(Spy Smasher 002, 1941)
Yet another not-quite Nazi spy for Spy Smasher to smash. I really like the Eye's little "hey" pose in the splash panel, like even he knows that he's not quite dynamic enough to be there.
Like so many of his peers, the Eye is after Spy Smasher ally Admiral Corby (at least once mentioned as being chief of the US Secret Service but usually just generically Important), and ends up kidnapping his daughter (and Spy Smasher love interest) Eve as part of his scheme.
The stated reason for Eve's capture is to prevent her from telling Alan "Spy Smasher" Armstrong that the Eye is the one behind the latest round of espionage, and I'll be honest: the Eye is such a weird and distinctive looking guy that I really thought that the reason for this secrecy would turn out to be that he was some other character in disguise, but no, he just Looks Like That.
("the Eye commands" is a great catchphrase. I think that they Eye should use it more)
Spy Smasher foils the Eye's men in their mission to assassinate Admiral Corby and it is only after that that we learn just why the Eye is called the Eye. It's because he's a hypnotism guy, as demonstrated on the unfortunate Major Johnson in the above sequence. He's not a very good hypnotism guy, though. Sure he manages to kill Johnson by turning his own mind against him, but the only reason he does that is out of frustration after being unable to extract any secrets out of him. And he had to keep him in a dark room for three weeks in order to soften him up - the Eye doesn't even have enough confidence in his abilities to try them out on Spy Smasher in a moment of distraction.
It's possible that he's also called the Eye because he only has the one, but the problem with a character who uses the brim of a hat in place of a more conventional eye patch is that they could also just be making a fashion choice and without a real clear look at that right eye area we're just going to have to mark this one as unresolved.
Despite all his bluster, the Eye goes down without a fight once he meets Spy Smasher - perhaps this is why he was so keen to keep word getting out about his being involved. Yet again, Admiral and Eve Corby are saved!
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