MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 095

There really are a lot of these guys, aren't there?

Hurricane:

As presented, Hurricane is a real mythological mash-em-up: "son of Thor" but also "last descendant of the Ancient Greek immortals," and arch-enemy to the Roman god Pluto. Pantheism, baybee!

Hurricane's whole deal is in being super fast, like mythically fast. The fact that he has a divine opponent is quite nice, in that it offsets some of the tendency of speedster characters to walk all over their opponents as can be seen above.

As befits a divine being with such a diverse background, Hurricane also has a Swiss Army Knife of as-needed powers, including weather control, flight, invisibility and changing into his super-suit in a flash of radiance. His signature (non-speed-related) power is the ability to stick a couple of little wings onto an object or person to give them the power of super-fast flight while looking cute.

Hurricane is one of several older characters to eventually be retconned as former identities of Makkari of the Eternals, but we will deal with that if we ever get to the mid-70s. (Captain America Comics 001, 1940)

Categorized in: Origin (Deities), Powers (Super Speed, Various), Weather (Hurricanes)

Tuk:

Speaking of retcons, here we have Tuk, Caveboy, hero of the year 50 000 BCE! Orphaned as a baby and raised by Ak, last of the Shaggy Ones, Tuk (referred to throughout as one of the Hairless Ones, natch) is the child of two mysterious figures who Ak believed to be some sort of divine being, but who refer to themselves as exiles from a place called "Attilan." 

The real-world explanation for this is surely that Jack Kirby liked the idea of an ancient and mysterious super-kingdom with a name that could have eventually mutated into "Atlantis" over time and used it more than once. The rise of continuity perverts and the fact that Kirby also used Attilan as the name of the Inhumans' home city means that Tuk has now been given the status of first generation Inhuman offspring, and his eventual interbreeding with early humanity is part of the reason that they are so genetically flexible and keep developing super powers all over the place.

Tuk is joined on his travels by Tanir, a Cro-Magnon man and the very first archery-based super-adventurer, at least chronologically. While Tuk has been minorly enshrined in Marvel Comics history, Tanir has largely been ignored, and that's a shame. (Captain America Comics 001, 1940)

Categorized in: Origin (Heroes of the Past, Human Offshoots), Power (Weapons Masters (Bow))

Father Time:

It's Father Time! Possibly my favourite under-used Golden Age Marvel super-hero!

Father Time is really Larry Scott, a man whose father John is found guilty of murder and fast-tracked for execution, quite possibly because he keeps saying that he is innocent. In a series of events that hopefully ends up haunting that judge for the rest of his days, Larry manages to acquire the evidence to prove that his father is innocent, only to arrive mere moments too late to save him.

Larry's takeaway from all this is that time is always on the side of crooks rather than the law, and so he sets out to re-balance things by adopting the costumed persona of Father Time and beating criminal ass. It's a simple but effective origin, if much more pro-legal system than one might otherwise expect. 

Some notable Father Time innovations: the use of a scythe as both a throwing weapon and urban traversal aid, an extremely unique mask design (eyebrow to upper lip with a full nose cutout!) complimenting a decent over-all look, and the use of a calling card in the form of a clock face with an attached skull and crossbones. (Captain America Comics 006, 1941)

Categorized in: Abstract Concepts (Time), Famous Figures (Father Time), Origin (Motivated by Loss)

Spy Fighter **UPDATE**:

Despite the fact that I am a spreadsheet-keeping, blog-writing, categorization fan, I do in fact think that a slavish dedication to continuity can stifle creativity. So what if the details of a character's backstory are inconsistent across appearances as long as it's all fun, right? That said... this "Spy Fighter" episode is set in 2041 CE, while the first one is set in 1997 CE, meaning that poor Saber here has been battling the enemies of Greater America for 44 long years. He still looks great, though. (Fight Comics 012, 1941)

While Fight Comics 013 continues this trend with a story set in 2042 (45 years!), the final three Spy Fighter stories abandon the science fiction and super-hero aspects of the character altogether. The Spy Fighter in Fight Comics 014 through 016 is effectively a separate character who is a non-powered espionage agent supporting the Allied forces in Egypt and the surrounding region - a true fall from grace for an interestingly weird character.

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 972: THE BLACK TALON

(Captain America Comics 009, 1941)

The Black Talon is honestly such a disappointing character. Two-thirds of him is composed of concepts that I love, but that remaining third is very rough. A hard character to endorse.

First good Part: The Black Talon, aka Pascal Horta, is a mad artist who kills both as a way of eliminating his rivals and as a means of deriving inspiration for his series of horror-themed portraits. I always love seeing the mad arts represented in a field that traditionally favours the mad sciences, plus we must applaud the efficiency.

Second Good Part: Horta's origin involves the classic trope of the evil transplant that brings some part of its original owner's mentality to its new host. Specifically, his right hand is crushed in a car accident and is replaced with that of condemned murderer Strangler Burns. A terrific trope, particularly as it so easily dovetails with a Jekyll/ Hyde concept where you can introduce the idea that the transplant recipient isn't posessed but it just using the idea of a murderer's body part to enact their own inmost desires. In this specific instance, this idea is offset somewhat by the fact that the hand itself is portrayed as super-human: incredibly strong, equipped with clawlike fingernails (the eponymous Black Talons) and even fireproof as of its second appearance, but the point still stands. 

(I've never asked a transplant surgeon but I reckon that they must hate this trope)

If you read through all of the panels up to this point you might have noticed the third, unfun thing about the Black Talon: that at least as much weight is given to the fact that the hand comes from an African American man as from a murderer. Could a thoughtful writer do something interesting with the concept of a man who is horrified by the race of his own hand? Certainly! Do they do this here? Certainly not. It really says something when Marvel's other Black Talons being chicken-themed Voodoo priests is the less racist option.

After a couple of encounters with Captain America and Bucky, the Black Talon is killed when Cap punches him out a window to his death. Or so Captain America believes, because he never bothers to go check. In reality, Horta is scuttling off to get ready to return in an upcoming issue of Young Allies. Stay tuned!

Categorized in: Body (Nonhuman Parts, Hands), Colours (Black), Origin (Evil Transplant)

REAL PERSON ROUND-UP 025

If comics are reflections of the real world then why should we be surprised to find them so full of real people?

Adolf Hitler:

Hiller is the "mad dictator" who inspires Hercules to reincarnate and eventually become Marvel Boy. He's about as close as you get to putting a Hitler in your comic as you can get without actually saying the name. The whole name. The "t" part. (Daring Mystery Comics 006, 1940)

This otherwise-unnamed Fuehrer of a likewise nameless underground nation that vexes the America inhabited by Captain Daring in 3051 CE is a clear inspired-by-Hitler type. (Daring Mystery Comics 007, 1941)

Citizen V takes a break from his propaganda campaign in Occupied Europe to sneak into Germany and become a member of the Punched Hitler in the Nose Club. (Daring Mystery Comics 008, 1942)

This version of Hitler appears in a long dream sequence in the comedic Army Life strip "Private Rook" that appears to exist solely to make a joke about him being gay (the bit where he is the Princess Tanya's Fairy Godmother, specifically). This isn't great, but it is remarkable for being the only time I personally have seen such a thing in a Golden Age comic. (Army and Navy Comics 003, 1941)

Though Cap punches Hitler on the cover of his very first issue, it is in fact Bucky who lands the first blow on him (and Goering) in the pages of a comic. (Captain America Comics 002, 1941)

the Borgias:

Cesare, Lucrezia and the rest of the Borgia family might not actually appear in comics all that often, but they certainly do figure into their plots via the absolute piles of poisoned and poison-adjacent artifacts that are attributed to them. Borgia trinkets crop up so frequently, in fact, that I am surprised that it's taken us this long to encounter one, in the form of a hollow silver statuette that contains a deadly contact poison. (Fantastic Comics 018, 1941)

Fort Knox:

Stardust the Super Wizard's final foe, the unfortunately-named "Slant-Eye," was a classic comic book Fort Knox robber. (Fantastic Comics 016, 1941)

Francis Biddle:

Major Victory has to consult with the US Attorney General in 1941, and in 1941 the US Attorney General was Francis Biddle. The man in the panel above is not Francis Biddle. (Dynamic Comics 002, 1941)

Franklin D Roosevelt:

Seen ordering the creation of a super-soldier, i.e. Captain America, to combat domestic espionage. (Captain America Comics 001, 1941)

Fritz Kuhn:

Fritz Knoll, purveyor of domestic espionage, is probably a reference to the chief Bundist. (Fantastic Comics 021, 1941)

Henry L Stimson:

The US didn't even have a Secretary of Defense until after WWII, so I am not sure who this guy hanging out with Samson is supposed to be. The analogous position at the time this comic came out was Secretary of War, and that was Henry L Stimson, and this is not him. A true mystery man in all senses. (Fantastic Comics 023, 1941)

J Edgar Hoover:

J Arthur Grover, head of the FBI and clear J Edgar Hover stand-in, is also the man in charge of the program that would eventually be known as Project: Rebirth, aka the super-soldier program that produces Captain America later in this same issue. (Captain America Comics 001, 1941)

Tutankhamen:

Some of King Tut's grave goods are among the items stolen by the Butterfly. (Captain America Comics 003 1941)

MEDIA IN COMICS 006

Now that's entertainment. 

Magazines: 

Are magazine titles in comics more likely to be plays on real ones than other forms of media? Perhaps. We'll just have to see how many variations on Life and Time we can find over the years. Pretending to work for Living has enough caché that it gets these fascists into a secure aircraft plant - how long has it been since magazines were so relevant? (Big Shot Comics 014, 1941)

Movies:

I never actually mentioned it in the entry on the Hunchback of Hollywood, but the anti-Nazi movie that incites the story's action is called The Tyrant. Featuring Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes and Sergeant Duffy in minor roles! (Captain America Comics 003, 1941)

Rang-a-Tang the Wonder Dog's boy companion Richy (the Amazing Boy) never seemed to be that impressive to me, but Hollywood disagreed and he was made both the star and subject of a film called Riverfront Richy with lots of animal stunts. (Blue Ribbon Comics 011, 1941)

There's never any real indication of what Scoopin' Jive is about - music seems likely - but it's such a baffling name for a movie that I must celebrate it (Crackajack Funnies 036, 1941)

Similarly, we never really learn what Wings Aflutter is about, other than being a "new Navy Air smash hit" with a terrible name. (Jumbo Comics 034, 1941)

Theatre:

Minor super-villain the Black Death of course takes his costume and MO from a character in a stage production called The Black Death. There's not quite enough of the play's plot in the story to know if the fictional Black Death is supposed to be a metaphor or something or some sort of slasher movie killer as it appears. I sincerely hope it's the latter. (Thrilling Comics 010, 1940)

One of Professor X's attempts to get Sub-Zero involves attacking him in the audience of a big stage musical that his girlfriend Mary is appearing in as part of the "Living Chandelier". "George Whyte's Sandels" is a very specific-seeming reference, but I am unable to easily connect it to a show of the era. (Blue Bolt v1 006, 1940)

Fuller Spunk, former star of stage and now Holmes-inspired detective, starred in the evocatively-named shows Hector's Last Gulp and The Gripes of Raft. (Hyper-Mystery Comics 001, 1940)

Waltz of the Vampires is a ballet performance that is narratively used to set off vampire Carlos Hubbelo's bloodlust, but more importantly, it kind of rules? Comic book media is so often a version of something from the real world that it's always very fun to see something like this that (as far as I can tell) is just a sincere depiction of a vampire ballet. (Blue Ribbon Comics 011, 1941)