CREEPS OF THE WORLD: KIKOOS

(Wonderworld Comics 007, 1939)

Like the Walking Mountains before after them, the Kickoos are part of a population of superhumans living in an obscure part of the world (Asia, it's always Asia) seemingly with no actual will of their own, brought back to the US by a criminal in order to facilitate their crimes.

Specifically, the Kikoos are from the Gobi Desert and their superhuman nature is explained as, essentially, them being all dried out. They're all hundreds of years old and so desiccated and leathery that even small arms fire has no effect on them. Sadly for them they are extremely flammable, particularly as their heroic foil is the Flame.

Mostly I bring them up to showcase the above cover, which made a very big impression on me when I saw it the 300 or so times I read Jeff Rovin's Encyclopedia of Superheroes as a kid.