Tuesday, April 1, 2025

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 757: THE MASTERMIND

(Smash Comics 017, 1940) 


The Mastermind, mysterious head of a jewel theft and smuggling ring, is actually Jason White, prominent jeweller, but he is also Rufus Kane, pawnbroker and fence. White established Kane as a patsy identity to absorb all of the suspicion of being the Mastermind until things get a little too hot, at which point Kane and the Mastermind disappear and Jason White is free and clear to enjoy his ill-gotten gains.

And it works! Rufus Kane manages to escape from the Invisible Hood and the police! It's not quite the perfect crime - I'm sure that a little forensic accounting would turn up some irregularities in White's finances, for instance - but it's close enough. Unfortunately for him, the Invisible Hood is on the case, though for once invisibility is not the key to the situation. Instead, White is caught when the Hood, as Kent Thurston, gets his buddy Police Inspector Battle to tell him that Kane is no longer a suspect and he proceeds to sashay past the two of them in his Suspicious Criminal cosplay. An ignominious defeat to be sure!

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