MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 099

Super-heroes. Like heroes, but super.

Captain Midnight:

Like the second, more popular (though still pretty obscure) Captain Midnight that will be published by Fawcett starting in 1942, this fellow is an adaptation of the radio character, and unlike the second Captain Midnight, this one is a pretty direct adaptation. It's a bit abbreviated and you kind of have to keep referring to the Captain Midnight Wikipedia page to fill in the gaps where your assumed familiarity with the radio show lies, but it's all there:

Captain Midnight is an otherwise-unnamed pilot who gets his nickname after returning on the stroke of 12 after completing a secret mission to prevent Paris from being captured by the Germans during World War One. In the present day (1941) he is recruited to head a secret counter-espionage unit called the Secret Squadron by a mysterious government official who is implicitly Franklin Delano Roosevelt in disguise. 

The Secret Squadron has hidden airbases and headquarters all over the United States and is comprised of a horde of agents referred to by alphanumeric designations starting at SS-1 (Captain Midnight) up to at least SS-85 (the guy who runs the elevator in one of the bases). The "SS" part of the names is quietly changed to "SQ" once the US enters WWII, but I don't think that this comic book adaptation goes on long enough for that to be a concern.

Finally, Captain Midnight's flying clock insignia is very fun. (The Funnies 057, 1941)

Categorized in: Generica (Captains), Locations (Temporal Locations), Origins (WWI Vets)

the Great Zarro:

The Great Zarro is otherwise nameless adventurer with the power of flight. He is also one of the most bland super-heroes in the history of the medium, personality-wise.

A former circus acrobat, the Great Zarro lost his job, fiance and friends when a gang of extortionists burned the whole circus down and killed everyone but Rags, his lover's kid brother. The two swear an eternal war on crime and Zarro gains his ability to fly by consuming some magical herbs given to him by the circus fortune teller, who was just good enough to fortell that he would need them but evidently failed to see why. 

There are precisely two interesting things about this character: Firstly, that as a circus acrobat he was known as Eagle Man, while as a flying super-hero he goes by the Great Zarro. That's a fun little inversion of naming conventions!

Secondly, there's Rags. Rags is an example of something that you occasionally get with comic relief characters, where they and only they are rendered as a full cartoon while everyone else is in a comic book. This is a particularly egregious clash of styles in a comic as full of stiff, human-proportioned figures as "The Great Zarro," rendering Rags more of a figure of horror than comedy. Rags finally becomes a real boy in the third and final Zarro adventure, but it's too little too late. (Great Comics 001, 1941)

Categorized in: Day Jobs (Circus Acrobats), Language (Superlatives (Greats)), Powers (Flight)

Madame Strange:

On the one hand, Madame Strange is pretty great: she's at least somewhat super fast and super strong, will throw a knife at the drop of a hat and prevents the Japanese destruction of Pearl Harbor in November 1941 (though not the one in December). Just like Ripley in Alien, she is an example of a character not being written as a "girl-version" of a default-male archetype but simply as that archetype, which is basically always the more entertaining option.

On the other hand, Madam Strange suffers from the same lack of depth - including any sort of backstory - as so many of her peers. Sure she can throw a knife into a goon from a city block away, but is that enough? I also do not care for the combination of red top, pale blue bottoms, aesthetically.  (Great Comics 001, 1941)

Categorized in: Abstract Concepts (Strangeness), Genrica (Madames), Powers (Enhanced Strength and Speed) 

the Green Mask and Domino the Miracle Boy **Update**:

I am reasonably certain that this is the first time that Domino is given a first name. Don! He's Don! (Green Mask v1 006, 1941)

The same issue that Don gets his name also marks the introduction of the Green Mask's expanded supporting cast. Joining his reporter pal News Blake are heiress/ love interest Olivia Tracey and her chauffeur Peters, who serves as comic relief thanks to his two character traits of "enthusiastic tinkerer" and "very clumsy and hapless." (Green Mask v1 006, 1941)

I can't find anywhere that it's explicitly stated (which may be exacerbated by the fact that the only copy of this issue that I can find is missing 8 pages or so) but by Green Mask v1 008 Olivia Tracey seems to explicitly know that Michael Shelby and the Green Mask - and by extension Don and Domino - are the same.

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 979: PROFESSOR OCTOPUS

(Four Favorites 001, 1941)

Professor Octopus was honestly due for a trip to the next Problematic Update, but that is a place for characters who I feel should be acknowledged but who I don't want to talk about too much. Who could resist talking about a guy like Professor Octopus, even if he is a weird sinister Asian spy caricature?

Prof Octopus comes to the attention of Magno when his men round up Magno's sidekick Davey for defending a too-inquisitive reporter named Ferren from their tender attentions. He cuts quite a figure, with his seven-foot frame, four arms, claws and fangs (plus a really innovative choice of clothing - seldom do you see the multi-armed go with Big Sleeve rather than a more intensive but presumably less accommodating tailoring choice). Sadly, this is all mere window dressing that serves to make him an example of the evil Asian = inhuman monster trope. The "Octopus" part of his name might as well refer to the fact that he operates out of a submarine as that he has six limbs, for all that he uses them.

Octopus is also quite easily defeated in his two major interactions with Magno and Davey, first by a mere chair to the dome while he is strangling Ferren (and note that he is using all four arms to do it in the only exception to my earlier complaint) and then by the two of them despite his big sword (that he only uses two hands to wield - why not add a couple of shields or some daggers to that loadout?) that is of course magnetic and thus easily countered.

Though Professor Octopus' submarine ends up on the bottom of the ocean, the man himself escapes to fight another day, only not really because as far as I can determine this is his only appearance. Still, better to survive an encounter with a super-hero and then fade into obscurity than die in a sinking submarine, as I always say.

This is the second octopus-themed villain to face Magno - will there be another?

Categorized in: Animals (Octopodes), Ideologies (Pseudo-Japanese Fascists), Powers (Extra Limbs)

ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 050

All these fictional aliens and we don't even get one other inhabited planet in our solar system.

Moon-Men:

These Moon-Men are encountered by Phantasmo (seen here in his less-nude human identity) and his pal Whizzer McGee during an impromptu trip to the Moon. They live deep beneath the satellite's surface and appear to have a mining-based culture that is pretty hostile to outsiders, and that is all we know. While I must commend the "Phantasmo" team for not automatically making every alien race fluent English speakers or gifted telepaths, it does make for a more limited mode of storytelling. "Why are the Moon-Men mad at us, Phantasmo?" "No idea." (The Funnies 060, 1941)

Inhabitants of Ru:

These very humanoid Martians are encountered by Flint Baker and his convict crew upon making the historic first second rocket voyage to Mars. They very specifically inhabit Ru, which is either the name of their country or the entire Light Side of Mars, and are a peaceful society in that sci-fi way that means that they are completely unable to deal with threats. Flint is thus required to save them from both the Earthman Sarko (late of the actual first manned mission to Mars) and then the diabolical Creature and his monster. (Planet Comics 001, 1940)

One-Eyed Monster Men of Mars: 

And speaking of Sarko, his plan to conquer Ru revolves around the One-Eyed Monster Men who inhabit the (non-existent) Dark Side of Mars. Though they are intensely fun-looking creatures, the One-Eyed Monster Men don't get a lot of character development in the course of the story due to being mere foot soldiers and also possibly mind controlled.  (Planet Comics 001, 1940)

Martians:

As the "Spurt Hammond, Planet Flyer" series is at least initially set in the year 40 000 CE, there is a strong possibility that both the Martian and Venusian peoples pictured above are descended from some long-ago human colonists. Heck, that might just be the best backstory to explain a planet of warlike Martians or of peaceful Venusians who name their kids things like "Amoura:" because they have built their societies around the cultural assumptions and legends that tie into their planets. (Planet Comics 002, 1940)

Despite the fact that Spurt Hammond managed to resolve the conflict between Prince Khangiz of Mars and Queen Amoura, Venus was clearly subject to some sort of political upheaval because just four issues later the planet is ruled by Queen Veloptan. Perhaps Amoura was determined to be just a bit to on-the-nose, even for Venus. (Planet Comics 006, 1940)

Venus is another one of those conflict-averse pacifist societies, and just two issues later they are turning to Spurt Hammond once more. This time the entire planet is swiftly becoming uninhabitable and the population are forced to become refugees, prompting this array of Plutonian, Saturnian and Jovian rulers doing their best impressions of WWII 20th Century most world leaders throughout modern history. And as a bonus: a new Martian leader named Kaga! (Planet Comics 008, 1940)

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 978: THE BLACK LEGION

(The Flame 007, 1941)

The Black Legion is a mysterious cult who recruit members by sending them a sternly-worded letter through the mail. Presumably they have some way of researching their potential inductees to screen for susceptibility to peer pressure and so forth, because the initiation process involves carving a large letter D into your own chest while swearing fealty to the cult's leader, the skull-masked Master of Death.

The Black Legion takes its vows seriously, as member Graves finds when he tries to leave and is brutally murdered. Even Linda Dale, the niece of Black Legion co-leader Emma Dale, is almost killed when she asks a few too many questions about the secret ceremonies taking place in her basement on a regular basis. Lucky for her, then, that she has just become a member of the Flame's supporting cast, as has Pug, the newest prospective member of the cult.

So just what is the deal with the Black Legion? What ethos they espouse or dark deity they serve? What, in short, is the point of all this? As the Flame learns after busting the place up, it's all a huge scam. Emma Dale and the Master of Death have been recruiting gullible fools to the organization and then pocketing the mandatory membership fees, and making even more money off of sales of the mandatory green velour robes. It's a shocking indictment of the state of comic book cults.

Categorized in: Colours (Black), Fraud (Con Artists), Misc (Cults)

MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 098

We've got no time for major super-heroes around here. We're too busy with the minor ones.

the Black Ace:

The Black Ace, aka Captain McRae, is yet another American pilot serving in the RAF in advance of the US entrance into WWII. As such, he is not only a highly accomplished pilot and bombardier but fully versed in the arts of prison escape, hand-to-hand combat, impersonating German soldiers and leaping from plane to plane in mid-flight. (Four Favorites 002, 1941)

Categorized in: Activities (Cards), Colours (Black), Team Memberships (RAF)

Phantasmo **Update**:

The thing about Phantasmo is that he does all of his super-heroing while in his super-huge astral form, and I guess that I had somehow gotten the impression that most of his powers were tied to that form, because I while reading his 1941 run of adventures I kept being surprised when he would do something like heal an old man (The Funnies 052) or kill a bunch of guys with a giant fish while in Phil Anson form (The Funnies 051). 

I guess it's pretty convenient to have the option of being an invulnerable giant but that getting your mortal hands dirty lends a certain thrill to the crimefighting - that's probably why he tolerates the poor standard of care that he gets from Whizzer McGee as he guards the unconscious Anson-body, hey?

In The Funnies 061, Phantasmo and Whizzer witness the murder of a crooked FBI filing clerk named Ted Bart and, partially because they are touched by his dying confession ("I only blackmailed a gang boss-turned politician to help my sister, honest!") and partially due to this desire for more action in his life (life as an FBI filing clerk v. action packed), Phantasmo takes over his identity. The series ends before this development pays off beyond giving Phantasmo a few crime leads, but it's still an interesting turn for the character to take.

Whizzer McGee:

Phantasmo's young friend Whizzer McGee does not really qualify as a sidekick most if the time. He's more of an employee, really, who watches over Phil Anson's unconscious body while his mind is out terrorizing criminals. And he's not even good at it! Whizzer and the body are always getting into scrapes because of Whizzer's incompetence (and also because Phil is very bad at picking a convenient place to leave his mortal coil, in all fairness).

Despite this, Phantasmo gives Whizzer McGee the opportunity to be a real-deal super-powered guy when he has to go out of town for a few days, in the form of an amulet that gives him invulnerability and super strength. I can only assume that Phil was worried that Whizzer would immediately walk out into traffic if someone wasn't around to tell him not to and was trying to bump up the likelihood of his survival a bit.  

Whizzer screws it all up of course - not only does he lose the amulet by trying to capture a smuggling gang single-handed, but he spills Phantasmo's secrets - including his secret identity and home address! - to the gang boss after he does a low-effort impression of an FBI agent. Surprisingly, this leads to absolutely no consequences going forward: Whizzer keeps his job, the amulet doesn't end up in the wrong hands... it's not even a factor in Phantasmo changing secret identities. (The Funnies 056, 1941)

Categorized in: Accessories (Amulets), Origins (Sidekicks)

the Black Knight **Update**:

In our initial look at the Black Knight, we spent a lot of time trying to nail down exactly when the series is supposed to take place, and we are not backing down from that challenge. We have determined that he lived in at least the early 12th Century CE, which the presence of Canterbury Cathedral (looking much as it does today, a form it took after being rebuilt and refurbished in the 11th and 12th Centuries) supports. This is comforting! All of our hard work paid off! Hold on to that feeling for a little while.

The firmly 12th Century Black Knight's 1941 adventures continue much as they had in 1940: the Black Knight travels the land slaying villains in the name of Good King Victor. Things get a bit less episodic with the introduction of a mysterious ring that the Knight is given by the King in The Funnies 053, that is then revealed to contain some mysterious drugs in issue 054.

The Funnies 053 also introduces Peter, an archer who begins travelling with the Black Knight after helping him slay some bandits. He's very serious about being a sidekick, is Peter.

So we have: a reasonably firm grasp on the time period, an ongoing plot hook and a new friend. All of which is dumped in the trash as of The Funnies 055-056, when Good King Victor falls victim to an illness with only one known cure, a drug that is only available in Egypt.

The ring is completely forgotten until the Black Knight need to escape a prison guard and the mysterious drugs turn out to be knockout drops. Peter is technically still around to the end, but he and the other members of the Black Knight's party are all dressed like desert nomads and usually end up tagging behind him on camelback rather than actually participating in the story. As for the 12th Century... the artist's vision of what Medieval North Africa looked like was not quite as precisely calibrated as it was for Medieval England, and so we start getting things like hookahs (15th-16th Century and even then in India) almost immediately.

The transition to Egypt does come with a pretty good alternate costume unlock for the Black Knight, though there are also some weird Jesus overtones. (The Funnies 059)

The Black Knight's plan to get the drug involves appealing directly to the Queen of Egypt for aid, which is appropriate, as she is from the same lineage of fictional monarchs as Good King Victor. In actuality, Egypt was in the hands of a series of Muslim dynasties from the 650s through to the 1500s when the Ottomans took it. The plotters above, meanwhile, are all from Sudan, which was Nubian-controlled and matrilineal at the time, so the misogyny is weird.

Once the Queen actually shows up (The Funnies 061) it is pretty clear that she is based on Cleopatra (died 30 BC), which is fine. One huge anachronism is much easier to deal with than a million mild ones, after all. The Black Knight is clearly set in an alternate timeline or a human zoo built by aliens with poor research skills.

Finally, the Egyptian odyssey introduces a love interest for the Black Knight in the form of a Persian (?) woman named Zellah who he rescues from a harem in The Funnies 057. There isn't too much to this relationship - it's just kind of nice. The Black Knight does get this sick scorpion amulet from her, but it's just before she and the Queen of Egypt are kidnapped in a cliffhanger ending that is never resolved, so overall, it's a bummer.

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 977: THE HOODED MEN

(The Flame 006, 1941)

The Hooded Men are a cult of Tibetan fire worshippers who show up one day and kidnap the daughter of the Flame's friend Doctor Roy. This is a huge coincidence, as the Flame (as I'm sure you all remember) is also a member of a sect of Tibetan fire worshippers! How lucky for Doctor Roy and his child, No First Name Given!

The Flame is able to follow the cult back to Tibet thanks to the fact that he, like they, can teleport himself through fire. Once there, he engages them in thrilling hand-to-hand combat and sends them all plummeting to the bottom of a cliff to explode, and while history tells us that attempting to settle which religion is best through violent conflict is a net negative proposition there is something very satisfying about this in a strict Fire Worshippers Power Ranking kind of way.

So just why did the Hooded Men show up to steal Nameless Girlchild Roy anyway? Turns out that the Hooded Men offered Dr Roy shelter while he was backpacking around Asia in his youth and he had to promise that they could have his firstborn child in order to not be sacrificed himself, and he subsequently just... failed to mention this to either the child in question or his good friend who might be able to offer some crucial insight. Father of the year, folks.

Categorized in: Misc (Cults), Origin (Ancient Tradition Followers), Powers (Elemental Teleportation)