MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 878: MR NIMBUS

(Zip Comics 009, 1940)

Mr Nimbus is a simple kind of crook: he has developed or otherwise acquired a liquid that creates a corrosive green gas and he is going to use that to kill people and steal riches from them. No dreams of world domination, no grand designs, just good old fashioned murder and robbery. But also no especial care taken, as he leaves behind a very big clue to the location of his next crime for the Scarlet Avenger and his Operative 1, Inez Courtney to find.

Mr Nimbus dutifully shows up to gas the Metropolitan Opera House and steal all of the jewellery on display in the audience, but thanks to his carelessness the Scarlet Avenger is there to prevent any rich people from getting killed. Too bad about the performers, though. The downside to being a simple kind of crook, I guess, is that you are also quite predictable.  

Everything comes to head on the Opera House roof, from which Mr Nimbus takes what should be a fatal fall, only to be missing when the Scarlet Avenger checks for his body, like a proverbial Michael Myers. Look out for him in the 1941 run of Zip Comics! Will my whole "simple guy" thesis hold up? Who knows!

(Mr Nimbus also has a cool hypnotic ring but it didn't fit the narrative I was building about him being a simple, one-trick villain. The thesis was already flawed) 

GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 031

They're not good people and they're not good at what they do and yet they still have a certain charm. 

This guy is exclusively called "the Fiend" in narration boxes even though he is introduced as "the Great Master" and "Mako". He practices voodoo and just sort of generically terrorizes the Haitian countryside until Yarko the Great comes at the behest of the intriguingly named Doctor Medico to settle his hash. And speaking of names, this issue features multiple characters referring to voodoo practitioners rather than their subjects as "zombies," which is a new one on me unless of course you count the Grand Zombie. (Wonderworld Comics 019, 1940)

Called "the Wolf" by detective Dr Fung as he is hunting him down, this masked fellow is actually Horace Bailey, a Wall Street financier who killed his partner to gain full control of their firm and made the mistake of involving a super-sleuth in the execution of his perfect murder. (Wonderworld Comics 020, 1940)

Don Cervantes is a fellow who discovered silver in the hills near the small probably-Mexican town of Toranto and decided that the best way to keep it all to himself was to revive the practice of human sacrifice in the area. This does not prevent Nevada Jones from moving in and deposing him, of course. (Zip Comics 007, 1940)

Comic books having cover illustrations that do not reflect the action in the book itself are nothing new, but this is the first time I have felt the need to highlight any of the characters on them whose adventures have gone unchronicled. Here's to you, Executioner, Green Guy with Sickle Claw and Tiny Green Guy, I'm sure that you were very dastardly. (Zip Comics 008, 1940)

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 877: TWISTO THE RUBBER MAN

(Zip Comics 009, 1940) 

The Tingling Bros Circus is in trouble! Someone has been killing the performers, mid-act, with throwing knives, and it has caused enough financial disruption to the show that owner Jack Tingling is on the verge of bankruptcy!

As you might have surmised from the fact that this entry is about him, the person responsible for the murders is sideshow attraction Twisto the Rubber Man, and we'll get to his motivations in a second because they are one of two notable things about him. First, though, we must take note of the other notable thing: his powers. According to his own patter he was born with them, which I suppose makes him some sort of mutant. Whatever the reason, he is able to stretch and twist his body to a superhuman degree, as if he were completely boneless. He doesn't seem to be able to extend his limbs at will, but his fist does continue travelling under its own momentum to sock new Steel Sterling sidekick Loony in the head in the above panel. He is also able to mould his face into a new shape as if it were made of putty - all in all, he's a much more limited version of stretching characters like the soon-to-debut Plastic Man.

But just why did Twisto do all of those murders? Why to drive down the value of the circus so that he can buy it, make his lion-taming wife Lilli a star and grow rich, of course! It's a foolproof plan, spoiled only by the fact that Lilli considers it "bad" and "wrong" and "illegal" to murder her friends and coworkers for a shot at the big-time.

Having been rejected by the woman that he loves over a few measly murders, Twisto has a bit of a mental break and turns to the only solution he knows: more murders. First on the agenda is Lilli, whose big cat act he sabotages by giving the beasts a taste of his own blood, thus transforming them into uncontrollable man-eaters (this is one of those tropes that crops up a fair amount, that an animal, once it tastes human blood, can't stop craving it. Is it true? No idea). 

At this point, Twisto is so deep in the murder hole (not to mention probably a bit light headed from all that missing blood) that he kind of talks himself into becoming a serial killer by extrapolating from "my beautiful, intelligent wife rejected me because of the crimes I did" to "all beautiful, intelligent women are my enemies and must die." He almost starts his misogynistic murder spree with Steel Sterling love interest Dora Cummings, but is stopped by the timely intervention of Steel himself.

Twisto's progressive mental break continues: his murderous mania transitions into a childlike passivity and he is led away to jail without issue. This isn't the last you'll see of ol' Twisto the Rubber Man, however, as he seemingly snaps out it and escapes immediately after being left alone. We'll see him again in 1941, presumably with a whole new range of criminal motivations.

DIVINE ROUND-UP 021

Just scads of gods.

Yum Chac: 

These Mayan priests have tied a recent drought to some archaeological excavations in the Yucatan and have decided that the only thing for it is to revive the practice of human sacrifice to Yum Chac, aka just Chac, god of rain. They of course do this just in time for Zambini the Miracle Man to show up and wreck their whole operation.

The really interesting thing about this whole episode is that it takes place at a site called "Hichen-Citza" and let me tell you that it's this sort of thing that really shakes my confidence with regard to my knowledge of just when and why Golden Age comic book creators did these cute little place name substitutions. Surely there was no concern that an ancient or present-day Mayan might get upset by this depiction of their city but not, say their god? Or maybe I should just look back on the whole Egyptasia thing and conclude that "Zambini" scribe Joe Blair just really liked making up silly names for real places.

(also the high priest is named "Macchu Pacchu," which again seems to just be Blair having fun with names)

El Castillo, the temple of Kukulcan also features, and evidently drawn from an old reference photo from back when the sides were still covered in vegetation. 

God Style: Idol (Real Pantheon) (Zip Comics 008, 1940) 

the Moon Orchid:

I frequently like to point out when Golden Age explorers are just blithely waltzing into religious sites and stealing their sacred relics even in the face of stiff and reasonable resistance from the faithful, but this one is pretty beyond the pale. While most of the others at least attempt to adopt a pretense of respectability by claiming to be thieving for anthropological or other scientific reasons, Congo Bill and his pal Professor Kent are explicitly heading into the jungle to steal the Mesabi tribe's sacred Moon Orchid so that they can sell it for big bucks.

And steal it they do! And what's worse: they blow up the entire Mesabi village in the process, so it's not just sacrilege but mass murder. Worth it for that sweet orchid money, I guess.

God Style: Animist (More Fun Comics 066, 1941) 

Ozaz: 

Adventurer Steve Conrad is on vacation in Egypt when he stumbles upon a weird cult looking to do a blood transfusion from a living woman into a mummy queen in order to bring her back to life and usher in a new age of the Pharaohs. Presumably this bunch worship all of your standard Ancient Egyptian gods, but they don't name-drop any specific ones, until Steve fumbles his rescue attempt and is slated to be sacrificed to... 

OZAZ THE FIRE GOD! Possessed of a pretty good name and nothing else, Ozaz is a made-up god who seems to have the head of a bird and whose statue is perfectly placed to topple over and kill the cultists when Steve's assistant Chang opens the trap door underneath it. Too bad for Ozaz (no sacrifice today) and the Pharaoh cult (crushed to death).

God Style: Idol (Real Pantheon) (Adventure Comics 063, 1941)

Pyro:

Worshipped by the Center People of Asteroid Djung, Pyro is a simple god: he hungers for sacrifice and he wants it via his sacred lava pit. 

God Style: Invoked (Master Comics 019, 1941) 

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 876: THE CULT OF ANKKAMAN

(Zip Comics 006, 1940)

Zambini the Miracle man is visiting his old friend the archaeologist Professor Lorenz when he learns that Lorenz is potentially filled with curse-energy thanks to an ancient tomb he violated. The Professor is dismissive of these concerns, even though both his daughter Greta and Zambini himself reckon that there might be something to them.

Sure enough, the very instant that Zambini has left the Lorenz house, two members of the Cult of Ankkaman show up and kidnap Professor Lorenz, making use of the magical Doorway of King Ankkaman (one of the items that he brought back from his travels/ that the cult are angry about him making off with) to spirit him away. 

Sensing trouble, Zambini returns and finds Greta Lorenz in a state of hypnotic paralysis thanks to the cultists' magics. He frees her and they use the Doorway to follow.

Now. There are exactly two things that got me excited about this particular entry, which is otherwise a pretty standard tale of a group objecting to the theft of their cultural objects from back when that was seen as unreasonable and villainous thing to do. The first of these is the fact that the Cult of Ankkaman comes from the country of Egyptasia, which I am 90% certain based on context clues is a country exactly like Egypt, only in Asia. Why set a story that could so very easily take place in regular old Egypt in this unnecessary new country you ask? Beats me, but it's exactly the sort of weird comics thing that I love.

The second thing is simply that Saki, the Cult's magic user, does his spells Zatara-style, by speaking backward, and that the close proximity of this to Zambini's "abbi dabbi" style of spellcasting really highlight just how silly both of these affectations are.

Prof Lorenz is weirdly calm about being sacrificed to Ankkaman, which he rationalizes as some sort of extremely visceral research. Fortunately for the field of anthropology, Zambini shows up in time to ensure that he is able to publish this experience rather than perish due to it.

Zambini, the Professor and Greta make their way back through the Doorway of Ankkaman, which Zambini then seals by the simple expedient of adding a door to the frame. The Professor is saved! Unless the cultists make their way back to his house via conventional travel, of course. 

NOTES - NOVEMBER 2025

Honours - Captain Marvel: 

Not only does Billy Batson win the award for Outstanding Radio Work of the Year, but he has his ver own fan club! (Whiz Comics 015, 1941) 

Honours - Smasher Spy:

Spy Smasher, turned evil and sometimes but mostly not known as Smasher Spy, is doing such a good job of sabotaging America that he is offered a medal and a position from the euphemistically-named War Lord by two Nazi stereotypes. If there's one thing that Smasher Spy is, however, it's an equal-opportunity hater, and he rejects a fascist government just as vociferously as a democratic one. (Whiz Comics 018, 1941)