CATALOGUE OF WOUNDS 012

If I keep at this long enough then we will find the super-hero with the most comically-long list of wounds sustained in the course of their adventures. Currently in the lead: the Green Mask! Unless we're talking about head traumas, in which case I must direct your gaze to the Blue Beetle.

Domino the Miracle Boy:

Shot in the right shoulder by Dr Moru while heroically leaping in front of a gun to save the Green Mask. (Mystery Men Comics 029, 1941)

the Green Mask:

Slashed on the left side of his head by the Manx's weird wrist-claw. (Mystery Men Comics 026, 1941)

Mr Justice:

Mr Justice is a ghost-type super-hero, so his origin involves a gruesome death, in this case being hacked to pieces by some historically-questionable Englishmen. (Blue Ribbon Comics 009, 1941)

It's not quite as universal a trait, but Mr Justice also maintains a human form for times when he is not engaging in super-heroics, and since he's already dead it doesn't matter how often he sustains mortal wounds, such as this instance of him being riddled with bullets. (Blue Ribbon Comics 009, 1941)

Or here, when he is fatally blasted by a beam. (Blue Ribbon Comics 010, 1941)

(and again a few minutes later)

Or just plain shot in the head. It's just a shortcut to the emergence of Mr Justice from his mortal shell. (Jackpot Comics 002, 1941) 

Sergeant Spook: 

And speaking of ghostly super-heroes and their fatal origins, here's Sergeant Spook blowing himself up with his poor lab safety. (Blue Bolt v1 001, 1940)

Simba:

Simba, newly-reformed nemesis of Dick Cole, gets his skull creased with a bullet by Dr Karno (Blue Bolt v2 006, 1941)

Sub-Zero:

Sub-Zero also gets his skull creased, but since he's so cold he's bulletproof Professor X has to use a white-hot bullet to do it. (Blue Bolt Comics v1 005, 1940)

the Wraith: 

Finally we have the Wraith, who becomes a ghost thanks to being riddled with bullets during a drive-by.  (Mystery Men Comics 027, 1941)

GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 045

It's hard out there for the little guys.

Unnamed Spy Chief:

I don't know if I've ever seen a comic book villain with such a distinctive look and clear devotion to a visual theme but absolutely nothing else. Her "decadent Egyptian Queen" bit doesn't spill into her plans, it doesn't inform how her minions dress... she doesn't even have a name. Baffling! 

On top of everything else, her plans are foiled and she is captured by the oafish Navy man Spark Stevens.(Green Mask v1 004, 1941)

John Dale:

When John Dale decides to murder his elderly cousin Ludwig in order to speed up the inheritance process, he disguises himself by grabbing this lizard-goblin mask that seems to be part of the decor, and then again when he decides that further murders will help him to cover up the first one. Thankfully for intrepid reporter Dell and her companion, the Night Bird is there to prevent this second (and third) murder.

Dale's plan is flimsy at best, and includes multiple key factors that would fall apart under the lightest of scrutiny (no autopsy because he, the main beneficiary with power of attorney, said that they didn't need it, fake will, etc). The best of these is this secret room setup, where the open window in the library is covered in an enlarged photo of the view from the secret room in order to obfuscate its presence to those in the library. Would having the will reading in a room other than the library make it even easier to conceal the secret? Certainly, but it wouldn't be as clever. (Green Mask v1 007, 1941)

the Corpse:

In Green Mask v1 007, the titular Green Masks solves the murder of a man named Brown over an engraved box that turns out to contain a map to lost pirate treasure. The murderer, a con artist and fake medium called Swami Zodia, is captured, and Michael "the Green Mask" Shelby and his pals take possession of the map in what I would call morally questionable circumstances. Hope Mr Brown didn't have any heirs!

The voyage to the treasure-bearing island is fraught with death and danger courtesy of a treacherous ship's captain and his ally the Corpse, supposedly the walking cadaver of the pirate who drew the map in the first place. This is of course hogwash, and despite putting in a surprisingly strong showing against the Green Mask and Domino the Corpse is eventually unmasked to reveal that he is... Swami Zodia again! Yes, having committed murder for it, Zodia isn't yet ready to give up on the treasure and has pulled out the comic book con artist's ultimate weapon: the fake ghost. Alas, it does not work. (Green Mask v1 008, 1941)

Simia:

Simia is, simply put, an evil ape (species up for debate. Chimpanzee? Gorilla?). He was found as an orphaned baby and raised by a man named Jim Keane - does his evil nature stem from being brought up in a household where using utensils was prioritized and acting like an ape meant that you get locked up in a cage, seemingly indefinitely? Possibly.

Simia is set free by some evil men who are after Keane, and immediately organizes an ape gang to terrorize the local jungle, which includes kidnapping Kaänga's mate Ann (he also inadvertently helps his foster father by killing his enemies).

Kaänga is not a guy whose home life you want to mess with, as Simia learns just before getting his head bashed in on a boulder. (Jungle Comics 014, 1941)

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 984: THE GHOUL

(Green Mask v1 007, 1941)

The Ghoul has a simple, brutal, efficient racket: identify people who have large life insurance policies, murder them, and then extort the payout from their beneficiaries with threats of violence. What is unclear is exactly how long the racket has been going on, and whether the point we come in at represents some awkward teething troubles or a long-established operation beginning to crumble.

Either way, the Ghoul's last score is a mess: actor John Pierce is shot down mid-play and then the gang's lieutenant, Steve Pelley -himself a very recognizable New York crime figure scoops up Mrs Pierce in front of the theatre and brings her in to be shaken down. Aside from the fact that this is a sure way to draw attention to Pelley as the probable murderer (which he is)... the insurance claim hasn't even been filed yet! What the heck is the hurry?

Indeed, all of this suspicious activity attracts the attention of the Green Mask and Domino, who clean up the gang in short order. Please note the Green Mask's punch shattering the Ghoul's skull mask: this is a classic visual and always fun to see.

Categorized in: Extortionists, Murderers, Supranormal Beings (Undead (Ghouls))

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 983: GREEN MASK AND DOMINO IMPOSTORS

(Green Mask v1 006, 1941)

It's a classic scheme: dress up like a super-hero - or super-heroes in this case: the Green Mask and Domino the Miracle Boy - to commit crimes, and rely on the public and the police to draw attention away from you and toward them in the subsequent outcry and investigation.

The only real trick to the hero-imposture game is not to push your luck. As long as the super-hero is free to do so, they are highly motivated to find the real criminal, and the more times you pull the trick, the more opportunities they have to catch you.

To this duo's credit, they seem to have set out to pull a one-and-done heist, but their downfall comes when the Green Mask's ally News Blake gives him the benefit of the doubt and they get weirdly hung up on winning him over. To that end, they stage a second robbery to get photographic evidence, then beat up Blake and steal the pictures to really convince them of their veracity. And it works! Blake is set to rat out the Green Mask's real identity to the police!

Before this can happen, the false and real Green Masks and Dominoes the Miracle Boys finally meet up, and though the impostors manage to get away, they do so only after the Green Mask has gotten a good look at them and recognized the signature trick of circus acrobats Laverne and Tiny. The real crooks are quickly rounded up and all is well with the world. News Blake in particular gets off pretty lightly for a fellow who was willing to believe that one of his closest friends was a murderer. Also please note that the false Domino costume has the wrong kind of mask, which is a very nice detail for this kind of story.

Categorized in: Day Jobs (Circus Acrobats), Fraud (Identity Theft (Super-Heroes), Objects (Masks)

CATALOGUE OF WOUNDS 011

We regret to inform you that more super-heroes have been wounded.

the Blue Beetle: 

The very first thing that happens in the very first Blue Beetle comic: Dan "the Blue Beetle" Garret gets shot in the left arm. (Mystery Men Comics 001, 1939)

Domino the Miracle Boy:

It's a miracle (a boy miracle?) that Domino survives 1941, because he gets hit by a dang car. (Green Mask v1 006, 1941)

Not two issues later, Domino gets shot in the ever-popular left shoulder (Green Mask v1 008, 1941)

the Green Mask:

I've been going through some old Fox Features comics for head traumas at the same time as reading The Green Mask v1 for the first time, which means that I've hit a real rich seam of injuries to the Green Mask in particular. Let's review:

The Green Mask gets shot in an unspecified place while swinging across a gorge and seemingly falls to his doom. Don't worry though: he's okay. (Green Mask v1 004, 1941)

The Green Mask continues this trend of getting shot in an indeterminate location from close range in his next appearance, first at the hands of freelance spy Dr Tsu...

And then by fascist spy chief Kurt Ebler. Despite Ebler's assertion that the Green Mask is not bulletproof, I am beginning to suspect that he is at the very least bullet resistant. (Green Mask v1 005, 1941)

Stepping back a bit: the Green Mask gets stabbed in the left shoulder. (Mystery Men Comics 013, 1940)

One issue later: shot in the left shoulder. (Mystery Men Comics 014, 1941)

Lest he be accused of neglecting the classics, the Green Mask sustains a textbook skull crease late in 1941. (Mystery Men Comics 022, 1941)

And finally: the Green Mask's left shoulder is "grazed by a bullet" hard enough to knock him off a car. (Green Mask v1 007, 1941)

REAL PERSON ROUND-UP 027

Real people? In comic books? Now I've seen everything.

Abu Khan:

I sincerely cannot tell if this Black Knight foe is supposed to be Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan, last ruler of the Mongol Ilkhanate, or if they just pulled a couple of syllables out of the air and added "Khan" to the end and called it a day. On the one hand, the real Abu Khan never tried to invade Egypt, as the Black Knight is trying to prevent him from doing, but on the other he is from about the right time to be a Black Knight character, i.e., within about two hundred years of all the other elements of the comic. (The Funnies 059, 1941)

Adolf Hitler:

Pays for the services of super-villain the Artist to facilitate the invasion of Tomania with his soul-stealing powers. (Jackpot Comics 004, 1941)

Al Capone:

"Scar Lapone," used as a generic gangster name. (Green Mask v1 005, 1941)

Jean Lafitte:

A false vision of Lafitte is summoned by a fake medium. (Green Mask v1 007, 1941)

Napoleon Bonaparte:

Viewed through a time machine's viewscreen by the Black Hood. (Jackpot Comics 003, 1941)

Nero:

Kim Hale and the Purple Zombie, blasted back in time, are condemned to death by Emperor Nero for telling him about things that he hadn't heard of before. (Reg'lar Fellers Heroic Comics 008, 1941)

Though the duo make it out of the gladiatorial arena okay, they almost get caught up in the Great Fire of Rome before being shunted to another time zone by their allies. Unusually, Nero is not shown fiddling at all. (Reg'lar Fellers Heroic Comics 009, 1941)

Nero, or at least his ghost, appears in a very different form after being summoned by the would-be necromancer Ford. Is this barbaric Nero a reflection of how the Emperor saw himself, or did the artist just kind of wing it? (Jackpot Comics 003, 1941)

Paul Revere:

Minor comic book protagonist Paul Revere Jr is awfully smug for someone who just has the name of a famous patriot, and that goes double for his friends Betsy Ross and Patrick Henry.

His father Paul Revere Sr is at least out there writing a column called "America, Awake!" and putting himself in the crosshairs of local fascists. (Banner Comics 003, 1941)

Sherlock Holmes:

Yet another comedy Holmes analog with a terrible if intriguing name. Foreclose is just close enough to a play on Sherlock to be particularly maddening. Featuring: a Watson analog named Batsin Belfry. (Great Comics 001, 1941)

Walter Winchell:

He only appears as a corpse, but gossip columnist Walt Willard is a clear play on Walt Winchell. (Jackpot Comics 004, 1941)