For the first time in a very long time: the generic costumed villains all have costumes! Unnamed Costumed Gang: This unnamed gang has gone to a heckuva lot of trouble to steal the Kalaka Emerald from millionaire Byron Nelson: they’ve dug out a secret lair under his weird mesa-top home, murdered several of his guests in order to create terror and of course dressed up like the background characters in a costume party scene, presumably also in order to create…
(Champ Comics 014, 1941) The Scaly Dragon is what I would consider to be a very by-the-book fascist saboteur with a better-than-average name. He does have a couple of noteworthy things about him though, including 1. the fact that he is a pseudo-Imperial Japanese spy rather than the much more common pseudo-Nazis that we usually see. 2. Though the Scaly Dragon’s first couple of efforts were aimed at sabotaging the water supply of New York City (which is where the Human…
It’s a dangerous ol’ job, heroing. Thus, the Catalogue of Wounds! Green Lantern: While tied up in a burning house, Green Lantern must thrust his hands into the flames to escape. (All American Comics 031, 1941) Hawkgirl: Hawkgirl is shot in the back by an agent of Mister X while acting as a Hawkman decoy on her very first outing in costume (All-Star Comics 005, 1941) Hawkman: Shot in the left shoulder by Alexander the Great. (Flash Comics 002, 1940)…
(Champion Comics 003, 1940/ Champ Comics 011, 1940) Half sister to the mercurial undersea tyrant Neptina, Mhersa originally appears as the head of the Maella, a rebel group comprised of female members of the same race of underwater beings as Neptina (I’m not going into that again). Mhersa and the Maella are isolationist but reasonable compared to Neptina’s capricious ways. (Champion Comics 003, 1940) The Maella help Lt Brad Fletcher off and on during his conflict with Neptina, but Mhersa’s…
I know we’re all tired of fascist, but these are fake, historical fascists who get beat up, so it’s cathartic at least. the Blitzys: The Blitzys, aka the Yellowshirts, have a never-clearly-articulated plan to divide American society by beating people up for not joining the Army. I assume that there must be more to it than that but the focus of the adventure is not on Spy Smasher beating up these particular fascists (though beat them he does) but in…
(Cat-Man Comics 005, 1941) There are three remarkable things about the story of the Werewolf. The first is that it finally establishes that the city that the Pied Piper operates out of has a name and that it is Central City – this both a nice thing to have cleared up and a fun coincidence, given that the other comic book Pied Piper, the Flash villain, also lives in a place with that name. The second thing is just how clearly and…
Costume Materials: The Daredevil’s mask is made out of rubber. (Silver Streak Comics 017, 1941) Cops Shooting at Fleeing Suspects: The NYPD attempts to gun down Nightro (and his dog!) for fleeing the scene of a suicide. (Daredevil Comics 003, 1941) Honours – Dash Dillon: University sports hero Dash Dillon captures a U-Boat off the coast of Connecticut and receives a whole host of awards. (Daredevil Comics 004, 1941)
Perhaps we should make ethics a mandatory subject for the sciences again. Kruger: While tooling around in the desert one day, Diamond Jack encounters a young woman named Ruth West, whose physician brother has been captured by the diabolical scientist Kruger and taken to Terror Valley in order to help in Kruger’s work turning men into hybrid creatures called Vulture Men, with the ultimate goal of using them to take over the world. If that plot sounds at all familiar,…
(Cat-Man Comics 004, 1941) The district attorney of Central City, the NYC clone that the Pied Piper inhabits, has been murdered by what the authorities can only conceive of as a beast! The city is in a real tizzy, especially once Police Commissioner Gurry receives a note informing him that he will be the next victim (and the cute little signature on this note is why I am calling this villain the Black Panther when it is not used elsewhere…