Tuesday, July 30, 2024

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 578: SEMMURABI

(Champion Comics 010, 1940)

Have you ever wondered what happened to the Chaldeans, the ancient Mesopotamian people whose height was from the 9th to 6th centuries BCE, who were mentioned frequently in the Bible and whose name was lent to a Babylonian dynasty? Well wonder no longer! They were merely tucked away in a little hidden city less than a day's travel via horse from Jerusalem! At least until 1940, that is, because that's when the city's leader, a fellow named Semmurabi, made the mistake of being too horny. Or maybe he'd been kidnapping clueless tourists (sincerely clueless: they were roped in by an offer to show them the remains of Noah's Ark on Mt Arrarat) to add to his harem forever and this was just the first time he'd done it to someone who knew a super-hero.

In Semmurabi's defense (for not knowing to keep a lower profile, not for kidnapping women) this is a very early Dr Miracle adventure and he can be excused for assuming that he wouldn't meet opposition from a tuxedoed magic-man (but again, he will not be excused for the kidnapping). This also might explain why he makes the classic mistake of challenging a more powerful opponent to a magical duel in the astral realm: because he simply didn't know better.

Ignorance is no excuse in magic as in law and Semmurabi meets his end in the depths of a star. Sorry, Chaldea. You were ruled by a dope and now you pass into history. (Champion Comics 010, 1940)

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