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Month: July 2022

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 092: THE PAINTER OF DEATH

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 092: THE PAINTER OF DEATH

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(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…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 091: THE MASKED MAN

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 091: THE MASKED MAN

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(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.

MINOR SUPER-HEROES 007-014: AMAZING-MAN COMICS ROUNDUP 1939

MINOR SUPER-HEROES 007-014: AMAZING-MAN COMICS ROUNDUP 1939

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(Amazing-Man Comics 005-026, 1939-1942) All the ephemeral Golden Age heroes who stalked the pages of Amazing-Man Comics: The Iron Skull! I love him. His origin and so forth is doled out after a few issues so initially you don’t know that he is a cyborg war casualty in the far future world of 1970. The most important things are there from the start, though: his huge anime eyes and the fact that every bullet or attack made against him unerringly…

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MINOR SUPER-HERO 006 AMAZING-MAN

MINOR SUPER-HERO 006 AMAZING-MAN

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(Amazing-Man Comics 005-026, 1939-1942, plus various other Centaur books) Amazing-Man is not particularly obscure: he was supposedly the inspiration for both Iron Fist and Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt and eventually ended up dropped whole cloth into both one of the Malibu universes and the Marvel Universe (which, yes, means he’s technically in the Marvel Universe twice but if Malibu comics ever comes back in any substantial way I will make and consume an edible hat). The thing I always focused on…

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KNOCKOFF KIRBY WATCH

KNOCKOFF KIRBY WATCH

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(All-New Comics 009, 1944) A series of facts: -one of the things that Kirby was the King of was kid gang comics. -Kirby often included in his work characters who were some degree of inspired by him: Brooklyn, Scrapper, the Thing, Terrible Turpin, etc. For the purposes of this bit we shall call them kirbies. -the Boy Heroes, pictured above, are easily spotted as a knockoff of a Kirby kid gang, down to a attempt to mimic his art style,…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 090: THE SPIDER

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 090: THE SPIDER

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(Detective Comics 036, 1940) The Spider, a notorious jewel thief, is in reality nightclub owner Durand. But Durand is in reality (shocked gasp) suburbanite Roberta Roberts! While the original thought process behind the character was likely no more complex than “I bet it would be fun to draw a lady in a bra and false mustache,” a few different narrative jump to the modern mind, the first being that Durand/ the Spider is the true identity of a trans man,…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 089: SCRAG

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 089: SCRAG

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(Blue Beetle Comics 005, 1940) Scrag attempts to extort (New) York City using remote controlled bombers – not a terrifically unique plan but he’s just so gleeful about his evil that I love him. Blown up while battling the Blue Beetle.

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 088: THE BLACK-ROBED MAN

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 088: THE BLACK-ROBED MAN

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(Blue Beetle Comics 004, 1940) It’s fairly unsupported right now as the only other example of a crossdressing villain so far is the Coin, but trust me when I say that an older woman adopting a younger male identity for crime is a comparative rarity as compared to the opposite. I may find myself compelled to note all of the times that non-super gangster types do it, just to lend weight to my claims. Anyway, the Black-Robed Man. Runs a…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 087: BLITZ

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 087: BLITZ

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(Blue Beetle Comics 004, 1940) Blitz: by far the best thing about this probably-meant-to-be-German spy is his collection of henchmen, who include a maniacal dwarf and Ax, who is somewhat unsurprisingly obsessed with his signature weapon. Love a henchman who goes all-in on their bit.

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 086: THE MASTERMIND OF CRIME

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 086: THE MASTERMIND OF CRIME

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(Blue Beetle Comics 003, 1940) A lot of these early Blue Beetle villains are real basic so I’m not even going to bother with the questions. Mastermind of Crime: very good hood, attempts to take over NYC York City, turns out to actually be the civic reformer who has been raising a stink over all this organized crime all over the place.