Browsed by
Category: dead

SUPER-VILLAIN YEARBOOK: HUGO STRANGE 1940

SUPER-VILLAIN YEARBOOK: HUGO STRANGE 1940

Comments 0 comment

What did Hugo Strange Get up to in 1940? 1. Detective Comics v1 036, ‘Untitled’ **first appearance** Hugo Strange starts his crime career pre-seasoned with a goodly dose of “I’ve heard of this guy. This guy is a big deal” from Batman.  His actual plan is nothing special: using a machine he stole, Strange floods Gotham with fog night after night, leaving the police helpless to stop his gang as they loot and plunder at prearranged locations. The biggest thing…

Read More Read More

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 207: THE BLACK WITCH

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 207: THE BLACK WITCH

Comments 0 comment

(Crack Comics 018, 1941) The Black Witch is a member of a long comic book tradition: Haitian voodoo practitioners who use their sinister powers to get up to no good – in this case kidnapping the wife of one of Richard “Madam Fatal” Stanton’s friends as raw material in a search for eternal youth. The Black Witch is also part of a long-term demographic shift in comics: while the Haitian voodoo character is a staple villain s(and sometimes hero) into…

Read More Read More

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 204: THE MAN WITH THE TERRIBLE MACHINE

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 204: THE MAN WITH THE TERRIBLE MACHINE

Comments 0 comment

(Crack Comics 017, 1941) The Man With the Terrible Machine (aka the Man with the Terrific Name) shows up one day in the far-off world of 2441 AD and lets humanity know that he will destroy the planet using his terrible machine in 24 hours, for no particular reason. Understandably, worldwide panic ensues. When scientist Dr Dram shows up and says that he can stop the terrible machine if only he can get enough gold, he gets full cooperation! And…

Read More Read More

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 200: THE CRIMSON VULTURE

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 200: THE CRIMSON VULTURE

Comments 0 comment

(Crack Comics 015, 1941) The Crimson Vulture is a prime example of a character who could be so much better with just a little more oomph put behind him. His real name is Sarada, and he is a genius mechanical engineer who is back for revenge after being sent to prison. All well and good, but his actions – attempting to extort money from a series of rich men via mechanical vultures and then blowing them up when they refuse…

Read More Read More

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 198: THE CRICKET

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 198: THE CRICKET

Comments 0 comment

(Crack Comics 001, 011 & 012, 1940-1941) The Cricket, leader of the Crickets, is a fairly undistinguished gang boss notable only for his brutality, the fact that he was the first foe of hard done-by hero the Spider and that he made two subsequent appearances! His first two appearances are nothing to write home about, though I do note a repeated armchair theme. The man loves to be comfortable. Sadly for him, he was shot down by the Spider before…

Read More Read More

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 193: THE TIGER WOMAN

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 193: THE TIGER WOMAN

Comments 0 comment

(Crack Comics 009, 1941) The Tiger Woman is another in a long line of characters who are vilified for pushing back against colonialism – in this case, American explorers appropriating her peoples’ treasures. Or she would be if the way she was pushing back wasn’t murder, which tends to muddy the righteousness of any cause. She does have a really great costume, though. Top marks for style.

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 193: THE TIGER WOMAN

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 193: THE TIGER WOMAN

Comments 0 comment

(Crack Comics 009, 1941) The Tiger Woman is another in a long line of characters who are vilified for pushing back against colonialism – in this case, American explorers appropriating her peoples’ treasures. Or she would be if the way she was pushing back wasn’t murder, which tends to muddy the righteousness of any cause. She does have a really great costume, though. Top marks for style.

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 192: STUPORMAN

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 192: STUPORMAN

Comments 0 comment

(Crack Comics 008, 1940)  Kind of a weird and somewhat problematic case – Stuporman, like the Largest Man in the World before him, is a superhuman man of limited intelligence who is used as a living weapon by crooks until being killed by the hero of the piece, in this case the Clock. He comes from Mongolia, which is, like, the most remote and mysterious place that 1940s comics writers could think of. Frankly, the only real reason I include Stuporman…

Read More Read More

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 191: THE DEVIL

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 191: THE DEVIL

Comments 0 comment

(Crack Comics 007, 1940)  There is no textual evidence for this, but since this guy is dressed exactly like the unnamed boss of the Skull Gang (plus some rad horns) and uses the very similar tactic of dosing his minions (the Robbers from Hades – good name) with toxins that make them all shriveled and weird (and in this case more pliable and obedient), I like to think that it’s the same guy back for another shot at making his fortune…

Read More Read More

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 190: THE ELECTRICAL WIZARD

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 190: THE ELECTRICAL WIZARD

Comments 0 comment

(Crack Comics 007, 1940) This is a weird guy. I’m not entirely sure what his deal is, to be honest. He’s developed some sort of revolutionary hydroelectric generator and some sort of lightning projector and claims that they are “useless commercially” but doesn’t really outline why. He extorts men with the last name Garr for some reason. I mean, it seems like it should be that the Garrs all got together and quashed his funding because he threatened their own…

Read More Read More