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Category: 1940

REAL PERSON ROUND-UP 012

REAL PERSON ROUND-UP 012

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Lotta Hitlers in this one. Adolf Hitler:  Thalga, supreme dictator of Govania, is a clear Hitler analog. (Smash Comics 006, 1940) This unnamed Hitler-with-a-goatee comes with a bonus, very tired-looking, FDR! (Smash Comics 006, 1940) Hitler look-alike Rudolph Hitz acts as political representative and spy chief for Hitler act-alike dictator Holtz in a plot to rob the US gold reserve at Fort Knox-alike Fort Adam, only to meet defeat at the cold metal hands of Bozo the Iron Man. (Smash…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 747: THE GREEN GHOST

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 747: THE GREEN GHOST

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(Smash Comics 011, 1940)  If there’s one thing that Kent Thurston, aka the Invisible Hood, has in spades, it’s wealthy friends who are having crime problems. In this case, the friend is financier John Barr and the problem is the Green Ghost, a costumed thief who has been popping up all over the local area to rob the rich, even when they’re being extra sneaky about what they’re doing. Sure enough, the Green Ghost shows up to rob Barr of…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 746: THE LUMINOUS EYES

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 746: THE LUMINOUS EYES

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(Smash Comics 011, 1940) London is in the grip of terror! An ominous figure with huge glowing eyes is terrifying/attacking people in the streets and in their homes! The city is in an uproar – where could the Luminous Eyes strike next? And to make the whole situation even more confusing, the only purpose of these attacks appears to be the theft of various common items, all green. When there’s trouble in this particular fictional version of London, Captain Cook…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 745: THE BAT

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 745: THE BAT

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(Smash Comics 010, 1940) I had a little intro to this entry all mapped out in my head, something along the lines of how in a super-hero universe, super crimes are just as obvious a choice as mundane ones, like hiring a scientist to mind control your political opponents instead of merely blackmailing them,  and so we shouldn’t judge super-villains for over-complicating things, but as a part of actually writing it out I had to go over the details of…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 744: PROXOFF

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 744: PROXOFF

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(Smash Comics 009, 1940) Proxoff is an example of a Kind of Guy that you see in Golden Age Comics: he came through the chaos of the Great War and said to himself “if this ever happens again then I’m going to come out on top.” Together with his aides van Damm and Count Trini, Proxoff has established secret airfields and fortresses in Siberia and presumably elsewhere and is waiting for his moment to swoop in and conquer the weakened…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 743: THE VOODOO MASTER

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 743: THE VOODOO MASTER

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(Smash Comics 008, 1940) Times are tough in Unionville: the local factories are all suffering accidents which appear to be due to systemic worker negligence but which add up to a campaign of sabotage, and since it’s a factory town, if things continue as they are then everyone is completely screwed. Luckily for the good folk of Unionville, the steel mill that the latest incident occurred at is managed by a guy named Tom, and Tom is friends with a…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 742: THE VOICE

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 742: THE VOICE

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(Smash Comics 007, 1940) The Voice! A classic and popular alter ego for a reason – all you need is to be heard more than you are seen and you have yourself a gimmick, and if you have some sort of voice-based super power, well that’s a real bonus. In this case, the Voice is a mysterious figure who has kidnapped Lola Barnes, daughter of wealthy gem collector Sir Sidney Barnes. The Voice demands 100 000 pounds and the Red…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 741: THE MASKED ONE

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 741: THE MASKED ONE

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(Smash Comics 007, 1940) Sometimes a villain is as simple as a hooded gun-runner called the Masked One, and that’s who we have here. Also, he is captured by Quality Comics adventure character Abdul the Arab, a name that isn’t technically problematic but sure does make the corner of your eye twitch when you read it (plus the comics it appears in meet all the problematic specifications, so your eye is right to react). The Masked One is actually Webb,…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 740: THE DEATH BATTALION

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 740: THE DEATH BATTALION

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(Smash Comics 007, 1940) You’re going to have to trust me because I have gathered no evidence, but I can state with some confidence that the American people of late 1939/early 1940 had a great deal of (perhaps wishful) hope in the effectiveness of the French Maginot Line, right up to the point at which the Nazis did an end run around it and into France. A fair number of war comics of the time (like the adventures of Corporal…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 739: THE AVENGER

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 739: THE AVENGER

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(Smash Comics 003, 1939 – Smash Comics 012, 1940)  The Avenger is a cottage-industry villain, which is a term I just made up for particular kind of villain that you saw a fair amount in the Golden Age and then again in 1980s cartoons, wherein battling and thwarting them is the sole focus of a hero’s career – see also Mr H and the Conqueror. The Avenger is also a revenge-focused villain: he is really Jim Rowan, a man who…

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