(More Fun Comics 055, 1940) Zor is from pretty early in the Spectre’s run, back when his concept was “resurrected dead guy” rather than “literal embodiment of the Wrath of God”. More specifically but also vaguely, he was an “earth-bound ghost” which was never really defined but was a pretty powerful thing to be. Zor was also an earth-bound ghost, only he was older and thus more powerful than the Spectre, and also evil: Zor makes a couple of Golden Age appearances…
(More Fun Comics 054, 1940) If a crooked importer named Crandall hatches a scheme to kill off his business rivals and then makes up a villain named the Cloak to blame the crimes on, is he in fact that villain? This correspondent says yes.
(Feature Comics 032-037, 1940) Of the dozen or so heroes and villains named the Voice, this is the best of them all, hands down. Let’s review: -shipwrecked on an island in 1790, lives off of special herbs that extend the human lifespan and empower the body -finally picked up in 1940, moves to NYC at 150-something years old -successfully synthesizes the herb’s properties, ensuring that his life will continue indefinitely. Decides to fight crime -learns ventriloquism and close-up magic The…
(Feature Comics 034, 1940) What is interesting about them? The Black Mask is about as basic as a mask-and-code-name guy can get, but he’s the only thing approaching a super-villain to fight the Voice, which gives me an excuse to talk about that very fun guy in the next entry. Also, 100 minor super-villains! Congratulations, Black Mask, it’s more honour than you deserve.
(Feature Comics 029, 1940) What makes them a super-villain? The Reaper is another just-scraping-into-the-ranks gang boss. Between his cool name and a setup where he gives his gang orders through a closed-circuit TV and microphone, he makes that final leap, presumably into a slightly higher security prison cell.
(Detective Comics 041, 1940) What makes them a super-villain? He’s an espionage guy with an invisibility formula. What is interesting about them? Invisible guys are often pretty dull comic book villains, but I will give the Invisible Man/ Dr Ellis this: his cover identity is as a scientist in the team that is trying to catch him, and he’s evidently arrogant enough that he actually developed a formula for a gas that would render him visible again but assumed that investigator Cliff…
(Detective Comics 046, 1940) Love this guy. The head of a gang of smugglers who looks like a goldfish and is sensitive about it and tortures his foes by imprisoning them in a huge goldfish bowl where they have to stand for days or drown and the only thing to eat is what raw goldfish they can catch and they eventually go mad? Terrific. All that but it’s actually a mask and the Goldfish is actually a frustrated former actor?…
(Detective Comics 043, 1940) A skull-faced propagandist operating out of the Belgian Congo, presumably Nazi but it’s pre-Pearl Harbor so he works for a “hostile power” or “the dictatorships” etc. The really intriguing thing about the Skull is his choice of themes – rather than go with an obvious skeleton motif like your average skull-faced goon would do, he instead opted for a Medieval theme, complete with sword-wielding henchmen and a jungle castle. I would praise him for making good…
(Detective Comics 042, 1940) The Painter of Death (never actually called that in-comic, sadly) engaged in a campaign against the subjects of paintings by up-and-coming portraitist Antal. He first attacked the painting of the person and then killed them in the same manner: via dart, arrow, gunshot etc. Eventually, Bruce “Batman” Wayne commissioned a painting from Antal and used it to set a trap which netted Wylie, an art collector who had invested heavily in Antal’s work and saw the…
(Detective Comics 041, 1940) A common or garden-variety masked counterfeiter, the Masked Man operated out of an all-boys’ school, leading to him being the first solo foe of an undercover Dick “Robin” Grayson. Mostly. Batman shows up at the end for a punch or two.