GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 036

Every one of them a disappointment to their parents. 

Mr Axis: 

He may just be a regular Nazi spy* lurking around Washington DC and disrupting trade deals between the US and the rubber-rich nation of Rumbia, but his name is Mr Axis! Such a perfect name for a fascist super-villain and yet one that seemingly was only used once**. Patriotic super-hero Miss Victory really puts the boots to him in her debut adventure. (Captain Fearless Comics 001, 1941)

* Technically by my usual metrics I'd call this guy a crypto-fascist of no clear national origin but c'mon: his name is Mr Axis.

**Except that he does reappear in Captain Aero Comics 011, in which this story is retold unchanged but with different art. Weird stuff.

Categorized Under: Crime as Theme (Fascism), Generica (Misters)

the Arson Ring:

Considering the fact that his feature is called "Blaze Baylor and the Arson Ring" I really expected super arson investigator Blaze Baylor to be contending with the same group of arsonists - a ring, if you will - throughout his adventures. This is not in fact the case, or at least it is not supported in the text. Blaze does battle the Arson Ring in his first outing and they are heavily implied to be the ones who killed his dad Smoky Baylor, so that's something. (Cat-Man Comics 001 1941)

Categorized under: Crime as Theme (Arson), Generica (Rings), Narrative Footballs (Origin Guys)

Igor and his Mother:

This unnamed woman and her son Igor live in poverty on the outskirts of an unnamed city and come into conflict with the Black Widow after turning their inborn talents (Igor being very strong and his mother so ugly that she can stop a man's heart) to crime. Igor ends up being shot by the Black Widow, while his mother dies in an attempt to burn their hovel down and kill the hero. (Cat-Man Comics 001 1941)

Karl von Keilman: 

Though you might think that Karl von Keilman is a mad or criminal scientist from the way he dresses, this is in fact stolen valour as it is Karl's brother Abner who is the scientific mind of the family. Abner is the one responsible for creating the Dolls of Death, self-propelled and self-guided bombs that he had intended to turn over to the War Department before Karl showed up, killed him and started using them to blow up defense factories.

Karl didn't reckon, however, on the fact that his brother was friends with the Deacon and so a super-heroic nose would be poked into his business. He also never learned not to get into an indoor fight when your weapon of choice is exploding dolls. (Cat-Man Comics 002, 1941)

Categorized under: Accessories (Little Robots), Murder (Fratricides)

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 867: THE MASKED MAN

(Wonderworld Comics 017, 1940) 

Our story opens as a man named John Daniels approaches Yarko the Great after a show and requests his aid in preventing whatever fate befell his mysteriously missing brother James from also happening to him, as threatened by an ominous note. Yarko of course accepts.

I wouldn't call this the most clearly-plotted comic story of all time, so instead of laying everything out in sequence I'll just introduce the cast of characters:

John Daniels: Receiver of threats and client to Yarko. Is almost immediately murdered by the Masked Man.

Philip Daniels: Hostile to Yarko's presence from the start. High-strung. Murdered about halfway through the story.

Miss West: Almost completely inconsequential. Seemingly there to pad out crowd scenes.

Countess Maureen: Mysterious femme fatale house guest.

James Daniels: The missing brother. His watch is found on a skeleton in a hidden room (please ignore that Yarko is calling him John - it's James), which must mean that it's his skeleton.

Cousin Daniels: Shows up at the very end after most of the suspects have been murdered, just to pad things out for a panel or two.

The Masked Man: Your basic murderous man in a suit and cowl. As always I appreciate the fact that he has a nose hole in his surprisingly rigid-looking mask. Yarko ends up going a couple rounds with him but does not actually manage to capture him. Considering that Yarko is functionally omnipotent and coupled with the fact that the Masked Man murders two guys right under his nose might just make him the most competent villain that we've seen in a while.

All good things must come to an end, however, and Yarko eventually figures out that a) the skeleton with the watch was actually a clever ruse and b) the Countess is in fact James Daniels in disguise! He makes a go of attempting to kill Yarko even after being exposed (and please note how much more masculine his face looks after the wig comes off - I would say that perhaps James had some magic of his own but that happens basically every time a situation like this is the crux of a comic book plot in the 40s) but it's a lost cause at that point. And just why did he do all those murders anyway? Why, for the inheritance, of course!

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 690: VULCAN

(Pep Comics 006, 1940)

A man working in a London steam plant dies by falling into an industrial furnace. A horrible thing to happen! Why am I showing you this horrible thing?

I am showing it to you because it is not in fact a horrible accident but a horrible murder, and we know that because the murderer left a horrible little bit of doggerel in order to crow about what he did, and he signed it "Vulcan."

Our old pal Inspector Bentley of Scotland Yard is brought in on this case, and it's a lucky day for him because there are only four possible suspects: the four men who were in the immediate area when John Baker was killed, including his father, his brothers Rex and Bob and his romantic rival Barney Reyman. Like I said: lucky for Inspector Bentley because I'm beginning to suspect that he isn't a particularly astute detective when he doesn't have a guy in a rubber mask to hit with his cane.

Am I saying this because Bentley's only idea is to have everyone go back to where they were when the murder took place with the foreman standing in for his son and Pa Baker is basically instantly murdered too? Kind of, but it's more of an observation that his investigations are a bit brute force. For instance, once this second member of the Baker clan is bumped off, Bentley arranges for another one to stand in front of the open furnace.

Did Bentley know what he was doing? Was he calling Bob Baker's bluff in order to force him to confess by dodging the deathtrap he had set up for his family members (a button-activated swinging pipe, fyi)? It's possible, but I personally think that the "Vulcan = hatred for father and brothers" clue is some bullshit. Does Vulcan have more than his share of family drama? Absolutely, but no more than any other Greco-Roman god and frankly I would peg a guy named Vulcan as a potential matricide, if anything.

So was he right or just trying to winnow down the suspect list a bit? Inspector Bentley will never tell.

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 247: THE HAND

(Flash Comics v1 015, 1941)

It's old hat by now: like former Hawkman foe Czar the Unkillable Man and his ilk, the Hand is a henchbeing who is far more interesting to read and talk about than their creator. This is the risk you run when you set out to create an autonomous crime-servant via... I'm guessing magical means? It's unclear in the text but magic seems more likely than science.

In this case, the creator is a guy named Edward Thayer, the black sheep of a wealthy family who has decided to turn his amazing talking and flying disembodied hand to the sordid task of killing off his brother Elwin and niece Teddy so that he can inherit enough money to convince some lady to sleep with him. Cue my usual complaints about crooks in super-hero universes not aiming high enough.

Edward never gets to see his ill-gotten money, though, because Sandra (the lady in question) decides to bump him off for a quick buck. Which leads to the above panel: not only a rare hero/ villain teamup but an as-far-as-I-know unique hero/ disembodied hand teamup! Sadly, the revenge rampage ends with not only Sandra but the Hand itself seemingly plummeting to their deaths in a crashing car. Boo, says I! The Hand should be BRUNG BACK post-haste! Give it a bartending job somewhere.

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 154: THE YELLOW-FACED TERROR

(All-Star Comics 002, 1940)

What makes them a super-villain? He's a money-mad maniac who murdered his own brother to steal a radiation-orb called the Life-Taker, which he uses to rob by the simple act of lobbing it into an area and waiting until it has killed any resistance. He also has a pretty great look, achieved via a crust of a sulphur/lead compound which shields him from his own orb's radiations. What he doesn't really have is a name, so I snitched the one used in the above text box.

What's interesting about them? Well, it's a bit debatable but the Sandman might have murdered him. He discovers Wesley Dodds' secret in the course of the adventure and then in the final struggle... it kind of looks like the Sandman arranges for him to be shot through the head a bit more enthusiastically than needed. Maybe.

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 063: CHALO

(Action Comics 024, 1940)

Chalo was a stage magician who murdered his own brother to acquire real magical secrets which in turn he used for crime. He took a page from the Mad Lama's book and hired at least one other magical crook as a henchman, a fire- and snake-summoner named Arko.

By far the best thing about Chalo, however, is that his major use of the powers he murdered his brother to get is summoning a weird toad that freaks everyone out. He does it twice! Solid minor villain, should be BROUGHT BACK in the background of the Oblivion Bar or somewhere like that.