MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 175: THE MAN WITHOUT A FACE

(Bulletman 002, 1941) 

Gangster Scar Malone was convicted of murder and sentenced to the electric chair. He swore revenge against the judge and jury, as you do. And once you've done that kind of thing, you only have a few options: fake your own death so you can come back as a fake ghost to kill your enemies; arrange for your body to be taken to a scientist or magic man for post execution revival so you can slay your enemies; have your secret twin pose as your vengeful spirit to kill your enemies, or do what Malone opts for: simply escape while on the way from trial to prison, (optionally searing your face off with hot steam while doing so) and come back months later to kill your enemies.

If I'm to judge (haha) a judge and jury revenge killer's relative quality, it's going to be a numbers game - just how many of their self-assigned targets did they manage to take out. Even though he was a master of escape and disguise, the Man Without a Face managed a mere 2/13 or 15% before being thrown off a roof by Bulletman. A poor showing indeed.

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 174: THE LIMPING MUMMY

(Bulletman 002, 1941)

I cannot tell a lie: I love a fake mummy. I can't help it - there's something about a crook going to the trouble of wrapping themself up in old linen that is very endearing to me. And as with our friend here, they often have a modifier to distinguish them from the workaday mummies that you see everywhere. They're a Golden Mummy or a Missing Mummy, or, as with our boy here, a Limping Mummy.

The actual reason for mummying up is usually the same: disguise yourself so that you can rob a museum or steal some Egyptian artifacts or steal some Egyptian artifacts from a museum. The reason our guy is a limping mummy is that he decided to add another layer to his disguise and throw suspicion on Benhurst the museum director, who walks with a cane.

And then, he attempts a third layer of obfuscation by using his civilian identity, newspaper editor Jason Hilder, to slam the police for not being able to deal with all these mummy crimes! This is actually a terrible idea, since Hilder wasn't at all involved before and he actually ends up getting caught because he takes it too far and attacks Sergeant Kent of the police for... some reason? The Limping Mummy's plot doesn't really hold together is I guess what I've been trying to lay out here.

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 173: THE HUNCHBACK

(Bulletman 002, 1941)

There are many Hunchbacks, both actual and fake, in the ranks of the minor super-villain, alas. Victor Hugo has much to answer for. This Hunchback is a former actor whose back (and presumably mind) was injured in a fall and thereafter resolved to kill all leading men at a particular theatre via dart to the neck.

The real standout of the story is not the Hunchback but rather red herring murder suspect Matt Benson, seen here being a completely unsuspicious witness:

And here being careful not to make himself seem like he might have done it:

I sincerely think that in all my years of reading this kind of story I have not seen a suspect with less chill. The man could not order a cup of coffee without implying that he had strangled someone for the cash he was using to pay for it.

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 172: THE LARGEST MAN IN THE WORLD

(Bulletman 001, 1941)

The Largest Man in the World is exactly what it says on the tin: an unfeasibly enormous dude. By himself, not much of a threat so long as he gets a regular supply of molasses to eat. It's just too bad for society that he is spotted by crooks and used as a living siege weapon to rob and kill.

The really remarkable thing about the Largest Man in the World is that his gangster pal is Machine Gun Kelly. Like, the real guy - the actual real-world crook. This is completely wild to me for two reasons. Firstly, Machine Gun Kelly was jailed in 1933 and died in prison, so when this comic came out he had not been a real-world crime concern in over 8 years.

Secondly, I think I've mentioned how Golden Age comics frequently went out of their way not to use actual country names, and with people, even criminal people, it's even more pronounced. Al Capone isn't going to show up in a comic, but Al Tyrone, Al Maloney or Andy Carpon will. Hell, Adolf Hitler largely appears under light pseudonyms before the US enters WWII. It's weird and wild to see Machine Gun Kelly just running around talking about his machine gun, and that's before they kill him - a man who will go on to live for another 13 years in prison, remember - off!

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 171: THE VOICE

(Bulletman 001, 1940)

There is a pretty broad swath of the super-villain community (and an even larger cohort of generic costumed villains) who have the common origin of being respectable members of society who need a second identity to head a gang or catburgle or do murders under the guise of.

The gang leaders tend to stick to a few different styles of dress: there's the domino mask wearers, the executioners-style hood guys and the more cautious head-to-toe robe wearers. The Voice here is part of a very specific type of these guys who only appear in silhouette - not particularly common, probably because it ends up tying them pretty thoroughly to a specific locale.

The Voice doesn't have too much to distinguish him: he's running for district attorney and making a lot of political hay out of all the crimes being committed by the gang he himself is running. The really unusual thing about him is that he and his gang find out Bulletman's secret identity over the course of the story and then... nothing. They go to jail, with none of the usual mind-wipes, elaborate deceptions or gruesome deaths that usually ensure that those who learn a hero's secrets do not retain them. Just between 4 and 10 hardened crooks nursing that knowledge as they are taken away by the police. Remarkable stuff!

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 170: THE BLACK SPIDER

(Bulletman 001, 1941)

What makes them a super-villain? The Black Spider is Jules Rey, a French crook who got caught in NYC and shipped back to France, where he was thrown in a dungeon, went blind, befriended the spiders in his cell and escaped. Now he's back for revenge on those he blames for his circumstances, including Jim "Bulletman" Barr and his coworker and future father-in-law Sergeant Kent. Plus he dresses in a kind of low-rent Batman costume.

What is interesting about them? Mostly that there is no actual indication in-comic that this guy is either blind or French, other than when they say he is late in the comic. Also he dies for no real reason, just a "he's dead!".

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 169: THE SWAMP MASTER

(Blue Beetle Comics 010, 1941)

Once again I am faced with the painful dichotomy of a villain with all of the trappings I love - he's a bombastic loudmouth with a bunch of costumed henchmen, who uses simple trickery to appear superhuman - but uses them in service to some frankly uninspired crimes.

In this case, the Swamp Master (great name, too!) emerges from the swamp (natch) with his wet-suited Swampmen and a saurian monster that is actually a disguised series of cranes and flatcars. Driven by a lust for cold hard cash, he and the Swampmen steal whole trains and remove them to the swamp for looting.

The problem with this scheme is... everything? Stealing and looting entire trains (and murdering everyone on board!) might be a viable money-making scheme if you're mobile, but just sitting in one place and doing it over and over, particularly in a super-hero universe, is a surefire ticket to jail or the grave, and the Swamp Master is lucky that he got the former.