GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 030

I seal up the cracks but the dang things keep getting in. 

Klang is your classic rejected-and-shunned-by-society-due-to-his-appearance villain, who has channelled his bitterness into inventions such as heat rays and the explosive Super X-X Nitro Glycerine, which he secretes in the bottle of christening champagne in order to destroy the Navy's newest battleship. Just how this is meant to bring him closer to his goal of becoming the dictator of America is left unexplored, as it draws the heroic Navy goofballs Spark Stevens and Chuck Dawson into his orbit and ultimately leads to Klang himself getting blown up. (Wonderworld Comics 014, 1940)

Astonishingly, Klang manages to return for a second kick at the can in Wonderworld Comics 016, but spoils his own chances at destroying the US fleet and conquering a weakened US by attempting to get revenge on Spark and Chuck at the same time. They of course manage to bumble their way free of Klang's trap and blow him up again, this time for good.

Though Klang does in fact die in the second explosion, his daughter Madam Klang survives and continues to vex Spark and Chuck. Madam Klang carries on the family tradition of attempting to take over the US, and in her first solo appearance does a little bit of spying for the Axis as a way of raising funds toward that goal. Though her employers end up being captured by Spark and Chuck, she actually manages to get away with the money, in a rare win for the Klang clan. (Wonderworld Comics 017, 1940)

Madam Klang's final appearance involves a joint attempt to get revenge on Spark and Chuck and also steal the plans for a remote controlled bomber from the US Navy during manoeuvres in the Philippines. Her plans fail mostly because she is a truly terrible boss who kills people for failure. Please note the special font chosen for her suicide panel that indicates that she is doing so for Inscrutable Asian reasons, and also her dying speech about how great the USA is and how the current political norm is the best one, boys and girls. (Wonderworld Comics 018, 1940) 

This here Snake Cult is extremely generic as far as comic book cults go. They spend all episode running around Madras (aka Chennai if you care about accuracy) killing or attempting to kill people for interfering in their affairs but never actually going into what those affairs are. Probably the most interesting thing about the whole adventure is that the king cobras employed (and presumably worshipped) by the cult are consistently referred to by the archaic name of hamadryads, which is already weird to anyone who knows a little Greek mythology, but is then made weirder by the fact that it is misspelled as hamdryad, which is of course some sort of pork nymph. (Wonderworld Comics 018, 1940)

A spy chief so generic that I can't even tell you for certain if he's supposed to be a fascist or not, the Head operates out of a Swiss castle and is primarily concerned with learning the secret of K-51's secret super-power powders. I do appreciate the juxtaposition of the triangular eyeholes with the triangular forehead symbol on his outfit, but other than that this guy is strictly HO-HUM. (Wonderworld Comics 018, 1940)

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 866: THE SCAR

(Wonderworld Comics 014, 1940)

The Scar is a fairly ordinary crypto-fascist spy chief - in his first appearance he is leading a gang of incompetents in a plot to blow up a Europe-bound supply ship, for example - but I'll be danged if he isn't well suited to his nickname. Most guys named Scar in 1940s comics are maybe rocking one big facial scar, while our friend here not only has three, but is missing at least one ear! Whatever happened to this guy, he earned that nickname.

The Scar's other remarkable property is that he manages to return to vex super-spy K-51 on three separate occasions. In his second appearance, in Wonderworld Comics 015, he spearheads a plan to disrupt the burgeoning US air forces by sabotaging the training program and thus discouraging future applicants. K-51 of course foils this plan as well, but not before the Scar scampers off into the undergrowth and escapes.

During the Scar's final appearance, in Wonderworld Comics 016, he is attempting to secure some super-power-inducing powders invented by a Dr Barrow but is unable to do so before Barrow gives them to K-51. When K-51 then decides to use the powders to hunt down the Scar, the spy is so alarmed by the sight of a tiny man wielding a machine gun that he loses all control of his body and topples through a window to his doom. Truly an ignominious end for a slightly better-than-average spy.

GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 029

You'll never believe how close these guys get to being name-brand super-villains! 

The Great-Great-Grandson of Lafitte is a flamboyant character who runs a protection racket on coconut plantations on the US Virgin Islands. Is he really a descendant of the great pirate captain? Who can say, but what is certain is that he puts on a good show before getting his block absolutely knocked off by US Navy goofs Spark Stevens and Chuck Lawson. (Wonderworld Comics 009, 1940)

Some classic fake haunting shenanigans by a group of spies assigned to disrupt the work of US government scientist Dr Sloan. Punched and apprehended by K-51. (Wonderworld Comics 013, 1940)

The Killer is head of a gang of extortionists and kidnappers who target rich men around an indeterminate US metropolis. True to his name, the Killer murders his targets whether they pay up or not, which I personally think might be a poor long-term strategy. We shall never know, because in the short term the Flame gets involved and roasts the entire gang before delivering the Killer to the authorities. (Wonderworld Comics 014, 1940)

Professor Z has so many villainous accessories - an eye patch, a castle, a tiger, terrible hair, henchmen dressed in colour-coded, vaguely sci-fi uniforms - that it may surprise you to learn that his entire operation is set up so that he can commit insurance fraud. Perhaps the out-of scale trappings are what attracts the attention of the Phantom Rider.

This adventure is personally annoying to me because while the Phantom Rider was previously absolutely set in the Old West, at the end of this one he calls for the authorities and two regular cops rock up. It's yet another time that the line between the past and present in a Western comic is so blurry that you could ride a horse through it and I will never stop grumbling about this when it happens. (Wonderworld Comics 015, 1940)

REAL PERSON ROUND-UP 004

More of those pesky real people have gotten into my comic books!

Andrew Jackson:

Character Keith Kornell, aka the West Pointer, is a descendant of Andrew Jackson, something you would perhaps be more proud of in 1939 than today. (Top-Notch Comics 001, 1939)

Benito Mussolini:

He's a fairly oblique reference to Benito Mussolini but I reckon that up-and-coming Filipino dictator Remy Mussoni fits the brief. (Wonderworld Comics 008, 1939)

Billy the Kid:

Appears in a questionably true story told by character Windy Parks (Western Picture Stories 004, 1937)

the Dionne Quintuplets:

"Ad-Ventures at the Circus" was a recurring feature throughout the life of Star Comics (1937-1939), and it's a fascinating artifact of the time that someone more qualified than me should write about some day. Long story short it was a twee little comic about advertising mascots going to the circus to watch other advertising mascots perform. There's maybe a 75/25 split between the Surprisingly Familiar and Surprisingly Unfamiliar mascots with regular appearances by Surprisingly Racist ones. It's a bit like a Neolithic Foodfight!. 

Everything about this feature is weird, from the slightly uncanny valley illustrations by Raphael Astarita to the fact that it doesn't really seem to be sponsored content (other than a command appearance by NRG, mascot of heavy Star Comics advertiser Baby Ruth). And then the final extant installment comes around and we get the weirdest advertising mascots of all as the Quaker Oats Man leads the Dionne Quintuplets onto stage - five living humans given the same status as the Crackerjack kid or Mr Peanut or some anthropomorphic orange who used to work for Sunkist. It's a grim reminder of just how commodified those poor kids were, right down to their "act" being a pantomime of them going about their day, just like they did in the weird zoo they grew up in. (Star Comics v2 007, 1939)

Gene Autry:

An adventuring version of the singing cowboy in modern times (the Funnies 030, 1939)

George VI of England:

This here visit by King Arnold and his unnamed Queen is certainly meant to evoke the 1939 tour of Canada and the US by King George VI of England and Queen Elizabeth, the future Queen Mother. (Wonderworld Comics 005, 1939)

George Washington:

Not quite an appearance by Washington as adjacent to him, but the fact that one of the Wizard's ancestors is given credit for a key part of the history of the American Revolution is worth noting. (Top-Notch Comics 001, 1939)

FDR:

Misc Minor Appearances: Thanks secret agent K-51 for saving foreign royals (Wonderworld Comics 005, 1939) 

the Mona Lisa:

As the "Lona Dizzi", painted by "Lombardo da Ginki" ("Dixie Dugan" strip, 1931)

Paul Revere:

Ride witnessed - and hide saved - by American Revolution-era child-patriots the Liberty Lads. (Champion Comics 008, 1940)

Robert E. Lee:

Wizard ancestor Thomas Whitney accepts the surrender of Robert E Lee at Appomattox, whether in place of Grant or prior to his showing up cannot be said. (Top-Notch Comics 001, 1939)

Tom Mix:

Like Gene Autry, Tom Mix was a movie cowboy who starred in adventure comics as a larger-than-life version of himself having rootin' tootin' Wild West adventures. Unlike Autry, Tom Mix generally starred in stories set in the Old West, as himself but in the past. Tom Mix also holds the special distinction of appearing in comics from this earliest example (that I have found, at least) to at least the early 50s, long after he had died in October, 1940. (The Comics 001, 1937)

MAD AND CRIMINAL SCIENTIST ROUND-UP 009

You know how it is with these guys. Their science is mad and/or criminal!

Felix Zurich, lab assistant to Professor Trent, has hidden the professor away in a castle improbably located in the middle of the jungle in Africa, all so that Zurich can force him to perfect his invention of the ever-popular engine-killing ray. This is a Blackstone the Magician story so of course Zurich is also an accomplished stage magician and there is a pivotal duel of illusions. Ultimately, a high-speed canoe chase ends with Zurich going over Victoria Falls while Blackstone and his companions serenely float down on parachutes. (Super-Magician v1 002, 1941)  

This here scientist and his brother are for some reason trying to turn young women into statues. They don't get very far before being beat up by Ted Parrish, the Man With 1000 Faces (Speed Comics 001, 1939)

Senor Anza here is one of your scientists with mysterious motivations: he's been blowing up passing ships on their way to or from the Panama Canal using his very cool Radium Ray, but just why he's doing it is not elaborated on. Top possibilities are "as a weapons test prior to some other scheme" and "on behalf of the Axis forces" with a possibility of "straightforward homicidal madness" but as Anza ends up stone dead at the hands of super-spy K-51 and his colleague/ fiance/ fellow super-spy Z-19 all speculation is purely academic. (Wonderworld Comics 004, 1939)

The Professor Maxon mentioned above never appears in person in the story but does carry a scientific rivalry far enough that he completes the extinction of the dodo rather than allow his rival Professor Stone get credit for his discovery of a remnant population. (Champion Comics 006, 1940)

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 554: THE MASK

(Wonder Comics 001, 1939)

A gun runner doing business with rebel forces in the probably-South American country of Mauchako, the Mask doesn't bring a lot to the table beyond a fairly snazzy take on the low-effort costume. He's also the first foe faced by super-spy K-51 (is his original callsign of K-5, as you may have noticed). He's also a US Senator, which is a heckuva job to split your attention from - also, weirdly he's not our first one. He ends up employing K-51's childhood pal and then murdering said pal so it's not too surprising that he himself does not survive the adventure.

In conclusion, the Mask isn't terribly exciting. He does have a good look, so that's something.