FASCIST GOON CLEARING HOUSE 003

More goons. Fascist goons? Yes.

The Anti-American Party operated in the South American country of Santa Palos, home of the Red Gaucho, and got up to a lot of malarky at a fancy dress ball. Crucially, they disguised one of their agents as the Red Gaucho, leading to a lot of mixups between the agent, the Gaucho and a clueless dope who also came dressed as the hero (Nickel Comics 006, 1940)

The Black Guard, agents of the Germany-analog country of Nordicha operating in neighbouring oil-rich country Ruina and foiled by Secret Agent X-5 (later G-5) (Hit Comics 002, 1940)

Now that I'm revisiting them I reckon that the Green Gloves should have been a regular entry but it's too late now. In contrast to all of the other fascist groups represented here so far, the Green Gloves are devoted to a guy amazingly named Glover Green with no allegiance to any foreign power. Green seems to be your garden variety megalomaniac with a real glove fixation, down to traitors to the group getting a green glove brand on their foreheads (Detective Comics v1 045, 1940)

The Nastonian-American Society is just another German-American Bund analog (Adventure Comics 051, 1940)

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 219: THE FENCER

(Detective Comics v1 057, 1941)

A simple concept but a good one: the Fencer is the head of a vaguely-Axis espionage group that has been trying to kill anti-fascist author Jules Vortez for the past two issues using methods including causing plane crashes while still on the plane, duplicates, hypnosis and, sadly, blackface. Aside from the latter, this is exactly the sort of over-the-top behavior that should be going on all the time in a super-hero universe, so it's only appropriate when the leader appears in costume, declares himself the "greatest fencer the world has ever known" and initiates a duel to the death with US secret agent Bart Regan.

Unfortunately for the Fencer, though he ends up skewering Regan he doesn't do a good enough job to finish him off and their duel soon resumes as a good old American punching competition, one which the Fencer loses. Still, a good show while it lasted!

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 094: THE GOLDFISH

(Detective Comics 046, 1940)

Love this guy. The head of a gang of smugglers who looks like a goldfish and is sensitive about it and tortures his foes by imprisoning them in a huge goldfish bowl where they have to stand for days or drown and the only thing to eat is what raw goldfish they can catch and they eventually go mad? Terrific.

All that but it's actually a mask and the Goldfish is actually a frustrated former actor? So much better.

UPDATE: In a rare callback, a remnant of the Goldfish's gang is the antagonist of the 'Spy' story in Detective Comics 048. Neat!

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 016: THE HOODED HORDES

 (Detective v1 017, 1938)

If there's one thing that Golden Age comics have in great supply, it's US fascist groups seeking to (variously) undermine the country's war production, keep the US out of WWII, draw the US into WWII, or take over the country outright. And while most of these groups are just some guys called the Purple Shirts who rough up a shopkeeper for not loving the Fatherland more than his adopted land of AMERICA, a few, like the Hooded Hordes here, get their act together enough to be minor super-villain organizations.

I mean, they don't really get up to much more than the hypothetical Purple Shirts - mostly disrupting war production in a bid to take over the US - but there's a lot to be said about doing so in a sheet ghost outfit with a skull and crossbones on the chest.

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 013: MR DEATH

 (Detective v1 015, 1938)

A serial killer who murders diplomats because without them there would be no wars. Brought in by Bart Regan and Sally Norris, protagonists of the early Siegel and Shuster strip Spy.