(Whiz Comics 002, 1940)
Kind of a generic evil scientist type – he invents a ray that can restore the dead to life but must kill folk in order to test it – but his name is James Kirk, so that’s fun!
Blog
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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 044: THE MASK
(Whiz Comics 002-015, 1940-1941)
This fellow right here is the spy that Spy Smasher was trying to smash for the first year and a half or so that he was in action. I tend to think of him as a bigger deal than he actually is because of my tendencies re: thinking too much about comics, but certainly if Spy Smasher himself had managed to remain a going concern after the 40s then the Mask would have eventually been brought back, like the Ultra Humanite.
Due to the fact that he was operating before the US entered the war he was a kind of general all-purpose spy, though I’m sure he’d have been revealed as a Nazi if he’d made it to 1942. He was more successful than most in his endeavors, in that although he was consistently foiled, he always managed to get away with his hide intact. Until his penultimate appearance, that is, when an enraged mind-control victim threw him off of a skyscraper.
But the Mask survived and not only that he thrived! Despite having to get around on crutches, he rebuilt his mind control device, captured Spy Smasher and turned him evil! The evil Spy Smasher then ruined the moment of triumph by killing him.
The evil Spy Smasher would persist, battling Captain Marvel for the next four issues before being cured, so in death the Mask had managed to prompt some of the earliest examples in comics of heroic crossovers and longer-term storytelling!
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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 044: THE MASK
(Whiz Comics 002-015, 1940-1941)
This fellow right here is the spy that Spy Smasher was trying to smash for the first year and a half or so that he was in action. I tend to think of him as a bigger deal than he actually is because of my tendencies re: thinking too much about comics, but certainly if Spy Smasher himself had managed to remain a going concern after the 40s then the Mask would have eventually been brought back, like the Ultra Humanite.
Due to the fact that he was operating before the US entered the war he was a kind of general all-purpose spy, though I’m sure he’d have been revealed as a Nazi if he’d made it to 1942. He was more successful than most in his endeavors, in that although he was consistently foiled, he always managed to get away with his hide intact. Until his penultimate appearance, that is, when an enraged mind-control victim threw him off of a skyscraper.
But the Mask survived and not only that he thrived! Despite having to get around on crutches, he rebuilt his mind control device, captured Spy Smasher and turned him evil! The evil Spy Smasher then ruined the moment of triumph by killing him.
The evil Spy Smasher would persist, battling Captain Marvel for the next four issues before being cured, so in death the Mask had managed to prompt some of the earliest examples in comics of heroic crossovers and longer-term storytelling!
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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 043: THE PHANTOM OF THE PYRAMIDS
(More Fun 049, 1939)
An archaeological dabbler who loots digs in the Valley of the Kings until he is put paid by short-lived detective character Bulldog Martin. Really really enjoy his gold mask/ pharaonic headpiece/ dark red robe combo.
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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 042: THE GORILLA
(More Fun 048, 1939)
A man has a mental health crisis and starts living in a swamp, emerging only to mug strangers. That’s a sad story!
Put a gorilla costume on him though… a compelling villain!
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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 042: THE GORILLA
(More Fun 048, 1939)
A man has a mental health crisis and starts living in a swamp, emerging only to mug strangers. That’s a sad story!
Put a gorilla costume on him though… a compelling villain!
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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 041: THE SPEAKING FROG
(More Fun 045, 1939)
The Speaking Frog is possibly the most obscure villain in the DC Universe, and that’s including Fawcett, Quality and Charlton characters in the mix. This is a shame because simply based on their name and appearance they are the strongest BRING THEM BACK candidate I have ever encountered.
Some backstory: in 1938 a strip called “Marg’ry Daw” began in More Fun Comics, running for just a few issues. A Little Orphan Annie knockoff, it featured the titular little girl and her dog having adventures with evil scientists and the like while being left alone by her wealthy but distracted father. Or it would have, but someone wasn’t feeling it and it was wrapped up in about four issues.
Flash forward a year and “Marg’ry Daw” is back. This time it involves a more attentive Luther Daw taking his daughter on a train trip across the country. Over the course of five installments the following happens:
-They befriend a Hindu mystic on the train. He has a vision of impending calamity and convinces them to disembark with him in Idaho. The train subsequently crashes.
-They accompany Ahm, the mystic, to his friend’s secluded mansion. There they meet Stephen Dean, a wealthy vegetarian technophile who collects mummies and Indian artifacts, wears a robe and chortles constantly. A wide array of other eccentric servants and houseguests are alluded to.
-Dean shows off his various gadgets to his new guests, including a voice-activated vault door and the Speaking Frog, a metal statue that talks if a specific object is placed in its mouth.
-A guest is shot in the gardens. Ahm goes for help. Dean disappears. Someone wearing the Frog as a headpiece threatens Luther Daw’s life. He knocks them out and looks under the mask but the person’s identity is not revealed on-panel. Subsequently Dean’s adopted daughter indicates that there may be multiple people in Speaking Frog outfits and tells Daw to kill the real one. (his easy willingness to do so, plus some talk of the Frog not being a man plus Dean being a tech nerd leads to my private theory that the Speaking Frog is meant to be a robot)
AND THAT’S IT. The feature ends with Daw firing at a Speaking Frog and could have been intended either to wrap up immediately or go on for a dozen more episodes – if there’s a person alive who has any idea what was intended then I for one will be as shocked as any person has ever been.
That’s about it: all setup, no payoff. The perfect candidate for revival, as they could be anyone! The greatest costume of all time! The most obscure villain of the DCU is ready to walk again!
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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 041: THE SPEAKING FROG
(More Fun 045, 1939)
The Speaking Frog is possibly the most obscure villain in the DC Universe, and that’s including Fawcett, Quality and Charlton characters in the mix. This is a shame because simply based on their name and appearance they are the strongest BRING THEM BACK candidate I have ever encountered.
Some backstory: in 1938 a strip called “Marg’ry Daw” began in More Fun Comics, running for just a few issues. A Little Orphan Annie knockoff, it featured the titular little girl and her dog having adventures with evil scientists and the like while being left alone by her wealthy but distracted father. Or it would have, but someone wasn’t feeling it and it was wrapped up in about four issues.
Flash forward a year and “Marg’ry Daw” is back. This time it involves a more attentive Luther Daw taking his daughter on a train trip across the country. Over the course of five installments the following happens:
-They befriend a Hindu mystic on the train. He has a vision of impending calamity and convinces them to disembark with him in Idaho. The train subsequently crashes.
-They accompany Ahm, the mystic, to his friend’s secluded mansion. There they meet Stephen Dean, a wealthy vegetarian technophile who collects mummies and Indian artifacts, wears a robe and chortles constantly. A wide array of other eccentric servants and houseguests are alluded to.
-Dean shows off his various gadgets to his new guests, including a voice-activated vault door and the Speaking Frog, a metal statue that talks if a specific object is placed in its mouth.
-A guest is shot in the gardens. Ahm goes for help. Dean disappears. Someone wearing the Frog as a headpiece threatens Luther Daw’s life. He knocks them out and looks under the mask but the person’s identity is not revealed on-panel. Subsequently Dean’s adopted daughter indicates that there may be multiple people in Speaking Frog outfits and tells Daw to kill the real one. (his easy willingness to do so, plus some talk of the Frog not being a man plus Dean being a tech nerd leads to my private theory that the Speaking Frog is meant to be a robot)
AND THAT’S IT. The feature ends with Daw firing at a Speaking Frog and could have been intended either to wrap up immediately or go on for a dozen more episodes – if there’s a person alive who has any idea what was intended then I for one will be as shocked as any person has ever been.
That’s about it: all setup, no payoff. The perfect candidate for revival, as they could be anyone! The greatest costume of all time! The most obscure villain of the DCU is ready to walk again!
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NOTES: JUNE 2022
Names: Green Lantern encounters a villainous pharmacist named Mortimer Pestle (All American 029, 1941)
Secret Knowledge: I checked all of the wikis and the blogs and this is the only place you’ll find this info: Whitey Smith and Blooey Blue of Golden Age quartet Red, White and Blue have the real names Whitefield and Heermance, respectively. (All American 033, 1941)
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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 040: THE INVISIBLE TERROR
(More Fun 044, 1939)
Not much to this fellow, just a scientist who turns himself invisible and immediately starts criming it up. He is our first invisible guy though, and he’s yet another collar by the Radio Squad. Well, almost – he hurls himself out a window rather than go to jail.