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Category: 1940

FASCIST GOON CLEARING HOUSE 004

FASCIST GOON CLEARING HOUSE 004

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More goon/ more fascist The Band AKA the Anti-American Band AKA the Un-American Band are yet another take on the German-American Bund distinguished by the fact that they were infiltrated by Bruce Blackburn – Counterspy so a) they were one of the few gangs of fascist goons to last more than one adventure and b) they were the villains that Blackburn created his shortlived alter-ego the Destroying Demon to fight (Feature Comics 038-041, 1940-1941) The Advance Front! Fascist agitators who…

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FASCIST GOON CLEARING HOUSE 003

FASCIST GOON CLEARING HOUSE 003

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More goons. Fascist goons? Yes. The Anti-American Party operated in the South American country of Santa Palos, home of the Red Gaucho, and got up to a lot of malarky at a fancy dress ball. Crucially, they disguised one of their agents as the Red Gaucho, leading to a lot of mixups between the agent, the Gaucho and a clueless dope who also came dressed as the hero (Nickel Comics 006, 1940) The Black Guard, agents of the Germany-analog country…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 363: MR H

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 363: MR H

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(Master Comics 001 (behind the scenes) or Master Comics 007 (first mentioned) or Master Comics 008 (first appearance on-panel)-Master Comics 020, 1940-1941)   Mr H, the mastermind behind all crime in the city of Carterville and its unnamed state, gets up to all kinds of schemes through his proxies. For example: -running an illegal casino in a hard-to-catch gambling blimp -robbing a munitions plant in order to outfit a small army of gangsters and enact a criminal takeover of Carterville…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 345: THE WHITE ARROW

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 345: THE WHITE ARROW

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(Master Comics 008-011, 1940-1941) A regular-style Old West outlaw chief with the somewhat lyrical name of Santos Figaro, the White Arrow’s main distinction is that he was a multi-issue rather than one-off foe of Marshal Buck Jones.   Jones himself is far more interesting than poor Santos Figaro, being a real-life cowboy actor cast as an Old West lawman (probably – I think I’ve mentioned before that the media of the 1930s-40s doesn’t draw a lot of distinction between the Old…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 344: THE HORNED MASKS

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 344: THE HORNED MASKS

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(Master Comics 009, 1940) Like the Blue Devils before them, the Horned Masks dressed up in robes and cowls and took over a small town. In the Masks. case, it’s a very small town up in the Ozarks and they go about things less like a gang and more like an offshoot of the Klan with all sorts of nonsense ceremony to what amounts to extortion on a grand scale. Unlucky for them that Zoro the Mystery Man happens to…

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MINOR SUPER-HERO 041: ZORO THE MYSTERY MAN

MINOR SUPER-HERO 041: ZORO THE MYSTERY MAN

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(Slam-Bang Comics 006-007, Master Comics 007-022, 1940-1942) It’s easy to quantify Zoro because his name says it all: he is a Mystery Man – nobody knows anything about him: nation of origin, real name, nothing. He has an amazing outfit and a sword cane and a pet cheetah named Cheeta.  Zoro hangs out a swanky clubs and parties and visits his swanky friends and occasionally gets involved in the mysteries that crop up in such circles. Does he have super…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 343: THE TWISTER

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 343: THE TWISTER

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(Master Comics 008, 1940) Not a particularly distinguished entry today: the Twister is a gang boss who employs child pickpockets and keeps them in line with the threat of some semi-eponymous neck-twisting. No idea why he bothers with the robe and cowl – El Carim doesn’t even bother to unmask him. More fun than the Twister himself, in fact, is that his old gang is loyal enough to try to take revenge on El Carim in the next issue –…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 342: THE MASTER

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 342: THE MASTER

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(Master Comics 007, 1940) Once more we find ourselves with a cult on our hands, and it’s my favourite kind of cult: a) completely fictional and b) just a bunch of bored rich people taking what probably started as an excuse for some light swinging or BDSM way too seriously. It’ the Cult of Jama the Devil-God, folks! Officially broken up by the US government in 1919, they have in fact been lurking in the shadows of the probably-New York…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 341: THE LEOPARD MEN/ MINOR SUPER-HERO 040: NEDDA, QUEEN OF THE ELEPHANTS

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 341: THE LEOPARD MEN/ MINOR SUPER-HERO 040: NEDDA, QUEEN OF THE ELEPHANTS

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(Master Comics 007, 1940) The Leopard Men are whatever. Groups of evil African (or South American or Indian or Native American etc etc) warriors who dress up like big cats or other animals are a dime a dozen in jungle adventures and I usually don’t find them noteworthy enough for inclusion here (also the racism inherent in the whole Jungle Adventure genre kind of dampens the ol’ enthusiasm). Why include them here? Why because they are the arch-foes of Nedda,…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 340: THE SEA-DEVIL

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 340: THE SEA-DEVIL

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(Master Comics 007, 1940) Let’s start with the good things about the Sea-Devil: he’s part of one of my favourite super-villain traditions: the guy who dresses up like a creature in order to play off of local superstitions. Nothing specific in this case – he’s just banking on the local oyster divers not wanting to contend with a mysterious horned humanoid while they’re trying to earn an already dangerous living. To that end, his costume isn’t the most elaborate fake…

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