REAL PERSON ROUND-UP 023

It's an Axis-heavy Round-Up this time, for reasons which will soon become clear.

Adolf Hitler:

Daredevil Comics 001 might not have been the first comic book to feature its title character physically attacking Adolf Hitler on the front cover, but it makes up for this in sheer volume of different characters who are getting in on the act. And the comic itself is also 100% concerned with super-heroes beating up and otherwise inconveniencing Hitler.

Hitler's first appearance in the comic proper also includes a rogue's gallery of Third Reich figures, including Josef Goebbels, Heinrich Himmler, Hermann Goering, Admiral von Roeder* and General Walther von Brauchitsch. Also present: the fortune teller who supposedly advised Hitler on a day-to-day basis.

*more on him later 

Though Daredevil is present to merely spy on the well-attended meeting above, he is found out and has to punch out not just Hitler but Goering and Goebbels as well in order to make his escape.

Hitler's second major humiliation in the issue comes at the hands claws of the Claw. He makes a deal with the giant villain on behalf of his Japanese allies, but the Daredevil gets involved in and ruins the whole operation.

Hitler has to pay a hefty bribe just to get out with his skin intact. This is a fine illustration of why most villains don't negotiate this sort of thing in person.

 

Finally, the suprisingly hands-on Hitler is coordinating a Nazi invasion of Africa when the Daredevil and jungle hero Lance Hale get involved, giving the Daredevil the opportunity to land two more punches and a boomerang-assisted trip on the dictator.

Lance Hale, meanwhile, pranks Hitler by giving him a shave with an incredibly accurate arrow, then almost body slams him to death before he is interrupted by Nazis. (Daredevil Comics 001, 1941) 

Benito Mussolini: 

A sad cameo from Il Duce after a portion of his fleet is sunk by the British. (Daredevil Comics 001, 1941) 

Heinrich Himmler:

Is Blackout's Nazi foe Heinrich Himmel meant to be a version of Himmler or is it just a very Nazi collection of syllables? Hard to say. (Captain Battle Comics 001, 1941) 

Hermann Goering: 

Like Hitler, Goering is surprisingly willing to lead from the front in this issue. He loses a dogfight with Cloud Curtis and almost kills himself over it. (Daredevil Comics 001, 1941)

Josef Goebbels:

Goebbels, meanwhile, steals a codebreaking machine devised by by boy inventor Dickie Dean.

He doesn't manage to hang onto it for long before he gets beaten up and mummified by Dean and the Daredevil (and Zip Todd, of course). (Daredevil Comics 001, 1941)

the Koh-i-noor Diamond: 

Once more a big ol' gem is given a name that sounds like "Koh-i-noor," in this case the (baseball-sized!) Kohnoor Diamond. (Captain Battle Comics 002, 1941)

Lord Haw-Haw: 

Lord Garnett here is a bit of a rarity as he starts out as a masked spy who will be appearing in the next Generic Costumed Villain Round-Up and then, after shooting Whiz, King of Falcons (see the next Catalogue of Wounds) flees to Germany and takes up a career in propaganda broadcasting, where his distinctive and annoying laugh earns him the epithet "Lord Hee-Haw."

His new career doesn't last very long, as he is shot down by the Silver Streak while doing some aerial broadcasting. (Daredevil Comics 001, 1941)

Admiral von Roeder:

Who is von Roeder is a very good question, because I can find no evidence that he actually existed. There are four plausible explanations for this:

1. He's a fictional Nazi who somehow got conflated with real ones. 

2. There was an Admiral von Roeder but he was only noteworthy for exactly the length of time it took for this comic to be written and he thereafter sank into such obscurity that he is no longer remembered.

3. The state of internet search is so wretched that a moderately obscure Nazi is currently unsearchable.

4. They couldn't come up with a real Nazi Admiral and so just made one up. 

Regardless of his actual historicity, this von Roeder is beaten up by both Daredevil and a time-travelling Pirate Prince. (Daredevil Comics 001, 1941) 

Winston Churchill: 

Churchill invites both Daredevil and Silver Streak (and the most obnoxious version of Whiz, King of Falcons) to No. 10 Downing St to solicit their help with the war effort. (Daredevil Comics 001, 1941)

More of this kind of thing

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 929: THE BEAU

(Silver Streak Comics 010, 1941) 

The Beau is a piratical figure who uses his uncanny resemblance to the heroic Pirate Prince to take over the latter's ship and make off with all the treasure he had gathered in order to buy slaves and set them free. Although his motivation seems to be 100% loot and 0% perpetuation of slavery I suppose that we must consider the impact of his theft on others and give him a few more Evil Points for his deeds.  

The Beau makes the interesting decision to adopt a very adversarial and abusive relationship with the Pirate Prince's crew, rather than for instance, playing things cool and making up a believable lie about taking the treasure to be cleaned. They are therefore quite receptive when the real Pirate Prince, disguised as the Beau, shows up to challenge his rival to a duel to the death. In conclusion, a bad plan, poorly executed, but I like the name and you know I love a pirate.

Categorized in: Fraud (Heroic Impostors),  Origin (Villains of the Past), Theft (Piracy)

MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 079

Look anywhere and you won't find finer minor super-heroes. That's our guarantee!

Dickie Dean, Boy Inventor **UPDATE**: 

Dickie Dean, Boy Inventor, continues to live up to his moniker and churn out the boy inventions in 1941. Some highlights:

- several different models of remote controlled robot

- an autopilot for ships

-a code-breaking machine

- a device for viewing the past

- force rays

- a drilling machine

- a rope that is attracted to hair

- indestructible metal

- an invisibility device

- both a lightning cannon and a means of making natural lightning strike at specific targets 

- an oil detector

- a vertigo ray 

To facilitate his boundless inventive genius, in Silver Streak Comics 015 Dickie salvages a bunch of treasure from the ocean floor and uses it to build and staff a laboratory complex with one security guard and such features as a huge uncovered pit of lye. The plot potential is enormous.

This actually happened in Silver Streak Comics 006 in 1940 but I neglected to note it: Dickie Dean no longer lives in the real New Castle, Pennsylvania but the fictional Castleton, presumably also Pennsylvania. This also prompts him to change the "N" on his shirt to a "C". For about five issues until someone forgot, that is. 

Categorized in: Accessories (Various), Location (Castleton, Pennsylvania)

the Daredevil II:

After the second engagement between the Claw and the Daredevil in their ongoing battle for the future of the United States (watch this space), the Claw ends up in jail, unable to use his powers and one week away from execution. This, reasons Daredevil, is the perfect time to go fishing in the South Seas. And as soon as he leaves the Claw breaks jail and threatens the sovereignty of the nation once more. This is just basic narrative causality, friends.

The Claw then has a series of triumphs, culminating in him capturing and killing what appears to be the Daredevil! It's an ignominious end for the hero, so it's a good thing that it wasn't really him: the dead Daredevil turns out to be the original's never-before-seen-or-mentioned, unnamed brother, who tried to stand in for his sibling in his absence despite not having been raised by boomerangs or whatever Daredevil's current origin is, and paid the ultimate price for it. 

"Daredevil II" Hill is not only never given a first name but is never mentioned and certainly never mourned after the above panel. It's very sad, really. (Silver Streak Comics 009, 1941)

Categorized in: Catalogue of Wounds, Origins (Legacy Characters)

Secret Agent X-101: 

Secret Agent X-101 is actually newspaper publisher Bart Benson of the Daily Record, and while he doesn't bring anything too unique to the secret agent comics genre in his two appearances he is the first example I am aware of of the secret agent/ civilian life divide being treated like a super-hero and their secret identity, so that's something. (Silver Streak Comics 008, 1941)

Categorized in: Day Job (Newspaper Publisher), Profession (Espionage), Team Membership (US Secret Service)

the Pirate Prince: 

A pompadoured pirate captain who, along with a crew of lovable rogues named things like Merry, Flip and Gilly, battles against the slave trade and other sea-borne evils of the Age of Sail. Given that he robs Jean Lafitte of his ill-gotten booty in his first appearance, I'd wager that he operates somewhere around 1810 CE or so. 

While this strip is pretty consistent in its anti-slavery, pro brotherhood-of-man stance, it is also a 1940s comic, so it features quite a lot of comic relief racial humour. It's a real mixed message! (Silver Streak Comics 007, 1941)

Categorized in: Origin (Heroes of the Past), Profession (Pirate), Royalty (Princes)