GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 024

None of these guys are ever going to be in a movie. 

It's been a while since we've seen any masked cowboys, so here's a particularly well-dressed bunch about to have a scrap with the Rio Kid. He doesn't get the upper hand in this particular encounter, but by gum he eventually brings rancher John Wendel and his whole gang of rustlers to justice. (Thrilling Comics 002, 1940)

Likewise, it's been a while since we've seen a masked Nazi spy, and even though we only get one panel of X-5 aka Captain Clarke here, he fits the bill as he arranges to frame Tom Niles, the Undersea Raider, for espionage. (Thrilling Comics 006, 1940) 

This completely unnamed masked killer is actually Violet Parsons, who has an especially poor reaction to being cut out of her father's will: she murders her brothers Frank and Henry and tries to pin the killings on her insane brother Robert. She is ultimately undone by the fact that a person, even one who has had a nervous breakdown, won't automatically turn into a ravening beast man if you lock them in a room until they grow a long beard. The Woman in Red triumphs once more. (Thrilling Comics 008, 1940)

Someone has been murdering everyone who stays in the De Luxe Suite of the Hotel Metropolis, and the Woman in Red is on the case. The murderer turns out to be Mr Bascom, the hotel manager who used to be the hotel's owner, who couldn't stand to see the hotel's new owner make a success out of a business he failed at. He only shows up in this mask for a few panels, but I would like to point out it's unusual length, required so as to cover up Bascom's mustache. (Thrilling Comics 009, 1940)

NOTES: JULY 2025

The Fates of Various Nazi Warships: 

Given the penchant for featuring even quite famous and obvious things under false names in comics, I always end up noticing when something or someone shows up under their own moniker, which is why I was very surprised when Royal Navy submarine captain Tom Niles, aka the Undersea Raider, is responsible for sinking several real Nazi warships in this 1940 comic. The casualties include the cruiser Admiral Scheer (sunk in 1945 in our world) and the battleships Bismarck (scuttled in 1941), and Scharnhorst (sunk in 1943). I had thought that the Admiral Graf Spee was another of these anachronistically early kills, but this depiction of it's scuttling off of Montevideo, Uruguay is broadly accurate, except that it happened in 1939. A wild time for naval combat. (Thrilling Comics 004, 1940)

The Fate of Rome:

Specifically, the fate of Rome during the Great Fire of 64 CE. There are a lot of theories about how and why the fire was started, but very few of them revolve around it accidentally being started by magician/adventurer the Ghost and his companions while attempting to escape Emperor Nero's soldiers with the help of an electric ray projector. (Thrilling Comics 008, 1940) 

Honours - Doc Strange: 

Doc Strange is given an unspecified medal by FDR for foiling a plot to bomb Washington DC. (Thrilling Comics 010, 1940) 

The next issue, Doc gets a parade for saving NYC from being bombed into dust. (Thrilling Comics 011, 1940) 

Honours - the Firefly: 

Harley "the Firefly" Hudson was Intercollegiate Pole Vault Champion during his time at NYU - plus he went to NYU! Very exciting to know exactly where a super-hero got his education. (Top-Notch Comics 009, 1940) 

Honours - Fran Frazer: 

Magazine photographer Fran Frazer receives a medal from the country of Murania for preventing a Nazi invasion. (Top-Notch Comics 010, 1940) 

Alternate Identity: 

Doc Strange, while suffering from amnesia, boxes world heavyweight champion Bull Gallagher under the identity of the Unknown. (Thrilling Comics 001, 1940)