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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 598: THE DEMON

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 598: THE DEMON

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(Fantastic Comics 003, 1940) The Demon is a pretty straightforward Stardust enemy: he thinks that there are too many people on Earth and so is going to destroy cities until he gets that number under control. Exactly why he thinks that there are too many people (fear of overcrowding? an ahead-of-his-time radical environmentalist? simple misanthropy?) is not explored. This is of course exactly the sort of thing to draw Stardust the Super Wizard like a magnet. Importantly, this happens before…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 596: THE ROBOT SCIENTISTS OF VENUS

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 596: THE ROBOT SCIENTISTS OF VENUS

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(Fantastic Comics 003, 1940)  The Robot Scientists of Venus are not particularly noteworthy villains on a lot of axes but they are the bosses of perhaps the most visually distinctive groups of the Golden Age, the Leopard Women of Venus. What other comic could offer a visual like this: a bevy of bodacious blonde babes in red leopardprint bodysuits, surfing through space on lizard monsters and blazing away with their head-guns? Other Fletcher Hanks comics, I guess, plus early Wonder…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 595: THE VOICE

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 595: THE VOICE

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(Fantastic Comics 002, 1940) Captain Kidd and his pal Freddy land on the… Southeast Asian? island of Morgia, known to be rich in gold but critically not to ever export that gold. As the heroes of the piece, Kidd and Freddy are of course there to just look around and seeing the sights, not to scoop up a bunch of gold on the cheap. Certainly not. Instead of free gold tourist hotspots they find dozens of local people dead of…

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MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 024

MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 024

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Buncha fresh heroes here! Son of the Gods:  Dr John Thesson, big tall archaeologist and 1940s arch-skeptic, has the misfortune to find himself on an expedition to Crete with true believer Professor Craig who can’t stop running his mouth about how great Theseus was and how he totally existed and maybe Thesson and Craig can find Theseus’ mystic Ring of Poseidon if they look hard enough. It is a very annoying expedition for Thesson. Just kidding: this is a comic…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 592: ORRO

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 592: ORRO

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(Exciting Comics 006, 1940) The Space Rovers are Ted Hunt and Jane Martin, two young adults whose dads built a spaceship and who were compelled to steal that ship rather than see it and its ray cannon fall into the nefarious hands of some ambiguously foreign spies. Subsequently, they have just the worst luck at getting back to Earth, with each issue of Exciting Comics featuring some space danger that derails their progress. This time around they come across another…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 591: THE CULT OF DEATH

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 591: THE CULT OF DEATH

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(Exciting Comics 006, 1940) The Cult of Death comes into conflict with adventurer Ted Crane and his pals as they look for their associate, Egyptologist Dr Turner, in Luxor. Despite its very evocative name, the Cult of Death seems to sort of broadly worship the concept of Ancient Egypt and resent those who would pry into its secrets – Dr Turner has in fact been killed by them for seeking the lost tomb of King Mephtet. Does the cult’s leader…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 590: THE SUBMARINE GANG

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 590: THE SUBMARINE GANG

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(Exciting Comics 005, 1940) The Submarine Gang get dealt a very bad hand: although they are a successful and feared group of submarine pirates who have been terrorizing shipping in the New York area, they have the misfortune of being lead by corrupt City Commissioner Lupine, who is dumb enough not only to conduct gang business while hosting a large and well-attended party at his home but to do so in the context of the Sphinx operating out of the…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 589: THE TANKONAUT

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 589: THE TANKONAUT

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(Exciting Comics 005, 1940) Stretching the definition of “super-villain” to the very limits here: the Tankonaut is a superweapon developed by US arms manufacturer M.V. Gage under contract to a man who is very clearly meant to be Hitler but is referred to only as the Dictator. Whether this would have qualified as treason in mid-to-late 1940 is beyond me but the next part, where the Tankonaut is tested on US targets (including Washington DC!) extremely is. Not only does…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 588: THE MASK

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 588: THE MASK

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(Exciting Comics 004, 1940)  Famed Broadway star Sandra Cummings is dead, either by her own hand or anothers’, and she has for some never explained reason left behind a note detailing the extent of political corruption in NYC and more importantly naming the names of those involved. This note is immediately stolen and soon afterward someone pretending to be the Mask starts extorting and murdering those named in the note. I’ve said it before: impersonating a super-hero is completely understandable…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 587: THE MASKED MEN

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 587: THE MASKED MEN

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(Exciting Comics 003, 1940) They may be an ordinary gang of Western Bandits but I can’t help but be impressed by just how many of them there are. Every time Texas Ranger Jim Hatfield meets up with the Masked Men he blows at least a couple of them away yet there are always more available to help top man Bull Jeffrey loot the boom town of Concho. They must’ve been planning a 72-man split of the loot originally!