ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 050

All these fictional aliens and we don't even get one other inhabited planet in our solar system.

Moon-Men:

These Moon-Men are encountered by Phantasmo (seen here in his less-nude human identity) and his pal Whizzer McGee during an impromptu trip to the Moon. They live deep beneath the satellite's surface and appear to have a mining-based culture that is pretty hostile to outsiders, and that is all we know. While I must commend the "Phantasmo" team for not automatically making every alien race fluent English speakers or gifted telepaths, it does make for a more limited mode of storytelling. "Why are the Moon-Men mad at us, Phantasmo?" "No idea." (The Funnies 060, 1941)

Inhabitants of Ru:

These very humanoid Martians are encountered by Flint Baker and his convict crew upon making the historic first second rocket voyage to Mars. They very specifically inhabit Ru, which is either the name of their country or the entire Light Side of Mars, and are a peaceful society in that sci-fi way that means that they are completely unable to deal with threats. Flint is thus required to save them from both the Earthman Sarko (late of the actual first manned mission to Mars) and then the diabolical Creature and his monster. (Planet Comics 001, 1940)

One-Eyed Monster Men of Mars: 

And speaking of Sarko, his plan to conquer Ru revolves around the One-Eyed Monster Men who inhabit the (non-existent) Dark Side of Mars. Though they are intensely fun-looking creatures, the One-Eyed Monster Men don't get a lot of character development in the course of the story due to being mere foot soldiers and also possibly mind controlled.  (Planet Comics 001, 1940)

Martians:

As the "Spurt Hammond, Planet Flyer" series is at least initially set in the year 40 000 CE, there is a strong possibility that both the Martian and Venusian peoples pictured above are descended from some long-ago human colonists. Heck, that might just be the best backstory to explain a planet of warlike Martians or of peaceful Venusians who name their kids things like "Amoura:" because they have built their societies around the cultural assumptions and legends that tie into their planets. (Planet Comics 002, 1940)

Despite the fact that Spurt Hammond managed to resolve the conflict between Prince Khangiz of Mars and Queen Amoura, Venus was clearly subject to some sort of political upheaval because just four issues later the planet is ruled by Queen Veloptan. Perhaps Amoura was determined to be just a bit to on-the-nose, even for Venus. (Planet Comics 006, 1940)

Venus is another one of those conflict-averse pacifist societies, and just two issues later they are turning to Spurt Hammond once more. This time the entire planet is swiftly becoming uninhabitable and the population are forced to become refugees, prompting this array of Plutonian, Saturnian and Jovian rulers doing their best impressions of WWII 20th Century most world leaders throughout modern history. And as a bonus: a new Martian leader named Kaga! (Planet Comics 008, 1940)

MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 098

We've got no time for major super-heroes around here. We're too busy with the minor ones.

the Black Ace:

The Black Ace, aka Captain McRae, is yet another American pilot serving in the RAF in advance of the US entrance into WWII. As such, he is not only a highly accomplished pilot and bombardier but fully versed in the arts of prison escape, hand-to-hand combat, impersonating German soldiers and leaping from plane to plane in mid-flight. (Four Favorites 002, 1941)

Categorized in: Activities (Cards), Colours (Black), Team Memberships (RAF)

Phantasmo **Update**:

The thing about Phantasmo is that he does all of his super-heroing while in his super-huge astral form, and I guess that I had somehow gotten the impression that most of his powers were tied to that form, because I while reading his 1941 run of adventures I kept being surprised when he would do something like heal an old man (The Funnies 052) or kill a bunch of guys with a giant fish while in Phil Anson form (The Funnies 051). 

I guess it's pretty convenient to have the option of being an invulnerable giant but that getting your mortal hands dirty lends a certain thrill to the crimefighting - that's probably why he tolerates the poor standard of care that he gets from Whizzer McGee as he guards the unconscious Anson-body, hey?

In The Funnies 061, Phantasmo and Whizzer witness the murder of a crooked FBI filing clerk named Ted Bart and, partially because they are touched by his dying confession ("I only blackmailed a gang boss-turned politician to help my sister, honest!") and partially due to this desire for more action in his life (life as an FBI filing clerk v. action packed), Phantasmo takes over his identity. The series ends before this development pays off beyond giving Phantasmo a few crime leads, but it's still an interesting turn for the character to take.

Whizzer McGee:

Phantasmo's young friend Whizzer McGee does not really qualify as a sidekick most if the time. He's more of an employee, really, who watches over Phil Anson's unconscious body while his mind is out terrorizing criminals. And he's not even good at it! Whizzer and the body are always getting into scrapes because of Whizzer's incompetence (and also because Phil is very bad at picking a convenient place to leave his mortal coil, in all fairness).

Despite this, Phantasmo gives Whizzer McGee the opportunity to be a real-deal super-powered guy when he has to go out of town for a few days, in the form of an amulet that gives him invulnerability and super strength. I can only assume that Phil was worried that Whizzer would immediately walk out into traffic if someone wasn't around to tell him not to and was trying to bump up the likelihood of his survival a bit.  

Whizzer screws it all up of course - not only does he lose the amulet by trying to capture a smuggling gang single-handed, but he spills Phantasmo's secrets - including his secret identity and home address! - to the gang boss after he does a low-effort impression of an FBI agent. Surprisingly, this leads to absolutely no consequences going forward: Whizzer keeps his job, the amulet doesn't end up in the wrong hands... it's not even a factor in Phantasmo changing secret identities. (The Funnies 056, 1941)

Categorized in: Accessories (Amulets), Origins (Sidekicks)

the Black Knight **Update**:

In our initial look at the Black Knight, we spent a lot of time trying to nail down exactly when the series is supposed to take place, and we are not backing down from that challenge. We have determined that he lived in at least the early 12th Century CE, which the presence of Canterbury Cathedral (looking much as it does today, a form it took after being rebuilt and refurbished in the 11th and 12th Centuries) supports. This is comforting! All of our hard work paid off! Hold on to that feeling for a little while.

The firmly 12th Century Black Knight's 1941 adventures continue much as they had in 1940: the Black Knight travels the land slaying villains in the name of Good King Victor. Things get a bit less episodic with the introduction of a mysterious ring that the Knight is given by the King in The Funnies 053, that is then revealed to contain some mysterious drugs in issue 054.

The Funnies 053 also introduces Peter, an archer who begins travelling with the Black Knight after helping him slay some bandits. He's very serious about being a sidekick, is Peter.

So we have: a reasonably firm grasp on the time period, an ongoing plot hook and a new friend. All of which is dumped in the trash as of The Funnies 055-056, when Good King Victor falls victim to an illness with only one known cure, a drug that is only available in Egypt.

The ring is completely forgotten until the Black Knight need to escape a prison guard and the mysterious drugs turn out to be knockout drops. Peter is technically still around to the end, but he and the other members of the Black Knight's party are all dressed like desert nomads and usually end up tagging behind him on camelback rather than actually participating in the story. As for the 12th Century... the artist's vision of what Medieval North Africa looked like was not quite as precisely calibrated as it was for Medieval England, and so we start getting things like hookahs (15th-16th Century and even then in India) almost immediately.

The transition to Egypt does come with a pretty good alternate costume unlock for the Black Knight, though there are also some weird Jesus overtones. (The Funnies 059)

The Black Knight's plan to get the drug involves appealing directly to the Queen of Egypt for aid, which is appropriate, as she is from the same lineage of fictional monarchs as Good King Victor. In actuality, Egypt was in the hands of a series of Muslim dynasties from the 650s through to the 1500s when the Ottomans took it. The plotters above, meanwhile, are all from Sudan, which was Nubian-controlled and matrilineal at the time, so the misogyny is weird.

Once the Queen actually shows up (The Funnies 061) it is pretty clear that she is based on Cleopatra (died 30 BC), which is fine. One huge anachronism is much easier to deal with than a million mild ones, after all. The Black Knight is clearly set in an alternate timeline or a human zoo built by aliens with poor research skills.

Finally, the Egyptian odyssey introduces a love interest for the Black Knight in the form of a Persian (?) woman named Zellah who he rescues from a harem in The Funnies 057. There isn't too much to this relationship - it's just kind of nice. The Black Knight does get this sick scorpion amulet from her, but it's just before she and the Queen of Egypt are kidnapped in a cliffhanger ending that is never resolved, so overall, it's a bummer.

CATALOGUE OF WOUNDS 010

I'm beginning to think that the super-hero scene is pretty hazardous.

the Blue Bolt: 

The Blue Bolt's first outing against the Green Sorceress is marred by the fact that he gets near-fatally clawed by her vulturoid monsters. (Blue Bolt v1 001, 1940)

the Cloak: 

Jeff Cardiff, aka the Spy-Master, aka the Spay-Chief and the future Cloak, gets a classic skull crease. On purpose! This is the way that that goon chose to knock him out! Such confidence! (Big Shot 002, 1940)

Jeff's choice to adopt the Cloak identity comes after his identity as a government man gets around and enemy agents start gunning for him. Specifically, they gun him in the left shoulder. Twice! (Big Shot 015, 1941)

Being a costumed super-hero is no guarantee that you won't be shot, however, and Jeff gets his skull creased once more on his third outing as the Cloak. (Big Shot 018, 1941)

the Flame:

The Flame turns off his bullet-melting heat aura for just an instant to pick up a lady in need and gets his skull creased by a bullet. (The Flame 007, 1941)

Phantasmo:

Phantasmo is one of the last super-heroes who one would expect to get injured, seeing as how his whole deal is supposed to be sending out a huge, invulnerable astral form to fight crime. Nevertheless, he keeps on starting adventures in his very vulnerable human body, and so he inevitably gets shot in the left shoulder. (The Funnies 061, 1941)

Skyman:

Skyman dodges a bullet at close range - an impressive feat - but he still gets a bloody gash across his enormous chest. (Big Shot 003, 1940)

Zanzibar the Magician:

Zanzibar takes an arrow in the right shoulder courtesy of a dastardly Walrus Man. (Mystery Men Comics 005, 1939)

A couple of years later but the same shoulder: Zanzibar is shot. (Mystery Men Comics 023, 1941)

 And what Golden Age super-hero goes very long without getting his head creased by a bullet? (The Flame 006, 1941)

GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 022

Just look at them go.

This gang has hit upon the very effective technique of faking an appearance by the Arrow in order to steal other crooks' takings when they intelligently run away from a potential ass-kicking by a seven-foot-tall vigilante. 

The important corollary to any plan to impersonate a super-hero, of course, is that that hero will eventually get wind and show up to see just what they are supposedly doing, which leads to, yes, a collective ass-kicking by a seven-foot-tall vigilante. (The Arrow 002, 1940)

I'd probably make more of this "ring of big shots" and their plan to take over NYC by blowing up the various dams that contain its water reservoirs (for instance: is a flooded New York without a fresh water supply really worth taking over?) but Phantasmo really torpedoes their whole plan by literally torpedoing their leader as he's trying to torpedo the New Croton Dam, so the whole plot fizzles before it can really get off the ground. (The Funnies 047, 1940)

He may be an extremely generic Central American revolutionary leader who bungles things spectacularly enough that his entire force is destroyed before they actually get around to doing any revolution, but I do find the name "El Tiger" to be as charming as it is linguistically nonsensical. (The Funnies 050, 1940)

Is Eldas Thayer, a cranky old terminally ill miser who stages his own murder in order to frame the Spirit, yet another example of me possibly straying a bit too far from the concept of the "generic costumed villain" that this round-up supposedly exists to showcase? Probably, but that doesn't matter because I am in charge here.

Though the reason for this plot is ultimately "this is a more interesting comic if the Spirit is wanted by the police" (which is why the Spirit is never actually exonerated for this crime), I do really appreciate Thayer's forthright statement that he is doing this because he is an evil old man. Not enough villains have the guts to own up to that kind of thing, you know? (The Spirit, "Eldas Thayer", 21 July, 1940) 

ADDENDUM: I have made a proverbial fool of myself. The Spirit was cleared of the murder of Eldas Thayer like three months later. 

MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 053

They really do just keep coming. 

**Update** The Arrow:

While the Arrow has always been portrayed as a mysterious seven-foot-tall physical prodigy, this particular adventure really goes all in on his being super-humanly strong. This seems significant somehow, even if it is is second-to-last appearance by my reckoning. (The Arrow 002, 1940)

**UPDATE** the Flame: 

This is the first actual version of the Flame's origin that I've encountered in a comic book, so here it is. It is also the first time that I've encountered the notion of baby the Flame being proclaimed as the Grand High Lama. It's a weird detail! (The Flame 001, 1940)

Phantasmo: 

And speaking of the ancient secrets of Tibet...

Phantasmo! He spent 25 years in Tibet learning mystic secrets and now he's returned to the US to mete out supernatural justice! Phantasmo! His main deal is that he can project his astral body and that in that form he is basically omnipotent! Phantasmo! He can grow, shrink, heal, kill, he is an invulnerable and infinitely strong magic man! Phantasmo! He does have one key weakness: while his astral form is out and about, his physical body is vulnerable, so teenaged Whizzer McGee tags along on his adventures to watch over it! Phantasmo!

Thanks to a combination of an already fairly minimal costume combined with his transparent nature and some odd colour choices, Phantasmo is possibly also the nudest Golden Age super-hero, at least in his cover appearances. (The Funnies 045, 1940)

Update 1941

the Black Knight: 

A young village blacksmith who first helps the Good King Victor of England when his leg is broken in a boar hunt and then goes on to foil several simultaneous attempts on the monarch's life, the unnamed youth receives the customary reward for doing an excellent job: additional responsibilities. The Black Knight acts as a sort of state-sanctioned vigilante, rooting out evil among the chivalry of England.

And speaking of England, the more history-minded of you might have noted that "Good King Victor of England" I mentioned as being very much not an actual British monarch. This raises the question of just when the Black Knight stories are set: it's broadly Medieval (5th to 15th Centuries), operating under the Chivalric Code (12th to 15th Centuries), the King has a Damascus steel sword (post 10th to 11th Century), there is talk of doctors being fairly available (13th Century at earliest)... so what does all this add up to? Absolutely nothing. The Black Knight exists in a pastiche of knight-haunted England that is as historical as your average retelling of the Arthurian mythos, and in fact the whole thing would be a lot neater if Victor were actually Arthur. We must work with what we have, I suppose. (The Funnies 046, 1940) 

ADDENDUM: I wrote this before I had read the last couple of Black Knight stories for 1940, and immediately after posting it I cracked open The Funnies 049, featuring a tale in which the Black Knight helps defend Cornwall (becomes part of England proper around the 10th to 11th Century) from a force of Huns (4th to 6th Centuries) and their enslaved Viking (8th to 11th Centuries) crew, and let me tell you I was relieved.

Update 1941