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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 751: THE MUMMY

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 751: THE MUMMY

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(Smash Comics 015, 1940)  Strange things are happening at the museum: knives are flying through the air, suits of armour are wandering around in a menacing fashion and things are getting pretty spooky. Head Curator Robbins asks his pal Kent Thurston (aka the Invisible Hood) to check things out, at which point the Mummy enters the picture, knocks out Thurston and kidnaps Robbins’ plucky daughter Betty. After grabbing Robins as well, the Mummy reveals his devious plan: Robbins must resign…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 750: THE PHANTOM

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 750: THE PHANTOM

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(Smash Comics 015, 1940)  It’s a tale as old as opera: macho newsman Chic Carter is pissing and moaning his way through a theatre review assignment when a dramatic figure suddenly murders the star and disappears into the bowels of the opera house. Chic is quick to connect this killing with two others that took place over the last twenty years and sets out to capture the enigmatic Phantom. Chic and the police stage a recreation of the fatal performance…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 548 UPDATE: MADAME DOOM (1940)

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 548 UPDATE: MADAME DOOM (1940)

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When we last saw Madame Doom, she had been bested at the game of espionage by the Black X and was fleeing the US for friendlier shores at the end of Smash Comics 004. Madame Doom returns with a fresh new attitude for 1940 in Smash Comics 008, as now she is not just working for an analog of the Axis powers but explicitly for the Nazis. It’s a lateral move at best but an important one nonetheless. She only…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 748: THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 748: THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME

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(Smash Comics 012, 1940) The Hunchback of Notre Dame is just that, a modern version of the fictional character, and seemingly just as damaged by society as his predecessor. He is manipulated into working as an assassin for Madame Doom, who is in Paris (presumably on behalf of the Nazis) to disrupt peace talks helmed by US Ambassador Blank but is being effectively countered by the Black X and so must operate through a deniable dupe asset. Just what the…

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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 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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