(Science Comics 008, 1940)
The Wrecker is a very good example of how a good name can elevate a project out from the ordinary. Comics books are full of corporate extortion schemes - it's one of the classic scheme types for a reason. You can ramp the threat to life up or down with ease depending on just what is being sabotaged and likewise there are opportunities for big action setpieces as buildings or other corporate infrastructure are targeted. But while I would be hard pressed to find something to write about every time some gang of miscreants shakes down a construction company, once one of them starts calling themself "the Wrecker" well then my interest is piqued.
The Wrecker himself is nothing special, even if he has a very good thick gangster accent. Somewhat charmingly, though, the Wrecker's gang are also occasionally referred to as the Wreckers. Wrecker and the Wreckers! Gang name, band name, bowling team name, pub quiz name.
Dynamo runs out of juice and gets captured during his initial battle with the gang (evidently trading pot-shots with some low-level goons is as energy-intensive as travelling to Betelgeuse) but as with most of his foes, the Wrecker is... a great believer in ironic deaths or something, I don't know. They all try to electrocute him for some reason is all I can say, and maybe it's just down to it being 1940 and all of the villains just aren't genre-savvy enough to know the basics of comic book pseudo-elementalism. Regardless, the Wreacker electrocutes Dynamo and then Dynamo returns the favour - so long Wrecker.
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