MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 257: THE SWORDS OF DEATH

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 257: THE SWORDS OF DEATH

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(Hit Comics 006, 1940) Once again we find ourselves profiling the interesting henchmen of a run-of-the-mill villain: the Swords of Death, in this case. A trio of assassin/ thieves armed with electrified rapiers and high opinions of themselves, the Swords have the misfortune to run into perennial-punching-bag-but-actually-fun-character the Red Bee on what seems to be their first mission, whereupon he promptly kills two of them.   I like the Swords of Death – any time a hero has to beat up…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 256: MORGAN CROOKES

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 256: MORGAN CROOKES

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(Hit Comics 001, 1940) Hey, it’s Morgan Crookes, a retired man of great wealth! He tries to take over the world and gets stomped by Neon the Unknown in his first adventure! It’s probably one of the most racist comics of the Golden Age! Which is saying something!

MINOR SUPER-HERO 032: HERCULES

MINOR SUPER-HERO 032: HERCULES

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(Hit Comics 001-021, 1940-1942) There’s nothing too special about Hercules – he’s a super-strong guy who shrugs off small-arms fire and is a champion of the people after seeing his mother ruined by unscrupulous businessmen – but I really like the callout text at the start of his first adventure. He’s not an alien, you rubes! No mad scientist created our boy Joe Hercules! No, he’s just a regular super-powered American with no explanation! Named Joe Hercules, I must repeat. Check…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 255: BALDY

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 255: BALDY

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(Green Lantern v1 002, 1941) What can I say about Baldy? To start: he’s not really a bald guy, but a guy in a bald cap. That’s about as clever as he gets, if I’m honest. Okay, that might be a bit mean, but Baldy tries my patience. After seeing so many good villain ideas wasted on six-page nothing-stories over and over, it’s kind of galling for Baldy here to get a whole book-length tale of his own.  Baldy is…

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MAD AND CRIMINAL SCIENTIST ROUND-UP 001

MAD AND CRIMINAL SCIENTIST ROUND-UP 001

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Like costumed villains, there are a lot of scientists out there doing crimes involving superscience but just missing the levels of interest, ambition or scale to graduate to true super-villain status. Sometimes this is because of poor planning or lack of vision and others just have the misfortune to run into a protagonist while still in the initial stages of their venture. And don’t they deserve a forum just as much as the generic costumed villains we all love? Julius…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 254: THE SMOKE THIEF

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 254: THE SMOKE THIEF

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(Flash Comics v1 023, 1941) I’ll be honest: this is a very charitable entry on this list. The Smoke Thief is Dr Lucius Darrell and his gang of toughs, who use smoke bombs and special goggles to rob people on trains. If this was the main focus of the story, that might just be enough for full Minor Super-Villain status, but it ain’t. The real point of the story is this. Darrell captures Hawkman, then tries to kill him by…

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MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 253: THE WHITE DRAGON

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 253: THE WHITE DRAGON

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(Flash Comics v1 023, 1941) Not much to say about the White Dragon: he’s a guy with a bunch of costumed henchmen who captures Chinese folk in NYC and uses them as slave labour in his motor factory until the Whip settles his hash. He is of course Walter Morgan, a guy who brags to Rod “the Whip” Gaynor about how well he’s doing in the motor business on the first page of the story. About the only interesting thing…

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NOTES – MARCH 2023

NOTES – MARCH 2023

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New Powers: An injured Hawkman is tended to by birds and learns to speak their language. (Flash Comics v1 023, 1941) Just some of my favourite alien designs ever: the Kriglo AKA Martian Spider-Men (Flash Comics v1 024, 1941) Super Hero Costume Party: Hawkman attends a costume party with Shiera Sanders as Hawkgirl. Though not the first time she wore the costume, this does mark the start of the two as a crime-fighting duo ongoing, no matter what stinky ol’ Hawkman…

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SUPER-HERO COSTUME PARTY

SUPER-HERO COSTUME PARTY

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This bit where Hawkman intends to attend a costumed event as himself but doesn’t quite make it (Flash Comics v1 022, 1941) made me realize that I’ve missed a few examples of super-heroes attending costume parties as themselves, one of my most favourite tropes in comics! Time for some catchup rectification! Here’s the Red Gaucho being mistaken for someone who was dressed as him, who is then impersonated by a third person in a story that was not called “Too Many…

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