How can we have nice things if they keep getting so dinged up? the Black Terror: It might look like the Black Terror (‘s secret identity) is knocked out by falling down a flight of stairs onto his head, but according to him it was actually a bullet creasing the old skull that did the trick. (Exciting Comics 010, 1941) This is a tough one: the Black Terror is shot and nearly killed, and he kind of seems to be…
Mamas lock up your radium, because the z-tier villains are back in town. the Fuhrer of Brazil: Larry North is a US Naval Reserve Lieutenant and airline pilot who turns hand to Nazi spy-hunting when he and his companion Betty Harmon are hijacked by fascists in Rio di Janiero. They spend their first few adventures dismantling a scheme to conquer Brazil, and when in the course of this the traitorous and toothbrush-mustached Doctor Sanchez mentions a figure called the Fuhrer…
(Exciting Comics 015, 1941) The Master is a mysterious new crooks who has been going around town kidnapping wealthy men, and the Black Terror and Tim have been running around after him and trying to figure out just what the heck is going on. The Master is also a classic Bad Boss in the “ruthlessly kill your minions” mould. As it turns out, the Master has broadly the same origin story as early Batman villain the Ugliest Man in the…
Have a few mid-tier minor super-heroes, for a change. the Black Terror: Pharmacist Bob Benton is the kind of guy who will step in when a little kid is being roughed up by thugs, but despite this he is pretty relentlessly bullied by city Comptroller Rodney Clark* and (in a less overt but still insidious way) their mutual love interest Jean Starr. * Clark is such a bully, in fact, that I assumed that he was going to eventually turn out…
Once again I am plagued by the absolute dregs of villainy. A Vampire: Vampires are one of the types of character that are statistically likely to make it through my classification system and be certified as super, but this particular one who a) lives in a swamp shack, b) has two meals in a row taken away from him by the Green Knight, c) doesn’t even get a name and d) ends up dead with his shack burned down around…
Cops Shooting at Fleeing Suspects: Here’s an intrepid officer trying to shoot the Black Terror and his (very young) sidekick Tim in the backs as they run away from the scene of a late-night disturbance. (Exciting Comics 015, 1941) Samson Does the Thing: Several new additions to the premiere Samson supercut: Marthas: A new addition to the League of Marthas: the Golden Knight’s mother, Queen Martha of the Tree People! (Fantastic Comics 015, 1941) Places and History: In a rare…