Friday, September 8, 2023

MINOR SUPER-HERO 039: THE DEVIL'S DAGGER

(Master Comics 001-020, 1940-1941)


Devil's Dagger! I love this guy. He has a lot of familiar things going on: a wealthy young man named Ken Wyman who works as a reporter in order to get the latest crime news and heads out at night in his souped-up car (the excellently named Speed Ghost) to kick butt accompanied by Pat Gleason, ex boxer and member of the surprisingly large Chauffeur/ Sidekick club.

There are two really interesting things about the Devil's Dagger: 1. really good costume. 2. he's a mission-driven vigilante. Once he rids Carterville of the sinister Jeff Marlowe... he finds out about Jeff's boss, Mr H. But once he gets rid of him, that's it! Wyman unmasks, retires, maybe takes the job at his father's bank, who knows? It's so rare for a super-hero to have a finite career, not just in the Golden Age but any time! How refreshing!

Of course after saying that I would be a monster to suggest that the Devil's Dagger be brung back, and I am not! I do however think that the identity would make for quite a fun legacy hero! Picture it: Carterville has once again become a crime-ridden hellhole, perhaps even under the thumb of a superannuated Mr H (or a corrupted Ken Wyman!), and someone stumbles across the unpublished memoirs of Ken Wyman and takes inspiration from them - maybe an underpaid employee at the Daily Blade, now stripped of assets by venture capital and printing a ten-page synopsis of the top clickbait of the week? Heck, maybe this time it's a whole group of dagger-wielding vigilantes. Fun!

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