Saturday, September 2, 2023

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 334: THE MONOCLE

(All-Flash Quarterly 001, 1941) 


I love a foppish gang boss, and the Monocle might just be the most foppish I've seen in some time. He's got all the accessories: the monocle, natch, but also the eccentric mustache, cigarette holder, neat suit with nosegay and tiepin and pocket square and to top it off one of the more eccentric comic book hobbies I have ever encountered: a twee little garden where he displays his stolen gems in artificial flowers. Pretty great stuff.


The Monocle is also a technically-minded villain, whose main line is planning knockout gas-centric crimes but with a sideline in deathtraps - his booby-trapped HQ does a better job than most at almost bumping off the Flash.

Of particular note is that the Monocle hits upon the same discovery as an unnamed criminal scientist the year before: that though the Flash moves fast enough that he uproots shrubs and blows the clothing off of people in his wake, he also moves slow enough that a stroboscopic lighting setup will make it possible to effectively aim a firearm at him. He might even have actually killed the Flash if, succumbing to the deathtrap-maker's hubris, he hadn't left mid-battle to check on his gem garden.

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