We’ve gone back to revisit some comics I read early on in this project, which means that I get to slap my forehead and yell “why did I skip that guy?” every five minutes or so. Here are some of those guys.

Samson:

Samson is the strongman at the same circus that Toro is a part of when the Human Torch finds him. As such he is preloaded with one of the two possible strongman personalities: criminally arrogant or very stupid, in this case the former. After getting fired for being an asshole, Samson puts together a gang and begins a short-lived life of crime. In his most memorable escapade, he returns to the circus and murders the resident scientist to steal his puzzlingly-named Rayon Gun, a ray device that is able to put out the Human Torch’s flame but seems not to involve plant-based artificial fabric at all. (Human Torch v1 002, 1940)

Saunders and his Brother:

This is a classic case of a couple of guys – one of whom is named Saunders and the other is his brother – dressing up like ghosts in an attempt to steal a treasure from the young woman who has just inherited it. They are unable to contend with the magical might of Mantor the Magician. (Human Torch v1 002, 1940)

the Phantom Killer:

Though he has a pretty choice villain name (thanks solely to the title of the story he appears in), the Phantom Killer is merely a man who trains a monkey to steal for him. He does murder a man after his simian accomplice is caught in the act, hence the “Killer” part of his name, but teen sleuth and fellow monkey owner Terry Vance sniffs him out with ease. (Marvel Mystery Comics v1 022, 1941)

Mrs Daniels:

In an attempt to help a man who showed up on his doorstep one night with a bad case of werewolfism, Dr Occult accompanies him back to his boarding house to look for clues to the origin of his condition. While there he stumbles into the realization that the kindly owner Mrs Daniels is not only the one behind the man’s trouble but possibly some sort of wolfoid herself! 

Mrs Daniels’ plan is not really fully explored, but it involves using a werewolf serum to transform the down-and-out men who room with her into her wolfman servants in some sort of spooky wolf cult. She captures Doctor Occult and attempts to indoctrinate him as well, at which point she is shot and killed by the man that Occult was trying to help. Just waht her goals were will remain forever unknown. (More Fun Comics 012, 1936)