(Flash Comics v1 017, 1941) It’s the Golden Mummy! As I have previously stated, I love fake mummies and had read this issue before, so I was anticipating this fellow’s appearance with some joy, and it is with great sadness that I must announce that he’s a complete disappointment. My threshold for fake mummy appreciation is quite low – usually they just steal a few antiquities before getting tripped up by Archie and Jughead or the Scooby Gang, after all…
(Flash Comics v1 015, 1941) It’s old hat by now: like former Hawkman foe Czar the Unkillable Man and his ilk, the Hand is a henchbeing who is far more interesting to read and talk about than their creator. This is the risk you run when you set out to create an autonomous crime-servant via… I’m guessing magical means? It’s unclear in the text but magic seems more likely than science. In this case, the creator is a guy named…
(Flash Comics v1 013, 1941) Like Crime & Corruption Inc before him, I almost skipped over the Great Arturo or banished him to the ranks of the generic villains, because a) the Great Arturo is a terrible villain name and b) he appears in a Les Watts comic. But the more I looked at this guy, the more it became clear that he was like a savoury stew made up of all the things I love about comic book creepos….
(Flash Comics v1 013, 1941) I almost didn’t include these guys because Johnny Thunder lives in a heightened cartoon reality that only exists within the same world as the Spectre or Hawkman because of the technicality of them all being in the same club and hanging out together. But then, is the fact that New York is full of goofy-ass cartoon people in Johnny’s reality any more implausible than Alexander the Great blowing up a portion of the city without…
(Flash Comics v1 010, 1940) I’ve alluded now and then to the colonialist assumptions that comics worked off of and that seemingly were endemic to the mindset of the American people. The White Renegade offers an example of the two major prongs of these assumptions, which boil down to the idea that the world is divided into White People and Everyone Else, and that: 1. All offenses committed by Everyone Else against White people shall be repaid with great vengeance. …
(Flash Comics v1 007, 1940) Long before guys like the Joker and the Riddler made leaving baroque clues to taunt the forces of Law ahead of your next crime a super-villain cliché, the Clue Criminal was out there getting things done, with a name that I must assume was used in a low-effort Batman pastiche some time in the late 60s. Speaking of names, the Clue Criminal steals actual real painting “the Blue Boy” and then goes on to…
(Flash Comics v1 005, 1940) A simple concept, but an endearing one: the Snow-King is a famous spy who only works during the winter, hence the name. He’s possibly French (at least, he says “au revoir” a lot) and definitely cocky – he is so sure of success pulls the classic move of calling up the authorities to warn them of his next escapade. Eventually, crack government agent Cliff Cornwall is brought in on the case and works out just…
The Whip is an okay character aside from the brownface bit but one thing I absolutely love about him is that although he does a credible job at the Ineffectual Secret Identity act he also just travels from town to town with an enormous black horse. (Flash Comics v1 005, 1940) Names: This old dude shares his name with Kurt Busiek’s Astro City character Samaritan! The tally of comics characters named Asa Martin stands at 2! (Flash Comics v1 010,…
(Flash Comics v1 005, 1940) It’s another version of the old Order of Assassins, this time as a revival founded by a supposed descendant of Hassan-i Sabbah, the original Assassin of yore, though since he died in 1124 AD there’s a decent chance that anybody is his descendant. Legitimacy aside, this buncha yahoos operates out of a city-fortress called Alamut (but somewhere in the vicinity of Egypt rather than Iran) and is engaged in a somewhat nebulous plot to conquer the…
(Flash Comics v1 005, 1940) Long-running foe/ally/love interest of Golden Age master of disguise the King (or King Standish, if you want to go by his full name), the Witch probably deserves a more thorough examination than I’m going to give her, but the fact is that though she is a good character and an admirable foil to the King, the King himself is a bit dull. Sorry, Witchie. I will say that the New Orleans-set King story in World’s…