Names: (Batman Comics 008, 1941) It was on brand for the Joker to use the aliases “A. Rekoj” and “I. Rekoj” in the last year but I am pretty upset that Batman just used “I. Namtab” and that the Joker fell for it. (Blue Beetle Comics 008, 1941) In the Dynamo story he goes up against a guy who calls himself the Crime Dealer, a good name for a bland guy. Riddles: (Batman Comics 007, 1941) “When is a Duke…
(More Fun Comics 054, 1940) If a crooked importer named Crandall hatches a scheme to kill off his business rivals and then makes up a villain named the Cloak to blame the crimes on, is he in fact that villain? This correspondent says yes.
(Feature Comics 032-037, 1940) Of the dozen or so heroes and villains named the Voice, this is the best of them all, hands down. Let’s review: -shipwrecked on an island in 1790, lives off of special herbs that extend the human lifespan and empower the body -finally picked up in 1940, moves to NYC at 150-something years old -successfully synthesizes the herb’s properties, ensuring that his life will continue indefinitely. Decides to fight crime -learns ventriloquism and close-up magic The…
(Feature Comics 034, 1940) What is interesting about them? The Black Mask is about as basic as a mask-and-code-name guy can get, but he’s the only thing approaching a super-villain to fight the Voice, which gives me an excuse to talk about that very fun guy in the next entry. Also, 100 minor super-villains! Congratulations, Black Mask, it’s more honour than you deserve.
(Feature Comics 029, 1940) What makes them a super-villain? The Reaper is another just-scraping-into-the-ranks gang boss. Between his cool name and a setup where he gives his gang orders through a closed-circuit TV and microphone, he makes that final leap, presumably into a slightly higher security prison cell.
(Detective Comics 041, 1940) What makes them a super-villain? He’s an espionage guy with an invisibility formula. What is interesting about them? Invisible guys are often pretty dull comic book villains, but I will give the Invisible Man/ Dr Ellis this: his cover identity is as a scientist in the team that is trying to catch him, and he’s evidently arrogant enough that he actually developed a formula for a gas that would render him visible again but assumed that investigator Cliff…
(More Fun Comics 052-054, 1940) The Wizard is the kind of guy you get in comics who develops a robot army and a few different types of rays, destructive and otherwise, and immediately turns around and takes over (what I assume to be) his home town. I do appreciate that he looks like someone who has been sitting in a basement or a cave soldering robot faces for twenty years, but it’s no excuse for incivility.
(Feature Comics 036, 1940) What makes them a super-villain? Simply put, Python lives in a creepy castle somewhere in New York State and spends his time stealing the brains of great thinkers to wire up to his machine so that he can plunder their knowledge. And he decorates with the shrunken heads of his victims, and he has a surgically mind-controlled goon named Kreeper. What is interesting about them? Aside form the above which is pretty solid villain stuff, the…
(Feature Comics 028, 1940) As far as a guy who attaches bombs to rats in order to sink and subsequently loot ships goes, Dr Rodent has it all: a great name, a rodentlike cast to his features, and, best of all, his heroic foil is Doll Man so we get to see a little guy ride around on a rat: This is the kind of thing that comics are for!
(Detective Comics 046, 1940) Love this guy. The head of a gang of smugglers who looks like a goldfish and is sensitive about it and tortures his foes by imprisoning them in a huge goldfish bowl where they have to stand for days or drown and the only thing to eat is what raw goldfish they can catch and they eventually go mad? Terrific. All that but it’s actually a mask and the Goldfish is actually a frustrated former actor?…