MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 076

Yet more super-heroes for your delectation.

the Black Widow:

There are a lot of Black Widows in comics, but Linda Masters is the first one who I have encountered who is actually a widow and not just a woman named after a spider as a way of emphasizing how creepy-deadly she is. And since her husband was Murdered by a Crime™, she expresses her grief by becoming a crimefighter.

We don't see a lot of the Black Widow's modus operandi during her single recorded adventure, but she is handy with a gun and a judo throw. She spends most of her time standing outside in an overcoat in the rain, so we don't even get much of a chance to observe her costume aside from the fact that it includes a black turtleneck with a particularly leggy spider logo on it. 

She is also at least a better detective than the police in whatever NYC-alike city she calls home, given that the entirety of her first adventure takes place while they are misreading the directions she gave them to the villain's hideout that she has already found. (Cat-Man Comics 001, 1941)

Categorized in: Animals (Arachnids), Colours (Black), Family (Widows)

the Flying Legion: 

Headquartered out of a hollowed-out mesa, this combination air rescue/air vigilante corps is notable mainly for the fact that every single member seems to have a nickname, from leader Chute Harmon to his aides Wolf, Slip and Piston. Perhaps it's part of the onboarding process. (Cat-Man Comics 002, 1941)

Categorized in: Generica (Legions), Professions (Aviators)

the Pied Piper: 

The Pied Piper is a super-hero whose origin combines two popular tropes: that of the member of the legal system who discovers that the justice they seek can only be found outside of the normal bounds of the law and that of the framed person who must operate outside the law to clear their name (BONUS: he is also an example of a much less common trope, that of the super-hero who has a little mustache). Specifically, the Pied Piper is Stephen Prentice, a lawyer who finds himself framed twice in rapid succession and must turn to his mastery of the pipes to expose the corrupt judge and political boss behind the plot against him.

(the second framing is for a pretty standard murder, but the first one does demand some comment. Prentice is framed for defending a guilty man for murder, with the really damning aspect being that he supposedly set out to do so while knowing that he was guilty. While I am admittedly not a lawyer I cannot imagine that this would be enough to ruin someone's career, even in 1941. Which is probably why they doubled down and also framed him for murder, now that I think of it)

As his name implies, the Pied Piper employs flute and recorder type instruments in his crimefighting, and while his first adventure heavily implies that he is using the power of suggestion to make his foes believe that the music has the power to compel them, subsequent stories make it clear that he is armed with one or more magical instruments acquired as part of his flute-collecting hobby.

Some examples of just what a man can do when armed with a magical flute:

- knock a man unconscious

- compel a man to give a confession

- kill animals 

- collapse buildings 

It really is a very useful item. (Cat-Man Comics 003, 1941)

Categorized in: Accessories (Musical Instruments), Famous Figures (Literary), Professions (Law)

the Hood: 

The Hood, in reality FBI agent Craig Williams, is a non-super-powered vigilante who had only one appearance in 1941, and while I'm sure that there is more to say about him, almost all of it will have to come in the due course of time.

Two things I can say about him are 1. his adventures are extremely dynamic and 2. he kind of looks like the Golden Age Atom. Chew on that for a while, I guess. (Cat-Man Comics 005, 1941)

Categorized in: Objects (Hoods), Professions (Law)

CATALOGUE OF WOUNDS 002

Just which comic book character has taken the most punishment down through the years? join me as we compile the definitive guide to bodily trauma in the super class. 

Blackhawk:

Blackhawk must set off an explosion from closer-than-optimal range and ends up getting lightly shredded. (Military Comics 003, 1941)

Blackhawk's next two adventures feature him getting whipped badly enough to mark up his torso, by the Black Tigress and the Scavengers, respectively. (Military Comics 004 & 005, 1941)

Blackhawks:

Blackhawk stalwart Andre is shot in the back by Nazis and then starts an avalanche with his own body to bury those same Nazis. Though he does survive, Andre is believed to be dead for the next six issues. (Military Comics 003, 1941)

Blue Beetle:

Blue Beetle is shot in a gang drive-by while in his civilian identity of Dan Garret. He only survives thanks to an operation to remove the bullet lodged two inches from his heart. Bonus fact: Dan has Type B blood! (Blue Beetle Comics v1 004, 1940)

Dan Garret's partner/ the Blue Beetle's most dogged persecutor Mike Mannigan is a bit of a wound magnet. Here he is getting his skull creased by a bullet while attempting to round up one of the Sphinx's men... (Mystery Men Comics 018, 1941)

And here he is getting shot in the right arm. (Mystery Men Comics 026, 1941)

Congo Bill:

1941 is a bad year for Congo Bill's shoulders. First he gets shot in the left... (Action Comics v1 038, 1941)

... and then he gets a spear thrown clear through the right. (Action Comics v1 041, 1941)

Dr Fate:

Inza Cramer - long-time Dr Fate Companion/ eventual Dr Fate herself - takes a bullet meant for Kent "Dr Fate" Nelson by an agent of Mister X and is almost killed. (All-Star Comics 005, 1941)

the Flash: 

Jay "the Flash" Garrick gets his skull creased by a bullet while moving slow to avoid risking his secret identity. (All-Flash Quarterly 002, 1941)

the Patriot: 

Future Captain America stand-in the Patriot is shot and seemingly killed at the end of his story in Marvel Mystery Comics 024 but at the resolution of the cliffhanger in the next issue he turns out to have sustained a fashionable bullet crease to the skull. (Marvel Mystery Comics v1 024, 1941)

the Ragman:

Ambushed and shot up by agents of the Stinger, the Ragman survives thanks to a bulletproof vest, but evidence would suggest that he was shot at least once and possibly twice in the right arm. (Cat-Man Comics 003, 1941)

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 917: THE GHOST

(Cat-Man Comics 004, 1941)

The Upper New York Castle District appears to also exist in the Temerson/Helnit universe, because when NYC-based vigilante the Ragman is hired to investigate a supposed haunting at a place called Glascow Castle he hops in his car and drives there. Glascow Castle's owner, Sir Wilkens Sidney, claims to have seen the ghost of 18th Century murder victim Duke Edgeroy wandering the halls of his home and believes that the Ragman is the man to get to the bottom of things before he flees into the night screaming.

And it turns out that Sir Sidney is correct, because the Ragman isn't in the castle for five minutes before he discovers a secret basement full of counterfeiting equipment and finds himself battling a very solid Ghost and his even less ghostly henchmen.

After a bit of back and forth involving swordplay, deathtraps and a trained attack dog the Ghost is finally unmasked and revealed to be racketeer Marty Vance, who was so invested in the castle as a perfect location for his operation that he moved in despite the fact that Sir Sidney was already living there. Perhaps he was in it for the love of the haunting game as much as the counterfeiting, who knows.

One thing I'll say about this particular Ghost: he's got one of the more horrifying masks that I've seen on one of his ilk.

Categorized under: Accessories (Headquarters (Castle)), Extortion & Fraud (Counterfeiting/ Fake Ghost), Supranormal Beings (Ghosts) 

GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 036

Every one of them a disappointment to their parents. 

Mr Axis: 

He may just be a regular Nazi spy* lurking around Washington DC and disrupting trade deals between the US and the rubber-rich nation of Rumbia, but his name is Mr Axis! Such a perfect name for a fascist super-villain and yet one that seemingly was only used once**. Patriotic super-hero Miss Victory really puts the boots to him in her debut adventure. (Captain Fearless Comics 001, 1941)

* Technically by my usual metrics I'd call this guy a crypto-fascist of no clear national origin but c'mon: his name is Mr Axis.

**Except that he does reappear in Captain Aero Comics 011, in which this story is retold unchanged but with different art. Weird stuff.

Categorized Under: Crime as Theme (Fascism), Generica (Misters)

the Arson Ring:

Considering the fact that his feature is called "Blaze Baylor and the Arson Ring" I really expected super arson investigator Blaze Baylor to be contending with the same group of arsonists - a ring, if you will - throughout his adventures. This is not in fact the case, or at least it is not supported in the text. Blaze does battle the Arson Ring in his first outing and they are heavily implied to be the ones who killed his dad Smoky Baylor, so that's something. (Cat-Man Comics 001 1941)

Categorized under: Crime as Theme (Arson), Generica (Rings), Narrative Footballs (Origin Guys)

Igor and his Mother:

This unnamed woman and her son Igor live in poverty on the outskirts of an unnamed city and come into conflict with the Black Widow after turning their inborn talents (Igor being very strong and his mother so ugly that she can stop a man's heart) to crime. Igor ends up being shot by the Black Widow, while his mother dies in an attempt to burn their hovel down and kill the hero. (Cat-Man Comics 001 1941)

Karl von Keilman: 

Though you might think that Karl von Keilman is a mad or criminal scientist from the way he dresses, this is in fact stolen valour as it is Karl's brother Abner who is the scientific mind of the family. Abner is the one responsible for creating the Dolls of Death, self-propelled and self-guided bombs that he had intended to turn over to the War Department before Karl showed up, killed him and started using them to blow up defense factories.

Karl didn't reckon, however, on the fact that his brother was friends with the Deacon and so a super-heroic nose would be poked into his business. He also never learned not to get into an indoor fight when your weapon of choice is exploding dolls. (Cat-Man Comics 002, 1941)

Categorized under: Accessories (Little Robots), Murder (Fratricides)

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 916: THE STINGER

(Cat-Man Comics 003, 1941)

The Stinger is in most respects an extremely generic masked gang boss of the kind that we have seen so frequently before, right down to the fact that he is wearing one of those hanging cloth face masks, an item only worn by generic masked gang bosses of the 1940s. The real difference between all those other guys and the Stinger is that the Stinger's very first move was to send out some goons to ambush and murder local vigilante and only credible threat to his operations the Ragman. 

This important step having been completed, the Stinger launches a massive crimewave, that includes four simultaneous bank robberies and the kidnapping of the police commissioner. Mayor Not La Guardia is not happy about all this, as he expresses to conspicuous named character police Lieutenant Burns.

The only major flaw in the Stinger's plan is that his gang is made up of 1940s comic book gangsters who don't think to check for a pulse when they are sent to murder someone. This is important because it turns out that the Ragman was wearing a bulletproof vest the whole time and was just playing dead when he was dumped in the river. 

Having beaten up the Stinger's entire operation, the Ragman is able to track him down and unmask him as, you might have guessed it, Lt, Burns, the only new named character in the story. It's the old classic "crooked cop becomes masked crimelord" story again, though this is the first crooked police lieutenant we've seen. 

Categorized under: Body (Nonhuman Body Parts), Location (NYC), Profession (Law Enforcement)