(Amazing-Man Comics 013, 1940) The Great One is a real testament to the fact that style is far more important than substance when it comes to super-villainy. On a purely objective level the Great One is average at best, with an entry-level costume and a scheme that was old back in the days of the pulps. But it’s the style that makes the villain, and if the Great One has anything , it’s style. The Great One’s scheme involves using…
(Amazing-Man Comics 013, 1940) In Amazing-Man Comics 010 Minimidget and Ritty accidentally get shot to the Belgian Congo on a guy’s homemade rocket (as you do) and the subsequent issues have been a series of trials and tribulations as they make their way back home. The Ghost is another one of those, but a fun one – not racist at all, for one thing! I may not have much regard for pilot-heroes but air pirates are another matter, and that’s…
(Amazing-Man Comics 011, 1940) On the surface Drago seems to merely be a guy who looks like an evil cat and shoots his henchmen rather than paying them (not only a nightmare for HR but a bad financial decision as you’ll be spending more in headhunting and training new goons than you will save in salaries), and that’s just what he is. There are no hidden depths. He kidnaps world-class scientists and sells them to the Axis-equivalent belligerent governments of…
(Amazing-Man Comics 011, 1940) On the surface Drago seems to merely be a guy who looks like an evil cat and shoots his henchmen rather than paying them (not only a nightmare for HR but a bad financial decision as you’ll be spending more in headhunting and training new goons than you will save in salaries), and that’s just what he is. There are no hidden depths. He kidnaps world-class scientists and sells them to the Axis-equivalent belligerent governments of…
(Amazing-Man Comics 010, 1940) I am heartbroken. Here’s a bit of trivia: most of the 465 entries before this were written about characters in comics I had already read and if there was something in them that made me feel particularly strong emotions then I had had time to process it and mull it over. Going forward, however, we’re looking at a lot of comics that are brand new to me. In that spirit, I must admit: the first few…
(Amazing-Man Comics 010-011, 1940) The Magician from Mars’ final foe is a two-issue affair, but the first one is a bit of a nothing story: a mysterious terror attack at an airport turns out to be the work of a villain named the Hood who has found a way to… play a loud sound into a glass ball and then use it as a grenade. It’s a weird contrivance even by sci-fi super-hero comic standards. In any case, the Magician…
(Amazing-Man Comics 009, 1940) The Elemental! An extradimensional intruder who insinuates itself into the unspecified future world of hero the Magician from Mars via the music of unwitting dupe Bill Wend. Is this a future with wildly relaxed standards for professional music performance or has the musical director of Concert Hall also being influenced by the Elemental? This question will go unanswered, alas. Having achieved its goal of entering our reality, the Elemental feeds not only on the crowd’s fear…
(Mystic Comics v1 004, 1940) The Trustees of Hate are a group of villains operating at least nominally along corporate lines, with strategy meetings, what appears to be a board of directors etc. Because their headquarters is in the evocatively named Horror Hall, on the border of the fictional European countries of Borsia and Gratzia, the Blue Blaze is given a new power especially so that he can go beat them up: he returns to his grave between cases and…
(Mystic Comics v1 003, 1940) The Hood is a dude in a sheet ghost costume who is seemingly the head of an extortion gang targeting bankers and ruthlessly killing any who defy him. And perhaps you’ve noted that “seemingly” and are wondering what it could mean. Well, This ruthless banker-murderer… is actually a banker! He’s Willard Thomas and his extortion scheme was a front for a murder scheme that would have left him, the last banker standing, holding the keys…
(Mystic Comics v1 003, 1940) Just a gang boss running an arson scheme, but a particularly ruthless one with a particularly great name. Having a cool name doesn’t help you when a couple of brothers rock up with their super-powered rubber robot. Still, the Iron Duke! What a name!