The most minor bunch so far!
Don Rance and the Mysticape:
Don Rance saves an old man from a tiger in the Indian jungle and is given a mystic cape as a reward. In his single documented adventure he runs into spy trouble while ferrying some papers from the American embassy in London to Washington DC and must use the cape's powers (generic physical enhancement and slow falling or some other way to jump from a plane and land safely on the ground. Also possibly teleportation? The art was unclear) to complete his mission safely.
So: an utterly generic character who barely qualifies as a super-hero, but I just can't help but be tickled that he calls his mystic cape the Mysticape and dream of a world in which Don Rance was such a popular character that he continued appearing for long enough that some bored writer had him battle the Mystic Ape. (Detective Eye 002, 1940)
Ken Traymore and the Invisobox:
Really really enjoy these guys. Properly this strip should be called Ken Traymore and His Dad and Their Invisoboxes because that's what it is: a guy and his dad and their invisibility girdles palling around and investigating mysteries. It's very wholesome! Particularly as your standard Golden Age comic would have featured the murder of Traymore Sr on page 1 as a bit of motivation for Ken in his neverending quest for justice.
Aside from the delightful father/son dynamics, the best part of the Traymores' single adventure is the fact that they spend the entire time investigating three suspects in the murder of their friend and do not catch the killer. Rather, he accidentally sees one of them turn invisible and freaks out because he thinks that he's being haunted by his victim's ghost. They don't even know who he is - it's great! 10/10 no notes, BRING BACK the Traymores and their Invisoboxes immediately. (Detective Eye 002, 1940)
the Mask:
The Mask is an adaptation of pulp character the Black Bat, but without the bat part due to some sort of gentleman's agreement with DC after a squabble over who ripped who off, bat-wise. What he does share with his predecessor is an origin: District Attorney is blinded when gangsters working for crimelord Olly Snate splash acid on some key evidence during Snate's trial. When Colby's sight is restored via an experimental operation he decides to continue operating as a supposedly blind DA while also punching crooks as the Mask.
(Also like the Black Bat he has enhanced night vision as a result of the operation but it never really comes up)
Colby also inherits the Black Bat's stable of assistants: Silk Davis (crook turned butler), Carol Smith (the one who lined up the eye operation for him) and Butch O'Leary (former boxer). As with all heroic associates they spend about half the time helping out and half the time captured by crooks, with the added twist that since there are three of them they often end up rescuing each other or getting serially captured while trying to rescue one another.
The Mask was also quite clearly going to be the Owl in his first couple of appearances - presumably someone at Exciting Comics noticed that 1940 was a big year for owl-themed comic book characters and decided to skip the potential drama. By Exciting issue 3 he had traded in his owl-cowl for a beakless version and replaced his owl calling cards with a frankly hilarious version featuring a picture of his own face, clearly labelled.
One thing that always springs to mind when reading comics from the Nedor (etcetera - these people could not settle on a name for their publishing company) stable: did Alan Moore include them in Terra Incognito? The answer is of course no - the Mask is utterly middle-of-the-road and would have added nothing to the proceedings. (Exciting Comics 001, 1940)
Major Mars:
Major Mars, hero of 3964 AC, is another retooled version of an older pulp character, in this case the still-occasionally-name-checked-to-this-day Captain Future. Some basic research into the character indicates that the broad details are the same: brought up on the Moon (i.e., he should be called Major Moon), Major Mars battles injustice across the Solar System with the help of his robot pal Grag and love interest Joan. My major (ha) beef with this is that they left out Captain Future's other two associates, a sassy shapechanging android and a brain in a jar!
Why Captain Future became Major Mars and why all of the best companions were left out of this adaptation are a question for the ages. (Exciting Comics 001, 1940)
No comments:
Post a Comment