MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 934: THE LADY KILLER

(Silver Streak Comics 012, 1941)

The Lady Killer makes his debut at the glamorous Crane Club, in which he attacks and nearly kills rising stage star Betty Crawford and takes a moment to grandstand a bit before making his escape. The name is a somewhat presumptuous one here, given the fact that he has yet to kill a lady.

He makes up for this over the next few days as he murders a whopping fourteen women and injures a similar number of people and leaves a "Lady Killer" calling card at the scene of each crime. Though this is a fast turnaround on murder, I think that technically he is a serial rather than spree killer as he seems to be choosing his victims rather than attacking targets of opportunity - it's just that his pool of potential victims is so huge that he can kill whenever he feels like it.

Presto Martin eventually lays hands on the Lady Killer in his usual manner, through disguise. Specifically, by announcing that the villain will reappear at the Crane Club and then impersonating him there at the appointed time, and sure enough, the Lady Killer's ego is too great to allow this imposture to stand and he gets within range of the detective's fists and has his big hat knocked off.

This is the point at which a mystery story would pay off and one of the suspects would be unmasked, but the thing about this story is that there are no suspects. Like, literally none - the only named characters in the comic other than Presto and his supporting cast are Betty Crawford and her beau and they are the only ones who it couldn't be. Instead the Lady Killer is just Some Guy who had a very bad breakup and lost all his money and decided to take it out on an entire gender instead of dealing with his issues in a more mature manner. As a fan of a mystery I feel robbed.

Categorized in: Crime Theme (Killers), Language (Expressions), Murder (Serial Killers)

DIVINE ROUND-UP 027

I wonder if we'll ever synthesize a unified theory of comic book religion out of this stuff.

Isis:

While attempting to thwart the magical con man Ahman-Ka-Lukor, Doctor Miracle calls upon the power of the Egyptian goddess Isis, who aids him by summoning the shade of the man whose reincarnated soul is now Ka-Lukor's, and all so that Doctor Miracle can compare the two and make sure that he has the right man - it's the most elaborate alternative to acquiring a photograph of the guy that I can imagine.

Isis is depicted with a horns/sun disc/vulture headdress that is reasonably accurate to at least one era's iconography, which is impressive enough for a just-wing-it medium like comics, but even more impressively for 1941 she is also totally topless, though also completely nipple-less.

It's not really anything to do with Isis, but Ka-Lukor has a cat familiar named Oasi who can turn into a lady who looks weirdly like the depiction of Isis and who caused me some confusion when I skimmed the story. I think that sh might just have represented another chance to draw a topless woman. (Champ Comics 013, 1941)

the God of Hate: 

The God of Hate is worshipped by the Claw's followers at his skull castle in Tibet, and might just have the biggest head to body ratio that we have seen thusfar.

Given the way that the God of Hate descends into the fiery pit and is then replaced with the Claw, it is possible that they are seen as aspects of the same being, that the Claw is the Earthly representative of the GoH, or even that the God works for the Claw, given the fanatical devotion that he elicits from his minions.

Also: check out these guys. I'm sure that they came straight out of a National Geographic photo shoot but they also look quite cool. (Silver Streak Comics 007, 1941)

the Great One: 

This happens all the time when you're a jungle adventurer: you rock up to an ancient temple to a near-forgotten god that is still worshipped with grisly rites and human sacrifice, and it turns out that there's a big snake or other monster in there, just living it up. In this case, god of death the Great One has been played by Kadu, the Man-Eating Rat, who adventurer Lance Hale has personal beef with from a prior encounter, it seems. 

God Style: Animist (Silver Streak Comics 011 1941)

Moko:

Moko is the god of a group of Tibetan bandits referred to as the Hoods, who I initially thought just had that weird yellow skin tone that comics used to render Asians with, but are later revealed or revised to be wearing cape and cowl getups. The actual worship of Moko is not detailed but does involve human sacrifice via a pit-and-pendulum style swinging blade.

God Style: Idol (Silver Streak Comics 012, 1941)

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 933: THE RIPPER

(Silver Streak Comics 011, 1941)

For the third issue in a row, a souped up super-plane takes to the skies of probably-California to menace law-abiding aviators. The Ripper, like the Heater before it, is a vehicle with a singular name being run by a group, which is a mildly interesting taxonomic trend that unfortunately does not continue to occur.

Where the Wingers and the Heater were armed with sci-fi ray cannons, the Ripper relies on a comparatively low-tech blade that is used to slice up aircraft and parachutes alike. Ironically, this is a far less believable means of attacking a plane on the wing than a thermodynamic ray of some sort. Just what kind of flying does the Ripper's pilot have to be doing to slice off a wing with a comparatively short, fixed blade, anyway? Just how sharp can that thing be considering that it looks perfectly cylindrical? There are some wavy lines around the blade in precisely one panel - perhaps it's meant to be a vibro-blade of some kind.

Like the Heater before them, the crew of the Ripper are prepared for Cloud Curtis and his crew to interfere in their plans. In addition to the standard-issue bulletproofing, their plane is equipped with a magnetic generator to lock the Golden Bullet's grapplers in place on their hull and knockout gas dispensers on the plane's exterior act as a counter to Curtis' favoured tactic of clambering onto an enemy aircraft's exterior. Cloud and his assistants are taken into custody but not, crucially, immediately murdered.

In contrast to the Heater, the Ripper has an actual defined goal: shut down US aviation in order to weaken the country for vague foreign agent reasons. And it's astonishingly effective!

Having not been murdered, Cloud and pals soon escape and take to the skies, where the Ripper crew learn the same posthumous lesson as the Heater gang before them: if you render yourself impossible to capture then you are much more likely to be killed outright. One shattered propeller later, the skies are safe for trainee pilots once more.

Categorized in: Accessories (Aircraft), Activities (Ripping), Espionage (Saboteurs)

MEDIA IN COMICS 001

I've often mentioned how comics as a medium has a grand tradition of not using the real names for people (see about half the entries in our collection of Real Folk in comics) places (see the grand list of fictional countries on every continent of our list of Locations) and things, so I hope that it won't surprise you when I say that they make up all the media, too. And since I have a big list of all the made-up books, newspaper columns, stage shows and movies sitting around already I figured I should share.

Movies:

Lover Mine (Funny Picture Stories v2 005, 1938)

Flying Cadets, Colossal Pictures, stunts by the Four Aces (The Funnies 021, 1938)

Star-Dust (Funny Picture Stories v3 002, 1939)

War Eagles, Colossal Studios (Keen Detective Funnies v2 006, 1939)

Pilots All, Mammoth Film Company (Keen Detective Funnies v2 010, 1939)

The Mystery of the Creeping Spook, Superbo Pictures (Keen Detective Funnies v2 011, 1939)

White Goddess (Funny Pages v3 008 1939) 

Newspaper Columns:

"On Broadway" by Walt "Bob Phantom" Whitney. (Blue Ribbon Comics 002, 1939)

Plays:

"Murder for Breakfast", starring Kay Kenyon, one of Presto Martin's many Hollywood friends. (Silver Streak Comics 010, 1941)

Songs:

"Boogie-Woogie Blast" (Champion Comics 002, 1939)

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 932: THE GHOST OF THE DOMINO

(Silver Streak Comics 011, 1941)

The Domino is dead! All those murders he did and more importantly admitted to when he was trying to extort the NYPD have caught up to him via the electric chair, and all of New York breathes easier.

Not for long, however, as the various witnesses at the Domino's trial, and particularly the members of his own gang who turned state's evidence, begin turning up dead with a domino - that has the Domino's fingerprints on it! -  in their hands. Rumours that the ghost of the Domino has returned for revenge start flying around the underworld.

And to top it all off, the Domino's grave turns out to be empty!

Now, the seemingly dead gangster returned from the dead to get revenge is a common enough trope that we can lay out the possible ways it might have happened with ease:

1. the Domino's death was faked and the "body" smuggled out for "revival" elsewhere

2. the Domino really dies and his body was collected by an unscrupulous scientist for revival or brain transplant, etc.

3. the Domino's body was stolen and he is being impersonated, possibly by a secret identical twin

4. it's actually the Domino's ghost

Feel free to place a small bet on which of these comics-accurate options is the case here.

Answer: it's option 3! The Ghost of the Domino is in fact Pete Poulos, one of the Domino's former lieutenants, who has faked his old boss' return and done all of the seeming revenge killings as a smokescreen for his true goal: to eliminate all the other former members of the Domino gang who know where their old boss' money is hidden.

As per usual, a combination of facial disguises and a bulletproof vest carries the day for Presto Martin, and the Ghost of the Domino is sent to replace the original in prison (and possibly the grave).

Categorized in: Accessories (Calling Cards), Activities (Dominoes), Fraud (Fake Ghosts)

DEMONIC ROUND-UP 004

Look out! It's the hordes of Hell!

Storm-Demon: 

Summoned by the evil magic-user Trug to destroy Ibis the Invincible and Taia, the Storm-Demon proves to be no match for the god Osiris, summoned by Ibis in self defense. Really appreciate the route one, "guy made out of storm clouds," aesthetic of this fellow. (Whiz Comics 016, 1941)

She-Devil:

Despite the failure of his first demonic minion, Trug employs this She-Devil to lay in wait for Ibis and Taia along the path to his lair. I sincerely hope that this actually is a demon and not just a magically disguised fist-fightin' lady hired by Trug to beat the tar out of them, because while Ibis is completely fooled by the "lady in distress" act, Taia is not so trusting and uses the Ibistick to light her up. (Whiz Comics 017, 1941)

Unnamed Demon: 

This unnamed demon, summoned by villainous magician the Half-Man as a weapon of mass destruction against his country's enemies, is a bit generic but not every demon needs to be a star. Much more interesting is the Ancient Egyptian-themed being summoned by Taia to counter it. Just what is his deal and where did he get that cool flail? (Whiz Comics 024, 1941)

Lucifer: 

Though this version of Lucifer buys souls, lives in a place alternately called "Hades" and "the Inferno" and is, you know, named Lucifer, the text consistently refers to him as a "genii" rather than a demon. Who knows why but it's a fact. 

Never seen, this Lucifer has already bought the Claw's soul at some point in the past and now lends him further power so that he can make one last attempt at destroying Daredevil. Why do this seemingly for free? Perhaps removing Daredevil from the playing field, rather than helping the Claw, is the goal. Or maybe Lucifer is just nice! 

The Claw does not in fact manage to defeat Daredevil and is thereafter confined to the continent of Asia for his failure. For, like, one issue. (Silver Streak Comics 011, 1941) 

Lucifer's Minions: 

In addition to the draconic Guard of the Gate of the Inferno above, Lucifer supplies the Claw with a variety of demonic beings to help him in his quest. A brief rundown: 

Winged Beasts!

Poison-Fanged Eagle-Men! 

The Three-Headed Dragon! 

Gigantic Snakes! (these ones are my favourites)

And a general demonic rabble that includes a few of the types we saw before but more importantly that cool caveman-demon!

Ultimately, the forces of Hades prove no match for Daredevil and his boomerang. Most of them end up buried under an avalanche, and while my RPG-influenced mind assumes that that means that they are all then banished back to Hell it's entirely possible that they are just dead. (Silver Streak Comics 011, 1941)