(Crack Comics 012-013, 1941)
CAPTAIN X IS A WOMAN!
Yes, it's the ol' gender switcheroo, which is perhaps not as mind-blowing in 2022 as it was in 1941. Evidently, though, it's almost unthinkable by 2441.
(Crack Comics 010, 1941)
The Jester is your standard costumed thief. He commits a series of daring robberies that would in the normal course of things land him in the slammer at the end of a super-hero's fist.
But before Madam Fatal, the hero of this particular feature, can get around to the business of stopping the Jester, the man himself shows up, knocks out Fatal's civilian guise Richard Stanton and kidnaps his friend Professor Mason. OR DOES HE?
No, he doesn't. It turns out that a gang of crooks is framing the real Jester in order to avoid suspicion, but since the Jester is in actuality Professor Mason's estranged son Robert, a rare hero-villain teamup ensues, Professor Mason is rescued and the usually absolutist morality of the Golden Age takes a break as the Jester is allowed to leave having fulfilled his filial duty.
(Crack Comics 010, 1941)
The Sophisticated Lady is a femme fatale thief of the kind that comics love. She has a decent career going as the comic opens but the Black Condor shows up to put the kibosh on it. Sadly she doesn't actually get to do that much on-panel, but the terrific name makes up for it a little.
(Crack Comics 009, 1941)
(Crack Comics 009, 1941)
She does have a really great costume, though. Top marks for style.
(Crack Comics 008, 1940)
Kind of a weird and somewhat problematic case - Stuporman, like the Largest Man in the World before him, is a superhuman man of limited intelligence who is used as a living weapon by crooks until being killed by the hero of the piece, in this case the Clock. He comes from Mongolia, which is, like, the most remote and mysterious place that 1940s comics writers could think of.
Frankly, the only real reason I include Stuporman is his name, which is clearly a dig at Quality Comics' Distinguished Competition, particularly in an adventure of the Clock, occasionally advertised as the "oldest and best comic book character." And now he has defeated the big dumb strongman! He has won!
(Crack Comics 007, 1940)
There is no textual evidence for this, but since this guy is dressed exactly like the unnamed boss of the Skull Gang (plus some rad horns) and uses the very similar tactic of dosing his minions (the Robbers from Hades - good name) with toxins that make them all shriveled and weird (and in this case more pliable and obedient), I like to think that it's the same guy back for another shot at making his fortune in the crime boss game, albeit without taking the very sensible precaution of, say, switching cities or otherwise trying to avoid the Clock. This time, alas, he meets his end, so we won't be treated to a green-hooded man with a tail leading squads of Demonic Monkey Marauders, or a green-hooded man with a tinfoil halo commanding his Larceny Angels. Sad days.
(Jackpot Comics 004, 1941) An otherwise-unnamed portraitist, the Artist finds himself down on his luck because he refuses to flatter his cli...
