MONSTER, CRITTER AND CREATURE ROUND-UP 005

You won't catch me not having a whole lot of monsters to show you.

the Elipticoon:

True to his name, the wicked Sophus, the Mad Philosopher engages in a slightly more abstract version of villainy in which he traps people in a pan-dimensional maze and delights in their despair (okay, this is pretty standard villainy, I'll admit it. I just like the name). A major feature of this maze is the Hall of the Elipticoon, which houses its namesake, a "giant time entity." Despite the lofty setting and terminology, the Elipticoon seems to be just a big lizard/insect thing that operates purely on predatory instinct, as seen above when it gobbles up Sophus after he attracts its attention with a bit too much evil laughter. (Planet Comics 008, 1940)

Finned Python:

The finned python is just one of the weird creatures encountered by Chuck Hardy and his pals in the underground lands beneath the Marquesas Islands. Just what the fins are for is left as an exercise for the reader. (Amazing-Man Comics 012, 1940)

Firebat:

We have already seen the Golden Knight defeat a dragon in the last Monster, Critter and Creature Round-Up, and here we can see that that was not his first rodeo. On the very first step of his journey to the Crusades, Sir Richard wanders off into a cave and is confronted with a creature that the comic calls a firebat but is clearly some sort of dragonoid. Modern dragon pedants would probably call it a wyvern, but who needs to be so prescriptive? (Fantastic Comics 001, 1939)

Fire Dragon:

Sir Richard faces another dragon somewhere in Europe after the evil Hag of Blackamoor kidnaps his lover Alice and compels him to seek out the mystical Golden Stallion of Ice Mountain. This fire dragon stands even less of a chance than the firebat did, as the Golden Knight is now loaded down with magical items, including a magic cloak that protects him from fire.

Sir Richard completes the voyage to Ice Mountain, completely destroys a giant, and takes possession of the Golden Stallion.

As we all know, the fabulous Golden Stallion is in fact the magically transformed true Queen of Blackamoor Forest, who breaks her own curse by trampling the Hag. What a story to tell your royal court on a cold evening! (Fantastic Comics 007, 1940)

Vulkite:

While tracking a diamond thief in the badlands of Mercury, Nick Nelson and Kodi of the Space Patrol are confronted with a vicious vulkite - note the weird skin-flap wings. You don't see those a lot nowadays. Weird wings or no, the vulkite is no match for Space Patrol Atom-Needle Guns.

This dryak that the space pirate unleash to protect their booty is a different story, and Nick Nelson almost succumbs to its caterpillar/lizard ferocity before Kodi takes it out with their spaceship's Flame-Blast Cannon. I really like this critter's weird front-facing fangs. Are they for digging? For poking prey? Perhaps they are used in courtship displays or to regulate temperature. (Amazing Mystery Funnies v3 003, 1940)

War Eagles and Oryx-Beasts:

Both the Lion- and Dragon-Men of planet Ligra make use of trained war-eagles as battle steeds, but only the former employ oryx-beasts. I don't know if I've encountered the concept of a war-ungulate before!

Jago, king of the Dragon-Men, also has this very spherical alien octopus that he attempts to feed the queen of the Lion-Men to before Electro takes a hand. (Marvel Mystery Comics v1 009, 1940)

REAL PERSON ROUND-UP 029

Time for a heaping dose of real folk from Golden Age Marvel comics.

Adolf Hitler:

Kalph Belgri, dictator of Torpis, takes his own life when his invasion of neighbouring Molivia is thwarted by Electro. (Marvel Mystery Comics v1 005, 1940)

The Human Torch encounters Adolphe Hiccup, dictator of Slaveland, while foiling a plot to fool his sidekick Toro into aiding their war effort. He is seen colluding with his ally Benny Musclein, who is such a clear Mussolini stand-in that I feel a bit foolish even mentioning it.

Hiccup's aide Herr Medals, on the other hand, is quite vexing to me, as despite his physical appearance and love of regalia being clearly based on Hermann Goering, his name makes me think of Goebbels, which caused me to poison my search history a little more by looking up the Nazi high command yet again to make sure I had the right guy. (Human Torch v1 003, 1940)

Al Capone:

Mob boss Vince Garrone is the latest in a long line of crooks with Capone-like names. (Marvel Mystery Comics v1 017, 1941)

Fiorello La Guardia:

Marvel Comics was a very NYC-heavy operation even back when it was Timely Comics, and as a consequence of that we get far more Mayoral Action from them than other publishers. Here we see Mayor La Guardia showing a lot of moxie while dealing with a hostile Sub-Mariner, for example. (Marvel Mystery Comics v1 007, 1940)

Not even a year later, here's the Human Torch helping out a mysterious and unnamed non-La Guardia Mayor of NYC. Just who the heck is this guy? (Marvel Mystery Comics v1 016, 1941)

La Guardia is back by Marvel Mystery Comics v1 020, just in time to deal with an epidemic of arson and extortion aimed at the city.

Finally, a chunky little La Guardia thanks the Patriot for fending off the attempted takeover of the city by the fascist Yellowshirts. (Human Torch v1 004, 1941)

Orson Welles:

The Human Torch must deal with a Martian invasion, and that means referencing Orson Welles' War of the Worlds broadcast, here attributed to a "Lawson Bell." (Marvel Mystery Comics v1 003, 1940)

CATALOGUE OF WOUNDS 006

Why of why do they keep on hurting our boys?

Meteor:

Silver Streak's partner Meteor is shot in the back by a Nazi, but it's okay: the bullet only "nicked" his back. (Silver Streak Comics 016, 1941)

Electro:

Professor Zog, the brains behind Electro, is shot in the left arm. (Marvel Mystery Comics 016, 1941)

the Sandman:

The Sandman has a very rough 1940, starting with a shot to the right shoulder... (Adventure Comics 047, 1940)

... then a shot to the left shoulder... (Adventure Comics 050, 1940) 

... a second shot to the right shoulder... (Adventure Comics 055, 1940)

... and the for symmetry's sake, a second wound to the left shoulder (All-Star Comics 001, 1940)

To add insult to injury, he has to have gotten at least a little radiation poisoning during his repeated encounters with the Yellow-Faced Terror and his killer radium ball. (All-Star Comics 002, 1940)

Sargon the Sorcerer:

Sargon the Sorcerer, shot in the left shoulder while trying to do his damn job. (All-American Comics 032, 1941) 

Zatara:

Zatara is shot in the right arm while hanging around a lost city of ape-men. (Action Comics 027, 1940) 

Then he is shot in the left shoulder by an uncommonly fast-on-the-draw crook. (Action Comics 038, 1941)

Zatara shot in the left shoulder again thanks to the fact that he overlooks a crook when making himself hypnotically invisible. (Action Comics 040, 1941)

REAL PERSON ROUND-UP 009

Some day these won't inevitably start with Hitler. Some day.

Adolf Hitler:

Rix, a human living on Venus in the peaceful year 3090 CE, learns about dictators thanks to the time capsule from the 1939 New York World's Fair and immediately sets out to make himself into the Hitler of the future. Beat down by interplanetary troubleshooter Planet Payson. (Planet Comics 008, 1940)

Aviator Ted O'Neil is brought down in the warlike nation of Gestapia (one of the more on-the-nose Nazi Germany stand-ins I have encountered), ruled over by dictator "Schnitzler." (Prize Comics 004, 1940)

Al Capone:

It's just a shorthand reference for "bigtime gangster" but Scarface Marone here is absolutely an Al Capone pastiche for the one and a half panels he appears in before jumping out a window to avoid capture. (Rocket Comics 002, 1940)

Anna Roosevelt:

She's referred to only as "the President's daughter" throughout this adventure which sees her being kidnapped and almost killed by Gerlandian spies before being rescued by Electro here, but it's 1940 and the US has had precisely one President's Daughter for nearly eight years at this point and it's Anna Roosevelt. (Science Comics 001, 1940)

Captain Nemo:

It shouldn't have surprised me when Navy Jones, established in the previous issue to be descended from the legendary Davy Jones, encounters not-just-fictional-but-fictional-from-about-seventy-years-earlier figure Captain Nemo while noodling around under the sea with his paramour Princess Coral, but I'm afraid that it did. And not only do they team up to battle octopus men and recover an ancient Roman map to Atlantis together but Nemo basically joins the "Navy Jones" cast going forward! (Science Comics 005, 1940)

FDR:

Minor Appearances:

Science Comics 003, 1940

Genghis Khan:

Obvious allusion to Genghis Khan in Khangiz, the warlike master of Mars in the year 40 000 CE. (Planet Comics 002, 1940)

J Edgar Hoover:

You have a comic book character who works for the FBI and eventually an unnamed J Edgar Hoover is going to show up and congratulate them for doing their job, as happens to FBI agent Buck Brady here. (Prize Comics 005, 1940)

J Edgar Hoover is not only Joe "the Shield" Higgins' boss at the FBI but he was the best friend of Tom Higgins, Joe's father. (Shield-Wizard Comics 001, 1940)

Minor appearances:

Science Comics 003, 1940

Oak Island:

Even though Fu Chang operates out of San Francisco and thus Money Pit Island is located somewhere in the Pacific, its name alone twigs it as at least inspired by the legend of Oak Island, which (I checked) was indeed going strong as of 1940 (Pep Comics 009, 1940)