GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 003

Yet another collection of also-rans and never-weres.

Philip White here got exactly one panel into his career as a masked spy chief before Madam Fatal unmasked him. (Crack Comics 014, 1941) 

An auctioneer named Basil ran an overly complicated scheme to steal the fabled Five Bloodstones of Mu. His plans were also undone by Madam Fatal and ended in his grisly demise. (Crack Comics 016, 1941)

This unnamed thief almost got away with the Dare Diamond under the very nose of detective Larry Steele. (Detective Comics v1 049, 1941)

A baseball pitcher named Howard got up to some shady betting schemes and ended up a generic costumed villain. Let this be a lesson, kids. Also part of his big plan involved shooting himself in the arm with a gimmicked up baseball mitt-gun, which is an early sign that you might not be cut out for costumed villainy. (Detective Comics v1 052, 1941)

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 208: THE TERROR

(Crack Comics 018, 1941)

Not too much to distinguish this guy: he's Bumps Bale, a former pinball racketeer (you're just as likely to see Batman smashing up a bunch of pinball machines as an underground casino or a slot machine in the 40s. Gambling is Bad and Pinball is Gambling, was the attitude) who had hit hard times and decided to go into extorting mayors as a second career. Accordingly, he poisoned city comptroller Ezra Daves and promised Unnamed Mayor here some of the same if one million dollars in small bills was not produced post haste. Sadly for the Terror, the Clock got involved.

I do have to say that I appreciate the cowl-style mask that the Terror is sporting. Personally I find it far more aesthetically pleasing than the executioner's hoods and cloth draperies that have been more the norm thusfar.

(also for those keeping track this is presumably the mayor who took over after the Big Shot was ousted, placing him somewhere on a very spicy alternate Wikipedia page for List of Mayors of New York City)

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 207: THE BLACK WITCH

(Crack Comics 018, 1941)

The Black Witch is a member of a long comic book tradition: Haitian voodoo practitioners who use their sinister powers to get up to no good - in this case kidnapping the wife of one of Richard "Madam Fatal" Stanton's friends as raw material in a search for eternal youth.

The Black Witch is also part of a long-term demographic shift in comics: while the Haitian voodoo character is a staple villain s(and sometimes hero) into at least the 90s, in the early days they were basically all white folks like the Black Witch here, or the Master of Corpses. A question that I'm not qualified to answer: is this more racist than the state of things post 1960 or so when the population of voodoo villains more accurately represents the demographic makeup of Haiti or is it semi-vilifying an entire ethnoreligious group? 

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 206: THE CROW

(Crack Comics 018, 1941)

The Crow! Wanted in every country on the Earth! A villain with a very impressive resume! It's actually a bit disappointing when he just does some regular bank robbing in this issue.

To be fair, he does give the Spider much more of a run for his money than his usual foe, and he does end up returning in Crack 021 the next year, in which he steals the Black Widow and uses it for evil deeds. I don't know if it's quite enough, but it's something.

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 205: THE JACKAL

(Crack Comics 017, 1941)

Like the Cloak before him, the Jackal started out as a fictional villain: made up by promoter Paxton Forbes to obfuscate his own role in murdering sea Captain Bly and stealing his treasure map. But if you do the very things you say that a villain has done, I would contend that you are, in fact, that villain. And Madam Fatal agrees, so there.

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 204: THE MAN WITH THE TERRIBLE MACHINE

(Crack Comics 017, 1941)

The Man With the Terrible Machine (aka the Man with the Terrific Name) shows up one day in the far-off world of 2441 AD and lets humanity know that he will destroy the planet using his terrible machine in 24 hours, for no particular reason. Understandably, worldwide panic ensues.

When scientist Dr Dram shows up and says that he can stop the terrible machine if only he can get enough gold, he gets full cooperation! And it works! Because Dr Dram and the Man With the Terrible Machine were one and the same! It was all a big con!

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 203: BLACKBEARD

(Crack Comics 016, 1941)

I keep saying that space pirates are too thick on the ground to include every one despite my inclinations but Blackbeard here overruled me on several fronts, including:

-Overall look: that's basically a perfect look for a futuristic pirate (it's not obvious from this image but I reckon that he's shirtless under the coat, btw). Maybe swap the beret out for a more traditional hat but that would be the only thing I'd change.

-Name: can't go wrong with a classic.

-Henchmen:

Blackbeard's crew are the Outlaws of Jupiter, and their names are things like One-Arm Ganz, Patch-Eye Tork and Half-Face McGurk. And Gilene, of course, who seems not to have suffered any sort of nickname-worthy injury.

It's all great stuff, even though Blackbeard's only attempted crime - hijack a shipment of ray guns - is foiled immediately by the Space Legion.

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.

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 201: THE WEREWOLF

(Crack Comics 015, 1941) 

I love the Werewolf, and here's a list of the things I love about him:

-His name: He has the unlikely handle of Prescott Taunton. A minor point but a good one.

-His motivation: Prescott is a writer. Specifically, he wrote a book about lycanthropy and then shopped it around enough to get rejected at least seven times. And then he started murdering the people who rejected his work.

-His ambiguous lycanthropy: Is he a werewolf or just nuts? In the real world the answer would be the latter, but in a comic book universe there's room for the kind of low-grade feral human style of lycanthropy that appears to be on display here, which I love. He does seem to have undergone some minor physical changes so I'm inclined to believe that he's the real deal.

-His ease of capture: Though he puts up a bit of a fight and manages to flee his penthouse lair when the Clock and his pal Pug show up, it's a very short reprieve as he doesn't even make it to a proper second location, being knocked out in one punch on the street below.

It's been a while since I said that a villain should be BRUNG BACK but I'm saying it now - homicidal sensitive-to-rejection possible werewolf writer is a fun villain hook! Lift the story entirely and give it to the Creeper or someone!

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 200: THE CRIMSON VULTURE

(Crack Comics 015, 1941)

The Crimson Vulture is a prime example of a character who could be so much better with just a little more oomph put behind him. His real name is Sarada, and he is a genius mechanical engineer who is back for revenge after being sent to prison. All well and good, but his actions - attempting to extort money from a series of rich men via mechanical vultures and then blowing them up when they refuse - have no in-story link to his motivation. They easily could, if, say, they were responsible for his incarceration or had profited from his genius while he was away, but no dice. Even if it was made clear that he was striking out at society in general, that would be more of a satisfying motivation.

He gets blown up by Madam Fatal, a suitably ignominious end for our less-than-satisfying 200th minor super-villain.

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 199: THE CRAB

(Crack Comics 013, 1941)

The Crab here is a prime example of the gang boss who goes just over the top enough - and has a good enough moniker - to make the jump to full super-villain.

His plan - hold the city to ransom for 5 million bucks, then blow up the first ambush the cops set for him to show he means business - is sufficiently out there, and he adds some flourishes like taunting the police via skywriting, but the thing that really does it is his signature: 

It's a little crab, oh my god

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 here 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)

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)

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)

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 198: THE CRICKET

(Crack Comics 001, 011 & 012, 1940-1941)

The Cricket, leader of the Crickets, is a fairly undistinguished gang boss notable only for his brutality, the fact that he was the first foe of hard done-by hero the Spider and that he made two subsequent appearances!

His first two appearances are nothing to write home about, though I do note a repeated armchair theme. The man loves to be comfortable. Sadly for him, he was shot down by the Spider before he could enjoy another good sit. RIP.

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 197: CAPTAIN X

(Crack Comics 012-013, 1941)

It doesn't take much to push a space pirate over the line into super-villain status, and Captain X's name and costume are more than enough to do so for me. Plus, she has two whole appearances! What's that? Yes I said "she" because you see...

CAPTAIN X IS A WOMAN!

Yes, it's the ol' gender switcheroo, which is perhaps not as mind-blowing in 2022 as it was in 1941. Evidently, though, it's almost unthinkable by 2441.

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 196: THE JESTER

(Crack Comics 010, 1941) 

The Jester is your standard costumed thief. He commits a series of daring robberies that would in the normal course of things land him in the slammer at the end of a super-hero's fist.

But before Madam Fatal, the hero of this particular feature, can get around to the business of stopping the Jester, the man himself shows up, knocks out Fatal's civilian guise Richard Stanton and kidnaps his friend Professor Mason. OR DOES HE?

No, he doesn't. It turns out that a gang of crooks is framing the real Jester in order to avoid suspicion, but since the Jester is in actuality Professor Mason's estranged son Robert, a rare hero-villain teamup ensues, Professor Mason is rescued and the usually absolutist morality of the Golden Age takes a break as the Jester is allowed to leave having fulfilled his filial duty.

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.

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 194: THE SCREW

(Crack Comics 009, 1941)

I'll be honest: the Screw is about as generic as it gets. He's a hooded gang boss who runs a protection racket and just so happens to turn out to be the very head of the Chamber of Commerce who has been pressuring the police to take care of this awful Screw Gang. Pretty regular costumed villain stuff: his only real point of distinction is his fairly cool name.

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 193: THE TIGER WOMAN

(Crack Comics 009, 1941)

The Tiger Woman is another in a long line of characters who are vilified for pushing back against colonialism - in this case, American explorers appropriating her peoples' treasures. Or she would be if the way she was pushing back wasn't murder, which tends to muddy the righteousness of any cause.

She does have a really great costume, though. Top marks for style.

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 192: STUPORMAN

(Crack Comics 008, 1940) 

Kind of a weird and somewhat problematic case - Stuporman, like the Largest Man in the World before him, is a superhuman man of limited intelligence who is used as a living weapon by crooks until being killed by the hero of the piece, in this case the Clock. He comes from Mongolia, which is, like, the most remote and mysterious place that 1940s comics writers could think of.

Frankly, the only real reason I include Stuporman is his name, which is clearly a dig at Quality Comics' Distinguished Competition, particularly in an adventure of the Clock, occasionally advertised as the "oldest and best comic book character." And now he has defeated the big dumb strongman! He has won!

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 191: THE DEVIL

(Crack Comics 007, 1940) 

There is no textual evidence for this, but since this guy is dressed exactly like the unnamed boss of the Skull Gang (plus some rad horns) and uses the very similar tactic of dosing his minions (the Robbers from Hades - good name) with toxins that make them all shriveled and weird (and in this case more pliable and obedient), I like to think that it's the same guy back for another shot at making his fortune in the crime boss game, albeit without taking the very sensible precaution of, say, switching cities or otherwise trying to avoid the Clock. This time, alas, he meets his end, so we won't be treated to a green-hooded man with a tail leading squads of Demonic Monkey Marauders, or a green-hooded man with a tinfoil halo commanding his Larceny Angels. Sad days.