MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 976: DOCTOR DROOL

(The Flame 004, 1941)

Doctor Drool* is a medical doctor who was recently executed for an unspecified crime. He has, however, planned for this eventuality, and his assistant Scully is on-hand to collect him from his mausoleum at the earliest opportunity so that he can administer a revivification treatment to him. Thus restored, Doctor Drool swears revenge on the Judge, District Attorney and jury who convicted him, a fourteen-person death list that would eventually grow to include the Flame as number fifteen.

Doctor Drool's real distinction is that his story is serialized over three issues, namely The Flame 004 and 005 and Big 3 003. Sadly, this is not the bold departure from the rapidly-solidifying episodic formula that it could be.

*his actual surname. Heavy contender for the worst name in comics. 

Perhaps the best aspect of this extended story is the fact that Drool is able to make many more on-panel attempts at revenge than is typical. This really drives home the terror of the situation for his victims, particularly given his method of murder: sending threatening notes, etc to drive them into a frenzy of fear and then firing a gun loaded with blanks at them to incite a heart attack (a method of murder not without its risks, as two strong-hearted jurists do survive). Please also note the signature on the notes is a stylized representation of Drool's own tombstone.

The repetition doesn't work quite as well in all aspects of the story, alas. For instance: the Flame knows that Drool is operating out of his old home (the unnervingly-named Drool Mansion) though he cannot find his secret lab for most of the story. This leads to him searching the place on five separate occasions, and on three of those he falls for the same trick in which Drool has set up a dummy of himself that sets off a deathtrap when the Flame attacks it.

(that said, there is a charming bit in which the Flame finds two mice in the mansion's cellar on his first visit there and reports on the status of their growing family every time he revisits the place, until Drool Mansion is finally destroyed and the now eight-strong mouse family move house en mass. There's also a recurring bit in which the Flame scares a pair of cemetery workers that is not quite as charming but still fun)

After maybe a month in-comic, Drool is eventually stopped after he falls off of a building and ironically dies of fright despite being caught by the Flame before he could hit the ground. And since the police never really believed that Doctor Drool was behind the killings, the Flame just tosses him back into his coffin as if he had never went on a killing spree at all. I reckon that there is a pretty high chance that he would've been brought back again at least one more time if the next issue didn't mark the start of the New Look Flame under a different creative team. Scully is still at large, after all, and we never learn where those mice end up!

JUDGE AND JURY REVENGE KILLER SCORE: 5/15

Categorized in: Accessories (Calling Cards), Doctors and Professors, Origin (Faked Own Death)

CATALOGUE OF WOUNDS 010

I'm beginning to think that the super-hero scene is pretty hazardous.

the Blue Bolt: 

The Blue Bolt's first outing against the Green Sorceress is marred by the fact that he gets near-fatally clawed by her vulturoid monsters. (Blue Bolt v1 001, 1940)

the Cloak: 

Jeff Cardiff, aka the Spy-Master, aka the Spay-Chief and the future Cloak, gets a classic skull crease. On purpose! This is the way that that goon chose to knock him out! Such confidence! (Big Shot 002, 1940)

Jeff's choice to adopt the Cloak identity comes after his identity as a government man gets around and enemy agents start gunning for him. Specifically, they gun him in the left shoulder. Twice! (Big Shot 015, 1941)

Being a costumed super-hero is no guarantee that you won't be shot, however, and Jeff gets his skull creased once more on his third outing as the Cloak. (Big Shot 018, 1941)

the Flame:

The Flame turns off his bullet-melting heat aura for just an instant to pick up a lady in need and gets his skull creased by a bullet. (The Flame 007, 1941)

Phantasmo:

Phantasmo is one of the last super-heroes who one would expect to get injured, seeing as how his whole deal is supposed to be sending out a huge, invulnerable astral form to fight crime. Nevertheless, he keeps on starting adventures in his very vulnerable human body, and so he inevitably gets shot in the left shoulder. (The Funnies 061, 1941)

Skyman:

Skyman dodges a bullet at close range - an impressive feat - but he still gets a bloody gash across his enormous chest. (Big Shot 003, 1940)

Zanzibar the Magician:

Zanzibar takes an arrow in the right shoulder courtesy of a dastardly Walrus Man. (Mystery Men Comics 005, 1939)

A couple of years later but the same shoulder: Zanzibar is shot. (Mystery Men Comics 023, 1941)

 And what Golden Age super-hero goes very long without getting his head creased by a bullet? (The Flame 006, 1941)

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 975: THE SMILER

(Fight Comics 016, 1941) 

The Smiler! A grody-looking gang boss with a permanent crooked smile thanks to a facial scar! I can't actually figure out where this scar is actually supposed to be - I suppose that it must be there, but the Smiler's face is so covered in seams and divots that it doesn't stand out.

The Smiler is such a ruthless and dastardly crook that he accepts a commission from Nazi agent Blitz to steal the engine-killing ray that local inventor Professor Adams is developing for the US government. Any qualms that he might have about betraying his country in this way are smoothed over by the fact that Blitz is paying him a cool one million dollars to do it.

As is so often the case, the Smiler appearas to have come up with at least three viable plans to steal the ray but rather than committing to any one of them he just does them all at once. The first and second plans are similar in nature: the Smiler disguises himself as a mysterious figure called the Countess and moves into a mansion near Professor Adams' house, while his gang replaces the entire police force of Freeville, Maryland. Having successfully infiltrated Freeville society (twice!), the gang are now in a perfect position to acquire the ray via subterfuge, perhaps by arresting Professor Adams on trumped-up charges or arranging for the Countess to have a tour of the lab.

Instead, the fake police round up the entire adult population of Freeville and kill anyone who resists and then threatens to kill everyone if they don't give up the Professor. In addition to invalidating the effort that was put into the stealth-based aspects of the plan - the Countess part in particular is now just an excuse for a cheap laugh - this gives Adams time to make a fake ray that is in fact a time bomb to hand over and potentially sacrifice himself in the process to save the town.

It never actually comes to that, however, because Freeville is the home of patriotic super-hero Captain Fight, who teams up with Adams' son Yank to beat the absolute tar out of both the Smiler and Blitz (and possibly drown the latter?).

The Smiler returns in 1942's Fight Comics 017, but thanks to a change of artists has lost his signature crooked grin in favour of a more generic one. This time out he's stealing British supply ships to sell on to the Axis and gets beaten up for his trouble once more.

Categorized in: Accessories (Distinctive Scars), Body (Mouth), Misc (Gang Bosses)

MEDIA IN COMICS 007

We've got some real early media for you today, so get ready for the crustiest scans of microfiche you ever saw.

Movies:

Steve Rogers and Bucky almost get to the movies to see a flick called Million Dollar Robbery before being interrupted by a real, if smaller-scale, robbery. BONUS: a classic case of real movies stars barely obfuscated by having their first names swapped, in Humphrey Raft and George Bogart, aka George Raft and Humphrey Bogart. (Captain America Comics 004, 1941)

Hired to look into dirty dealings on the Stupendous Films lot, Slam Bradley and Shorty Morgan go undercover as stunt doubles. The comedy film that Shorty works on is never named, but Slam briefly works on a film called Jungle Man. (Detective Comics v1 004, 1937)

Larry Steele's own investigations into a series of high-profile kidnappings take him to the set of Too Much Money, a movie we never learn anything about. (Detective Comics v1 005, 1937)

It's just barely possible to make out that this movie that the Radio Squad boys watch is called The Fighting Cop. A bit on the nose, boys! (More Fun Comics 038, 1938)

Music:

Detective Bruce Nelson investigates a series of murders committed on stage while each victim was singing the same song. That song was originally called "The Night is Blue," but is now known as "The Song of Death." (Detective Comics 020, 1938)

In Action Comics 006, a grifter named Nick Williams falsifies some contracts and begins licensing Superman's name all over town, and one of the results of this is a song! Specifically, a big band tune called "You're a Superman!"

I wouldn't call it the greatest song ever written (no song should include the word "resistless," for example), but it's not entirely terrible. (Action Comics v1 006, 1938)

Newspaper Columns:

Written by Paul Revere Sr, ultra-patriot and father to comic book adventure kid Paul Revere Jr, "America Awake!" is one of those exciting titles that works for an anti-Nazi column in 1941 and also potentially for a pro-Nazi one in the present. (Banner Comics 003, 1941)

Jay Garson Jr, aka the Ragman, wrote his "Crime Does Not Pay" column right up until someone tried to kill him for it and he was forced to fake his own death. And then kept on writing it for a while afterward, seemingly mostly in order to give his old editor a hard time. (Cat-Man Comics 001, 1941)

Radio Shows:

In addition to "You're a Superman!" Nick Wilson's Superman-licensing deals included a Superman radio show, meaning that the DC Universe had one a full two years before we did.

Wilson also mentions having sold movie and comic book rights, but as he is beaten up and forced to stop his scheme by the real Superman not long after this conversation it's likely that those never saw the light of day. (Action Comics v1 006, 1938)

Theatre:

Slam Bradley and Shorty Morgan investigate the crimes of the Broadway Bandit by getting jobs on Broadway, specifically as tap dancers in a production called Love on Ice that despite its name seems to be a variety show rather than anything with a discernible plot. (Detective Comics v1 016, 1938)

Renick's Frolics, the show in which "The Song of Death" appears, is another of these variety productions. (Detective Comics v1 020, 1938)

 

We learn nothing about Darkest Dawn other than the fact that someone is trying to kill the lead actress and Nadir, Master of Magic, is on the case. (New Adventure Comics 028, 1938)

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 974: TYRANNUS

(Fight Comics 015, 1941)

I sniffed at the chronal implications of Super-American coming back in time to help out 1941 America, but it's very possible that it is only by his intervention that his future comes to exist at all. By the time he arrives, Tyrannus, leader of an unnamed organization perhaps a couple of levels tougher than your average group of bundists, has already managed to install himself in the Oval Office. Senators are being machine gunned in the streets!

Despite the fact that he seemingly has control of the entire apparatus of American government, Tyrannus is concerned with the formalities: he wants Congress to formally hand over the reins of power to him. Under the barrels of several machine guns, sure, but what regime change hasn't come with a little ultra-violence?

Tyrannus, no fool, legs it while Super-American is saving an off-model FDR. Will we see him again? Yes, right now.

Fight Comics 016 sees Tyrannus in Europe working for the Hitler-alike dictator Vultro. It's unclear if the implication is that he was already Vultro's agent in America or if this represents a career setback for Tyrannus - their swastika-adjacent insignia are different, if that means anything. 

Even if Tyrannus is no longer his own boss, he still gets to do what he loves, as Vultro is just as interested in the military subjugation of the United States as he is. Amd thanks to the insidious Dr Bund and his freshly-perfected aerial torpedoes he is ready to begin the process!

Super-American takes a dim view of this scheme, and beats the holy hell out of Vultro's forces until he is able to corner the dictator himself and bully him into promising not to do war any more. He does essentially say "I'm a little stinker" and scamper off the instant that Super-American's back is turned, but it's a noble effort nonetheless.

As for Tyrannus, he murders Dr Bund in order to secure the only escape plane for himself and is then almost immediately captured by Super-American and returned to the US to face trial for all the crimes he did in his previous appearance.

Categorized in: Generica (Ends in -us),  Ideologies (Crypto-Fascists), Supercrime (Attempted Conquest of the United States)