MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 851: MORGANA LE FAY

(Weird Comics 007, 1940)

Here we are again with another Morgan(a) le Fay entry, our third in about a month and a half. Was there something in the water? This is also going to double as a micro Real Folk Round-Up, as all of the Arthurian characters who appear in the story are plot-relevant enough that I might as well detail them here as duplicate my effort.

Our Real Folk start off with Sir Gareth, Knight of the Round Table, brother to Gawaine, not quite the sort of household name knight as his brother or a Lancelot or a Galahad but held in pretty high esteem by the fans of such things. Gareth is rescued from a group of murderous knights by the Sorceress of Zoom after she travels back in time to avoid the burgeoning World War II, and is pining after his lady Elaine*, held captive by Morgana le Fay and destined to be married to the odious Mordred.

The Sorceress of Zoom, horny for Gareth, decides to aid him on his quest in hopes of finding a way to eliminate Elaine along the way. Approaching le Fay's castle, the duo find themselves imprisoned and facing death by the sword. 

The Sorceress' shirtless men prove a match for Morgana le Fay's knights; her flying dragons make short work of le Fay's flightless ones, and her magic is easily able to save Sir Gareth from being changed into a pig. Morgana le Fay is seemingly beaten!

The Sorceress of Zoom does not press her advantage, but instead encourages a joust for Elaine's freedom between Sir Gareth and Sir Mordred (not much of a character beyond being a generic evil knight here. He is portrayed as the son of Morgana le Fay rather than of her sister Margawse, but whether that is because that is so common a literary elision that it has entered the public consciousness or because Gareth is also the son of Margawse and having them be half brothers would be a complication that the story did not need, is hard to say). Her plan is to influence the joust so that Sir Gareth loses and thus is single, but is foiled in this by Merlin the Magician (also barely a character and just there to deus ex machina the Sorceress back to her own time), who tells her she is not wanted in Arthurian England. Morgana, while technically defeated and foiled, is left to go about her business.

*Lady Elaine is not a reference to a specific Arthurian character to my knowledge. There are a half dozen or so Elaines running around Camelot and its environs, and the only one connected to Sir Gareth is his aunt/ Morgana le Fay's sister, who she hopefully wouldn't be trying to marry to her son.

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Guest stars from reality! 

Arthuriana: 

Galahad is an ongoing feature inthe 1940 issues of Top-Notch Comics, which always means that we're going to have a variety of very on- and off-brand characters from Arthuriana in supporting roles. King Arthur here functions mainly as a questing hub for Galahad to report to between missions, for instance. (Top-Notch Comics 005, 1940)

Sir Kay, meanwhile, is very comfortably fulfilling his role as a low-level knight who can be defeated as a demonstration of basic competency. He also says his own name quite a lot. (Top-Notch Comics 005, 1940)

According to my copy of The Arthurian Companion, Lady Lynette appealed to King Arthur on behalf of her sister Lyonors, whose castle was being laid siege to by the evil Sir Ironsides and who was sent away with the green-around-the-ears Gareth rather than her preferred choices of Launcelot or Gawaine. Here, newly-minted knight Galahad stands in for Gareth and it is Lynette's own land that is under threat, (Top-Notch Comics 005, 1940)

The Second Galahad adventure features Queen Guinevere as the victim of a robbery: her possibly-magical Golden Chalice has been stolen. (Top-Notch Comics 006, 1940)

The culprit in the chalice theft is the Earl of Pellam, and I'm just going to assume that these names aren't just random collections of appropriate-sounding syllables. King Pellam features in a version of the tale of the Fisher King, which makes this a pretty ironic crime for him, with the grail of it all. (Top-Notch Comics 006, 1940)

Further, in the Pellam version of the Fisher King story, the Dolorous Stroke responsible for his eternal wound is dealt to him by the not-quite-a Knight of the Round Table Sir Balin le Sauvage, and so while it's a bit unusual to find a Sir Balin here in the Earl of Pellam's employ, it is perhaps on-brand that he ends up striking down his boss while trying to retrieve the Golden Chalice from Galahad. (Top-Notch Comics 006, 1940)

This very monk-like Merlin the Magician first shows up during the knight of the griffin affair and acts as and occasional magical support character thereafter. (Top-Notch Comics 007, 1940)

King Pellinore shows up to help Arthur fight off a joint invasion by the kings of Ireland and Denmark. (Top-Notch Comics 008, 1940)

The Lady of the Lake eventually shows up to give Galahad a magic sword, once he proves worthy to draw it, and she even gets a chance to do the whole "rising up out of the water with a sword" thing after Galahad loses it in a moat - when your whole raison d'etre is handing out swords you have to know all of these tricks. 

The sword itself has the terrible name "Scabor," and miiiiiiight be a reference to King David's Sword, which it resembles solely in the fact that it too could only be drawn by a worthy knight and that only Galahad qualified. (Top-Notch Comics 009, 1940)

Now for some non-Arthurian characters: 

Christopher Columbus: 

The Ghost and a couple of guys from the 20th Century end up in 1492 sailing the ocean blue with Columbus on the Santa Maria, and of course the Ghost is instrumental in making sure that the voyage to the New World is successful, which is a much less valorous achievement through modern eyes than it would have been in 1940. There's a bit at the end where the Ghost is allowed to fly the ship back to Spain so that they can catch the time-beam home, which I think ties into an early 20th Century bit about the Santa Maria going missing during the voyage, even though as far as I can tell it just got damaged and left behind. (Thrilling Comics 007, 1940)

George Washington: 

During a jaunt to the American Revolution in Professor Fenton's time machine, the Ghost not only helps deliver the news of the impending Hessian attack to Washington but both suggests the crossing of the Delaware and uses yogi magic to make it possible. (Thrilling Comics 009, 1940) 

Nero: 

This is the first time that Nero has shown up in the Real Person Round-Up and I'm gonna call it: it's never going to be a flattering depiction when he does. This time, he orders the Ghost and his two time travel companions tossed in the Colosseum to die in glorious combat. (Thrilling Comics 008, 1940) 

Oliver Cromwell: 

During another of the Ghost's jaunts into the past to recover some of the various Important Men that science-crook Professor Fenton had stashed away in Commonwealth-era England, he runs into the Lord Protector himself: Oliver Cromwell.

Cromwell employs the Ghost's talents to quash a rebellion by the Duke of Northumberland and I was all set to point out that the guy in the comic didn't look anything like the real historical character but upon looking into it it seems that though there have been many Dukes of Northumberland at the point in time that this comic was set there had not been any for about a century and would not be another for at least twenty-five years. This isn't as fun to point out! (Thrilling Comics 006, 1940) 

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Are you ready for some comic book versions of real life and fictional people? I sure hope so! 

Adolf Hitler:  

Premier Grahvin of the fictional African country of Cadiwa is a pretty broad pastiche of the Axis leaders, but the sheer speed at which he accelerates into full-blown dictator mode (before Mr Mystic turns up to reveal that he had not, in fact killed the king of Cadiwa and was not, in fact, in charge) must be highlighted. (The Spirit Section, 21 July, 1940)

Likewise, Karoly Gore is an Axis dictator pastiche from a Mr Mystic story a few weeks earlier (but I read them out of order so it's okay) (The Spirit Section, 9 June, 1940) 

Axtrol here is a third in our series of Axis dictator pastiches, and he's possibly the biggest shithead of the bunch. (The Spirit, "Dr Prince von Kalm", 17 November, 1940)

Nargoff, aka the Leader, is either a would-be North American dictator or the agent of a European one looking to set up a local franchise. Either way, the Spirit burns down his fake island/submarine base and then engineers a situation in which the might-makes-right philosophies espoused in Nargoff's book "The New Order" are explored by way of Nargoff and his burly assistant Max being stranded on a small boat in the Caribbean with a limited amount of water. (The Spirit, "The Leader", 29 December, 1940)

Don Juan: 

Mr Mystic and his fiance Elena encounter a whole castle full of ghosts in the woods of Spain, among whom is the spirit of the entirely fictional man Don Juan, who mistakes Elena for his missing wife Ysabel and almost kills her before himself being double-killed by Mystic. (The Spirit Section, 15 December, 1940)

Khufu aka Cheops: 

When Mr Mystic decides to go back in time to the creation of the Great Pyramid of Giza, he is mistaken for the god Ammon Ra and of course just immediately gets his grubby little mitts all over the progress of history. It's kind of okay, though, because the history he's in seems to already be a big mess - for instance, while Pharaoh Cheops is indeed the ruler supposed to have commissioned the building of the Great Pyramid c. 2600 BCE, the Babylonian invasion they're worried about is tricky because a) Babylonia is dated from 1890 BCE b) the earliest Nebuchadnezzar I can find ascended to the throne in 1121 BCE and c) given the cultural milieu that this comic was written in they're probably talking about Nebuchadnezzar II, the one from the Bible, who did invade Egypt a couple of times but didn't come to power until 605 BCE. Like I said: a real mess. Plus, Amun didn't even become associated with Ra until the 16th Century BCE!

There's also this guy, Prince Sargon of Babylonia, and while there's a part of me that wants to say that he's supposed to be Sargon II (the most famous Sargon, 722 BCE), I don't reckon that Bob Powell, mad as he was with creative power when he wrote this story, would make someone the son of someone else born a hundred years after them. Right? (Sargon does return as a time-travelling mummy out for revenge in the next installment of Mr Mystic but this alas does nothing to clear up the puzzle of his identity) (The Spirit Section, 29 September 1940)

Misc Arthurian Figures: 

During one of his jaunts into the past, the Ghost finds himself in Camelot, where he meets a very small selection of Arthurian figures (all of the big name knights are away on the Crusades, we are told). These include Sir Kay, who acts like a weird creep (accurate) and gets beaten up for his efforts, King Arthur, an amiable doormat, and Merlin the Magician, who is portrayed as a fraud with no magical power who sells out Arthur as soon as he gets the chance. An interesting choice for a comic about a magic man, but perfectly in keeping with 1940s secular values. (Thrilling Comics 005, 1940) 

Myrna Loy & William Powell: 

A simple flip of the last names renders Myrna Loy and William Powell into Myrna Powell and William Loy on this marquee, with a bonus "Boris Scarloff" for Boris Karloff. (The Spirit Section, 10 November, 1940)

Ty Cobb: 

If there's anything more tedious than a 1940s sports comic it's a 1940s hillbilly comic, so trust me when I say that this one-off about a baseball-playing hillbilly named Obadiah "Pie" Gobb is one of the the worst things I have ever read. 

What's even more egregious is the fact that while Pie Gobb and his new teammate Moe de Muggio (the World's Greatest Slugger, thanks to the fact that he eats his Fleeties every morning) are easy to identify as Ty Cobb and Joe DiMaggio, respectively, the rest of his team also have goofy names but as far as I can tell none of them are also puns on famous baseball players, meaning that I just spent all that time playing rhyming games on Wikipedia for no reason. (The Funnies 047, 1940)

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Time for another round! Of round-up!

Adolf Hitler: 

When time traveller Whiz Wilson journeys to the far future world of 1960 CE he gets mixed up in a scheme hatched by agents of this fellow, ruler of "the dictator realms of Europe." Is he meant to be Hitler or merely evoke him? Hard to say, but I for one think he's supposed to be Old Hitler. (Sure-Fire Comics 001, 1940)

He's not that much of a Hitler, but Don Ruizen, dictator of the South American country of Bolita, is absolutely a little guy with a toothbrush mustache who has started a ruinous war for his own enrichment (at the insistence of an oil company, but still). (Target Comics v1 001, 1940)

This is the back of Hitler's head in all but name - there's even a cut-off "fuhrer" in the first panel - from a fictional movie called The Maskless Axeman, about the dictator's very well-dressed executioner. (Target Comics v1 001, 1940)

Al Capone:

 Honestly not sure what percentage of guys like Boss Barone here are purposeful references to Al Capone and how many are just a result of the rhythm of his name entering the collective unconscious of comic book writers as sounding gang-bossy. (Target Comics v1 010, 1940)

Albert Lebrun:

It's the same old story: the White Streak is in Paris in 1940 and the President of France has been kidnapped. Do we count the fact that Albert Lebrun was President of France in 1940 higher than the fact that this unnamed president doesn't really look like Lebrun or vice versa? (Target Comics v1 005, 1940)

FDR:

Minor appearance by FDR to give the thesis of this White Streak adventure. (Target Comics v1 010, 1940)

Joseph Stalin:

He's unseen in the fake movie The Blue Zombie but Josef Malinsk (Joseph Stalin), dictator of Bolshemania (Russia) drives much of the action of the story when he orders the invasion of Coreland (Finland) and inspires the creation of the titular Blue Zombie (original creation). (Target Comics v1 006, 1940)

the Koh-i-Noor Diamond:

Once again "Kohinoor" crops up as shorthand for "a big gem," and this time it's even a diamond! As is often the case, the dang thing ends up being stolen and it's down to the Chameleon to recover it for its wealthy owner, if not the British Crown or the nation of India. (Target Comics v1 007, 1940)

the Mona Lisa: 

Whiz Wilson's exploration of the future takes him to Switzerland in the year 2040 AD, a land devastated by World War Four. He helps a band of Americans hold a castle stuffed full of treasure from a band of roving horselords, treasure that includes both the Mona Lisa and "the Venus statue" which I'm going to assume is the Venus de Milo and not, say, the Venus of Willendorf. (Sure-Fire Comics 002, 1940)

Robert Taylor: 

The smallest possible name check here: the never-seen Robert Baylor is almost certainly a reference to actor Robert Taylor. (Target Comics v1 002, 1940)

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 782: ERIC MACFADDEN

(Superworld Comics 001, 1940*)

Eric MacFadden is a criminal scientist who has some sort of longstanding beef with Hip Knox, the Super Hypnotist, that was presumably covered in Superworld Comics 001, a comics I have yet to encounter for the simple reason that it would cost me at least $ 2000 US.

MacFadden's signature technology is the extremely stylish mesh anti-hypnosis mask that he wears to protect him from Hip Knox's super-hypnotism, and he even has extras made to shield his men from the same (not a guarantee from your typical self-obsessed super-villain), making them the Mask Gang.

As Superworld Comics represents Hugo Gernsback's sole foray into comic book publishing, people more familiar with the politics and personalities of the sci-fi pulps than I am have speculated that Eric MacFadden is in some way based on Bernarr Macfadden, an enemy of Gernsback's, and I gotta say that he's a plausible guy to base a super-villain on. Like, obviously a man's whole life cannot be summed up by his Wikipedia article, but an anti-medicine physical culture weirdo who gave himself the name "Bernarr" because he thought it sounded like a lion's roar is at the very least super-villain adjacent.

If MacFadden is indeed based on Macfadden (he also changed his last name from "McFadden" to "Macfadden" because he thought that it was "a more masculine spelling!) due to a deep Gernsback/Macfadden beef then it would go a long way toward explaining the dynamic between the two, wherein MacFadden attempts to destroy Hip Knox and then Knox turns around and ritually humiliates MacFadden rather than seeking more traditional forms of justice, and for that reason Eric MacFadden joins the ranks of super-villains who are still at large as of their final appearance.

I would also like to make a special note of the fact that despite Hip Knox developing anti-mask technology in Superworld Comics 002, MacFadden does not then abandon the masks entirely, as is so frequently the case with science villains when their tech is countered. MacFadden is savvy - he knows that Knox isn't going to wear that big-ass backpack every time he leaves the house.

*Still haven't read Superworld Comics 001 but I am assured that he was in it.