Browsed by
Month: March 2023

MINOR SUPER-HERO 032: HERCULES

MINOR SUPER-HERO 032: HERCULES

Comments 0 comment

(Hit Comics 001-021, 1940-1942) There’s nothing too special about Hercules – he’s a super-strong guy who shrugs off small-arms fire and is a champion of the people after seeing his mother ruined by unscrupulous businessmen – but I really like the callout text at the start of his first adventure. He’s not an alien, you rubes! No mad scientist created our boy Joe Hercules! No, he’s just a regular super-powered American with no explanation! Named Joe Hercules, I must repeat. Check…

Read More Read More

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 255: BALDY

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 255: BALDY

Comments 0 comment

(Green Lantern v1 002, 1941) What can I say about Baldy? To start: he’s not really a bald guy, but a guy in a bald cap. That’s about as clever as he gets, if I’m honest. Okay, that might be a bit mean, but Baldy tries my patience. After seeing so many good villain ideas wasted on six-page nothing-stories over and over, it’s kind of galling for Baldy here to get a whole book-length tale of his own.  Baldy is…

Read More Read More

MAD AND CRIMINAL SCIENTIST ROUND-UP 001

MAD AND CRIMINAL SCIENTIST ROUND-UP 001

Comments 0 comment

Like costumed villains, there are a lot of scientists out there doing crimes involving superscience but just missing the levels of interest, ambition or scale to graduate to true super-villain status. Sometimes this is because of poor planning or lack of vision and others just have the misfortune to run into a protagonist while still in the initial stages of their venture. And don’t they deserve a forum just as much as the generic costumed villains we all love? Julius…

Read More Read More

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 254: THE SMOKE THIEF

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 254: THE SMOKE THIEF

Comments 0 comment

(Flash Comics v1 023, 1941) I’ll be honest: this is a very charitable entry on this list. The Smoke Thief is Dr Lucius Darrell and his gang of toughs, who use smoke bombs and special goggles to rob people on trains. If this was the main focus of the story, that might just be enough for full Minor Super-Villain status, but it ain’t. The real point of the story is this. Darrell captures Hawkman, then tries to kill him by…

Read More Read More

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 253: THE WHITE DRAGON

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 253: THE WHITE DRAGON

Comments 0 comment

(Flash Comics v1 023, 1941) Not much to say about the White Dragon: he’s a guy with a bunch of costumed henchmen who captures Chinese folk in NYC and uses them as slave labour in his motor factory until the Whip settles his hash. He is of course Walter Morgan, a guy who brags to Rod “the Whip” Gaynor about how well he’s doing in the motor business on the first page of the story. About the only interesting thing…

Read More Read More

NOTES – MARCH 2023

NOTES – MARCH 2023

Comments 0 comment

New Powers: An injured Hawkman is tended to by birds and learns to speak their language. (Flash Comics v1 023, 1941) Just some of my favourite alien designs ever: the Kriglo AKA Martian Spider-Men (Flash Comics v1 024, 1941) Super Hero Costume Party: Hawkman attends a costume party with Shiera Sanders as Hawkgirl. Though not the first time she wore the costume, this does mark the start of the two as a crime-fighting duo ongoing, no matter what stinky ol’ Hawkman…

Read More Read More

SUPER-HERO COSTUME PARTY

SUPER-HERO COSTUME PARTY

Comments 0 comment

This bit where Hawkman intends to attend a costumed event as himself but doesn’t quite make it (Flash Comics v1 022, 1941) made me realize that I’ve missed a few examples of super-heroes attending costume parties as themselves, one of my most favourite tropes in comics! Time for some catchup rectification! Here’s the Red Gaucho being mistaken for someone who was dressed as him, who is then impersonated by a third person in a story that was not called “Too Many…

Read More Read More