(Amazing-Man Comics 019, 1941) Mighty Man was always a lot for crooks to deal with even when he was just a 12 foot tall guy with super strength but after he gained complete control over his physical form he really gave them a run for their money. I assume that’s why he was assigned an actual, factual magic-using witch as a recurring enemy. At least, at first. In her first appearance, the Witch had a magic broom that allowed her…
(Amazing-Man Comics 019, 1941) The Head is a spy chief notable a) because he is also a US Senator but mostly because b) his plan seems to revolve around it being unremarkable for him to be carrying a big ol’ watermelon around. In his defense, it seems to be working pretty well until Minimidget rides in on a carrier pigeon and spoils everything.
(Amazing-Man Comics 018, 1940) Mighty Man here encounters the Master Mind by following a group of clearly mind controlled criminal types to his secret lair and from there to what turns out to be an assassination attempt on an ex-cop and his daughter. It turns out that the Master Mind is a victim of my least favourite fictional trope that is also a thing that happens frequently in real life: cops shooting fleeing suspects in the back. This fellow actually…
Just a little crypto-fascist saboteur named Dr Vee who battled Dynamic Man but I like his name and I like his style. His sartorial style. Not the fascism. (Mystic v1 002, 1940) Lemo here has a mechanical mole-style tank and reckons he can take over the world with it after almost destroying one (1) circus tent. It’s a good thing he was blown up by one of Marvel’s many Herculeses before he could get too far and get disappointed. (Mystic…
(Amazing-Man Comics 013, 1940) The Great One is a real testament to the fact that style is far more important than substance when it comes to super-villainy. On a purely objective level the Great One is average at best, with an entry-level costume and a scheme that was old back in the days of the pulps. But it’s the style that makes the villain, and if the Great One has anything , it’s style. The Great One’s scheme involves using…
(Amazing-Man Comics 013, 1940) In Amazing-Man Comics 010 Minimidget and Ritty accidentally get shot to the Belgian Congo on a guy’s homemade rocket (as you do) and the subsequent issues have been a series of trials and tribulations as they make their way back home. The Ghost is another one of those, but a fun one – not racist at all, for one thing! I may not have much regard for pilot-heroes but air pirates are another matter, and that’s…
(Amazing-Man Comics 011, 1940) On the surface Drago seems to merely be a guy who looks like an evil cat and shoots his henchmen rather than paying them (not only a nightmare for HR but a bad financial decision as you’ll be spending more in headhunting and training new goons than you will save in salaries), and that’s just what he is. There are no hidden depths. He kidnaps world-class scientists and sells them to the Axis-equivalent belligerent governments of…
(Amazing-Man Comics 011, 1940) On the surface Drago seems to merely be a guy who looks like an evil cat and shoots his henchmen rather than paying them (not only a nightmare for HR but a bad financial decision as you’ll be spending more in headhunting and training new goons than you will save in salaries), and that’s just what he is. There are no hidden depths. He kidnaps world-class scientists and sells them to the Axis-equivalent belligerent governments of…
(Amazing-Man Comics 010, 1940) I am heartbroken. Here’s a bit of trivia: most of the 465 entries before this were written about characters in comics I had already read and if there was something in them that made me feel particularly strong emotions then I had had time to process it and mull it over. Going forward, however, we’re looking at a lot of comics that are brand new to me. In that spirit, I must admit: the first few…
(Mystic Comics v1 004, 1940) Professor Monte is the type of criminal scientist that I want to see in more comics: he has an idea (develop a gold-attracting magnet and use it to steal gold), he secures funding from crooked businessman Prentiss, he tests his device with a series of jewelry store robberies before scaling up to using the big dirigible-mounted model… he has a plan, in other words, rather than a vague idea of how they’re going to take…