GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 044

Bored? Unemployed? Why not explore a career in low-tier supercrime? 

the ABC Gang:

I must regretfully inform you that the ABC Gang that is described here does not appear in this issue, as Spencer Steel and his pal Doakes instead get sidetracked by a different gang that is looking to rob the bank that they pegged as the logical next target in the ABCs' pattern. This is a real shame, because "gang who robs banks in alphabetical order by name, but only if the town also conforms to alphabetical order" is a 1950s Batman villain-level of crime-as-compulsive puzzle and I would love to see a 1940s interpretation of that.

Logically, Steel and Doakes would pick up the hunt for the ABC Gang in the next issue but no, they are completely forgotten by then. Golden Age comics, baybee! (Fight Comics 011, 1941)

the Vultures:

The Vultures, an elite Nazi air squadron, owe their success to the fact that they get all hopped up on "dope" (weed? heroin? are either of those going to help you do a dogfight? My lack of familiarity with both hard drugs and aerial combat is showing) before taking to the air.

The Vultures show up to defend the German military assets that Chip Collins and what I will charitably still call the Skull Squadron are busy blowing up. Disappointingly, the fact that the Vulture leader is high as hell throughout the ensuing dogfight and parachute duel does not come up at all.  (Fight Comics 014, 1941)

the Dust Bandits:

When Professor Fraser's incendiary dust gas bullets are rejected by the US Government for being a horrible war crime, he is determined to destroy the formula rather than, say, selling it to the Nazi Baron lurking in his home. Objecting to this lack of initiative, Fraser's lab assistant and step-daughter conspire to kill him, then hook up with a crooked banker to organize the Dust Bandits, aka the Dust-Gas Gang, for a quick crime spree before taking the Baron up on his offer. As is so often the case with fire-based super-villains they find themselves opposed by a fire-based super-hero, in this case the Flame. (The Flame 007, 1941)

the Leopard Men:

To my shame, this instance of the Leopard Man trope marks the first time that I thought to look into whether there was a reason that it was so common in jungle fiction other than that leopards are cool. It turns out that as has so often been the case a cultural practice among a colonized people was vilified and outlawed as a part of the process of cultural subjugation. Leopard Societies appear to have filled a pretty diverse set of roles across West and Central Africa, ranging from pro-trade fraternal orders to vigilante groups, but thanks to sensationalist reporting and pulp writing we are going to keep on encountering them as generic jungle villains. 

This particular bunch is after explorer Buck Johnson for some bullshit reason. (Great Comics 002, 1941)

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 584: THE LEOPARD MEN

(Exciting Comics 002, 1940)

Recently graduated top college athlete Ted Crane and famed anthropologist Professor Hawkins (and Hawkins' daughter Betty, who stowed away as all young women had to if they were going to have adventures in the 40s) set out to find Kenya's lost Konogo Tribe but almost immediately meet opposition from one of the Leopard Men. Despite being a supposedly mythical group, this Leopard Man has a gas-dispenser in his mouth that really knocks Ted for a loop while it gets away.

Even with the additional help of rubber plantation owner J. Atkins Bullard, the party is being harried by Leopard Men at every turn. Why if anything it seems to be worse after he joins them! How can this be?

It turns out (of course) that Bullard is taking advantage of the local superstitions about the terrible Leopard Men in order to make it easier to kidnap the Konogo as slaves for his plantation. A terrible man! Also a very unobservant one, as somehow in the months and months that he had been leading raids on this poor community he never noticed that the centre of the Konogo village is dominated by a huge solid gold idol.

Ted Crane, by the way, is a pretty by-the-book adventure character with the addition of a completely football-centric worldview: all of his allusions and most of his fighting are football flavoured. It's novel!

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 341: THE LEOPARD MEN/ MINOR SUPER-HERO 040: NEDDA, QUEEN OF THE ELEPHANTS

(Master Comics 007, 1940)

The Leopard Men are whatever. Groups of evil African (or South American or Indian or Native American etc etc) warriors who dress up like big cats or other animals are a dime a dozen in jungle adventures and I usually don't find them noteworthy enough for inclusion here (also the racism inherent in the whole Jungle Adventure genre kind of dampens the ol' enthusiasm).

Why include them here? Why because they are the arch-foes of Nedda, Queen of the Elephants, of course! If there is one thing I like enough to take some of the bad Jungle Adventure taste out of my mouth, it's the hint of a larger world inherent in one hero crossing paths with another. Like in Halloween 4, when Doctor Loomis hitches a ride with what is clearly another man on his way to confront a different evil in another, unseen movie. Or in this case, Lee "Jungle King" Granger finding himself in the middle of a Nedda, Queen of the Elephants story.

I think I like Nedda, Queen of the Elephants a disproportionate amount precisely because she only appeared this once. She was raised by elephants, she battled the Leopard Men because they were after her herd's tusks, she teamed up with Jungle King and Eric the Lion. FINIS. No additional baggage. Never bring her back because it can only go downhill from there.