoted idea of the…

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MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 015

MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 015

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Once again we take you to the world of the minor super-hero. See them dance for your amusement.  the Mystic:  Later known as Kardak the Mystic, the Mystic is a stage magician who uses stage magic to battle crime, specializing in fraudulent mediums etc. His stage magic eventually gets rounded up to real magic, of course. (Top-Notch Comics 001, 1939) the Phantom o’ the Hills: The Phantom o’ the Hills is an otherwise unnamed masked cowboy who rights wrongs in…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 538: THE WHISP

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 538: THE WHISP

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(Funny Pages v3 008, 1939) There’s not much to the Whisp, which I suppose is appropriate. A bloodthirsty jewel thief, the Whisp makes off with some star sapphire bracelets and pulls a switcheroo by using a garage’s loaner car to make their initial getaway before swapping back to their own car for the long haul. The final trick is that the Whisp is not, in fact, a fresh-faced young man but a woman! And unlike some of our other cross-dressing…

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MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 012

MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 012

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They just keep on coming. the Champ: The Champ is Captain America if Dr Erskine was a nutritionist rather than a… biologist? Biochemist? Whatever Dr Erskine was a doctor of. A sickly, bullied boy, the Champ (no other name given) was so-called by his bullies because he won at nothing. Scientist Dr Marlin, pitying the Champ, provides him with an experimental food supplement that over a period of seven years transforms him into a physical and mental paragon, the Champ…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 537: THE SILVER FOX

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 537: THE SILVER FOX

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(Funny Pages v1 007, 1936) Dastardly desert bandit who bedevils scientist Fred Murray and his children Jimmie and Norrie as they search Egypt for the Sapphire Eye of Sehkmet. He’s a pretty basic type villain but I have some affection for these pulp-style fellows as we start to get away from them. Note also the all-purpose accent he’s sporting, which was definitely the go-to for Golden Age creators who didn’t know what, say, an Egyptian sounded like. As far as…

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