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DIVINE ROUND-UP 026

DIVINE ROUND-UP 026

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I’ve finally caught up on my god backlog so these are all piping fresh deities for you to peruse. Itzalotahui: On an expedition to Guatemala to locate their missing friend John Malcolm, Billy Batson and Whitey Murphy make camp in the lost temple of the monkey god Itzalotahui and are awoken from their slumber by the god himself, flaming and steaming and flailing about. After an initial panic and an in-retrospect-embarassing fistfight, Captain Marvel discovers the truth: Itzalotahui is not…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 908: THE RATTLER

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 908: THE RATTLER

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(Whiz Comics 022, 1941) As we join the action, a passing stranger informs us and also Golden Arrow that the Rattler has broken jail! And he’s handing out calling cards!  Turns out that the Rattler, notorious outlaw of the West, is out to get the men who served on the jury at his trial (and, we must assume, the judge and prosecutor as well), and he’s being impressively proactive about it: the above scene takes place the morning after he breaks jail…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 907: HALF-MAN

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 907: HALF-MAN

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(Whiz Comics 021, 1941) Due to Allied concerns about the Nazis generic Axis use of black magic to ensure victory, Ibis the Invincible is recruited and sent to the front as a counter-sorcerer. His foe: the mysterious Half-Man, occultist and rumoured worshipper of an ancient evil god called the Dark Spirit. The Half-Man served with distinction in WWI, until an artillery shell cost him a leg, an arm and an eye and he was no longer able to lead troops…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 906: THE VENGEFUL FOUR

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 906: THE VENGEFUL FOUR

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(Whiz Comics 021, 1941) The Vengeful Four is an example of a phenomenon that I am not sure is common enough that I need to come up with a special name for it: the big-name villain (in this case Dr Sivana) teaming up with a selection of nobodies as if they were equals. The Four Cards represent one other example of this, and the Penguin is a part of another called the Birds of a Feather that we will cover once…

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MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 069

MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 069

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Mostly, but not all, updates.  Ibis the Invincible **UPDATE**: 1941 sees Ibis the Invincible’s omnipotence tempered a bit via a slight limitation that is added to the Ibistick: it is not directly able to affect things created by or otherwise powered by evil magic, and it might not work at all in overtly magical areas such as a giant’s floating castle. This is balanced out somewhat by the fact that it gives Ibis the chance to demonstrate his lateral thinking…

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SUPER-VILLAIN 001 UPDATE: DR SIVANA (1941)

SUPER-VILLAIN 001 UPDATE: DR SIVANA (1941)

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Dr Sivana’s 1941 Whiz Comics appearances! What’s that lil’ scamp up to now? Sivana starts 1941 with a bang, by developing a liquid that can reduce someone’s age by up to 30 years. This is a surprisingly useful tool in the super-criminal’s arsenal, as a series of bank messengers, security guards, cops and Billy Batson soon find out. Dr Sivan’s ultimate goal is of course another attempt to take over the United States of America. He very reasonably assumes that,…

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DIVINE ROUND-UP 024

DIVINE ROUND-UP 024

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Not a lot of depth to this batch of gods. the Tiger God:  When the Tiger’s Eye Emerald, formerly installed as the eye in an idol of the Tiger God in India, is stolen, detective Dan Dare is brought in on the case and almost immediately captured by the tiger-worshippers who were responsible for the theft. As usual it is only the current and not historical owner of the stolen artifact who is considered legitimate and so after slaying the…

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SEASONAL CONTENT: THE END-OF-YEAR SANTY CLAUS ROUND-UP 2025

SEASONAL CONTENT: THE END-OF-YEAR SANTY CLAUS ROUND-UP 2025

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Since it’s Christmas Day I shall now post all comic book Santa Claus action I have encountered in the last year: Columbia Comics Universe:  Santa Claus is real and he knows Marvelo, Monarch of Magicians. He’s got a modern toy factory and a plane and doesn’t approve of WWII. (Big Shot Comics 020, 1941) The Spirit: Santa Claus might be real in the world of the Spirit, or maybe this gentleman is just a bearded priest with a real gift for laying…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 905: THE MISSING MUMMY

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 905: THE MISSING MUMMY

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(Whiz Comics 020, 1941) Racing to the Hayten Museum in New York City in response to a plea for assistance, super-detective Dan Dare discovers a body upon arrival and is immediately accused of being the murderer by what turns out to be his employers, once everything is cleared up. It turns out that these men are either archaeologists or the kind of genteel looters who supplied museums back in the day, and that they recently opened a cursed Egyptian tomb…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 904: THE BLACK MAGICIAN

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 904: THE BLACK MAGICIAN

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(Whiz Comics 019, 1941) This story’s conflict is precipitated by Billy Batson dedicating his radio time one day to the subject of black magic and the nonexistence thereof, and while this dovetails nicely with the 40s and 50s US cultural project of promoting the supremacy of both scientific rationality and Protestant Christianity over superstition (which includes all other world religion, natch), it’s a bit rich coming from someone who got super powers from a wizard who lives in a magic…

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