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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 760: THE FIRE-MEN

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 760: THE FIRE-MEN

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(Speed Comics 004, 1940)  The Fire-Men make an impressive debut: dressed in bulletproof suits and wielding powerful flamethrowers, they carve a path of destruction through both New York City and the tank division that is sent to bring them to heel. Nothing seems able to stop these mysterious marauders! Nothing, that is, until Landor, Maker of Monsters emerges from the shadows to offer his creature-based services to the US government. He’ll fight on the side of law and order for…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 759: THE IRON HAND

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 759: THE IRON HAND

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(Master Comics 006, 1940) While monitoring the world for trouble one day (using his Troublescope, natch), Master Man spots, in quick succession: an auto-gyro creating green rainclouds, a collection of mysteriously paralyzed wildlife, a full-fledged paralysis epidemic dubbed “the Living Death” in a nearby city, and the news that the preeminent scientist working to cure the plague has been murdered. He takes what I would say is a surprising amount of time to put two and two together and determine…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 758: THE WIZARD

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 758: THE WIZARD

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(Smash Comics 017, 1940) The Wizard is your classic big-headed smart guy gang boss (his head is on the smaller end of the bighead spectrum but he accentuates it perfectly with the most unpleasant hairstyle I have ever seen). He and his gang (the Wizard Gang, natch) have been lying low for long enough that one of them starts getting squirrely and talking about leaving, with deadly consequences. The Wizard shoots him, is what I’m saying. And what a shame,…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 755: STRADIVOUS

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 755: STRADIVOUS

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(Smash Comics 017, 1940) There are a lot of comic book characters who derive their powers from or express them through music, but Stradivous here is the only one I know of who does so using a clarinet. This is going to be huge if we ever want to draft an all-star comics orchestra someday. He also has a really terrific look, with an eccentric choice in every single aspect of his head and facial hair – I’ll even grudgingly…

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MAD AND CRIMINAL SCIENTIST ROUND-UP 017

MAD AND CRIMINAL SCIENTIST ROUND-UP 017

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The science is flying fast and loose in here. Professor Krauss’ theories about a method for passing matter through matter were scorned and laughed at, so he turned them to crime, killing three and robbing the New York subtreasury*. Unfortunately for him he also gave an interview about his theories, which really helped research-savvy reporter Chic Carter track down and capture him. (Smash Comics 011, 1940) *A Note on Subtreasuries: A frequent target for theft in the Golden Age or…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 754: BELA JAT

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 754: BELA JAT

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(Smash Comics 016, 1940) It’s a classic setup: the embittered villain is released from prison and swears vengeance on those who put them there. In this case, the recently released figure is the mystic Bela Jat, who has just spent seven years behind bars for killing someone in a magical experiment and is mighty unhappy about it. Joining him are his excellently named and very loyal henchmen Shimego and Gar. Jat sets out to capture and kill the three men…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 752: CADAVA

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 752: CADAVA

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(Smash Comics 015, 1940) As we meet Cadava, he is all dressed up and off to attend a costume party, with some pretty harsh words and feeling for humanity in general and a lady named Diane in particular – seems that he has been shunned and rejected after some sort of accident. Also his little friend Soo Choo is there. Also in attendance – in his super-hero costume, no less! –  is the Ray, and luckily for Diane he is…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 750: THE PHANTOM

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 750: THE PHANTOM

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(Smash Comics 015, 1940)  It’s a tale as old as opera: macho newsman Chic Carter is pissing and moaning his way through a theatre review assignment when a dramatic figure suddenly murders the star and disappears into the bowels of the opera house. Chic is quick to connect this killing with two others that took place over the last twenty years and sets out to capture the enigmatic Phantom. Chic and the police stage a recreation of the fatal performance…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 548 UPDATE: MADAME DOOM (1940)

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 548 UPDATE: MADAME DOOM (1940)

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When we last saw Madame Doom, she had been bested at the game of espionage by the Black X and was fleeing the US for friendlier shores at the end of Smash Comics 004. Madame Doom returns with a fresh new attitude for 1940 in Smash Comics 008, as now she is not just working for an analog of the Axis powers but explicitly for the Nazis. It’s a lateral move at best but an important one nonetheless. She only…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 748: THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 748: THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME

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(Smash Comics 012, 1940) The Hunchback of Notre Dame is just that, a modern version of the fictional character, and seemingly just as damaged by society as his predecessor. He is manipulated into working as an assassin for Madame Doom, who is in Paris (presumably on behalf of the Nazis) to disrupt peace talks helmed by US Ambassador Blank but is being effectively countered by the Black X and so must operate through a deniable dupe asset. Just what the…

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