MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 099

Super-heroes. Like heroes, but super.

Captain Midnight:

Like the second, more popular (though still pretty obscure) Captain Midnight that will be published by Fawcett starting in 1942, this fellow is an adaptation of the radio character, and unlike the second Captain Midnight, this one is a pretty direct adaptation. It's a bit abbreviated and you kind of have to keep referring to the Captain Midnight Wikipedia page to fill in the gaps where your assumed familiarity with the radio show lies, but it's all there:

Captain Midnight is an otherwise-unnamed pilot who gets his nickname after returning on the stroke of 12 after completing a secret mission to prevent Paris from being captured by the Germans during World War One. In the present day (1941) he is recruited to head a secret counter-espionage unit called the Secret Squadron by a mysterious government official who is implicitly Franklin Delano Roosevelt in disguise. 

The Secret Squadron has hidden airbases and headquarters all over the United States and is comprised of a horde of agents referred to by alphanumeric designations starting at SS-1 (Captain Midnight) up to at least SS-85 (the guy who runs the elevator in one of the bases). The "SS" part of the names is quietly changed to "SQ" once the US enters WWII, but I don't think that this comic book adaptation goes on long enough for that to be a concern.

Finally, Captain Midnight's flying clock insignia is very fun. (The Funnies 057, 1941)

Categorized in: Generica (Captains), Locations (Temporal Locations), Origins (WWI Vets)

the Great Zarro:

The Great Zarro is otherwise nameless adventurer with the power of flight. He is also one of the most bland super-heroes in the history of the medium, personality-wise.

A former circus acrobat, the Great Zarro lost his job, fiance and friends when a gang of extortionists burned the whole circus down and killed everyone but Rags, his lover's kid brother. The two swear an eternal war on crime and Zarro gains his ability to fly by consuming some magical herbs given to him by the circus fortune teller, who was just good enough to fortell that he would need them but evidently failed to see why. 

There are precisely two interesting things about this character: Firstly, that as a circus acrobat he was known as Eagle Man, while as a flying super-hero he goes by the Great Zarro. That's a fun little inversion of naming conventions!

Secondly, there's Rags. Rags is an example of something that you occasionally get with comic relief characters, where they and only they are rendered as a full cartoon while everyone else is in a comic book. This is a particularly egregious clash of styles in a comic as full of stiff, human-proportioned figures as "The Great Zarro," rendering Rags more of a figure of horror than comedy. Rags finally becomes a real boy in the third and final Zarro adventure, but it's too little too late. (Great Comics 001, 1941)

Categorized in: Day Jobs (Circus Acrobats), Language (Superlatives (Greats)), Powers (Flight)

Madame Strange:

On the one hand, Madame Strange is pretty great: she's at least somewhat super fast and super strong, will throw a knife at the drop of a hat and prevents the Japanese destruction of Pearl Harbor in November 1941 (though not the one in December). Just like Ripley in Alien, she is an example of a character not being written as a "girl-version" of a default-male archetype but simply as that archetype, which is basically always the more entertaining option.

On the other hand, Madam Strange suffers from the same lack of depth - including any sort of backstory - as so many of her peers. Sure she can throw a knife into a goon from a city block away, but is that enough? I also do not care for the combination of red top, pale blue bottoms, aesthetically.  (Great Comics 001, 1941)

Categorized in: Abstract Concepts (Strangeness), Genrica (Madames), Powers (Enhanced Strength and Speed) 

the Green Mask and Domino the Miracle Boy **Update**:

I am reasonably certain that this is the first time that Domino is given a first name. Don! He's Don! (Green Mask v1 006, 1941)

The same issue that Don gets his name also marks the introduction of the Green Mask's expanded supporting cast. Joining his reporter pal News Blake are heiress/ love interest Olivia Tracey and her chauffeur Peters, who serves as comic relief thanks to his two character traits of "enthusiastic tinkerer" and "very clumsy and hapless." (Green Mask v1 006, 1941)

I can't find anywhere that it's explicitly stated (which may be exacerbated by the fact that the only copy of this issue that I can find is missing 8 pages or so) but by Green Mask v1 008 Olivia Tracey seems to explicitly know that Michael Shelby and the Green Mask - and by extension Don and Domino - are the same.

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.

MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 097

It's astonishing. They just keep on coming up with more super-heroes.

the Flame **UPDATE**:

Like many other long-running Fox Features characters, the Flame gets a bit of an overhaul late in 1941. In the Flame's case, this includes an expansion to his powers: long able to get around by running on the stream of fire produced by his flame gun, the Flame is now simply able to fly. He can also now pick up and move fire around, as seen in this very innovative bit of fire-fighting in The Flame 006.

The Flame also gets a proper secret identity (Gary Preston) and a job (private investigator) as a part of this revamp. And he gets a supporting cast, in the form of secretary Linda Dale and punch drunk ex-boxer/assistant/comic relief character Pug! (The Flame 007, 1941)

Finally, though the Flame was explicitly a NYC-based super-hero in his earliest experiences, his 1940-41 adventures frequently have the liminal feel of the many stories set in generic unnamed US cities. In one of his very final appearances, he gets a proper fictional burg to call his own: Big City. (Big 3 006, 1941)

the Yank and the Rebel:

I think I've occasionally mentioned the inherent ridiculousness of the concepts behind many if not all patriotic super-heroes - it's something that really jumps out at you as you read through as many Golden Age comics as I have. Please believe me, then, when I say that the Yank and the Rebel are the most conceptually ludicrous patriotic heroes of the lot, and I will be thoroughly (and probably not pleasantly) surprised if I'm ever proven wrong.

As might be surmised from their names, the Yank and the Rebel are two otherwise unidentified soldiers who are on opposite sides during the American Civil War. While locked in hand-to-hand-to-gun combat, the two fall into a fissure opened by the artillery bombardments at the Battle of Gettysburg, landing next to a convenient radioactive pool that holds them in a state of suspended animation for the next seventy-eight years.

The duo are eventually awakened when Army manoeuvres re-open the cavern, and they resume their battle until a helpful general explains that the American Civil War ended in some sort of peaceful draw, that nobody really "lost" or "won" the war and that the North and the South are all totally cool with one another now. So why did he put so much spin on history? Probably for the same notion of national unity in the face of war that inspired the people at Fox Features to do so.

Regardless of the reasoning behind them, the officer's words inspire a new spirit of patriotism and cooperation in the Yank and the Rebel, and the two team up to hunt spies and saboteurs for two whole adventures before evaporating in the Fox Features financial crisis of 1942. In what is certain to be a massive surprise to nobody, no modern publisher has taken advantage of the fact that these fellows are in the public domain. (The Flame 007, 1941)

Categorized in: Locations (Specific Places), Origin (Patriotic Heroes), Team Membership (Confederate Army, Union Army) 

Vulcan **UPDATE**:

Taking a cue from the Flame, fellow fire-themed hero Vulcan gets a slight expansion to his powers in 1941: he can now create and use flame constructs such as this cool sword. (Four Favorites 001, 1941) 

It's not all good news for our favourite demigod, howver, as 1941 is also the year that Vulcan is given a weakness to cold. (Four Favorites 002, 1941)

Lash Lightning **UPDATE**:

Lash Lightning gives blood to injured army private Tom Jasper, who immediately develops mild superhumanism in the form of increased muscle mass and vigour. This is especially notable because it really is the ultimate expression of the writers on this feature forgetting that Lash's powers are derived from a magical amulet and not from his own body. Sad times. (Four Favorites 002, 1941)

MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 093

Fox Features, you burned hot and bright and brought us so many minor super-heroes.

the Black Fury:

The Black Fury, like Bob Phantom before him, is a newspaper gossip columnist who moonlights as a costumed vigilante. What are the chances that we would have two of those? I enjoy his costume even if it is somewhat generic even for 1941, though I am a bit upset that the glowing gemstone on his and his sidekick's foreheads is never addressed. For instance: is it really glowing or is that a stylistic choice?

As of his first appearance, John has already been the Black Fury for an unspecified amount of time, having adopted the mantle after his father was killed by gangsters for writing "anti-crime editorials" in the newspaper, a thing that comic book criminals react to like they are a farm lobby trying to influence government nutritional guidelines. (Fantastic Comics 017, 1941)

Categorized in: Day Job (Newspaper Columnists), Origin (Crime Orphans), Supranormal Beings (Mythological - Furies)

Chuck:

John Perry relates his origin as the Black Fury to young Chuck Marley after Chuck's own father, Police Sergeant Marley, is killed by henchmen of the evil Fang. Chuck is essentially bequeathed to Perry as the elder Marley lies dying, which is a very straightforward way for a hero to acquire a boy for sidekick duties.

Chuck does not get his own super-hero name, alas (at least not right away, spoilers for some comics from 1942), but he does get his own costume, which is more than a lot of sidekicks can say. The fact that his costume is exactly the same as the Black Fury's does make it a bit difficult to tell them apart at times but that's a small price to pay for the peace of mind of knowing that Chuck's identity is at least somewhat protected. (Fantastic Comics 017, 1941)

Categorized in: Day Job (High School Students),  Origin (Crime Orphans), Origin (Sidekicks)

the Banshee:

The origin story of the Banshee involves a remarkable number of steps. First, Irishman Jim O'Donnell finds that his step-father has been murdered out on the moors by the evil Scorpion, who is only prevented from bumping off Jim as well because he is extremely superstitious, mistakes a wailing wind for the cry of a banshee and runs off.

Jim discovers that the Scorpion has set out for the United States and, unable to secure a visa ("I am seeking vengeance on my step-father's killer" seemingly not good enough. Probably they would have let him in if it was his full-on father, though) stows away on a steamship. He is spotted disembarking in New York, making him one of the small group of super-heroes whose civilian rather than super identities are wanted by the authorities and the only one that I am aware of who is wanted for entering the country illegally.

But just why is the Scorpion in America? Why, to murder Jim's step-father's niece, who, as his only remaining blood relative, will inherit some land that is rich in gold and which the Scorpion is trying to get his mitts on. Just why Jim is out of the picture is unexplained - he and his step-dad have a relationship that is at the very least strong enough for a vengeance quest, so why shouldn't Jim be in the will?

Jim once again benefits from the Scorpion's banshee-focused superstitions after he falls through a load of bedsheets and onto the villain's head, with an assist by a distant police siren. This might just be the rarest and dumbest of super-hero costume origins, the Dressed by Slapstick approach.

Having enacted his vengeance, Jim decides to remain in the US and continue his fight against crime as the Banshee. He throws together a more super-heroic version of his accidental costume and crashes on Joan's couch while he figures out what to do about work, and it's okay that Joan kind of becomes his love interest because she is only his step-cousin. 

All this just to have an Irish guy fighting crime in NYC.  (Fantastic Comics 021, 1941)

(from Fantastic Comics 022 on, Jim adopts a simpler version of his initial pass at the super-hero look. He also adopts the "banshee wail" as his calling card rather than simply relying on it to happen diegetically as needed)

Categorized in: Accessories (Style - Calling Cards, Costume Origins),  Origin (Crime Orphans), Supranormal Beings (Banshees)

Samson **UPDATE**:

Some time in mid-to-late 1941, Fox Features presumably decided to round out a few of their more prominent characters such as the Flame, the Green Mask and Samson and give them a supporting cast so that they weren't just ping-ponging from adventure to adventure without any sense of continuity. In Samson's case, he gained a love interest with the very on-the-nose name of Lila Dee, along with a moderately annoying comic relief character in the form of perpetually-horny artist J. Rembrandt Speedball.

The same issue marks the very first time that someone thought to have David use a sling instead of just going around lassoing people the whole time. Credit to Al Carreño for that one. (Fantastic Comics 022, 1941)

This is also when Samson takes a stab at having a secret identity, but since he still has to have his trademark shoulder-length hair and that is a Huge Giveaway in 1941, this involves wearing a Very Big Coat with a Very Big Collar that he can pull up around his ears. Did he even try a wig before going coat shopping, you reckon? (Fantastic Comics 023, 1941)