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Month: July 2025

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 820: THE MYSTERY MAN

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 820: THE MYSTERY MAN

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(Thrilling Comics 002, 1940)  Metropolitan Hospital* is in trouble! A mysterious masked figure dubbed the Mystery Man** has been conducting a campaign of terror against the august institution that includes both seemingly random and seemingly targeted murders, the installation of a gang boss and his henchmen in one of the wards, and the theft of $100 000 worth of radium! It’s the perfect case for the Woman in Red to make her debut, as undercover police officer Peggy Allen is…

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GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 023

GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 023

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Some real gems here tonite.  Executed gangster Black Morger’s four identical sons reconvene twenty-five years after their father’s execution to seek revenge on the four people who they consider to be responsible for his death (and for that of their mother, who had some sort of rage-induced heart attack at the instant of Black Morger’s demise). To their credit, they manage to kill two of them before the Spirit butts in and foils their plot.  REVENGE KILLER SCORE: 2/4 (The…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 819: THE MASK

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 819: THE MASK

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(Thrilling Comics 002, 1940) He may just be the leader of a gang of kidnappers, but the moment this fellow put on his nice blue mask and got all confident, he became special to me. This particular Mask (our ninth!) is brought in without too much fuss by short-lived Nedor Comics group the Three Comrades.

DIVINE ROUND-UP 005

DIVINE ROUND-UP 005

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Once again we add to the scriptures.  the Shadowman:    Like his predecessor/inspiration Yarko the Great, Mr Mystic also has a semi-friendly/ semi-adversarial relationship with the personification of death. In this case, Death is a guy in a cool suit with a half-cape, and he is called the Shadowman, presumably because of his perpetually-in shadow face. The Shadowman’s first couple of appearances cast him as a mysterious stranger who helps Mr Mystic in his battle against various evils (including scientist…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 818: THE FACELESS PHANTOM

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 818: THE FACELESS PHANTOM

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(Thrilling Comics 001, 1940)  Here’s a nice picture of the Faceless Phantom from his second appearance, before we delve into the muddy fiche images of his first. Scientific hero Doc Strange is just walking down the street one day when he hears a cry for help that leads him to an encounter with his first super-villain (the Faceless Phantom) as well as his long-term love interest (Virginia Thompson). The Faceless Phantom, it turns out, has just kidnapped Virginia’s father Professor…

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MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 055

MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 055

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Some more super-folk for your delectation.  Doc Strange: Doc Strange (called “Dr Strange” for the first half dozen or so of his appearances, but why cause unnecessary confusion) is an almost prototypical scientist-hero: no real origin beyond being a well-known brilliant scientist who is primed and ready for adventure having just perfected Alosun, a “formula distilled from sun-atoms.” After taking his first dose of Alosun in his initial adventure, Strange has super-strength and invulnerability sufficient to take on an entire…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 817: ELENA

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 817: ELENA

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(The Spirit Section, 9 June, 1940) Elena is Mr Mystic’s recurring female foe, the Tigress to his Zatara. Unlike the Tigress, however, Elena isn’t in it for the money but rather as an agent of chaos out to maximize the amount of war and bloodshed in the world, as in her first appearance, in which she is acting as the power behind the throne of fascist dictator Karoly Gore. The final confrontation between Elena and Mr Mystic is also the…

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DIVINE ROUND-UP 004

DIVINE ROUND-UP 004

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Can you ever have enough made-up gods?  the Goddess of Fire:  Crooks Raoul and Victor Ladron hatch a scheme while hiding out on the South Pacific island of Kumoni: since the idol of the local Goddess of Fire looks identical to former super-villain Elena they will engineer her kidnapping, hypnotize her into impersonating the goddess and then kill her to prove that they are more powerful than her and thus deserve to make off with the temple gold. This plan…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 816: THE MASTERMIND

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 816: THE MASTERMIND

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(The Spirit, “the Mastermind Strikes”, 6 October, 1940) The Mastermind is really Joel Kenner, a mayoral candidate who tries to get his Tough on Crime campaign a boost by murdering both of his campaign managers and blaming the deaths on the Spirit. This ends poorly for Kenner, who ends up stabbing himself with his own knife like a complete dolt.

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 815: ORANG, THE APE MAN

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 815: ORANG, THE APE MAN

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(The Spirit, “Orang, the Ape Man”, 1 September 1940) After an indeterminate time away (ten to fifteen years, I reckon), Dr Hoyd returns to the United States from Europe and reconnects with his colleague Dr Egel. Upon retiring to Egel’s home, Hoyd is astonished to meet Orang, an orangutan who Egel has imbued with human-level intelligence via training and brain surgery. Dr Hoyd is astonished and delighted by this. Hoyd is far less impressed when he tries to reconnect with…

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