MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 421: THE RED-EYED KILLER

(Jumbo Comics 020, 1940)

What a cool-looking villain! Suit and cape combo? Blood-red eyes? Great stuff. He's got a cool mask and a wavy dagger and he goes on an enormous spree killing in NYC while Our Hero Inspector Dayton tries to figure out just how he's going to stop the Red-Eyed Killer.

But they spend too much time in the setup! Dayton stumbles into a doctor's office on the last page and the resolution happens in an instant - the Red-Eyed Killer is Dayton's work pal, police scientist Doc Black and he gives up... pretty reasonably, I guess. Being pinned to a door by a half dozen of your own daggers will inspire compliance.

So, the Red-Eyed Killer. Good but not great; a lesson in leaving enough room for the end of your story to have some stakes in it. Also: tell us how he get those red eyes!