The Looming Spectre of Death:
Death rides, menaces the Human Torch in a flooding tunnel, advances as a glacier and looks over Hitler’s shoulder, all from the same busy issue: Human Torch v1 005b, 1941
The Looming Spectre of War:
Also from Human Torch v1 005b: the looming spectre of war, in the form of Mars, menaces the USA and rejoices in the flooding of Berlin.
The Looming Spectre of Death:
Death rides, menaces the Human Torch in a flooding tunnel, advances as a glacier and looks over Hitler’s shoulder, all from the same busy issue: Human Torch v1 005b, 1941
The Looming Spectre of War:
Also from Human Torch v1 005b: the looming spectre of war, in the form of Mars, menaces the USA and rejoices in the flooding of Berlin.
the Looming Spectre of Death:
An impressive Grim Reaper complete with bloody scythe and optional army helmet looms over an Alaskan town in this Liberty Scouts Guards tale. (Man of War Comics 001, 1941)
Cops Shooting at Fleeing Suspects:
It’s a good thing that these cops don’t quite manage to murder the Raven for aggressively running away from them like this, because they all know his alter ego Danny Dartin and it’s the one time they would actually feel bad about summarily executing someone. (Lightning Comics v2 003, 1941)
Great Folk:
We never actually meet the Masked Marvel, but we can glean two things about him from context: 1) he is a mysterious masked bowler who travels the land doing exhibitions of skill at local bowling alleys and 2) he looks enough like Doctor Nemesis that the latter is mistaken for him without even trying. (Lightning Comics v2 003, 1941)
Honours – Marvo the Magician:
Both Marvo the Magician and his monkey Tito are knighted by the unnamed king of this unnamed South or Central American country for saving their crown jewels from pirates. (Lightning Comics v2 003, 1941)
Honours:
Pilot Bill Barnes is almost certainly awarded the Victoria Cross for blowing up a Nazi gas stockpile. He also gets a pie. (Bill Barnes, America’s Air Ace Comics 004, 1941)
The Liberty Scouts are given nonspecific (but secret) medals for saving NYC from being destroyed. Strut also gets a pie. (Liberty Scouts Comics 002, 1941)
Comics Crossovers:
In one of Golden Age comics’ rare but casual crossovers, Judy Jackson, rival of reporter-hero Scoop Mason, is attending the same Governor’s ball in the Bahamas as Newsreel cameraman Speed Martin. (The Funnies 051, 1941)
Then in the very next issue, Scoop Mason himself shows up to take in a football game! (The Funnies 052, 1941)
ADDENDUM: I just realized that the team that they’re watching is Elmhurst College featuring star player Wally Williams, from his own feature in Popular Comics. Layers upon layers!
the Looming Spectre of Death:
Perhaps the most understated Looming Spectre of Death of all time, from the Philo Vance story “Murder Rings the Bell.” (The Funnies 059, 1941)
Another, very cheeky Death, very appropriately wearing a mask. (The Funnies 062, 1941)
Presented Without Comment:
(The Funnies 062, 1941)
Honours:
Both the Purple Zombie and Chico, creator of the Mechanized Skeleton(s) receive medals for defending an unspecified European nation from the death ray of an unspecified fascist nation, while Chico’s skeleton troops get a hero’s burial. (Reg’lar Fellers Heroic Comics 006, 1941)
Panel Fun:
Don’t know how I could’ve skipped this the first time I read through these comics, but here we are: Amazing-Man suplexing an angry bull. (Amazing-Man Comics 012, 1940)
Panel Fun:
Don’t know how I could’ve skipped this the first time I read through these comics, but here we are: Amazing-Man suplexing an angry bull. (Amazing-Man Comics 012, 1940)
Cops Shooting at Fleeing Suspects:
Here’s an intrepid officer trying to shoot the Black Terror and his (very young) sidekick Tim in the backs as they run away from the scene of a late-night disturbance. (Exciting Comics 015, 1941)
Samson Does the Thing:
Several new additions to the premiere Samson supercut:
Marthas:
A new addition to the League of Marthas: the Golden Knight’s mother, Queen Martha of the Tree People! (Fantastic Comics 015, 1941)
Places and History:
In a rare callback to some of the fake countries from previous Yank Wilson stories, Imperial Japan analog Hondo (Fantastic Comics 009) and Nazi Germany analog Prussland (Fantastic Comics 011) ally with Fascist Italy analog Napoli to form an Axis Powers analog referred to as the Triparty Aggression Pact. I have to say that it was a true thrill to see not one but two whole countries be re-used, rather than being new ones just made up on the spot.
I was soon dashed from these giddy heights, however, as Yank Wilson almost immediately invented Japanese Hondoese Internment Camps. (Fantastic Comics 016, 1941)
Cops Shooting at Fleeing Suspects:
Here’s an intrepid officer trying to shoot the Black Terror and his (very young) sidekick Tim in the backs as they run away from the scene of a late-night disturbance. (Exciting Comics 015, 1941)
Samson Does the Thing:
Several new additions to the premiere Samson supercut:
Marthas:
A new addition to the League of Marthas: the Golden Knight’s mother, Queen Martha of the Tree People! (Fantastic Comics 015, 1941)
Places and History:
In a rare callback to some of the fake countries from previous Yank Wilson stories, Imperial Japan analog Hondo (Fantastic Comics 009) and Nazi Germany analog Prussland (Fantastic Comics 011) ally with Fascist Italy analog Napoli to form an Axis Powers analog referred to as the Triparty Aggression Pact. I have to say that it was a true thrill to see not one but two whole countries be re-used, rather than being new ones just made up on the spot.
I was soon dashed from these giddy heights, however, as Yank Wilson almost immediately invented Japanese Hondoese Internment Camps. (Fantastic Comics 016, 1941)
Cops Shooting Fleeing Suspects:
The NYPD do their level best to gun down the Challenger for wearing a mask near the scene of a crime. (Daring Mystery Comics 007, 1941)
Some probably-also-NYPD officers try to do the same to the Black Cobra. (Dynamic Comics 001, 1941)
Some definitely-NYPD officers try to gun down a fleeing Mask. (Exciting Comics 010, 1941)
Honours:
Heroic dog K-9 is given a medal and made an official officer in what is also likely supposed to be the NYPD. (Dynamic Comics 001, 1941)
Temporally Tricky Westerns:
I’ve occasionally talked about the temporal uncertainty of depictions of the West in comics of the 1940s and 1950s, in that comics set in the modern day are given all of the tropes of the Old West, such that you don’t know what era they are taking place until someone flies a plane on-panel etc. The “Jim Hatfield” feature in Exciting Comics might just take the cake on this front. Every issue features Hatfield seemingly stepping from the present-day Texas Ranger HQ through a time portal to the 1850s.