Fox Features, you burned hot and bright and brought us so many minor super-heroes.
the Black Fury:
The Black Fury, like Bob Phantom before him, is a newspaper gossip columnist who moonlights as a costumed vigilante. What are the chances that we would have two of those? I enjoy his costume even if it is somewhat generic even for 1941, though I am a bit upset that the glowing gemstone on his and his sidekick's foreheads is never addressed. For instance: is it really glowing or is that a stylistic choice?
As of his first appearance, John has already been the Black Fury for an unspecified amount of time, having adopted the mantle after his father was killed by gangsters for writing "anti-crime editorials" in the newspaper, a thing that comic book criminals react to like they are a farm lobby trying to influence government nutritional guidelines. (Fantastic Comics 017, 1941)
Categorized in: Day Job (Newspaper Columnists), Origin (Crime Orphans), Supranormal Beings (Mythological - Furies)
Chuck:
John Perry relates his origin as the Black Fury to young Chuck Marley after Chuck's own father, Police Sergeant Marley, is killed by henchmen of the evil Fang. Chuck is essentially bequeathed to Perry as the elder Marley lies dying, which is a very straightforward way for a hero to acquire a boy for sidekick duties.
Chuck does not get his own super-hero name, alas (at least not right away, spoilers for some comics from 1942), but he does get his own costume, which is more than a lot of sidekicks can say. The fact that his costume is exactly the same as the Black Fury's does make it a bit difficult to tell them apart at times but that's a small price to pay for the peace of mind of knowing that Chuck's identity is at least somewhat protected. (Fantastic Comics 017, 1941)
Categorized in: Day Job (High School Students), Origin (Crime Orphans), Origin (Sidekicks)
the Banshee:
The origin story of the Banshee involves a remarkable number of steps. First, Irishman Jim O'Donnell finds that his step-father has been murdered out on the moors by the evil Scorpion, who is only prevented from bumping off Jim as well because he is extremely superstitious, mistakes a wailing wind for the cry of a banshee and runs off.
Jim discovers that the Scorpion has set out for the United States and, unable to secure a visa ("I am seeking vengeance on my step-father's killer" seemingly not good enough. Probably they would have let him in if it was his full-on father, though) stows away on a steamship. He is spotted disembarking in New York, making him one of the small group of super-heroes whose civilian rather than super identities are wanted by the authorities and the only one that I am aware of who is wanted for entering the country illegally.
But just why is the Scorpion in America? Why, to murder Jim's step-father's niece, who, as his only remaining blood relative, will inherit some land that is rich in gold and which the Scorpion is trying to get his mitts on. Just why Jim is out of the picture is unexplained - he and his step-dad have a relationship that is at the very least strong enough for a vengeance quest, so why shouldn't Jim be in the will?
Jim once again benefits from the Scorpion's banshee-focused superstitions after he falls through a load of bedsheets and onto the villain's head, with an assist by a distant police siren. This might just be the rarest and dumbest of super-hero costume origins, the Dressed by Slapstick approach.
Having enacted his vengeance, Jim decides to remain in the US and continue his fight against crime as the Banshee. He throws together a more super-heroic version of his accidental costume and crashes on Joan's couch while he figures out what to do about work, and it's okay that Joan kind of becomes his love interest because she is only his step-cousin.
All this just to have an Irish guy fighting crime in NYC. (Fantastic Comics 021, 1941)
(from Fantastic Comics 022 on, Jim adopts a simpler version of his initial pass at the super-hero look. He also adopts the "banshee wail" as his calling card rather than simply relying on it to happen diegetically as needed)
Categorized in: Accessories (Style - Calling Cards, Costume Origins), Origin (Crime Orphans), Supranormal Beings (Banshees)
Samson **UPDATE**:
Some time in mid-to-late 1941, Fox Features presumably decided to round out a few of their more prominent characters such as the Flame, the Green Mask and Samson and give them a supporting cast so that they weren't just ping-ponging from adventure to adventure without any sense of continuity. In Samson's case, he gained a love interest with the very on-the-nose name of Lila Dee, along with a moderately annoying comic relief character in the form of perpetually-horny artist J. Rembrandt Speedball.
The same issue marks the very first time that someone thought to have David use a sling instead of just going around lassoing people the whole time. Credit to Al Carreño for that one. (Fantastic Comics 022, 1941)
This is also when Samson takes a stab at having a secret identity, but since he still has to have his trademark shoulder-length hair and that is a Huge Giveaway in 1941, this involves wearing a Very Big Coat with a Very Big Collar that he can pull up around his ears. Did he even try a wig before going coat shopping, you reckon? (Fantastic Comics 023, 1941)
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