(Mystic Comics v1 004, 1940)
The Trustees of Hate are a group of villains operating at least nominally along corporate lines, with strategy meetings, what appears to be a board of directors etc. Because their headquarters is in the evocatively named Horror Hall, on the border of the fictional European countries of Borsia and Gratzia, the Blue Blaze is given a new power especially so that he can go beat them up: he returns to his grave between cases and emerges from it again when he is needed, but the grave moves. Very eerie and also very funny if you picture his coffin burrowing through the dirt like a worm. Like I do.
So just who are the Trustees of Hate?
Dr Vortex: If the story hadn’t hit the “Trustees of Hate” angle so hard in the first few pages then this would be an entry on Dr Vortex with special mention of the Trustees as his well-named henchmen. As it stands, the Trustees were held up as a group threat and Dr Vortex is their leader. He’s your regular-style evil scientist and developer of the Hate Ray that is key to the Trustees’ plan.
Lor: Lor is the Trustees’ hangman. There’s not a lot that you can say about him, as he keels over dead with a heart attack after seeing the Blue Blaze emerge from a lime pit (the second time this specific heart attack trigger happens in a Blue Blaze story, by the way). He does appear to love his job, so that’s something.
Probably the most interesting thing about Lor is his design – I reckon that over the span of comics this sort of “generic punk” look might just be one of the more iconic designs for low-threat goons ad thugs but it’s fairly wild to see it in a comic from 1940.
Lara: Every evil organization worth its salt has at least one hypercompetent woman making sure things run smoothly and for the Trustees of Hate that woman is Lara. Not only does Lara capture the Blue Blaze and make sure that the Trustees’ plans go off despite his interference but she is also the only member of the group to survive the adventure (spoiler). Here’s hoping that like Nalda after her she got away to some corner of the Marvel Universe to thrive in her own evil way. Perhaps they’re elderly evil business partners by now.
Weasel: The only named member of the horde of gangsters and spies that make up the bulk of the organization. Weasel is shot by Lara after he is captured by the Blue Blaze and looks likely to spill his guts.
The rest of them, meanwhile, are blown up by Dr Vortex in an attempt to kill the Blue Blaze.
The Trustees’ actual plan involves Lara and others using Dr Vortex’ Hate Ray on the leaders of neighbouring European countries Borsia and Gratzia until a war happens. Once both countries have bombed each other to smithereens, the Trustees of Hate would move in and take over and/or loot both countries. Not a bad plan though if I were starting a war between two countries I might refrain from living on the border between the two. But what do I know – I’ve never invented any kind of ray.
Despite the fact that most of the Trustees are already dead, Dr Vortex manages to capture the Blue Blaze. It’s hard to determine if he could have sealed the deal and actually bumped him off, because he commits the classic villain mistake and stops to gloat. COuld the Blue Blaze escape any time he wanted or was that cool cigarette just what he needed to recharge his power? We’ll never know.
This is the last Blue Blaze story, and until someone brings him back again I’ll always picture him in his little coffin, burrowing through the earth like a worm, on his way to fight evil.
