ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 040

Weird humanoids as far as the eye can see!

Demon People: 

The Demon People are seemingly native to the dimension that Breeze Barton travels to in his first adventure and are in conflict with Miracle City and its population of immortals. Even though their major goal is to get through the dimensional aperture and invade Earth, I would have a lot more sympathy toward them (eternal neighbours really must be the greatest test a people could have, after all) if they weren't also huge slavers. I do really like the one big wing/fin that they have on their back, even if I can't figure out what it could be for. (Daring Mystery Comics 003, 1940)

Jupiterians:

The Jupiterians, or more specifically the South Jupiterians, are a peaceful, swamp-dwelling people who want to live somewhere other than a swamp and have thus decided to enter into a colonial relationship with Earth. And it works! Against all historical precedent, the South Jupiterians are soon the proud owners of a new city called New Washington! No strings attached!

The real threat to South Jupiterian sovereignty comes in the form of a diplomatic envoy of lop-eared North Jupiterians under the command of Princess Eelo (whose own long ears are presumably concealed under that kicky headscarf). They represent the bad kind of colonialism, in contrast to the warm fuzzy colonialism of Earth under Captain Nelson Cole, and it takes a plague scare and the complete destruction of New Washington to shift them. Back to work, South Jupiterians! (Planet Comics 009, 1940)

Link People:

Comics and other genre fiction are of course chock full of speculative missing links, but the key thing about the missing link concept is that it represents the bridge between ape and human. The idea that the missing link is instead some sort of humanoid reptile that just kind of ignores the existence of mammalian evolution and instead posits (I think) a chain of reptile -> reptile-man -> ape -> human is very weird!

This being a comic book, such a wild speculation by a collection of white-haired scientists is of course 100% accurate, down to the location and architectural style of the Link Person community. Among other things, this means that the Descent of Man image is going to have to be heavily revised, and also that diver Kinks Mason is immediately sent in to bother this untouched society.

Fearing that a mere photograph will not be believed, the scientists opt to kidnap one of the Link People, thus completing their introduction to humanity via a whirlwind of violence, death and loss (okay, they do try to sacrifice some of the scientists to their gods, but I think that they might have been justified). (Fight Comics 005, 1940)

MAD AND CRIMINAL SCIENTIST ROUND-UP 015

They can't help themselves and/or they're choosing to be horrible.

Dr Zynnon has been asked along to help Dr Curan, his daughter Sandra and protagonist Buzz Crandall in their mission to prevent the Moon from exploding, presumably dooming us all. This turns out to be a Bad Choice, because unbeknownst to all, Dr Zynnon harbours a deep misanthropy and would love nothing more than for the world to be doomed.

Despite the fact that I love not being scoured from the face of the planet by hurtling lunar debris I must give Zynnon credit for one of the most adorable doomsday devices ever conceived of: tiny moon lizard carrying vials of acid powerful enough to bring down the roof of the lunar cavern the bulk of the adventure takes place in. Powerful enough, that is, if they were delivered to the correct location. Which they weren't, presumably because Zynnon didn't bother to train or condition them in any way and just let loose as many lizards as he could smuggle onto the moon bathysphere under his coat. In the end, the only casualty of Zynnon's plot was Zynnon himself. (Planet Comics 004, 1940)

Tobor the Evil is a Plutonian scientist who has been using an army of child-sized robots to steal Martian gold, with the end goal of conquering Mars and making it a Plutonian territory. With the help of Captain Nelson Cole of the Solar Force, he learns two important lessons about fielding robot armies: 1) don't leave robot shells that can be repurposed into armour by your foes just lying around, and 2) if your robots have an "indiscriminate murder" setting, make sure to build in a failsafe that excludes yourself from the list of viable targets. (Planet Comics 008, 1940)

Von Dorf, a mad physiologist and asylum escapee, was so singularly obsessed with the hybridization of humans and panthers that he kidnapped a nurse and turned her into Marga the Panther Woman. It's likely that he would have his own numbered entry on the Minor Super-Villain list if literally the only other things he ever did weren't a) get his ass kicked and b) blow himself up. Truly being part of an origin story is the most hazardous job in comics. (Science Comics 001, 1940)

Dr Passendorf here managed to perfect the quite respectable criminal science inventions of a mind control device and a paralysis ray and then had to lower himself to using both in the employ of a shifty Wall Street jerk named Augustus Elba who needed to cover up some light embezzlement. Just as well that he ends up riddled with shrapnel after the Eagle blows up his machine - the roasting at the next Criminal Science Convention would have been severe. (Science Comics 005, 1940)

MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 035

Planet Comics how I love you, cobbled-together pile of scraps that you are.

Torro:

In an adventure that I can only assume was concocted in order to use up some extraneous art, Captain Nelson Cole of the Solar Force travels to the distant planet Zog and ends up taking up the mantle (and magic whip) of the hero Torro in order to help recover the planet's treasures from an evil giant.

As befits a personality that is probably just, again, repurposed art from an unused fantasy comic, Cole adopts the Torro identity completely. Using his magic clothes, boots, belt and whip, he battles and ultimately kills the two-headed giant and his one-headed wife and then goes back to being a spaceman. (Planet Comics 002, 1940)

Amazona the Mighty Woman:

Amazona belongs to a pre-Ice Age civilization that is not advanced so much as stubborn in that as the ice advanced on them they just toughed it out until the only ones left were super strong and immune to cold.

Amazona is understandably bored of the endless expanses of ice and snow afforded her and decides to tag along when reporter Blake Manners passes through following a shipwreck. In their one adventure together back in the US, Amazona gets to beat the tar out of a bunch of gangsters while wearing a party dress and I'm pretty sad that there wasn't more of this. (Planet Comics 003, 1940)

Jim Giant:

Jim Giant, billed as both the Strongest Man in the Universe and the Mightiest Man on Earth (both can be correct, in the right order), is super strong and super tough and in his single recorded adventure he beats the stuffing out of an entire invasion force that sweeps down from the Arctic. (Planet Comics 004, 1940)

Fero, Planet Detective:

I'm going to call it: Fero, Planet Detective started life as an unused Zero, Ghost Detective story that found its way from Quality Comics to Fiction House and was altered just enough to be distinct. Scrub out the Z and add an F, swap "Ghost" for "Planet" and most importantly slap an extra line on the text box about how all the werewolves and vampires are actually from Pluto. It's seamless!

I actually unironically love the first Fero adventure. It's a great example of how restriction and constraint can make for the most weird and creative choices. "Occult Detective" is after all an entertaining and rich subgenre, but "Occult Detective But All of the Monsters Are Also Space Aliens" is the sort of wild and wacky stuff you come up with while trying to pad out the pagecount of your science fiction comic book and all you have is a second-hand story about vampires and goblins. It's great stuff!

Sadly, though Fero continued to appear in Planet Comics for three more issues the occult aspects of his adventures fell by the wayside in favour of more traditional space detective cases - space theft, space kidnappings, etc. It's a real blow for fans of occult sci fi.

Fero's remaining adventures are all right, but nothing to write home about. He does have a fun futuristic high-collared shirt, so that's something, but the most interesting thing about his latter adventures is his selection of transformation pills that he uses to get out of  scrapes, including one that turns you into a toddler and the amazing one that he is taking above to turn into a rampaging anthropoid. (Planet Comics 005, 1940)

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 704: ZIRGO

(Planet Comics 005, 1940)

We've seen it before and we'll see it again: comic book plots spun out of the popular pre-Pearl Harbor US position that America should stay out of the burgeoning European conflict. This time, we're treated to a political allegory in the far future, as planet Jupiter (Germany, presumably) attacks tiny planetoid Cato (Belgium, I guess) and draws the ire of the rest of the Solar System (the nascent Allied Forces). Many on Earth (America) want to join the anti-Jupiter taskforce, but Captain Nelson Cole advocates caution.

And he is right to do so!  The entire space war is a ploy by Cato's ruler Zirgo, in league with Earth munitions king Morgo, to weaken Jupiter sufficiently that they can then step in and take over the larger planet..

A perfectly reasonable sci-fi plot, but it does fall apart somewhat when scrutinized as an allegory. The US shouldn't get involved in WWII because it's just a big set-up by Belgium to weaken Germany in preparation for a counter-invasion? And if the Jovians know about this plan and are in fact only attacking Cato because of it... why attack in the first place? Why not simply expose him?

Lucky for the Jovians, Captain Nelson Cole is on the case. He exposes Zirgo's treachery and leads a force to bring down his evil regime, though I'm not sure why this police action is okay when the other was not. Political allegories... are hard.

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 701: FELON

(Planet Comics 003, 1940)

In his first appearance Felon is a fairly ordinary space pirate captain, terrorizing the spaceways with a fleet of cool black delta-shaped ships and a device that intercepts and disrupts communications across the Solar System.

In this capacity, Felon gets absolutely trounced by Captain Nelson Cole: his men are beaten up and then blown out of the sky by Cole and the Solar Force. The survivors are taken into custody - Felon is not specifically mentioned but he either crashed somewhere or ended up in jail.

Whatever happened,  the defeat must have really stuck with Felon, because he returns for revenge in Planet Comics 004, blasting a ray gun wildly into a ballroom occupied by celebrating Solar Force officers, killing at least twenty people but completely failing to achieve his goal of murdering Captain Nelson Cole.

It's shaping up to be another extended narrative of space cops vs space crooks when Felon, Cole and the entire Solar Force fleet just kind of blunder through a time portal (well, a time beam, technically) into the 20th Century. What a twist!

While Cole and his crew are taking in the historical sights, Felon weighs up his options and immediately allies himself with the Nazis the Axis the Aggressor Nations, leading a surprise attack on the US that destroys half of New York City but crucially yet again completely fails to kill Cole or his men.

Once it's no longer a matter of humans vs aerial bombardment but futuristic space fleet vs 1940s aircraft, things quickly turn against Felon and the Aggressor Nations. Cole and his men force a global peace by the simple expedient of paralyzing all of the armies until the treaties are signed, and then chase Felon around until he hops back through the time beam ex machina vulcano to the relative safety of the future.

Now the comic turns into an extended outer space chase but honestly it was all over for Felon once the bombing of NYC failed to take out Cole. The two have a final confrontation in Felon's old bombed-out asteroid base that ends with Felon in the hoosegow.

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 695: ZAN

(Planet Comics 001, 1940) 

Zan lives on the far-off planet Volcus and uses the energies of its magnetic core to power his spaceship fleet and capture yet more spaceships. And why does he do this? Why, so that he can turn their crew into science zombies and eventually amass an army large enough to conquer the universe!

(he also has this one lady with him at all times and I'm not sure what her role is exactly because she does not utter a single word throughout the comic. Is she his lieutenant? His girlfriend? A different story might have revealed that she was the real mastermind all along but no dice. She just hangs out behind him in her slinky dress and touches his shoulders)

Zan's piracy is very concerning to the Solar Congress, and so they deploy the Solar Force, under the command of Captain Nelson Cole and his little pal Lieutenant Bud. Too bad for them that their ships are made out of the same stuff as all of the missing ones were: they are immediately swept away to Volcus to be zombified.

Zan's whole plan seems to hinge on the unstoppable nature of his science zombie armies, but if I'm honest they aren't as big a threat as he lets on. For one thing, they seem to operate like units in a strategy game in that if they're not being explicitly directed then they just keep on doing what they were last ordered, including marching forward into a pit and just standing around. Does Zan believe that he and his ladyfriend have the wherewithal to control entire armies of these guys on the fly or is he going to start recruiting elite Starcraft players to his side soon?

Zan is ultimately rounded up after Cole and Bud manage to capture the paralysis ray that Zan himself had in reserve specifically to counter his armies if they went haywire. Heckuva way to find out that your contingency plan was viable, fella.

It's nice that they let Zan and his gal pal share a cell, but I'm not sure if she's as into him as she once was.