Monday, June 3, 2024

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 534: THE BRAIN

(Fantastic Comics 001, 1939)


We open on Space Smith and his girlfriend Dianna (sometimes Diana) having a trans-Lunar space-date ruined by Martian Imp Men and I am immediately struck with the dilemma engendered by nearly all Fletcher Hanks stories: follow through on my impulses and post most if not all panels or be judicious for the sake of space and readability? I went with the latter but it hurt.

So in lieu of my posting every panel that features the great/horrible Martian Imp Men let's just pause and appreciate how great they are.


Space Smith and Dianna awaken in the laboratory of the great Martian scientist Skomah and learn that they have been kidnapped by Skomah's 7th son, also called Skomah, aka the Brain, aka the Central Brain aka the Great Martian Central Brain.

Really appreciate the detail that the Brain's head is so big that it has to be held up with two special robot arms.

Like a lot of big head smart guys, the Brain is convinced that it is his destiny to rule all of creation and is planning to start with Earth. He's also a huge creep in the same was as a lot of those guys and a lot of super-villains in general, in the "capture a woman and declare that she will be your queen" way.

Luckily for Dianna, a guy with a head so big he is literally bolted to the ground is not the hardest guy to get away from, even if he has a bunch of D&D 5e kobolds working for him. She and Space Smith get away incredibly easily, in fact, and spend the next few issues trying to get back to Mars to put a permanent end to Skomah the 7th (they never do actually get there. Perhaps they just lost interest when it became clear that the Brain was all talk. Or Fletcher Hanks just forgot).

BONUS MAN-EATING MARTIAN MOSQUITO

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