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Month: August 2025

ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 014

ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 014

We’ve hit a rich seam of aliums this month. Mermaid/ Reptile-Men: This city of Reptile-Men is ruled over by a Mermaid queen, and I am forced to contemplate, and not for the first time, whether this is an instance of a member or group of one species ruling over another or if it’s one of extreme sexual dimorphism. Whichever one it is, I do appreciate that the Reptile-Men have that really goofy wide stance going on with their lizard legs….

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 846: THE WIZARD

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 846: THE WIZARD

(Weird Comics 003, 1940) The Wizard is the first of five villains to challenge the Sorceress of Zoom for the role of top villain in her own dang feature. He is unique among that group for being the only villain in the story he appears in, as while the rest of his peers come at the Sorceress while she is engaged in some nefarious activity, the Wizard shows up while she is peacefully hanging out with her friend Allan.  Once…

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ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 013

ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 013

You wouldn’t believe how many of these I have. Unnamed Planetoid-Dwellers:  Blast Bennett and his pal Red run into these guys on a planetoid somewhere between Venus and Mercury and exclusively refer to them as “savages” even though they fly around in their own spaceship. Get off their planetoid, weirdos. (Weird Comics 003, 1940) the Brainmen: The Brainmen of the planet Larz are a bunch of large-headed jerks who have conquered… Earth? some time around the Year 5000, when Whiz…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 846: THE SORCERESS OF ZOOM

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 846: THE SORCERESS OF ZOOM

(Weird Comics 001, 1940) The Sorceress of Zoom is just what it says on the tin: a sorceress from Zoom, which is a magical flying city that she lives in and controls. She’s another of the Golden Age’s surprisingly large number of headlining super-villains, only instead of being a mad scientist or a more conventional crook she is a mercurial magic woman who just kind of flies around harassing people. Sometimes she’s almost okay and other times she’s one of…

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ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 012

ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 012

You won’t believe these guys.  the Mermen:  Some undersea jerks who capture explorer Typhon and his crew. Their leader is a real creep named Neptune who has a nigh-fetishistic plan to freeze the crew – and particularly sole female crewmember Cecelia – into blocks of ice and then breathe fire on them. Luckily for all who might venture beneath the waves, he drowns (?) during Typhon’s escape. (Weird Comics 002, 1940) the Beaked Men: The Beaked Men of Mercury’s mountains…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 844: ZOM

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 844: ZOM

(Weird Comics 002, 1940)  Space adventurers Blast Bennett and his pal Red are tooling around the Solar System one day when they are hailed by and then hauled aboard an enormous space vessel. This vessel is Plane-City, the mobile headquarters of the space pirate Zom. Actually, I don’t know if “space pirate” is quite the right label for Zom, as his main passion seems to be taking and keeping prisoners rather than the more traditional piratical pursuit of taking prisoners…

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DIVINE ROUND-UP 011

DIVINE ROUND-UP 011

Lookit’m go! Thor:  This particular version of Thor, Norse God of Thunder invests mortal man Grant Farrel with his powers, but while most ancient gods who get up to that sort of thing in comics are looking for an agent to fight against or promote a cause or agenda, Thor seems to just seems to want to see his powers being used in adventures. It’s kind of wholesome! Please also note the weird discs on Thor’s helmet. What the heck…

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GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 025

GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 025

Buncha rude crude dudes for ya.  The Rio Kid is after another gang of masked bandits, and this time they’re in league with a crooked sheriff and led by a corrupt political boss aptly named the Boss. Nothing really remarkable here but I do dig the Boss’ hat. (Thrilling Comics 010, 1940) Jose Gonzales, star football player for Sornora University of Mexico, is visiting Carson University with two aims in mind: hit the ol’ gridiron and slap on a mask…

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ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 011

ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 011

What ho! Aliens! Martians:  These Martians attack Earth for reasons that will remain unclear forever, because the story they appear in never actually gets an ending. In fact, they never even show their faces, instead attacking from their very cool-looking ships and sending their very cool-looking robots to act as ground troops. The initial invasion is driven off by superhuman scientist Greg Gilday and his associate Joan and then the Martians just never bother to return for another shot. (War…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 843: THE RULER OF THE UNDERSEAS

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 843: THE RULER OF THE UNDERSEAS

(Weird Comics 001, 1940)  During the inaugural voyage of his super submarine the A-14, oceanic explorer Typhon encounters a remarkable monster: a mass of eels with a central woman’s head and the attractive power of a siren. Though the creature kills several of his crew, Typhon is able to use his magic ring to kill its heads, which reveals that the girl-head in the centre is actually a human woman who has been mind controlled and used as a monster-part for…

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