(Science Comics 001, 1940) The Purple Gang, a bunch of guys in a gang who all wear purple suits and are getting up to no end of crime in whatever skyline-heavy city the Eagle calls home New York City, are a perfect opponent for a super-hero’s first adventure: organized enough to pose a challenge but not so tough that thy can’t really be stunted on to show how cool the Eagle is. They also quite noticeably do not all have…
Second- and third-tier Fox Features heroes: ACTIVATE Dynamo: Jim Andrews is an electrical scientist who heroically risks his own life by using his own body as a conductor to prevent some crazy bit of machinery from blowing the whole laboratory he works at to high heaven. And since he lives in a comic book world, the reward for his bravery is some super powers! He can now emit electricity, create an electrical forcefield, kind of fly by throwing a lightning…
(Samson 001, 1940) Mask here has a fairly ordinary set of plans and goals, for Masked Criminal levels of ordinary. His associate Dr Dag has developed a super-germ and his other associate Ko has control of a death cult, and he is going to use the latter to deliver the former to a number of nearby cities as revenge for tossing him out on his ear. Plus he’s going to loot once the cities are cleared out by disease, but…
More cream rises from the milky depths of the Golden Age! Red Roberts, the Electro Man: It’s unclear what Red Roberts’ actual job is, but he is a guy who Knows Too Much about the corruption in the unnamed city he lives in and so he is framed for murder and fast-tracked to the electric chair. Luckily for Roberts, this is a comic book universe and being an innocent person sentenced to be executed via the electric chair means that…
Heaven help me, I looked forward to the 1950s issues of Planet Comics to see what the Gale Allen feature ended up like and boy oh boy do I regret it. It’s one thing to only read comics from 1940, but seeing the improvements to the form after a decade or so makes it hard to go back. But I must soldier on! Happy New Year! Infographics: A conceptual drawing of a spaceship and some speculative facts about space travel…
What’s that? The sign of who? That’s the guy. And the greatest and most unhinged sign of the Blue Beetle of all: (hover for issue numbers)
(Green Mask v1 003, 1940) Despite the fact that when he shows up the Green Mask shouts his name in shocked surprise like they’re old enemies, the Brain is not in fact the main antagonist of the story he appears in, which is concerned with a fellow named Dudley Carstairs who has made some bad business decisions and has decided that his best option going forward is to kill his niece and steal her large diamond. During the course of…
(Green Mask v1 003, 1940) Radion first comes to the attention of the Green Mask and Domino the Miracle Boy when he makes an attempt on the life of their beloved laundry delivery boy, Jerry. After much running around after the hooded mastermind and his gang and multiple concussions for both of our heroes, Radion is eventually unmasked as… Jerry’s boss, Mr Pelson. There are two things to take away from this: 1) The increased chance of being a super-villain…
(Green Mask v1 001, 1940) The Grim Circle! A mysterious hooded group responsible not only for killing the Green Mask’s father but also for causing the injury that leads to the creation of the Green Mask himself! And the creation of Domino the Miracle Boy a bit later in the issue! Truly they are the engines of their own destruction. SIDE NOTE: Criminals targeting politicians for introducing tough-on-crime legislation is a trope in various media to this very day. I…
Guess what? More minor super-heroes, that’s what. the Black Arrow: Black Arrow, aka Rex Norton, is a detective/pilot, ho-hum. As per standard he has a great codename. (Green Giant Comics 001, 1940) the Researcher: A dapper super-scientist armed with x-ray flashlights, paralysis-inducing walking sticks and mind-reading rays. Perhaps the most charming thing about him is that everyone from his enemies to his friends to his lab assistant/love interest refer to him solely as “the Researcher.” (Green Giant Comics 001, 1940)…