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Month: June 2024

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 540: THE WILL-O-WISP

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 540: THE WILL-O-WISP

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(Silver Streak Comics 001, 1939) As we open, simply everyone’s worried about the Will-o-Wisp, a mysterious crook who shows up at crime scenes and steals what other crooks were about to make off with. The police chief looks bad because he can’t catch the Will-o-Wisp! The gangs are mad because they keep getting robbed by the Will-o-Wisp! The Will-o-Wisp’s big mistake comes when he butts in on the mugging of Neal Carruthers III, aka Mister Midnite, which of course arouses…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 539: THE CLAW

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 539: THE CLAW

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(Silver Streak Comics 001, 1939) The Claw is a character we will be returning to – he’s one of the most prominent Golden Age super-villains, after all – but this entry is concerned only with his first appearance in accordance with my new policy of approaching things as they come. And while the Claw who eventually battles super-heroes like the Ghost and Daredevil and massacres thousands in an attempt at world domination is a size-changing monster-man this first version reads…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 538: THE WHISP

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 538: THE WHISP

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(Funny Pages v3 008, 1939) There’s not much to the Whisp, which I suppose is appropriate. A bloodthirsty jewel thief, the Whisp makes off with some star sapphire bracelets and pulls a switcheroo by using a garage’s loaner car to make their initial getaway before swapping back to their own car for the long haul. The final trick is that the Whisp is not, in fact, a fresh-faced young man but a woman! And unlike some of our other cross-dressing…

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MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 012

MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 012

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They just keep on coming. the Champ: The Champ is Captain America if Dr Erskine was a nutritionist rather than a… biologist? Biochemist? Whatever Dr Erskine was a doctor of. A sickly, bullied boy, the Champ (no other name given) was so-called by his bullies because he won at nothing. Scientist Dr Marlin, pitying the Champ, provides him with an experimental food supplement that over a period of seven years transforms him into a physical and mental paragon, the Champ…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 537: THE SILVER FOX

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 537: THE SILVER FOX

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(Funny Pages v1 007, 1936) Dastardly desert bandit who bedevils scientist Fred Murray and his children Jimmie and Norrie as they search Egypt for the Sapphire Eye of Sehkmet. He’s a pretty basic type villain but I have some affection for these pulp-style fellows as we start to get away from them. Note also the all-purpose accent he’s sporting, which was definitely the go-to for Golden Age creators who didn’t know what, say, an Egyptian sounded like. As far as…

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NOTES – JUNE 2024

NOTES – JUNE 2024

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Memes of Yore – Sheep vs Cows:  It’s not at all surprising that there was conflict between sheep and cattle farmers in the Old West – human tribalism alone might have accounted for that without the sometimes conflicting needs of the two industries coming into play – but the insistence of early Western media that the cattlemen were RIGHT, DAMMIT and those dirty sheep farmers were nothing but a bunch of crooks suitable only for roles as sneaking villains is…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 536: NAULUS

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 536: NAULUS

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(Fantastic Comics 001, 1939) Naulus is an undersea noble who is attempting to usurp the throne of Atlantis from its rightful ruler, Queen Lantida, and do Atlantean aristocrats get up to any other activities? Atlantis needs more hobby stores, I reckon. FATE OF ATLANTIS: this version of Atlantis appears to be the standard ancient sunken city saved by super science – specifically a sealed dome city full of air. These aren’t your water breathing Atlanteans, folks. Since this is a…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 535: VON HAUPT

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 535: VON HAUPT

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(Fantastic Comics 001, 1939) Von Haupt is  more like a journey through the traits and attributes of a style of  super-crook than a character: Aviator Captain Kidd is flying over an unspecified jungle when his plane is forced down by an engine-killing ray. Captured by costumed goons, Kidd is brought to a jungle fortress before a vaguely European man  with a German-sounding last name and a monocle. Though threatening, this exchange turns out to be a job interview, as von…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 534: THE BRAIN

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 534: THE BRAIN

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(Fantastic Comics 001, 1939) We open on Space Smith and his girlfriend Dianna (sometimes Diana) having a trans-Lunar space-date ruined by Martian Imp Men and I am immediately struck with the dilemma engendered by nearly all Fletcher Hanks stories: follow through on my impulses and post most if not all panels or be judicious for the sake of space and readability? I went with the latter but it hurt. So in lieu of my posting every panel that features the…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 533: THORGA

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 533: THORGA

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(Fantastic Comics 001, 1939)  Thorga! Exiled from Western society because of his “mad plans”, he emerges from the mountains of Tibet with a high-tech army, intent on conquering Europe! Thorga! He fields a mighty airforce of advanced planes, a mechanized infantry of advanced tanks! Thorga! He is the first foe faced by Fox Features’ Samson and so his main role is as a demonstration of Samson’s power as he destroys not only the planes and tanks but the regular infantry…

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