(Thrilling Comics 006, 1940) The Central Art Museum has a problem: a cloaked figure who creeps through the halls at night, murdering the guards and making off with their bodies. To make things worse, the investigation is being led by the boorish Inspector Cavanaugh, the Woman in Red’s new and very annoying comic foil, who I regret to inform you is a permanent addition to her cast. But speaking of the Woman in Red, she is also on the case. As…
Science for all! Whether they want it or not! Doctor Ivan has been pursuing a scheme in which he is systematically taking out insurance policies on everyone he knows and then having them murdered, and he is extremely smug about it. Now, I’m no expert in insurance fraud, but I have to say that I am certain that it requires a bit more subtlety than that, even if you’re doing it as a one-off. Forget the fact that the Flame…
(Thrilling Comics 005, 1940) Sometimes when I’m writing the original drafts of these entries I’m tired or rushed or the like and I go into Extreme Shorthand Mode, and sometimes that version of the writeup is very charming to me when I come back to it a couple of weeks later. Which is all to say that the younger, rushed version of me wrote “merlin stung by brutal own” to describe how the venerable wizard took being exposed as a fraud by…
Are you ready for some comic book versions of real life and fictional people? I sure hope so! Adolf Hitler: Premier Grahvin of the fictional African country of Cadiwa is a pretty broad pastiche of the Axis leaders, but the sheer speed at which he accelerates into full-blown dictator mode (before Mr Mystic turns up to reveal that he had not, in fact killed the king of Cadiwa and was not, in fact, in charge) must be highlighted. (The Spirit…
Some more dubious theology for you. the Stone Tablet: The pompous jackasses at the British Archaeological Club really get Mr Mystic’s goat when they treat the theories of his friend Doctor Gadasky like trash, so he does the only sensible thing and uses his magic to travel back to 1 000 000 CE to see for himself. Gadasky claims that Cro-Magnons had a religion based around the worship of a stone tablet, and wouldn’t you know it, he’s right! Mr…
(Thrilling Comics 005, 1940) Things are bad in New York City: the city is corrupt seemingly from top to bottom, civic leader Henry Adams has had enough of it, and his zeal is infectious: Doc Strange sets out to clean up the municipal landscape and beats up a wide variety of crooked politicians and businessmen, including: – District Attorney Big Bill Roberts – Lawyer Ollie Saunders – Contractor Alfred Quinn – Brewer Von Strohm – a bunch of unnamed gangsters…
(Thrilling Comics 004, 1940) A wave of kidnappings is sweeping the US! Important men are disappearing left and right! Never fear, however, for the Ghost is on the case, and thanks to his magical acumen he is able to trace the latest kidnappee to the mysterious mansion lair of the culprit: the pompadoured scientist known as Professor Fenton! Professor Fenton’s plan turns out to be unusually, even impractically complicated. To whit: 1. kidnap all of America’s Important Men 2. stash…
All of the following are from the “Mr Mystic” story in the Spirit Section for 17 November, 1940, in which Mr Mystic into the Land of Mythology to recover the Lost Ring of the Gods, an artifact that brings luck and happiness unless it is stolen by the one jealous god, upon which the bearer falls into eternal slumber. Since this has already happened to a young woman, Mystic is hoping that the recovery of the ring from the jealous…
(Thrilling Comics 004, 1940) Things get hairy when businessman Ogden Phillips invites a selection of acquaintances to his country home for a seance, only to immediately be kidnapped by a terrifyingly earless phantasm once the lights go out. Bad news for Phillips (victim) and his guests (suspects) and even Police Inspector Dougherty (keeps getting bonked on the head), but great for me because these early Woman in Red comics are structured like whodunnit mysteries (which I love) but the first…
(Thrilling Comics 004, 1940) Electru, aka the Giant Electru, is a giant guy with electrical powers. He also has a large gang armed with various electric ray guns and so forth. There’s not a lot to explore about him if I’m honest, but he does inspire a few questions: 1. Just where did Electru come from? We never get an idea of how Electru acquired his great size, his incredible strength or his control over electricity. Are they as a result of his…