GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 025

Buncha rude crude dudes for ya. 

The Rio Kid is after another gang of masked bandits, and this time they're in league with a crooked sheriff and led by a corrupt political boss aptly named the Boss. Nothing really remarkable here but I do dig the Boss' hat. (Thrilling Comics 010, 1940)

Jose Gonzales, star football player for Sornora University of Mexico, is visiting Carson University with two aims in mind: hit the ol' gridiron and slap on a mask and steal a newly developed super-explosive for his father, a fascist politician back home. Star Carson U quarterback Dan Duffy foils his hopes on both counts. (Thrilling Comics 011, 1940)

Sneaky, a "notorious" gangster with poor dentition, is featured in the teaser panel at the end of the Firefly story in Top-Notch Comics 009, with the implication that he is going to be a real thorn in the Firefly's side in issue 010. How disappointing, then, to find that he is a mere flunky working for the murderous scientist Henry Falcon. (Top-Notch Comics 010, 1940)

Though the "Danny Dash" feature only lasted two issues, it's pretty clear that creator Erwin L Hess had a lot of medium-to-long-range plans for the story. In the first instalment, Danny and his pal Shamrock "Mac" McGlynn (!!) have a run-in with the the Grey Hordes from the Center of the Earth who have been bombing London for unclear reasons, while the second sets up Charon, an escaped handsome madman who has been roaming Paris murdering people in the belief that he is actually the ferryman of the Styx, ushering souls into the afterlife.

Charon's latest victim is the future brother-in-law of Dash's friend Georges Barnett, and the never-seen third Danny Dash adventure would have involved them searching for Charon and, if I'm any judge of Golden Age plots, finding a connection between him and the Grey Horde. Alas, it's just another thing we will likely never know. (War Comics 002, 1940)

ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 010

Oh those rascally aliens.

the Grey Hordes from the Center of the Earth: 

The Grey Hordes from the Center of the Earth, aka the Grey Men, have been bombing London for unclear reasons using hard-to-see transparent planes. War correspondent Danny Dash and his associate Shamrock "Mac" McGlynn (!) stumble upon a group of them in the English countryside after their car is wrecked by a mysterious bomb-throwing glowing limousine, but since the "Danny Dash" feature never concluded we never really learn the answers to the reasons behind any of this, including why they are making war on the British or why they have corkscrews on top of their hats. (War Comics 001, 1940)

the Jovian Mountain People:

The Jovian Mountain People live a simple life that revolves around the harvesting and processing of native jurta berries into a potent drug. They call in the heroic Space Patrol after a rash of murder and robberies (sixty!) point to an organized jurta drug ring in the area.

Basil Wolverton's knack for alien design was remarkable not just for its inventiveness but for the fact that he could make such sympathetic alien characters who weren't just humans with blue skin, and the Jovian Mountain Folk might just be the greatest example of this, with their little round bodies and concerned expressions. The above image of the jurta harvester carefully processing his crop is one of my favourite in all of comics, and it's a shame that the poor guy is about to be tossed off of a mountain by one of...

the Balloon Men: 

The Balloon Men showcase another of Wolverton's strengths: creating aliens that are simultaneously goofy yet believably threatening. A big orb-shaped dude with little fluttering wings is undeniably a silly-looking fellow, but just scroll back up to that image of the attack on the jurta-man and picture one of these guys silently descending on you with murderous intent. Eerie. Plus I really appreciate the clear distinction between the inflated and deflated states of the Balloon Men, 

The Balloon Men are not, however, the ultimate architects of the jurta thefts. No, it turns out that they are working for...

the Haggur: 

The Haggur are identified as a "cruel and crafty tribe of South Jupiter" and if this is an accurate description then this otherwise-unnamed Haggur is an exemplar of his kind. He and his imported Balloon Men intend on plundering the entire season's jurta drug harvest no matter how many Mountain People they have to kill to do so. It's only being totally exploded by the Space Patrol that stops this dastardly plan. 

Design-wise, the Haggur is a pretty standard big alien bruiser, though I do really like the huge bands of muscle attached to the jaw and of course welcome the single central Basil Wolverton nostril whenever it makes an appearance.

The comic ends with a little gag about how unattractive the Jovian Mountain Ladies are, in case you were worrying that it had no flaws. I personally think that they're cute. (Amazing Mystery Funnies v3 005, 1940)