MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 919: THE WEREWOLF

(Cat-Man Comics 005, 1941)

There are three remarkable things about the story of the Werewolf. The first is that it finally establishes that the city that the Pied Piper operates out of has a name and that it is Central City - this both a nice thing to have cleared up and a fun coincidence, given that the other comic book Pied Piper, the Flash villain, also lives in a place with that name. 

The second thing is just how clearly and concisely the Werewolf's motivation is: he was bitten by a werewolf while in Tibet some ten years earlier and he blames his colleagues, Doctors Martin and Smith, for not treating him properly and thus not preventing his eventual transformation. Specifically, Arno becomes filled with murderous vengeance when he realizes that his gnarled werewolf hands are no longer capable of performing brain surgery.

Thirdly is this story's treatment of lycanthropy. Among the points of interest:

- Arno is bitten c. 1931 but does not transform until ten years later. 

- Just what the "werewolf" that bit him in Tibet is is unclear. It's probably meant to be a man-beast of the type that Arno himself has turned into, but 1940s comics also commonly refer to vampire bats as vampires and this has made me gunshy. 

- Speaking of man-beasts: like the other Werewolf we have encountered, Arno is much more man than wolf. I'm sure that over time we will be able to identify trends in the morphology of comic book lycanthropes.

- Arno treats his condition as if it is permanent, but the action of the story takes place over the course of two days, meaning that the full moon (implied to be the trigger for the initial transformation) has not yet passed. Presumably Arno did not turn back during the day or he might have been a bit less murderous about the whole thing.

- On that note, it's a bit unclear how much of Arno's homicidal inclination is revenge and how much is werewolf insanity. 

Though the Pied Piper is unable to prevent the Werewolf from murdering Dr Martin, he is able to track him to the abandoned lighthouse that he has holed up in and learn Arno's motivation. The Piper's magical instrument proves not only able to subdue a crazed wolfman but also to exert enough sheer musical force to bring the building down on his head to end his reign of terror.

In the end, the Pied Piper and Dr Smith decide that the Werewolf was not wholly to blame for his crimes and conceal Arno's involvement in them, meaning that Dr Ralph Arno is just kind of Famously Missing.

REVENGE KILLER SCORE: 1/2

Categorized in: Accessories (Lighthouse), Day Jobs (Brain Surgeons), Supranormal Beings (Lycanthropes)

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 201: THE WEREWOLF

(Crack Comics 015, 1941) 

I love the Werewolf, and here's a list of the things I love about him:

-His name: He has the unlikely handle of Prescott Taunton. A minor point but a good one.

-His motivation: Prescott is a writer. Specifically, he wrote a book about lycanthropy and then shopped it around enough to get rejected at least seven times. And then he started murdering the people who rejected his work.

-His ambiguous lycanthropy: Is he a werewolf or just nuts? In the real world the answer would be the latter, but in a comic book universe there's room for the kind of low-grade feral human style of lycanthropy that appears to be on display here, which I love. He does seem to have undergone some minor physical changes so I'm inclined to believe that he's the real deal.

-His ease of capture: Though he puts up a bit of a fight and manages to flee his penthouse lair when the Clock and his pal Pug show up, it's a very short reprieve as he doesn't even make it to a proper second location, being knocked out in one punch on the street below.

It's been a while since I said that a villain should be BRUNG BACK but I'm saying it now - homicidal sensitive-to-rejection possible werewolf writer is a fun villain hook! Lift the story entirely and give it to the Creeper or someone!