(Whiz Comics 021, 1941) Due to Allied concerns about the Nazis generic Axis use of black magic to ensure victory, Ibis the Invincible is recruited and sent to the front as a counter-sorcerer. His foe: the mysterious Half-Man, occultist and rumoured worshipper of an ancient evil god called the Dark Spirit. The Half-Man served with distinction in WWI, until an artillery shell cost him a leg, an arm and an eye and he was no longer able to lead troops…
There is a never-ending supply of aliens (and so forth) in comics, and here are some of them. Giants: When Doctor Voodoo is flung into the past by an old wizard, his only instruction is to find something called the Golden Flask, located somewhere called the Valley of Giants. Astonishingly, it only takes him about two issues worth of privation to get there, whereupon he and his pal Nero are immediately taken captive and frogmarched to the castle of the…
(Whiz Comics 021, 1941) The Vengeful Four is an example of a phenomenon that I am not sure is common enough that I need to come up with a special name for it: the big-name villain (in this case Dr Sivana) teaming up with a selection of nobodies as if they were equals. The Four Cards represent one other example of this, and the Penguin is a part of another called the Birds of a Feather that we will cover once…
Mostly, but not all, updates. Ibis the Invincible **UPDATE**: 1941 sees Ibis the Invincible’s omnipotence tempered a bit via a slight limitation that is added to the Ibistick: it is not directly able to affect things created by or otherwise powered by evil magic, and it might not work at all in overtly magical areas such as a giant’s floating castle. This is balanced out somewhat by the fact that it gives Ibis the chance to demonstrate his lateral thinking…
Dr Sivana’s 1941 Whiz Comics appearances! What’s that lil’ scamp up to now? Sivana starts 1941 with a bang, by developing a liquid that can reduce someone’s age by up to 30 years. This is a surprisingly useful tool in the super-criminal’s arsenal, as a series of bank messengers, security guards, cops and Billy Batson soon find out. Dr Sivan’s ultimate goal is of course another attempt to take over the United States of America. He very reasonably assumes that,…
Not a lot of depth to this batch of gods. the Tiger God: When the Tiger’s Eye Emerald, formerly installed as the eye in an idol of the Tiger God in India, is stolen, detective Dan Dare is brought in on the case and almost immediately captured by the tiger-worshippers who were responsible for the theft. As usual it is only the current and not historical owner of the stolen artifact who is considered legitimate and so after slaying the…
Since it’s Christmas Day I shall now post all comic book Santa Claus action I have encountered in the last year: Columbia Comics Universe: Santa Claus is real and he knows Marvelo, Monarch of Magicians. He’s got a modern toy factory and a plane and doesn’t approve of WWII. (Big Shot Comics 020, 1941) The Spirit: Santa Claus might be real in the world of the Spirit, or maybe this gentleman is just a bearded priest with a real gift for laying…
(Whiz Comics 020, 1941) Racing to the Hayten Museum in New York City in response to a plea for assistance, super-detective Dan Dare discovers a body upon arrival and is immediately accused of being the murderer by what turns out to be his employers, once everything is cleared up. It turns out that these men are either archaeologists or the kind of genteel looters who supplied museums back in the day, and that they recently opened a cursed Egyptian tomb…
(Whiz Comics 019, 1941) This story’s conflict is precipitated by Billy Batson dedicating his radio time one day to the subject of black magic and the nonexistence thereof, and while this dovetails nicely with the 40s and 50s US cultural project of promoting the supremacy of both scientific rationality and Protestant Christianity over superstition (which includes all other world religion, natch), it’s a bit rich coming from someone who got super powers from a wizard who lives in a magic…
The gods they just keep on coming. Osiris: Ibis the Invincible’s power levels get a bit of a nerf in 1941 when the caveat that his Ibistick is ineffective, variously, against magic, evil magic and in areas of ambient magic (just which is the case depends on the dramatic needs of the story). This forces him to come up with creative solutions to his problems, such as during this attack by a storm demon summoned by his arch-foe Trug, in…