Wednesday, March 27, 2024

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 481: DE STRUCTO

(Big 3 002, 1940)

De Structo (properly "Master-Mind" de Structo, but he's only referred to in that way the once in-story) is a man with a dream, and that dream is to kill everyone in the US in a position of authority so that he can step in and take over society. To that end, he has his gang (grandiosely referred to as "Troopers") distribute an "oxygen destroying ray" in vials (and here we're going to have to assume that this is a "ray" in the sense of a radiation rather than a beam or that these are some amazing vials) near his targets in order to release them all simultaneously for maximum impact.

And this is a thorough coup d'etat: not only is de Structo attempting to wipe out the government, state and local police, the intelligence services and the military but also publishers, bankers, industrialists, and doctors. I've heard of power vacuums but this is ridiculous. Fortunately for society, Stardust the Super Wizard shows up in time to save... most people.

We've seen the cartoonish evil that is the hallmark of any good Fletcher Hanks comic and now it's time for the over-the-top ironic punishment! First, de Structo is mutated until he is just an enormous head.

As the giant spaceman says: this is because he attempted to destroy the heads of society.

De Structo is then flung into the Space Pocket of Living Death, where the Headless Headhunter, the "hugest giant in the Universe" - who appears to be maybe 25 feet tall at most - eagerly absorbs him. It's not quite an ironic punishment but it is gruesome - just what we expect from a Fletcher Hanks comic.

As a bonus, all of de Structo's henchmen are rounded up and compressed into a single being (presumably to save time) who is subsequently fired into space. Do Not Sin When Stardust Is Near, Mortals.

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