(Weird Comics 009, 1940)
The Sorceress of Zoom is enjoying herself by tormenting people in the desert one day when she is suddenly confronted and challenged for possession of her victims by Gobi, Super-Wizard of the Desert! Is he some sort of heroic magic-user looking to free the people from their torturous servitude? Of course not! He's looking for food for his pet vultures!
(aside: the Sorceress of Zoom is never the good guy in these situations, but this might be the one in which she is the most the bad guy. Sure, Gobi wants to feed the people to his critters, but here's a list of just what the SoZ gets up to in the first few pages of this comic:
-harnesses a bunch of guys to a platfrom (definitely not a sled) covered in treasure and force them to haul it through the desert while whipping them
-when they complain about being thirsty, create an illusory oasis to tempt them into greater effort
-once they realize the trick, abandon them in the desert to die
-ambush and enslave a caravan to replace the first bunch of guys
-petrify most of those who fight back and leave others trapped in a circle of eternal flame
-make the rest haul that platform through the desert and when someone complains of thirst, turn him into a skeleton
-force another complainer to climb a ladder to nowhere, while whipping him
-turn everyone else into camel centaurs
It's all a bit much)
(2nd aside: though Gobi is of course named after the famous Asian desert, I'm pretty sure that this comic takes place somewhere in North Africa)
Gobi manages to get the upper hand early on with a surprise shrink spell, but just before his vultures start to chow down she reappears at full size and max strength to initiate an old-fashioned magical duel.
As always, there is a best part to any such duel, and in this case it is when Gobi completely dissolves the Sorceress of Zoom with magical acid. This of course does not kill her, but does leave her as a disembodied spirit for a while.
As usual, the duel eventually turns into something closer to a child's game in which the Sorceress merely goes "nuh-uh" in response to every attack by Gobi. This supports my theory that all of this is in aid of alleviating her boredom. Was she tormenting those guys in an area that Gobi was known to haunt in order to pick a fight? It's entirely possible! All good things must come to an end, however, and once the Super-Wizard of the Desert ceases to entertain he is unceremoniously transformed into a desert spring.
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