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Category: 1939

GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 015

GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 015

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It’s time for another round with the guys in the masks. A radio announcer who tries to poison all of Inland City with chlorine gas for unclear reasons. Ends up blowing himself up while tangling with heroic pilot Captain Steve Ransom. (Keen Detective Funnies v2 006, 1939) This unnamed fellow takes the cake for audaciousness: his racket is drug smuggling and though traditionally one wants to keep a low profile while attempting to move controlled substances from place to place…

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MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 027

MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 027

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Guess what? More minor super-heroes, that’s what. the Black Arrow: Black Arrow, aka Rex Norton, is a detective/pilot, ho-hum. As per standard he has a great codename. (Green Giant Comics 001, 1940) the Researcher: A dapper super-scientist armed with x-ray flashlights, paralysis-inducing walking sticks and mind-reading rays. Perhaps the most charming thing about him is that everyone from his enemies to his friends to his lab assistant/love interest refer to him solely as “the Researcher.” (Green Giant Comics 001, 1940)…

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MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 022

MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 022

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There’s a little super-hero in all of us, I reckon. Volton:  Volton comes on strong. I mean, look at the guy: crotch-forward, power device on a chain welded around his waist, moisturized, in his lane. The very second he figured out how to have super-powers he was in his element. And because Volton (aka Guy Newton) HATES CRIME and HATES CRIMINALS he heads on down to the local police station in his only-the-most-confident-heroes-wear-them sweater vest and beats up cops until…

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REAL PERSON ROUND-UP 005

REAL PERSON ROUND-UP 005

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You can’t deny that they were real people. Adolf Hitler: This unnamed leader of the unnamed forces that the Flying Trio are battling on behalf of the little nation of Sylvania is a real Hitlerian fellow (Crash Comics Adventures 005, 1940)  Amelia Earhart: Two variations on a theme: using the story of the disappearance of Amelia Earhart as fodder for a damsel-in-distress story. The first (Amazing-Man Comics 018, 1940) involves the Shark rescuing Amelia Reinhardt from an old man who…

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MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 019

MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 019

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Look at all these dang guys Lobo, the Flying Sleuth:  Lobo, the Flying Sleuth, aka the Lobo, had a pretty short run. But! He’s a cowboy and a pilot and a detective. That’s a lot of things! (Champion Comics 006, 1940) Doctor Miracle: We’ve seen guys like Dr Miracle before: the nigh-omnipotent magician with so much power at his fingertips that his only real challenge is in finding a foe tough enough that he doesn’t defeat them instantly. He’s even…

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REAL PERSON ROUND-UP 004

REAL PERSON ROUND-UP 004

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More of those pesky real people have gotten into my comic books! Andrew Jackson: Character Keith Kornell, aka the West Pointer, is a descendant of Andrew Jackson, something you would perhaps be more proud of in 1939 than today. (Top-Notch Comics 001, 1939) Benito Mussolini: He’s a fairly oblique reference to Benito Mussolini but I reckon that up-and-coming Filipino dictator Remy Mussoni fits the brief. (Wonderworld Comics 008, 1939) Billy the Kid: Appears in a questionably true story told by…

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MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 018

MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 018

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More of these guys and their antics. Johnny Fox: Johnny Fox is a guy* from the Florida Everglades who visits his grandfather one day to find him the victim of a treacherous murder. And what’s worse, the murderer, one Peter Pokane, did so in order to steal a supply of “sun-shots”, i.e., invisibility pills. *and by “guy” I mean “Native American guy of the Seminole Tribe of Florida” but it’s a tricky thing to work into a concise sentence. Also…

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MAD AND CRIMINAL SCIENTIST ROUND-UP 009

MAD AND CRIMINAL SCIENTIST ROUND-UP 009

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You know how it is with these guys. Their science is mad and/or criminal! Felix Zurich, lab assistant to Professor Trent, has hidden the professor away in a castle improbably located in the middle of the jungle in Africa, all so that Zurich can force him to perfect his invention of the ever-popular engine-killing ray. This is a Blackstone the Magician story so of course Zurich is also an accomplished stage magician and there is a pivotal duel of illusions….

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 569: NEPTINA

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 569: NEPTINA

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(Champion Comics 002, 1939)  I can’t say for sure that whoever created Neptina sat down and said “I will make a lady version of Namor the Sub-Mariner” but it’s at least plausible. Neptina is the ruler of the undersea kingdom of Amloza, and has designs on a total conquest of the surface world as well as the depths. Neptina is, like Namor, a horny character. She captures US Navy Lieutenant Brad Fletcher early in her series and spends a considerable…

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