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Month: November 2023

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 369: ILLYRIA, QUEEN OF SPIES

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 369: ILLYRIA, QUEEN OF SPIES

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(Master Comics 012-014, 016-017, 019-020; Minute-Man Comics 001-002, 1941) Illyria, Queen of Spies! (AKA Queen Spy, Spy Queen, Queen of All Spies, Queen of Foreign Spies, etc) Definitely in the running for my favourite of the “recurring femme fatale spymaster” subgenre of super-villain, particularly as she is a foe to Minute-Man, one of the most bland piles of wallpaper paste ever to wear a patriotic costume. Beyond merely distracting me from how bored I am by Minute-Man, Illyria provides interest…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 368: GENGHIS KHAN THE SECOND

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 368: GENGHIS KHAN THE SECOND

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(Minute-Man 002, 1941) Genghis Khan the Second, like our poor deceased pal Stuporman, is a giant quasi-superhuman imported from far-off Mongolia by a gang boss for use as exotic muscle. The difference between Stuporman ad our guy here, however, is that he is not content to be anyone’s stooge. Genghis Khan the Second bumps off his would-be masters on page 2 of the story and promptly sets his Mongolian Horde to looting and pillaging the countryside using their mastery of…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 367: KOROZAN

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 367: KOROZAN

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(Minute-Man 001, 1941)  Korozan is a not-quite-Japanese spylord whose two gimmicks are a) that he is very ugly and b) that his spy cell are all basically a cult dedicated to that cool idol, with Korozan as the cult leader/ godhead. Nothing really interesting is done with the cult angle beyond an abortive sacrifice – it’s just your standard Yellow Peril stuff about foreigners and their savage religions. Korozan gets kicked into a furnace and that’s the end.

MINOR SUPER-HERO 046: THE SNIPER

MINOR SUPER-HERO 046: THE SNIPER

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(Military Comics 005-034, 1941-1944) Not that Golden Age super-heroes didn’t often kill their enemies, but the Sniper here is an example of a style of hero that had a brief niche to themselves in the 40s and then didn’t really reemerge until the 70s – I am talking of course about heroes who deliberately hunt and kill their foes. Those foes are specifically Axis in the case of the Sniper and his colleagues the Marksman, the Americommando, etc. Not that…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 366: THE SCAVENGERS

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 366: THE SCAVENGERS

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(Military Comics 005, 1941)  The Scavengers are an interesting bunch, but all of the most interesting things about them are implied rather than stated. As seen above, they show up to loot and murder in the aftermath of WWII battles. The fact that they all look the same, like little rat-men, is probably meant to be a metaphorical signifier of their moral degradation but I like the implication that this is what happens to battlefield looters, like the the transformation…

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NOTES – NOVEMBER 2023

NOTES – NOVEMBER 2023

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Fate of the Wreck of the Athenia   Showing tremendous respect for the dead, the Blue Tracer uses the wreck of the Athenia as armour while attacking a Nazi battleship. (Military Comics 005, 1941)  Honours Marine pilots “Loops” McCann and “Banks” Barrows are “decorated for valor” after a barroom brawl in a Shanghai nightclub leads to the destruction of a Japanese spy cell (Military Comics 005, 1941) On Crypto-Fascism:  As I’ve said before, the US was officially Not Involved in…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 365: THE BLACK TIGRESS

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 365: THE BLACK TIGRESS

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(Military Comics 004, 1941) The Black Tigress is a Gestapo agent operating in Egypt with the goal of capturing or destroying the Suez Canal with her army of little Perter Lorre looking Nazis. Nothing particularly remarkable, but she does have the distinction of being the first of many, many minor super-villains to be faced by the Blackhawks. She is also the first of many femmes fatale to be encountered by Blackhawk himself, and Will Eisner creation (and Howard Chaykin adoptee,…

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MINOR SUPER-HERO 045: YANKEE EAGLE

MINOR SUPER-HERO 045: YANKEE EAGLE

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(Military Comics 001-008, 1941-1942)  Yankee Eagle is the code name of Jerry Noble, an uncostumed adventurer who can communicate with and command the loyalty of all animals. Aside from some nice art, Yankee Eagle is a fairly run of the mill character until you drill down into his origin: being rich. His mother left him a fortune and he used it to buy a private zoo and that ‘s how he learned to talk to all animals. Step aside Bruce…

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