You'll never believe how close these guys get to being name-brand super-villains!
The Great-Great-Grandson of Lafitte is a flamboyant character who runs a protection racket on coconut plantations on the US Virgin Islands. Is he really a descendant of the great pirate captain? Who can say, but what is certain is that he puts on a good show before getting his block absolutely knocked off by US Navy goofs Spark Stevens and Chuck Lawson. (Wonderworld Comics 009, 1940)
Some classic fake haunting shenanigans by a group of spies assigned to disrupt the work of US government scientist Dr Sloan. Punched and apprehended by K-51. (Wonderworld Comics 013, 1940)
The Killer is head of a gang of extortionists and kidnappers who target rich men around an indeterminate US metropolis. True to his name, the Killer murders his targets whether they pay up or not, which I personally think might be a poor long-term strategy. We shall never know, because in the short term the Flame gets involved and roasts the entire gang before delivering the Killer to the authorities. (Wonderworld Comics 014, 1940)
Professor Z has so many villainous accessories - an eye patch, a castle, a tiger, terrible hair, henchmen dressed in colour-coded, vaguely sci-fi uniforms - that it may surprise you to learn that his entire operation is set up so that he can commit insurance fraud. Perhaps the out-of scale trappings are what attracts the attention of the Phantom Rider.
This adventure is personally annoying to me because while the Phantom Rider was previously absolutely set in the Old West, at the end of this one he calls for the authorities and two regular cops rock up. It's yet another time that the line between the past and present in a Western comic is so blurry that you could ride a horse through it and I will never stop grumbling about this when it happens. (Wonderworld Comics 015, 1940)
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