DEMONIC ROUND-UP 002

Look out! Its demons!

Lucifer: 

Dastardly voodoo man the Voodoo Man has this version of Lucifer possess a young woman for some dang reason. He's got a pretty good look with the sideburns and all, but is surprisingly easy to chase away with an anemically-presented crucifix. (Weird Comics 006, 1940)

the Unholy One: 

The Unholy One is an infernal servant of some kind who has been summoned as a sort of demonic search engine by the Green Sorceress. He appears in the early Simon & Kirby days of Blue Bolt, so he gets an appropriate level of gravitas and "this guy's face is too gross to show you" angles to render him nice and memorable. I like him! (Blue Bolt v1 005, 1940)

Unnamed Being: 

If I'm honest I must admit that I have no idea what this guy is. Heroic former uggo Sir Champion encounters him while searching an extradimensional dreamscape for his liege/lover Camilla after she is abducted to there by the wizard Thoth. He is generally helpful, but "capricious, horned extradimensional being" equals "demon" in my eyes. Plus he's nude! (Jungle Comics 011, 1940)

the Fire-Devil:

Perhaps you will recall our old friend the Witch-Master, lord of the witches of Salem. Well, he in turn serves this fellow, who is referred to as the Fire-Devil throughout the adventure due to the fact that he is summoned out of a bonfire. The various titles that the Witch-Master gives him - Great King of Evil, Great King of Inferno, etc - indicate that he is held in some esteem, but the fact that he can't endure the "level stare" of preteen Mark Kent does diminish this somewhat.

Also humiliating: the fact that a simple bucket of water is sufficient to banish him back to the underworld. (Slam-Bang Comics 005, 1940) 

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 509: KING ROCKY THE FIRST

(Blue Bolt v1 010, 1941)

Some preamble: in Blue Bolt v1 007 the Green Sorceress managed to capture the Blue Bolt and thus in Blue Bolt v1 008 she was able to force Dr Bertoff to surrender to her forces. Her incompetent scientists subsequently triggered a series of devastating explosions while attempting to extract radium from Bertoff's mineral fields, with the one positive effect of opening a passage to the surface world. The Green Sorceress then travelled to the surface to do espionage, followed by the Blue Bolt, who had escaped paralysis and freed Bertoff's people since her departure.

The Green Sorceress' main surface henchman was gang boss Rocky Roberts, King of the Rackets, who got pretty thoroughly beaten up by the Blue Bolt but then manages to pop out of a little hatch in the Green Sorceress' escape rocket and propose an alliance against Dr Bertoff and the Blue Bolt, to which the Sorceress agrees.

This goes poorly! Rocky immediately takes over the Green Kingdom and declares himself King Rocky the Foist.

Rather than rule in a traditional manner, King Rocky establishes himself as the head of a gang consisting of the Green Sorceress' former army, with the citizens of the Green Kingdom being subjected to gang-style protection rackets, kidnappings, torture and garden-variety murder. This is a Jack Kirby idea, it has to be - even if he never made up another one to vex someone like Jimmy Olsen with the Sci-Fi Gangsterocracy is one of the most Kirby ideas I can think of.

It's tough to articulate but I respect King Rocky for his decision to murder the Green Sorceress. Believe it or not, it's a refreshing change for a Golden Age villain, most of whom would see an attractive captive and start yelling about making her "my Queen!"

But of course if you shoot at a super-villain you best not miss. King Rocky the Foist's plans are interrupted by Blue Bolt and he meets the traditional end for a super-usurper: giant laser blast.

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 502: THE GREEN SORCERESS

(Blue Bolt v1 001, 1940) 

The Green Sorceress! Possibly named Norzimo, absolutely the ruler of the underground kingdom of Voltor aka the Hidden Empire aka the Green Empire. Locked in a cold war with Dr Bertoff, leader of Deltos aka the Scientific City, as she wants the Deltosan radium fields in order to power her war machines and invade the surface while he wants to destroy her kingdom and everyone in it.

According to Bertoff, the Green Sorceress is descended from a long line of black magic practicioners. Appropriately, she demonstrates some magical skill herself, mostly related to teleportation via a green mist, though she does summon at least one demon.

There's a Batman/ Catwoman aspect to the relationship between Blue Bolt and the Green Sorceress, in that they are absolutely horny for one another and keep infuriating their allies by letting the other get away rather than taking victory at the cost of the other's life. The Green Sorceress even reforms a couple of times (well, sh'e brainwashed by Bertoff once and reforms another) but just can't quit her evil ways.

(Professor Bertoff would absolutely be a super-villain if a) his main opponent weren't a bigger one and b) his main ally weren't a super-hero)

The greatest change to the status quo of the underground kingdoms comes in Blue Bolt v1 007 when the Green Sorceress manages to force a surrender of Scientific City by capturing Blue Bolt (note the incredible power play of calling from bed). Her hamfisted scientists set off an series of enormous explosions in the radium fields and open a passage to the surface. This is the point at which a captured surface man calls the inhabitants of the Green Kingdom "scientific barbarians" and it's a really terrific characterization that has to have been a Kirby contribution if only because of how prominent a theme it would be in his later work.

In Blue Bolt v1 009 the Green Sorceress hits the surface in a new identity: the Masked Princess! Supposedly European royalty travelling incognito, the Masked Princess was actually a highly efficient one woman espionage unit who vamped intelligence agents and other important men and then hypnotized them into revealing their secrets. Unfortunately for her, the very instant she left her minions managed to let Blue Bolt get away and he ends up following her to the surface to bust up the Masked Princess' operation.

Simon and Kirby leave Blue Bolt after issue 10, at which point the Green Sorceress has reformed again, this time after being saved by Blue Bolt from a terrible end that will be detailed soonish. We will eventually see her again but it's not the triumphant return that she deserves - I reckon that in the right hands and with a slightly more interesting foe the Green Sorceress could be a real classic super-villain - the hot-headed wizard-queen of a nation of Kirbyesque scientific barbarians striking from a land beneath those we know, plus there's a different, slightly less evil guy trying to kill her at the same time? this is fertile storytelling ground! BRING her BACK, someone!