CATALOGUE OF WOUNDS 001

Among the many things that I have found interesting enough to keep track of over the years is just how many times super-heroes get wounded while going about their business. What does a shoulder look like after it's been shot a dozen times, for example? If I had been really on the ball I would have also been noting every time someone was knocked out with a blow to the head as well, but we can't all be perfect.

Full catalogue here, such as it is. 

the Angel:

The Angel chars his own hands at least a bit while escaping from some ropes. (Marvel Mystery Comics v1 008, 1940) 

The Angel is wounded and probably shot while escaping from an ambush by the Cat's Paw's men (Marvel Mystery Comics v1 019, 1941)

Batman:

Batman is shot in the left shoulder during an altercation with the Wolf's men. (Batman Comics v1 002, 1940)

Shot in the right shoulder by a fleeing crook. (Batman Comics v1 004, 1940)

While attacking a criminal hideout in a berserker rage, Batman is shot twice in the right shoulder and has a bullet glance off his ribs. (Batman Comics v1 005, 1941)

Pirate Hook Morgan slashes Batman across the chest and hooks him in the left shoulder. (Detective Comics v1 054, 1941)

Black Condor: 

Black Condor is shot in the back by the Sapphire King's men. (Crack Comics 005, 1940)

Blackhawk:

Blackhawk's arm is non-specifically injured after an attack on Blackhawk Island. (Military Comics 001, 1941)

the Deacon:

The Deacon is shot in the right arm by the cops. (Cat-Man Comics 001, 1941) 

Robin:

Robin is beaten nearly to death by some gangsters (triggering Batman's berserker attack above). (Batman Comics v1 005, 1941)

FASCIST GOON CLEARING HOUSE 004

More goon/ more fascist

The Band AKA the Anti-American Band AKA the Un-American Band are yet another take on the German-American Bund distinguished by the fact that they were infiltrated by Bruce Blackburn - Counterspy so a) they were one of the few gangs of fascist goons to last more than one adventure and b) they were the villains that Blackburn created his shortlived alter-ego the Destroying Demon to fight (Feature Comics 038-041, 1940-1941)

The Advance Front! Fascist agitators who seem to be actual Nazis, or at least be using actual swastikas. I hesitate to call this refreshing but it's at least simpler to call someone a Nazi than a crypto-fascist Nazi-alike German analog. Beat to tar by USA, the Spirit of Old Glory (Feature Comics 046, 1941)

Hold Tight America is our first example of the fascist group that is calling for peace in order to advance their plans for war before being foiled by Doll Man (Feature Comics 049, 1941)

The Hand is just as halfassed and slapdash as these chumps usually are but I'll say this for them: they capture and almost manage to assassinate not just the Black Condor but FDR too! (Crack Comics 019, 1941)

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 202: THE GHOST-GUN KILLER

(Crack Comics 016, 1941)

A hired killer working for perennial Black Condor villain Jaspar Crow, the Ghost-Gun Killer is tasked with murdering workers at the Great Northern Copper Mine at a hundred bucks a pop in order to drive down the value of the company, thus allowing Crow to buy it on the cheap. 

His mystique is enhanced by (and name is taken from) his choice of weapon: a silenced rifle mounted with a powerful laser-like light, giving the impression that he uses some sort of death ray weapon to kill. Ultimately it's not enough to take on Black Condor and the Ghost-Gun Killer is shipped off to jail.

GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 002

Another collection of those middling muddlers who didn't quite make it to the minor leagues: the generic costumed villains!

Silas Greer: 

Tried to kill his own nephew to get his fortune but was walloped by the Clock (and the Orchid!) for his troubles. (Crack Comics 002, 1940)

Trag: 

A gentleman with the unlikely name of Trag dressed up in this unusual mask in an attempt to frame a guy with the only slightly less unusual name of Doctor Prowl before Madam Fatal put the kibosh on him. (Crack Comics 008, 1940)

Natas: 

This here fella was the secret head of a protection racket shaking down all of the laundries in town. Scientific sleuth Wizard Wells knew it was one of the laundry owners behind the mask but not which one. Surprising nobody, it was the one named Natas. (Crack Comics 009, 1941)

General Korn: 

Behind this mask is one General Korn, who responded to the US government not buying his remote bomb detonator by first blowing up part of Washington DC and then trying to explode the US Senate itself. But little did he know that Black Condor was on that senate, so he got caught post haste. (Crack Comics 013, 1941)

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 195: THE SOPHISTICATED LADY

(Crack Comics 010, 1941)

The Sophisticated Lady is a femme fatale thief of the kind that comics love. She has a decent career going as the comic opens but the Black Condor shows up to put the kibosh on it. Sadly she doesn't actually get to do that much on-panel, but the terrific name makes up for it a little.

HONOURS - BLACK CONDOR

(Crack Comics 019, 1941)

Black Condor skips out on receiving a Congressional Medal of Honor for rescuing FDR from being kidnapped by Nazis but his secret identity Senator Tom Wright ends up getting one for discovering that FDR had been kidnapped in the first place.

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 187: THE MASTER

(Crack Comics 006, 1940)

The best thing about the Master is absolutely his henchmen, the Kite Men. Identical shirtless bald guys who shoot lightning from their bracelets as they soar above unnamed, probably American cities, the Kite Men are some terrific weirdo henchmen. They all get blasted by the Black Condor by the end of the story, but until then they have a good run.

The Master himself is your typical world conqueror, whose motivation seems to be that he's sick of being laughed at because he's a dwarf. And as if to illustrate, when Black Condor discovers the leader of this plot who has already killed tens or hundreds of thousands of people, he too laughs. HE'S PART OF THE PROBLEM.

MINOR SUPER-HERO 021: THE BLACK CONDOR

(Crack Comics 001-031, 1940-1943)

There are a lot of elements to the Black Condor's origin so I shall be presenting them in a bulleted list:

-His father, archaeologist Richard Grey, brought his wife and newborn baby along on an expedition to Mongolia. This did not pay off, as their caravan was massacred by bandits and the only survivor was the baby, Richard Jr, who was carried off by a mother condor.

-Experiencing cross-species maternal instincts, the condor chose to raise the child instead of eating it. Grey eventually not only learned to communicate with condors but through imitation managed to teach himself to fly (later on this explanation of his power was considered far too ridiculous. Instead, he was exposed to a radioactive meteorite while living with the condors, which makes a lot more sense).

-Teen Richard then has a run-in with some eagles that leaves him seriously injured. He is found by kindly hermit/ missionary Father Pierre, who nurses him back to health and teaches him English. And names him Black Condor - because of his black hair, oddly enough. All is well until bandits kill Father Pierre while Black Condor is out and about. This puts him at 3/4 parental figures lost to crime, giving him the motivation of 1.5 Batmans.

-Black Condor becomes a foe of crime across Eurasia, with enough success that it's reported on globally. The narrative culmination of this effort comics in Hindustan, where he confronts and kills Gali Kan, the bandit chief who had killed Father Pierre (later retellings of the origin make him explicitly the one who killed Condor's parents too, because that's very narratively satisfying)

For the first year of Black Condor adventures he bummed around the world defeating various tyrants using his black-ray gun (never explained) but then! He encounters young US Senator Tom Wright! Who is his double! And who is then killed! And Black Condor, a man who was raised by birds and has known how to speak for maybe five years max, assumes the man's identity, position in the US government and fiancé. With the fiancé's father's blessing. 

Anyhow, real good comics. It's a shame that a character with such a lot of wild stuff going on doesn't really show up any more. He has successors but other than being able to fly they're pretty separate character concepts, to be covered in about 50 subjective years, I guess.

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 185: THE SAPPHIRE KING

(Crack Comics 005, 1940) 

What makes them a super-villain? As his name suggests, the Sapphire king is motivated by his desire for and love of sapphires - he seems to love them for themselves and also for the wealth and by extension power they grant him. And he gets sapphires by using giant eagles to kidnap ships' crews and take them to his island in the Indian Ocean, there to labour in his underwater sapphire mines (?) until giant octopus or some other death claims them. So: ruthless pursuit of an obsession using extreme methods over practical ones (kidnapping an endless stream of sailors vs draining the sapphire pool): that's a super-villain.

But even an eagle-rich island sapphire colony is not immune to interference from meddling super-heroes: the Black Condor shows up and slays both the birds and the Sapphire King himself, sending the former mine slaves on their way with some compensatory gemstones.