I’ve finally caught up on all the backlogged wounds! Only new wounds for the catalogue going forward. the Dart: The Dart has come all the way from Ancient Rome to the present day (1940) only to be shot in the left arm. (Weird Comics 006, 1940) Doc Strange: Though the text box says that Doc Strange is “riddled with bullets” in this exchange, the subsequent first aid suggests that his left arm bore the brunt of the damage. (Thrilling Comics…
I hope everyone likes monsters as much as I do because there are a whole lot of them to cover. Beaked Tyros: When polar explorer Anthony Conrad gets lost in an Arctic storm and falls through a hole in the pack ice, he reasonably expects to meet his demise. Instead, he falls into the subterranean kingdom of Artica and is chosen by the elderly Artican king – also a stranded former surface explorer – as his successor. As part of…
It’s time for more monsters! And also critters and creatures! Prehistoric Gorilla: This carnivorous cave-dwelling ape lives in a hidden valley in Africa and has a pretty sweet deal going with the local pterodactyls, whereby they bring him things to eat and he seemingly doesn’t have to do anything. This arrangement does eventually backfire after the pterodactyls grab KaƤnga’s mate Ann and the justifiably miffed jungle lord follows them and slays the gorilla. (Jungle Comics 017, 1941) A few bonus dinosaurs…
If there’s one thing I know it’s that the world has a seemingly-inexhaustible supply of odious little fascist worms. the All-American League: The All-American League is nothing so exciting as your Nazi spies trying to poison the reservoir or prevent and/or encourage the US entrance into WWII. Instead, they are the more banal type of fascism that is popular nowadays, in which patriotism is weaponized as a way to enrich and empower a few petty men (yes, yes that’s what…
If I keep at this long enough then we will find the super-hero with the most comically-long list of wounds sustained in the course of their adventures. Currently in the lead: the Green Mask! Unless we’re talking about head traumas, in which case I must direct your gaze to the Blue Beetle. Domino the Miracle Boy: Shot in the right shoulder by Dr Moru while heroically leaping in front of a gun to save the Green Mask. (Mystery Men Comics…
It’s hard out there for the little guys. Unnamed Spy Chief: I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a comic book villain with such a distinctive look and clear devotion to a visual theme but absolutely nothing else. Her “decadent Egyptian Queen” bit doesn’t spill into her plans, it doesn’t inform how her minions dress… she doesn’t even have a name. Baffling! On top of everything else, her plans are foiled and she is captured by the oafish Navy man Spark…
(Green Mask v1 008, 1941) The tale of the Mad Ghost (“Death Deals in Diamonds!”) is presented as a classic whodunnit, which happen to be one of my very favourite genres of both comic stories and of fiction in general. Sadly, this story is a prime example of how poorly this genre can be executed, and an early sign of this is in the dramatic presentation of suspects on the splash page. While it is pretty common to include the…
You like minor super-heroes? We got more than four hundred of them! the Night Bird: The Night Bird might just have the simplest origin in the history of super-heroes: when newspaper Dell (just Dell) is captured by gangsters, her photographer Lens Crockett sets out to rescue her. Deciding that he needs a disguise, Crockett looks in the office storeroom and finds a full super-hero outfit stuffed in a bin – if it were about ten years later this might be…
I hope you like media from comics, because I certainly do and I am going to keep doing these. Comics: Bullied bootblack Timothy Smith just wants to buy a comic book with his last nickel and he has a whole selection of Fox Features titles to choose from, but what draws his eye is a book called The Land of Magic, a comic so fantastical and majestical that he wishes himself away to live inside its pages the next time he gets…
(Green Mask v1 007, 1941) The Ghoul has a simple, brutal, efficient racket: identify people who have large life insurance policies, murder them, and then extort the payout from their beneficiaries with threats of violence. What is unclear is exactly how long the racket has been going on, and whether the point we come in at represents some awkward teething troubles or a long-established operation beginning to crumble. Either way, the Ghoul’s last score is a mess: actor John Pierce…