ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 019

Today we have, per usual, something from the comic I'm currently reading followed by some stuff from the archives. It's a good system!

Glompers: 

We first meet the Glompers on the planet Venus after Dr Sivana has tricked Billy Batson and by extension Captain Marvel into joining him on an experimental rocket trip, with the intention of killing and/or stranding him there. They are immediately the most charming aliens I have ever seen, despite or perhaps because of the fact that they are just large frogs wearing trunks and little conical hats.

The Glompers are ruled over by Beautia, Empress of Venus (later revealed to be Sivana's daughter), and again I must emphasize just how friggin' charming they are. Just look at his little spear! (Whiz Comics 003b, 1940)

Sadly, as far as I can tell the Glompers only reappear one other time, as part of a plan by Dr Sivana to unleash them on Earth (Whiz Comics 015, 1941). The reformed-except-for-occasional-bursts-of-filial-duty Beautia expounds on the Glompers somewhat, revealing that they, like terrestrial frogs, are rapacious carnivores. Still charming! 

In conclusion, since as far as I know the current DC Universe does not have a canonical native species on Venus and I have to say that I think that the Glompers should fill that roll. Make 'em big ol' acid-spewing frog men!

Alligator Men/Mermaids: 

Rod Rian is an officer of Earth's Sky Police in the year 2500 CE who finds himself on the planet Mephistos, having adventures among the various intelligent species that reside there. Perhaps the least explored of these are the friendly Alligator Men, who either coexist with a species of Mephistan mermaids or are yet another species with extreme sexual dimorphism. Either way: love a reptile man. (Flash Comics v1 011, 1940)

Amazons of the Winged Death: 

Don Drake, like Rod Rian, is an Earth man who finds himself on an alien world populated with all kinds of different species of intelligent life, in his case the planet Saro. Unlike Rod, Don's adventures take place in the then-present day of 1935.

The Amazons of the Winged Death are, as the name suggests, statuesque humanoid females. They ride horrible insects (the Winged Death of the name, natch) and are generally hostile, though Don does manage to ally with at least a few of them. (New Fun Comics 004, 1935)

the Ape Men: 

Brad Hardy, like Rod and Don, is an adventurer who finds himself in a world full of strange and often hostile creatures. Like Don, he is contemporary to the comic that he appears in, but unlike both of them, the world he finds himself in exists on Earth, in a cavernous realm below Mongolia. 

The Ape Men (also Ape-Men and Apemen) are pretty typical: monkey faced humanoids with tails and a bad attitude. I do enjoy their Living Ape-God, who seems to just be the largest Ape Man. (More Fun Comics 009, 1936)

REAL PERSON ROUND-UP 006

More real people and their analogs. Lotta Hitlers in this one.

Adolf Hitler:

Hitler analogs c.1940 were often quite visually distinct from the actual man. Samson foe and dictator of Ratonia Dragor honestly looks more like a bald Stalin, and you might be excused for thinking that he was more of a pastiche of all extant dictators. The real clue is in the invasion of Belgium. (Fantastic Comics 002, 1940) 

Meanwhile this as-yet unnamed dictator of the future super-nation of Russmany is a pretty clear Hitler-alike. (Fight Comics 001, 1940)

Misc Minor Appearances:

Hitler-alike dispatches the Tankonaut to sow terror in the US. (Exciting Comics 005, 1940)

Hitlerian dictator Rigo funds Samson foe Kilgor's robot army. (Fantastic Comics 006, 1940) 

Benito Mussolini:

He doesn't actually appear in the comic but "Gasolini" is one of the better dumb stand-in names I have seen for Mussolini. Weirdly, the Dictator mentioned above is so generic that he's not really enough of a reference to any one person to include here. (Fantastic Comics 010, 1940)

Depicted with his pal Hitler as a background gag in a room full of faux Mayan statuary. (Fantoman 003, 1940)

Fiorello Laguardia:

At this point it's worth noting any time that a generic Mayor of New York City shows up, just to have a record of them. (Fantastic Comics 011, 1940)

Franklin D Roosevelt:

Misc Minor Appearances:

Meets up with Dr John "Son of the Gods" Thesson to discuss the threat of the Tankonaut. (Exciting Comics 005, 1940)

Confers with Thesson and a panel of others about the threat of the Invincible Five (Exciting Comics 006, 1940) 

Briefly kidnapped by super-gangster Rip-the-Blood, rescued by Stardust the Super Wizard (Fantastic Comics 002, 1940)

Henry Ford:

Motor king "Henry Lord" is kidnapped by the Miracle Men (Fantastic Comics 005, 1940)

Hollywood Crowd Scenes:

Comic strip "Olly of the Movies", about young actress Olive Lane's travails in Hollywood (seen here as a comic book reprint) is chock full of cameos - and under actual names! Marie Dressler, Mae West, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford and Jimmy Durante are the ones named, but there are a whole swath (that I am not qualified to identify) in that second panel alone. (Famous Funnies 006, 1935)

Saladin:

Every Crusader hero eventually has to meet Saladin and the Golden Knight is no exception. The creators always have to balance the fact that they obviously think that Saladin is very cool with the idea that he is supposed to be the villain and this is a story where it is not quite pulled off: Saladin spares the Golden Knight because he is such a valiant battler and shows him great hospitality, while the Knight wanders around all surly and churlish talking about how he'd like to kill everyone present. Saladin definitely comes off better in the interaction. (Fantastic Comics 002, 1940)

Saladin and the Golden Knight meet up again a few issues later and the encounter ends with the Golden Knight killing Saladin, a wildly ahistoric event but not a unique one, as you might see if I ever work my way through the hundreds of Real Person in Comics entries I have in spreadsheet form. For the record, Saladin died of a fever, still in control of Jerusalem, a full year after the Third Crusade ended. (Fantastic Comics 008, 1940)

Selection of Old-Time Boxers:

Boxer and heavyweight champ Kayo Kirby has a stress dream in which he meets and is beaten up by successive old-time champs John L. Sullivan...

... Gentleman Jim Corbett...

... and Bob Fitzsimmons (with special appearance by his wife Rose).

He also receives some training from old-time boxer Charley Mitchell, not that it does him much good against the spectres of his own mind. (Fight Comics 009, 1940)

Unknown:

Given that he was kidnapped immediately following "Henry Lord", above, there is a strong possibility that "John Rancab" is also a stand-in name. As "Bacnar" does not appear to be a name and the only John Branca I can find was born in 1950, I am stumped - is it just a bad anagram of "banker"? Maybe. (Fantastic Comics 005, 1940)

JUST A NEATO AD

Just a cool ad for a Buck Rogers disintegrator.

(Famous Funnies 012, 1935)

REAL PERSON ROUND-UP 003

Once more they ride: the REAL PEOPLE OF COMICS

Abraham Lincoln:

Lincoln's shadow is used to symbolize the power of the US exerting a calming effect on the European belligerents. (Smash Comics 005, 1939)

Adolf Hitler:

Chancellor Rudolf of Wurtberg here is a more dynamic than usual Hitler analog (Smash Comics 004, 1939)

Misc minor appearances:

Getting some bad news about Nazi operations in Yugoslavia (Blue Ribbon Comics 015, 1941)

Captain Kidd:

For no particular reason this aviator/ adventurer is named after him. (Fantastic Comics 001, 1939)

Franklin Delano Roosevelt:

Discusses the threat of the Black Hand With J. Edgar Hoover (Blue Ribbon Comics 016, 1941)

Misc Minor Appearances: appraised of the danger of invasion by Vlamir Koran (Smash Comics 001, 1939) 

Seen ordering Americans in Europe to return home; meets Black Ace/X after he saves the transports that are returning them. (Smash Comics 003, 1939)

Determines to defensively arm the US (Smash Comics 005, 1939)

H.V. Kaltenborn:

Radio commentator, appears as "H.V. Baltenhorn" (Blue Ribbon Comics 017, 1941)

John Dillinger:

Gangster "Jack Dilger" is vexed by Ty-Gor. (Blue Ribbon Comics 015, 1941) 

Joseph Stalin:

The same 3/4 perspective shot always used for FDR, now in Stalin form! (Smash Comics 002, 1939)

Mahatma Gandhi:

Aside from the pun name "Mohlasos Candhi", this version of Gandhi is hitting a lot of the overt and casually racist checkmarks of the 1940s, including a disregard for the difference between India and the Middle East and a complete indifference for the distinction between Hindus and Muslims. Oh and also it's another classic adventure based on propping up colonial rule. (Blue Ribbon Comics 017, 1941)

Shirley Temple:

As "Curley Semple" ("Dixie Dugan" comic strip, 1935)

Sherlock Holmes:

Philpot Veep (along with his sidekick Waldo) was one of many humourous takes on Sherlock Holmes in Golden Age comics. Note also the wanted poster for G. Brenner, almost certainly referring to George Brenner, creator of the Clock. (Smash Comics 001, 1939)

BONUS PHILPOT VEEP, DRUG FIEND

COMIC BOOK DRAMA: in Smash Comics 005, George Brenner strikes back! Here's Philpot Veep scribe Joe Devlin depicted AS A CLOWN! EPIC GOLDEN AGE BEEF SPOTTED

Woodrow Wilson:

Meets and gives sage advice to young Blane Whitney, who would grow up to become MLJ hero the Wizard. I am legitimately flabbergasted to see Wilson show up in this capacity. (Top-Notch Comics 001, 1939)

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 002: THE VAMPIRE MASTER

 (New Fun 006, 1935)

The *second* DC super-villain, the Vampire Master was upset that a lady rejected him so responded reasonably by holding the city to ransom via hordes of machine-created Universal movie monsters, possibly the first example in comics of someone creating something of unbelievable power and using it for petty nonsense instead of becoming the richest person in creation.

Theoretically, the Vampire Master was beaten by Dr Occult, but *really* he was shanked by one of his own creations after talking about how he was going to shut off his machine and make her disappear.

SHOULD THEY COME BACK? Maybe not the Vampire Master himself, but a story about someone breaking into an abandoned basement and finding his tech, still set to fill NYC with Frankensteins and Draculas would be a real hoot.

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 001: FANG GOW

(New Fun 001, 1935)

Unfortunately, the first DC super-villain is Fang Gow, a pulp-style Yellow Peril sort who vexes adventurer Barry O'Neill , his pal Inspector LeGrande and the nation of France.

Fang Gow persists until 1941, and inevitably participates in some entertaining stories, including a half year or so in which he is near death and the story relocates to Tunisia where he kidnaps a famous doctor to treat him, but ultimately he's just a warmed-over version of all the Fu Manchu knockoffs who bedeviled the pulps.

His finest moment might just be his death, in fact: captured in French Guiana and on a ship en route to London and trial, he takes a death-simulating drug and requests burial at sea. Instead of being revived by immersion in seawater (and merely having to escape a weighted coffin and swim to shore), he lands on a rogue sea mine and is blown to high heaven.