Updates: 03-17-09

The Blitz: 1941, Wonderworld Comics #21 (Fox). Murderous criminal mastermind with an eye patch over his left eye. He had two loyal and equally murderous henchmen by the name of Geepy and Slug. He fought the Black Lion and Cub continuously for their six issue run.

The Chief (otherwise un-named): 1940, Crackajack Funnies #29 (Columbia). Robed and hooded criminal mastermind who heads a saboteur ring and goes after some valuable plans which bring in the Owl and reporter Belle Wayne investigating. When he kills the young industrialist Mitchell Carr it leads to socialite Barbara Belford donning a mask and costume to also get to the Chief, to possibly throw in with him. It's a ruse though, to get him to use a gun that she rigged to explode when used, the shrapnel ripping out his throat and killing him. Thus Barbara Belford gets revenge against her man-servant Thor for killing Mitchell Carr, her fiance.

The Gargoyle: 1946, Mad Hatter #1 (O.W. Comics Corp). Fank Faro is a ruthless criminal who was captured by the Mad Hatter and sent to the electric chair for his crimes. A scientist is given the body for his experiments, and he transplants the brain into the body of a gorilla. Coming to, the gorilla-man kills the doctor in his confusion. Stealing clothes and a rubber mask, he uses his strength to carve a new criminal identity in the Gargoyle, taking over Faro's gang. They commit daring robberies as well as allowing the Gargoyle to enact a little vengeance. Eventually, his gang tires of the murders and the attention they attract and he is forced to rub out his whole gang and continue alone. He is unmasked as the gorilla-man and falls to his apparent death while fighting the Mad Hatter on a roller-coaster, leaving the Mad Hatter in the dark about the death and re-birth of Frank Faro and the reasons behind the killing spree. NOTE: The source of where I read this story actually lists it as being in issue #2, but the cover to issue 1 clearly references this particular story. Whether this is an error on the part of the reprinter or if the story somehow ended up in a separate issue from its cover or whether issue #2 reprinted stories from issue #1 (not unheard of), I don't know. But, the cover appearance clearly makes the Gargoyle's first appearance the first issue, even if his actual story comes in another issue.

The Ghost: 1941, Wonderworld Comics #23 (Fox). aka The Ghost of El Morro, the Ghost of the Fortress of El Morro. For 400 years the ghost has been supposedly haunting the fortress of El Morro at San Juan, Porto Rico (sic) and people that have investigated just disappear. Dr. Clark and his daughter set out to prove it to be hokum, but they too see a ghostly robed figure before vanishing. Yarko gets a telepathic feeling of their plight and heads down to investigate. He discovers that the Ghost is really just a projection using a magic lantern. A gang uses the Ghost myth as cover while they kidnap slave labor to work in a gold mine deep beneath the fortress.

The Limping Man: 1943, Prize Comics #30 & 31(Prize). A master criminal and murderer, he sought the life of a friend of Walt Walters who was running for election to a high office. The Limping Man is good at disguises and quick witted to come up with various murderous plots and making good his escape despite a pronounced limp. His identity in issue 30 is hinted at being retired neurologist Dr. Riddel who seemed to be confied to a wheel chair. He was opposed by Yank and Doodle.

Lone Wolf: 1941,Wonderworld Comics #22 (Fox). A dark cloaked and suited villain that opposed the Flame. He was resourceful and outfitted his house into a series of flame-proof deathtraps. He made at least two appearances and at the end of issue #23, his house was destroyed but he was still seen by the reader getting away.

Nagana, Queen of Evil: 1941, Fantastic Comics#22 (Fox). Originally living 3,000 years ago, she rises in the modern day. She seems to have some magical powers such as calling up flames or her servant Hassan. Or they might be illusions. She is opposed by Kalkor, a high priest of Isis and returning to earth as John Kerry.

Robot Pyroman: 1946, Startling Comics#37 (Standard). For some reason, he's in the splash page but not in the story or cover. But, he looks just too cool to pass up.

Skull Warriors: 1948, Rulah Jungle Goddess #23 (Fox). Sir Harry Goddard has come to Africa looking for the Skull Temple that houses the skull of Genghis Khan. What he finds is more than he bargained for as he and Rulah run afoul of and captured by skeletal warriors. The temple was built by the skulls of the citizens of a city he had captured that had defied him. Rulah recognizes the smoke from a brazier as being from hemp and deduces these skeletons are really natives in outfits using low light and the senses dulling smoke to keep interlopers away and raid the neighboring villages of their wealth.

Sky Pirates: 1940, Sky Blazers #1 (Hawley). Will Sparrow is fired from his piloting job and vows revenge. Visiting a friend of his who has designs for some super planes, they recruit others to their cause and become modern day buccaneers of the sky. They operate out of a secret island base full of modern machines such as radar, a train that takes them from one end to the other, a cave and crane that allows access by sea and water landings of the planes, a globe with all the major airlines of the world on it. They even steal 3 submarines in his bid to become a master of the air and Atlantic. Don't know if they ever gained the attention of a hero.

The White Killer: 1942, Wonderworld Comics #33 (Fox). A man in white tights and cape with a white globe of a head commits wholesale murders at defense factory plants across the country. U.S. Jones and Grumbler investigate with the help of FBI agent Nannette Devlin. Jones sees a link between the chronology of the killings and the schedule of the Blue Socks baseball team. U. S. Jones unmasks the White Killer as Fredericks, the manager of the team. NOTE: The costume is similar to that of the pulps' Moon Man albeit all white so the globular mask is probably argus (one-way) glass. On the cover, the villain is referred to as the White Terror.

DC Villains

The Fly: 1942, Star-Spangled Comics #13. Complete with fly wings and armed with (poisonous?) darts, the Fly and his gang are stealing valuable silk. Stopped by the Tarantula.

Fawcett Villains

Turtle men: Whiz Comics #99. Ibis and Taia investigate the mystery of the great Maelstrom. They find at the bottom a society of humanoid turtles living in a city built on the back of a giant sleeping turtle, whose breathing causes the maelstrom. The race sacrifices whatever prisoners they get from the maelstrom so Ibis first wakens the turtle so that its movements might destroy the protective dome of the city to effect their escape and then turns the turtle into stone so its movements don't cause tidal waves.

Quality Heroes

Jester II: 1941, Smash Comics #22. Rookie cop Chuck Lane is descended from a medieval court jester and uses a variation of his costume to become a mystery man. Like most cops-turned-mystery men, he's pursued by a dogged police inspector, this case Inspector Mulligan. In his first appearance, he had a skull emblem on his red mantle that is usually not seen in modern depictions of the character.

X of the Underground: 1942, Military Comics #8 (Fox). X is a raven-haired beauty and spy in Germany often disguised as a female Gestapo agent. Among various spy talents, she knows jiu jitsu.

Quality Villains

Fraulein Halunke: 1943, Smash Comics #48. A superb athlete and champion wrestler as well as incredibly beautiful, Halunke is recruited by the Nazis to trap the Marksman. She disguises herself as a Polish peasant and is taken in by him and his assistant Vorka where she discovers their undercover roles as German officers. However, while fleeing back to the Germans with proof, she is gunned down by German guards who think she's just a lowly Polish peasant woman out after curfew.

The Jester: 1941, Crack Comics #10. The Jester in his middle ages clown suit commits daring robberies. However, he steps in on the side of law & order when Professor Mason is kidnapped by someone dressed like him for Ratney's gang. The Jester intervenes and his own life is saved by Madam Fatal who is also investigating the kidnapping. Fatal lets the Jester go as payment for helping to save Professor Mason, but not before noticing a tell-tale scar on the Jester's hand which identifies him as Mason's estranged son. NOTE: The costume of this rogue is almost identical to Quality's hero by the same name, the main difference being the mask. But, the villain debuted a few months earlier.

Timely/Atlas Villains

The Brain: 1951, Adventures into Terror #4. Otto Von Schmittsder is a great Nazi scientist. At the end of the War, he knows that he is on the verge of being captured, tried and executed as a war criminal. However, he comes up with a way to keep his brain alive after death providing his head is hooked up to a machine within 24 hours of his body's death. Thanks to a henchman this is done (though why not find some way to save the rest of his body...). As just a head, he continues his plans of world conquest that had been stopped by the fall of the Third Reich. He has to use intermediaries though and while he can briefly bend them to his will, they seem to have a knack of ultimately rebelling. Even though he's just a head, he shows no problems of speaking, decomposing, or even mobility as he bounces around like a ball. He was last seen faking his death and looking for a new dupe. NOTE: This falls a little out of the scope of my pages. But, he's a unique character and unlike other horror characters did make more than one appearance and truly deserves the title of mad scientist and supervillain. A natural for someone at Marvel to revive.

Updates: 02/18/09

The Black Doom: 1942, Wonderworld #33 (Fox). The Black Doom is a saboteur in the service of the Nazis. He wears a regular suit but with a black hood. He has a special burrowing "torpedo" that he uses to travel underground and allows him to set explosives deep in mines.

The Black Baron: Airboy Comics vol. 9 #9 (Hillman). 200 years ago, a ship was built using the trees from the Wassau swamp in Poland to take colonists to the new world. The captain of the ship was a baron and he had no intentions of taking them to be colonists but to sell them into slavery. He made several slave runs and when that trade dried up, he turned to piracy. The years past and the crews were replaced but the Baron and his ship endured as have the stumps from which the timbers have come. It turns out that it's the same swamp that gave birth to the Heap and he is drawn to the ship of evil and finds it and its evil captain in North Africa, now operating as a prison ship in the hire of Arabs. The Black Baron and the Heap fight across the ship, until a lantern sets fire to the ship and both fall into the waters. With the ship's death, the Baron also dies. Back at the swamp, wildflowers start to grow where the stumps once stood.

The Bolt: 1942, Daredevil #9 (Lev Gleason). The Bolt is in reality Flash Farnum, an Olympic Decathalon champion. However, Flash is a bully to the point that he couldn't find work and would get hired and fired in one day. He turns to a life of crime where his incredible athletic skills make him a formidble adversary of the Law. Even Daredevil has a tough job apprehending the crook (indeed when Daredevil was just plain Bart Hill and a junior in High School, Farnum had beaten him senseless). He kidnaps Tonia Saunders on a train in order to make good his escape but gets his foot caught in the tracks. Unable to save both, Daredevil rescues the girl while Bolt is run over by the train. Bolt wore no costume but seemed adept at staying in the shadows, and his athletic prowess along with his ruthless nature aided in his avoiding capture by the police. This tale may not be "true" as it's told by Bart Hill to a group of kids including one tough bullying kid to educate him on the sad life of bullies.

Dr. Horror: Captain Battle #2 (Lev Gleason). "King of evil. Master of deviltry." Three witchlike crones called the "sisters of fear" have a mastery of magic and demons. Over a cauldron brew, they create Dr. Horror to be the end-all of evil beings. His appearance is of a giant naked man and he has a sundry of magical abilities that he uses to cause terror, death and destruction like casting lightning bolts from afar. His evil is to such a degree that nature itself fights back, a huge lightning bolt scattering and engulfing demons and the sisters in flame to their doom. Nature pursues him until he perishes in a flow of a mountain turned into lava.

Goldmaster: 1940, Big Shot Comics (Columbia). Dennis Durrant imparts: Goldmaster is a criminal obsessed with gold.  In his first appearance, he killed two of the men who had sent him to prison years before.  In his last appearance, in Big Shot Comics #3, he shared the secret of how to make gold with a wealthy banker, who intended to use his unlimited gold supply to "buy the government."  However, they ran afoul of the Face, Goldmaster's perennial foe, and Goldmaster took his own life by swallowing poison, while the banker and Goldmaster's henchmen went to prison.  Goldmaster was a tall robed man very much in the mold of the Claw; he wore a grey skullcap and had pointed ears and a goatee.

Marty Kantz: 1941, Cat-man #1 (Holyoke). Dennis Durrant writes us: Marty Kantz is a vicious gangster, who, with his aid Piler, has planned the robbery of a fur factory and the shooting of the watchman.  His other aide - the boss of a small gang that was wiped out by the police previously - doesn't want to be involved in a murder rap and notifies the local authorities anonymously.  Marty takes him along to the fur factory where the men are surrounded by police officers and escape in a hail of bullets.  "The Boss" is shot in the arm and also manages to escape without the police realizing that he was the informant.  He collapses outside a small abandoned church and staggers inside after being awakened by the rays of the morning sun.  Once in the church, he bandages his wound with strips from his old shirt and puts on an old priest's suit that is hanging from a post.  It is then that the man is ambushed by Marty and Piler and captures them both after a long struggle, leaving them outside the door of the police station with a note reading "WITH COMPLIMENTS [FROM] THE DEACON." 

Redbeard: (No publishing info). Dennis Durrant tells me: Redbeard was a pirate who sailed the seas in the Sixteenth Century.  Four centuries later, after several ships appear to have been robbed by Redbeard's pirates, Dr. Strange is sent to investigate the theft of a map leading to Redbeard's treasure.  After apprehending two men who had been sent to kill him on board a ship that is sailing to Panama, the doctor goes to a party on the nobleman Lupesco's galleon, only to be taken prisoner when Lupesco orders the galleon's crew to set sail.  He is taking them toward a rendezvous with a German submarine to which he transfers his prisoners, after which both vessels sail for Redbeard's Island and the prison there, where he holds his party guests captive.  Dr. Strange stops him and frees the prisoners, then blows up the island with a torpedo he has captured when they have set sail.  He later learns that Redbeard's real name was Lupesco, and that the current Lupesco was his descendant, who wanted to carry on the family tradition.

The Willow-The-Wisp: 1939/40? Silver Streak Comics (Lev Gleason). Mr. Durrant provides: The Willow-The-Wisp was a ball of light that floated in front of its victims and demanded their money.  It committed several robberies and these prompted Arthur Bennett, aka the crimefighter Mister Midnite, to investigate the crimes.  He realized that the ball of light was a flourescent sphere that distracted the victims' attention, and that the actual source of the voice was a gunman standing behind them - a simple but ingenious "trick of ventriloquism."  The police brought the man to justice, but Midnite escaped.

DC Villains

Fiddler II: 1943, Action Comics #59. Frustrated concert violinist Ben Bowe turns to a life of crime. He plans daring robberies for his gang of toughs, and is frequently on hand to help them out as a blind violinist begger who just happens to be standing by. He uses his awful tunes to communicate with his gang in code. While at his headquarters, various violins are tricked out as weapons: one that shoots suphuric acid and another loaded with dynamite. He and his gang are captured by the Vigilante and Stuff.

Fawcett Villains

Death: 1942, Spy Smasher #5. White robed skeletal death stalks high ranking officials. Spy Smasher suspects foul play and tries to defeat Death, but then Satan also steps in and Spy Smasher finds himself in an inferno where he and others from the Senate are being tortured for various military secrets. With a hand from Eve Colby, Spy Smasher breaks free. Death's mysterious ways of killing are revealed to be poison darts made of ice (so no clue is left behind) and Satan falls victim to it. Death is unmasked as the Nazi Baroness Von Todt and she leaps into a chasm to her apparent death. The robes of her costume allowed to glide and she seemed invulnerable to blows to the head as her costume included a shoulder harness with a fake skull head on top which also lended to the tall cadaverous appearance.

Lo-Kar: 1949, Whiz Comics #103. In intelligent talking gorilla, he takes offense at the way the animals are being treated at the circus which he works. He leads an uprising of animals, caging the humans and forcing them to perform dangerous stunts and such. Ibis intervenes and manages to broker peace between the two factions, the circus performers having seen the error of their ways.

Quality Heroes

Captain Fortune: 1939, Feature Comics #25. Captain Tyrone Fortune is an English sea captain in the days of the Spanish Main and the age of piracy. As such, he and his loyal crew fought the enemies of the crown and pirates on the high seas. The artist Vern Henkel had a wonderful illustrator quality for these stories. Not as lush or polished as Hal Foster a pretty line nonetheless.

Quality Villains

Cadava: Smash Comics #15. Cadava was a handsome man and fiance to lovely Diane. An accident that horribly disfigures his face ends all that, driving the man to flee the world into the sewers beneath the city. He wears a knight's helmet to hide his features and a red robe, slippers and blue tights. At a masked ball, he kidnaps Diane and then uses his scientific genius to lay waste to the city. However, his plans are stopped by the Ray and he and his servant drown in the waters while fighting the hero.

The Headless Men: Smash Comics #24. When government contractors appear to be dying of heart failure and their secrets stolen, Hugh Hazard and his Iron Man (Bozo the Robot) are called in to investigate. What he soon discovers is a small gang of men with no heads. After capturing them (for they are otherwise normal men), it is revealed to be a trick of a frame of fake shoulders under the clothes. The group are three men whose ugly features had driven them to poverty and desperation as they couldn't find jobs due to the way they looked.

The Mad Poet: Uncle Sam Quarterly #1. The Mad Poet creates some nonsense verse that proves to be actually a curse. Whoever hears the little ditty must repeate it city to city. All to improve his station, the Mad Poet wants to rule the nation. His plans are brought to naught, for Uncle Sam won't be out-fought. In jail, the poet brings about his end, as a parrott recites his words again and again.

Mr. Mole: Kid Eternity #8. Caleb Ness invents the Terrebore, a machine that is capable of burrowing through the Earth. He is kidnapped and it is seized by a bald criminal mastermind, Skull Mootz (no wonder he turned to crime). After using the machine to cause untold destruction and deaths, he then sends a message extorting money from his next target, signing it Mr. Mole. Caleb rebels but is knocked out as Skull has seen enough to operate it on his own now. Kid Eternity and Mr. Keeper witness armed troops and tanks useless against the machine and even Goliath is only able to slow it down. The kid calls forth Jove to use his lightning bolts against it which works, electrocuting both Skull and poor Caleb.

Updates: 01-26-09

Council of Vampires: 1939, Wonderworld Comics #4 (Fox). Not much is revealed about the Council other than they are ruled by their queen, Anya. Anya's husband is the mortal Luigi Bishop, curator of the London Museum who is anxious to get his hands on the fabled Vampire Ruby that will allow Anya to co-exist among the living. However, when denied the ruby by the current possessors Dr. Fung and Dan Barr. Luigi sets fire to his castle in order to burn them all to death. Dr. Fung and Dan escape, but the ruby and the unholy couple are apparently burned to death.

Deathless Brain: Airfighters (Hillman). One of those brain in a jar types, complete with robotic base. This one was Hidero Okado, who felt humiliation when Commander Perry had opened Japan to Americans and trade in the 1850's. To the point that when his body died, his brain was removed and lived on. Almost a century later, his plans are foiled by the Flying Dutchman.

Half-Man: 1941, Air Fighters Comics #2 (Hillman). This villainous Nazi was so severely wounded, that the left side of his body was replaced with cold steel. He partnered with Goro, "the yellow butcher of Tokyo". The pair went up against Skywolf and his squadron of fliers.

Humpty Dumpty: 1946, The Mad Hatter #2 (O.W. Comics). A bald overweight criminal, he's smart at planning crimes. After a close call with the hero Mad Hatter and barely escaping by running away and jumping into a river, he decides the life of committing crimes is too strenuous. So, he decides to hire his services out as a planner. That doesn't go terribly well as one of the men who avails himself of his services ends up leading the Mad Hatter right to the rotund villain. Tthe villain is played up as being somewhat well known by both police and the crooks. Despite his laziness, he is a competent fighter and carries a cane that the top folds out into a seat, and the staff hollowed out to turn into a rifle.

The Mask: 1940, Samson #1 (Fox). In the East (India), the Mask and Dr. Dag are behind a Thug uprising through their high priest Ko and plan to send the Thugs into cities with test tubes full of deadly bacteria and then will plunder and raze the cities. The deadly duo are apparently slain in their attempt to bring a temple down on top of Samson sets off a wave of fiery destruction throughout the city, burying them in the debris.

The Mummy Who Never Died: 1947, Phantom Lady #13 (Fox). 1,000 BC in the time Axrax in Egypt, Cyto is the overseer of slaves building a temple. However, he is betrayed by his fiance Patra and friend Kanik who destroy the temple, killing slaves and blaming Cyto. As punishment, he is embalmed alive. Witnessing the duo's perfidy as he's being embalmed, he swears to never die. In the present day, Miss Louis is an archaeologist seeking funding to raise the mummy from death from newspaper editor Mr. Waxler. Denied, she persists in her experiments and sends the mummy to kidnap the editor and which draws the Blue Beetle into the case. However, the mummy breaks free of her control and turns on her, seeing the spitting image of his beloved in Miss Louis. The pair are last seen as the mummy carries her into the burning lab while the Blue Beetle rescues Mr. Waxler.

Norgo: 1940, Big Shot #8 (Columbia). A scientist who developed a method of generating intense cold and used it to freeze various cities and then blackmail the US government. Skyman manages to counteract the cold and then tracked Norgo himself down and sent him to prison.

Professor Evil: 1945, K-O Comics #1 (Gerona). Professor Live was great scientist whose mind had become so warped before he died that his two mourners fear had he lived he would have been an incredible criminal. They even open his coffin just to make sure he's really dead. However, even death doesn't stop him as he returns as a ghost, calling himself Professor Evil. He puts together a gang of crooks, but they are soon caught by the Duke of Darkness, another fledgeling ghost. He outfights the professor and while he cannot permanently put him on ice, he can dismember him so that it will take centuries to reform.

Fawcett Villains

Korozan: 1941, Minute Man #1. This man leads an Asian cult against America. Ugly, he was born with a death-head face, only with sleepy looking eyes and a fanged mouth. Thus, he only has hate in his heart. He wears a wide-brimmed hat to hide his features, a cape and over-coat, all brown, looking a bit like a brown version of the Shadow. A good fencer and fighter, he is still defeated by Minute Man and is apparently killed when a powerful blow sends him flying into a furnace.

Vampire Twins: 1948, Whiz Comics #101. Baron Ornzy and his sister Maryani are the vampire twins. While traveling on an ocean liner, their kills attract the attention of Prince Ibis and Taia. The Baron is killed when they try to kill Ibis and Taia (who sleep in separate rooms). The following issue, Maryani tries to avenge the death of her brother and calls forth an evil primeval spirit in the form of a great bat and briefly manages to get Ibis under her sway. However, she is slain when she tries to use the ibistick against Ibis (she commands it to turn him into dust) and the spell is rebounded against her. Ibis then commands the stick to consume the bat in flame.

Wickedness, Inc: 1943, Wow Comics #17. Operating out of a haunted house is the Sunshine Milk Co., a group of brownie like beings who deliver milk of human kindness in everyday milk bottles. However deep underground are a group of witches that are poisoning their formulas, so that people who drink it turn evil, which happens to Mary Batson, but luckily Mary Marvel is able to fight back. All but one of the witches are captured and brought to the rooms of the Sunshine Milk Co., and are forced to drink of the milk of human kindness and thus reform their evil ways. Except for that one, who is still out there sowing evil and poisoning bottles when she can.

MLJ Villains

Satan: 1940, Zip Comics #3. A devilish fellow and billed as "lord of the underworld", as in land of death, not gangsterdom. His realm is "hell" and a pit of fire and the denizens are devil-men. However, one has to wonder about him being THE Satan as a magic spell by the magician hero Zambini for hell to freeze over, not only works but kills Satan and his cohorts.

Updates: 01-13-09

General Villainy

Dichte: 1942, Exciting Comics #18 (Standard). Dr. Griffin is working on a formula that increases vitality, a small vial is worth a year's supply of food. He's killed by Dichte and his men, all German agents. However, it has side effects, it turns a house cat into a beast the size and ferocity of a lion, which the Liberator is able to subdue and tame. Dichte ultimately gets the idea and tastes the formula, growing to 12 feet tall. The Liberator sics his cat on him while he mops up the gang. Dichte is apparently slain by the cat, it's fate unknown. Maybe the effects were not permanent..

Dr. Hodl: 1940, Exciting Comics #3 (Standard). Bald-headed mad scientist in league with one General Pasko but it's Hodl who is the mastermind of their bid for world power. Hodl invents the Red Blight, a powerful ray gun that can send out a red ray to almost anywhere in the world from their Transylvania headquarters. Whatever the light illuminates is violently destroyed, shaken apart as if struck by an earthquake, from a simple building or train to whole cities. He is stopped by Thesson, hurled apparently to his death from his castle tower.

Dr. Kuroto: 1946, Exciting Comics #46 (Standard). Japanese scientist who with his gang resent the defeat of their country. He comes up with a way to strike back, two chemicals of his own making: one, injected into Egyptian mummies, they become a legion of undead under his control and two, a formula that can utterly destroy them so they cannot be used against him. The Scarab stops him and his undead army with the second chemical as they shrug off his mightiest blows.

Gorilla Men: 1941, Exciting Comics #8 (Standard). In Africa, a train wreck is blamed on gorillas and Ted Crane and his gal Betty investigate. The gorillas seem intelligent as well as tough, Ted puts 4 bullets in one to no avail. At the end, the gorilla men are revealed to be a gang headed by Vincent, a game protector hired off by the Germans. They wore gorilla suits that had weighted knuckles and bullet-proof plating to help them carry out their charade.

League of Lilith: 1942, Exciting Comics #18 (Standard). Dr. Price was working on a device called the cosmoscope, that would utilize the sun's rays for healing. However, when testing it, he was unaware that a "certain planet was in transit across the sun --Lilith the dark moon!" It transforms Price into an evil man, contorting his features and granting superhuman strength. He kills his nurse and intern and uses the device to recruit Carson, a noted physicist, to help modify the machine and then Millis, a hardened criminal. The machine is soon modified so that it can affect people from afar by simply setting it to the year they were born and the League starts recruiting an army. The Black Terror manages to stop the league and destroying the machine, lifting the spell it had put the soldiers under. The three plotters were killed beforehand by Tim using the cannon from an armored truck.

Men of Devolio: 1942, Exciting Comics #19 (Standard). Astronomer John Preston has an invention that was designed to capture the moon's energy but he tries it out on a new planet he just discovered. Sadly, it operates as a teleporter and brings men from the planet Devolio to Earth. Long ago, the planet was part of our system and as it neared again, they had planned on invading Earth. Their own resources allowing them only one spaceship, his teleportation device gives them the means. While veritable supermen themselves, they still pale next to the might of the Black Terror who defeats them.

Nubo: 1945, Exciting Comics #44 (Better). Nubo is a giant black man in medieval styled armor whose strength puts him on par with the Scarab and a champion for a tribe of Egyptians. When their leader Rajad is kidnapped and a fort of white men are blamed, the Scarab has to rescue Rajad and prevent wholesale slaughter by Nubo.

Prince Igor: 1942, Exciting Comics #19 (Standard). On an island in the South Seas, Igor is a white man who has set himself up as a ruler. He controls an gang of natives whose wills are deadened by a drug while made strong and bulletproof. He allies himself with Japan who will be glad to back him him to keep the British occupied. Ted Crane who is on his way to Singapore puts a stop to his plans. Prince Igor and his men are apparently killed when his palace is blown up.

Robotmaster: 1946, Exciting Comics #45 (Standard). This mad scientist had a remote controlled robot. Only appeared on the cover but was kinda cool looking.

Satan-Rex: 1939, Amazing Mystery Funnies (Centaur). Ten years before Einstein, Eric Von Hochwalt came up with the theory of relativity but was ridiculed by the scientific community. Warped and embittered, he entered into hiding, discovered the secrets of agelessness. He later arrived in Tibet with a throng of students and built his "City of the Mists" which surpassed all other cities and is defended by the green mist wall. Now, it's 2009 and he calls himself Satan-Rex and threatens to hurl the planet into the sun, him escaping with a select few to another planet. Only inventor and adventurer Jon Linton and his girlfriend Lisa Kane stand in his way.

X-3: 1941, Exciting Comics #16 (Standard). Diabolical spy and a master of disguises, he's the Nazi man of a thousand faces. He's captured by the Liberator

Quality Villains

Oscar Jones: 1943, Police Comics #15. A big-time racketeer with a Brooklyn accent. He started off as a youth, running a protection racket on newsboys. When he gets a colt, he specializes in a life of crime, arson, knocking off witnesses, and forming his own mob. But, when he kills a cop, he is captured and is sent to prison. He escapes but finds no one wants anything to do with him. He is tracked down by the hero 711 and a huge brawl is started. Jones finally gets an opening and he empties his colt into the hero, and thus becoming one of the very few villains to kill a mystery man. He was eventually captured and brought to justice for his crimes by the fledgeling hero Destiny. A tougher bad guy than most, his crime spree spanned 3 issues (Police #15-17, with the death of 711 in #15).

Madame Doom: 1939, Smash Comics #4. In a war torn Europe, Madame Doom operates as a master of espionage, selling secrets to the highest bidder. Her actions have her run afoul of Black Ace (aka Black X) more than once. The two seem to have a Sherlock Holmes - Irene Adler type of relationship.

Quality Hero

Destiny: 1943, Police Comics #16. A nameless drifter with no home nor job, goes to the theatre to try his hand at a contest for $500. While waiting for that game to begin, he catches a show by mindreader and psychic Professor Seezall Nozal. During the show, the Professor tries to read the man's future and suddenly ends the show, taking the drifter backstage where he tells him what he foresaw: that trouble surrounds the man and that he is gifted with the ability to foresee death, trouble, and disaster, past and present. All he has to do is clear his mind and he'll be taken to the scene of trouble where he must act to bring the evil doer to justice. He's become a force of fate, Destiny. The first criminal he's drawn to is Oscar Jones, the muderer of the hero 711. An interesting tidbit, on the marquee of the theatre where Nozal is playing is also that of Gil Fox, the Big Snatch. Fox is one of creators another strip in the comic. Destiny just wears his street clothes unlike the masked and cloaked 711 whom he had replaced.

Updates: 12-30-08

Anti Shock Gibson: 1942, Speed Comics #23 (Harvet). A Nazi spy on the lam hides out in a vacant residence. However, it happens to be the home of Robert "Shock" Gibson and when he sits in Gibson's Electrical Energizer which he mistakes for a covered chair, he is endowed with duplicate powers of Shock Gibson. He wears a similarly designed costume and is equal to Shock in powers. They soon meet on the seas as an attack is launched on a ships carrying troops overseas (of which the newly inducted PRIVATE Robert Gibson is one). Unable to fight him directly, Shock leads the Nazi on a merry go-round chase as he tackles the various U-Boats and German ships until both he and the spy are out of power. At which point, he is easily laid out by a right cross.

Brown Terror: 1946, Sparkling Stars #33 (Holyoke). In the modern American West, the Brown Terror (has an alias as Colonel Holt but doesn't seem to be his real name) is the leader of a murderous gang but he himself seems to take orders from the mysterious XZ who is only mentioned but not seen. His gang is captured by Lank Strong and Gil Little, formerly ace pilots of the Hell's Angels. The Terror is mortally wounded in the final round up.

The Glutton: 1946, Jumbo Comics #93. A large criminal genius who is constantly eating while planning and committing crimes. His crimes are consistently foiled by ZX-5, though he makes a habit of getting away. NOTE: I have no way of verifying if this one story is his only story or not at this time. The story refers to a history between him and ZX-5 and he escapes at the end, promising future encounters, but that doesn't mean that those adventures ever made it into publication.

Professor Klar: 1941, Thrilling #14 (Standard). Klar is a brilliant research scientist who has developed a drug that turns men into his slaves. He uses them on FBI and Intelligence operatives, forcing them to give up their secrets and betray their country. Also among his experiments are ways of turning men into the living dead, voodoo-like zombies and ghouls. Pedro was one such man, with inhuman strength and endurance and would have killed G-man Nickie Norton if not for the intervention of his aide Lefty and a gorilla, one of Klar's test animals that Lefty had befriended. Thus, Klar and his gang are brought to justice by Norton, Betty Blane, and Lefty.

Maata, the Leopard Girl: 1946, Sparkling Stars (Holyoke). Maata is the beautiful ruler of a jungle kingdom as well as having pet leopards. She desires Fangs, the wolf boy, as a mate but he only has eyes for another. Meanwhile, Rajo, leader of a crew of cut-throat pirates, wants her for a mate.

William Owens: 1941, Thrilling #14 (Standard). In 1914, scientist William Owens discovered Wonderol, a powerful tonic. Unfortunately, his financiers stole the rights to it from him and he swore revenge. Flash forward a couple of decades and some change, and he starts making good on that threat, killing off the company founders one by one. Owens somehow got a ruthless gang working for him and he possessed some new discoveries including a powerful gas, a huge glass encased gas bomb, and even a paralyzing bullet, from which even a scratch can lay the mighty low. His defeat comes when Doc Strange and Virginia investigate the series of murders. He is killed when he is thrown into his gas bomb, breaking the glass shell.

Rajo: 1946, Sparkling Stars (Holyoke). Large barrel chested pirate, bald but with a beard and an eye-patch. He and his men came to the jungles and conquered one kingdom and set their eyes on a neighboring one ruled by the cruel Maata, the leopard girl whom Rajo wants as his mate. Opposing their plans of conquest and raiding are Fangs, the wolf boy and his pack of loyal wolves.

The Wasp: Captain Aero (Holyoke). An insect themed masked and robed villain and Nazi agent. In addition to trained and sometimes poisoned wasps, his boat has a wasp emblem and he wears a large ring that leaves a wasp mark (it might be poisoned as well and treated somehow to leave a mark or brand, but then the Phantom always seemed to hit his foes hard enough to leave a permanent mark). His gang is captured by Flag-man and Rusty in the one adventure I've read but he escapes.

Quality Villains

Black Shark (aka the Lone Shark): 1940, Crack Comics #7. This villain made use of specialized diving gear to bedevil the Red Torpedo. Nothing particularly black or shark like about him. He was actually a bald man with a white billy-goat beard. However, he proved to be a capable villain and kept coming back.

Brick Bat: 1941, Police #5.The Brick Bat wears a Batman-esque mask with a green business suit and went up against 711. Don't know any more details.

King of the Caverns: 1940, Crack Comics #7. An undersea monster man whose kingdom of like men was in deep water caves. He and his men opposed Queen Klitra and her Mermazons (underwater amazons) and teamed up with the Black Shark in an attempt to overthrow her. Stopped by the Red Torpedo.

Purple Hoods: 1939, Feature Funnies #16. The Purple hoods are a secret group of four men (their leader is not masked) who are employed by a foreign power to undermine the country. Stopped by Black X of Espionage with the help of his aide Batu.

The Skeleton: 1942, Crack Comics #20. In Candlewood, a spooky old castle transplanted to the States, a group of the Martin family gather to hear a will. However, before it can be completely read, a robed skeleton kills the lawyer and apparently burns the will. Turns out, going back five generations, with each new generation, the elders are stalked and killed. Until now, and the Skeleton seems bent on killing the whole family. Through the intervention of the Spider, the plot stands revealed. Five generations ago, Lord Martin had a deformed twin who was declared dead but secretly kept in the hidden rooms of the old castle. Eventually he escaped, and he and his descendents would kill off the preceding generation of the family until the present day when he decided to to kill off the whole family and take the castle and inheritance for his own.

Fawcett Villains

The Water Man: 1951, Captain Marvel Adventures #118. Herman the hermit is a misanthrope but otherwise a brilliant man. Dabbling with chemistry he discovers a way to give some water sentient intelligence. He keeps the water in a barrel as he philosophizes about the deplorable nature of mankind. The water soaks this knowledge up and soon is able to gather itself into a man-like form and walk around. His first step is to try and kill Herman, as all men are bad, after which he sets off for the city for destruction and mayhem. Captain Marvel manages to defeat him by freezing him solid and then taking him to the Arctic.

Updates: 12-02-08

Colonel Mara, the man who lost his face: 1944, Captain Aero #15/v3#13 (Holyoke). Before the War, Professor Yuki Mara taught chemistry and physics at the University of Sidham in Montana though he hated his time here. While teaching a class, Lucy Feller has an accident while mixing some acids when the flame of the burner flares up against her arm, causing her to spill the acid on Mara's face. Horribly disfigured, he returns to his home country where he makes a mask of a rubber plastic compound and he nurses his hatred. War comes and he is now a colonel serving in the islands off of Java, poisoning the water supplies. As luck would have it, Lucy Feller is on the island as a nurse to Captain Peter Hall, who is secretly the Red Cross. Mara thinks he has a chance at revenge, a chance to ruin her face but that cruelty compounded by the deaths of poisoned natives gives the hero the incentive he needs to overpower them and call for a bombing of the compound. Don't know if Mara survived or not.

Death Mask: 1942, Blue Beetle #13 (Holyoke). This crook wore a green skull mask and could kill people by pointing his finger at them. He used this ability to take over Porky Ferro's mob and commit daring crimes. The Blue Beetle puts his mob out of business and reveals that his finger of death were just poisoned darts fired from the sleeve of his overcoat.

Death Mask Pilot: 1944, Captain Aero #15/v3#13 (Holyoke). A Japanese ace who wears a white death mask along with his pilot gear and whose plane also bears a skull insignia. He had shot down several American aces and even survived a bout with Captain Aero before being sent on a mission to America. However, his movements are suspected and Captain Aero is sent from the Pacific to bring him down which he successfully does with the help of his teen proteges, the Sky Scouts.

Face: 1946, Planet Comics #44 (Holyoke). Bald-headed master criminal and foe of Mysta of the Moon. He wore goggles and round ear pieces in issue 44. In issue 45, he wore a hood similar to a gas mask that covered his whole head. He manages to get a stooge planted with Mysta's crew, impersonating Bron, a talented student. However, Bron ultimately sides with Mysta and turns on the Face, killing him.

Faux Blue Beetle: 1943, Blue Beetle #27 (Holyoke). Captured Nazi spy Fritz looks enough like Dan Garrett and the Blue Beetle that he's bribed to go to Germany and operate some as the Blue Beetle to confuse things. However, once over there, he gets greedy and the FBI suspect a triple cross and send the real Blue Beetle to investigate. NOTE: This story doesn't make much sense as it seems that Garrett is working with the FBI and not the police and that his dual identity is not terribly secret. Nor is Fritz' final fate and true loyalty ever sure.

The Hag: 1941, Catman #1 (Holyoke). The hag is tall and thin with pale skin and a witch-like face. Her son Igor is short and strong and apparently mute. As winter approaches and they have no food nor money, she uses their ugliness to help in committing crimes, their very appearance is able to shock weak hearts into giving out. The Black Widow tracks them down but is captured by Igor, even after shooting him several times. Igor succumbs to his wounds but not before bringing her to his mother. Crazed she sets her shack on fire in an effort to kill the Widow but when she escapes, the hag chooses burning to death over being turned over to the police.

Human Fly: 1944, Red Band Comics #3 (Enwil). This Nazi agent posed under the guise of a Human Fly, dressed actually like a winged insect. His plan was to use his suit as an alibi to a murder. He climbed up the outside of the building until he reached the floor of General Tisot. With the large wings blocking the view from onlookers, he slipped out into the room while the wings were actually mechanized to continue climbing up and then back down where he slipped back into them. His plot is uncovered by newspaper editor King O'Leary and his photographer Kitty Allen.

Mad Monster: 1944, Captain Aero #15/v3#13 (Holyoke). Joan Wayne and her friend Ella take in a show of Count Zova and his educated, talking ape. What is revealed is a Nazi propaganda and sabotage plot as Zova and his talking ape are with the Nazis to the point the ape is wearing black boots, red arm band and an officer's hat. Unfortunately for them, Joan is really Miss Victory. Zova is quickly captured, but the strong and agile ape is a bit harder. Still, he apparently falls to his death after a fight on the rooftops. Zova is revealed to be the agent Kurt von Manvitz and the ape merely his assistant in a gorilla suit.

Major Zero: 1944, Captain Aero #15/v3#13 (Holyoke). Captain Aero and his squad are so successful in helping the Chinese to fight off the Japanese that it's wrecking the Japanese morale. They hatch a plot, to outfit a Lt. Yahuchi in a bulletproof outfit and special armored plane and promote him with a new name like those in American comicbooks: Major Zero, the super flyer.

Super Phony: 1944, Red Band Comics (Enwil/Rural). On the lost planet of Brutus, everyone is Super: Super Cop, Super Judge, etc. All because they all can fly, are super strong and invulnerable. Super Phony is their big crook and when he develops the power of super hypnotism he seems unstoppable. But, he's captured by Hugh Mann, a puny Earthling even by our standards who uses his wits and reflects the hypnotic powers back onto the villain with a mirror. For succeeding at this impossible task, Mann is named Impossible Man.

Updates: 11-24-08

Black Ned's Ghost: 1941, Thrilling Comics #12 (Standard). Beneath the mansion of elderly Phineas Steele is a large cavern in which legend tells of hidden treasure guarded by the ghost of the pirate Black Ned. Steele's nephew Douglas Long and his wife Eileen are visiting their uncle and second cousin Arnold who takes care of the old man. While the cousins are exploring the cave, Arnold disappears with a yell and Douglas thinks that his uncle had something to do with it, the legend being complete hogwash. Peggy Allen aka the Woman in Red is sent to investigate under the cover of being a nurse for Uncle Phineas. She soon discovers the ghost legend has substance and the uncle's actions are suspicious. However, in the end, it is Arnold who is unmasked as Black Ned.

Updates: 11-17-08

Leatherman: 1949, Rulah #22 (Fox). In the late 1800's, Charles is a very dangerous man, one of the deadliest duelers of the era as well as being a bit of a cad. When a young girl named Ellen catches his eye and he comes on to her, he ends up being challenged to a duel with her current boyfriend. Killing him, he pursues Ellen and eventually marries her as well as going to work for her father's leather business. One evening he discovers her in the arms of another paramour, He kills her lover but cannot bring himself to kill her. So, he spreads word of her infidelity, ruining her reputation and then leaves the country, settling eventually in Africa.

Flash forward half a century, and legend has grown of an eccentric old man calling himself the Leatherman who shows up in the villages the same time each year. Rulah sets out to meet him and ends up saving him from a charging Rhino, earning his friendship. He gives her a leather heart, bearing a cameo with a pic of Ellen. Soon, two bodies of females show up from the local tribes, suffocated in a leather sack. Pursuing his trail, Rulah meets up with Ellen, now an elderly woman living in the area having been run out of England due to scandal. Seems Leatherman had seen her and gone completely around the bend and was setting out to kill her after all these years (story is a little unsure if the earlier murders were done before he saw her and just hated all women other than Rulah or not). He does sneak in and attack her, she dies though again it's unclear whether she has a heart attack or is truly strangled to death. Fleeing Rulah, he only gets a few steps when bitten by a snake and quickly dies.

The Whip: 1944, Spitfire Comics #132 (Elliott). The Whip is a Nazi agent. He's captured by Spitfire Sanders. Or is he? For in 1954, Phantom Lady #5 (Ajax Farrell), he's working for Comrade X, the head of the commies and is captured by Phantom Lady. Of course the reality is the latter story is just redrawn and re-scripted from the earlier one.

Updates: 11-11-08

Crutch Killer: 1941, Wonderworld Comics #31 or 32 (Fox). A movie is being made under mysterious conditions that will expose the type of man that the deceased Ransford Booth was in life. However, accidents plague the set and its only by threats that the director can keep the movie going though earning him the enmity of all involved. He sends for Gary Preston who arrives with as the Flame with Flame Girl and their pal Pug in tow. Following him and trying various tricks to kill him and others is an older crippled man (with fangs for some reason). His crutch is actually a dart gun that fires quick acting lethal poisonous darts. He ultimately stands revealed as Ransford Booth, trying to prevent the movie from being made as it would have revealed he was head of a fascist ring and had faked his death to continue his efforts in that endeavor.

Devil Ladies: 1948, Rulah #19 (Fox). Foreign Agent Peters sends his chief female agent Lona and other women to the jungles to test out his new fire rifles on the natives. As part of the grand experiment they dress in asbestos red devil bodysuits to capture the natives and take them to a diamond mine where he conducts his experiments, also dressed like a devil where his satanic face fits naturally. Rulah overpowers Lona and swaps identities with her, however Peters executes Lona, falling for the ruse. Rulah manages to rescue the captured natives and many of the Devil Ladies are killed in the natives fighting back, one armed with their own fire gun. Peters himself falls into the boiling vat that he had executed Lona-as-Rulah with, and the mine explodes that was rigged to self-destruct.

Ghoul of Galhalla: 1949, Rulah #22 (Fox). Tyrr is a huge native who is robbing burial grounds for human bones to create exquisite carvings. Rulah travels with ace reporter Madge Adams to find this ghoul. Tyrr runs out of bones, so he kills his mate and starts carving a statue of a woman from her bones. Madge is ill-equipped for life in the jungle and goes from danger to danger, finally getting kidnapped by a large ape which promptly crosses paths with Tyrr. Upon seeing the dead and desecrated body of Tyrr's mate, Madge's mind finally snaps while Tyrr himself battles and kills the ape. It is then that Rulah catches up to the girl and the ghoul and easily dispatches the madman. Poor Madge is sent to an asylum, but she eventually escapes and drowns, protecting the statue that she calls "dolly".

Guinn, Mrs. Fay: 1947, The Fighting Yank #22 (Standard). Mrs. Fay Guinn is a large woman who runs an orphanage for children. It's actually a front for her gang and they use the kids as pickpockets, purse snatchers and thieves. Fighting Yank gets involved when his alter ego Bruce Carter III and fiance Joan witness one of the thefts. As the Fighting Yank he follows the young thief back to the orphanage. In a knock-down fight with Mrs. Guinn and her gang, she stands revealed as a "he". He's Frank Guinn, ex-strongman for the Holloway Circus. But, not quite strong enough to stand up against the Fighting Yank.

King of the World that Time Forgot: 1947, The Fighting Yank #22 (Standard). In the South American jungles is a lost land with prehistoric creatures and a Roman-esque city at the foot of a volcano. Advised by his iron masked advisor, he captures airplanes via strong magnetism from the volcano that they worship. The Fighting Yank and Joan are captured when investigating missing the missing planes of an airline started by old friend Ed Howard. The Fighting Yank unmasks the minister as Silas Jackson, Howard's business partner and who had hoped to be able to buy the airline outright for a song. Volcanic eruption buries the city under lava, Jackson falls to his death trying to escape over a crumbling bridge. The erupting volcano messes up the magnetism and the Fighting Yank, Joan and the missing pilots are able to fly out before the city is completely destroyed.

Molo: 1941, Silver Streak #8 (Lev Gleason). Anthony Durrant writes: Molo was a man who was murdering people who had become successful in their chosen fields.  He targeted a playwright named Mr. White, but the detective Presto Martin apprehended him and put him in prison - only to learn of Mr. White's murder the next day.  His suspicions aroused, Martin disguised himself as Molo's twin brother and learned of a plot to kill a wealthy entertainer.  Presto Martin was able to get to the entertainer's mansion and apprehend the other Molo, and in doing so, rescue the entertainer.  Molo and his brother had gone insane with jealousy after the failure of their brother act some time earlier.

Queen of Simba Land: 1949, Rulah #22 (Fox). In the jungles, Rora is a beautiful red-headed queen of a kingdom of natives along with dangerous lions that she keeps controlled by whip. She desires to conquer all of the jungles and first targets the jungle prince Zago's village by using the Trojan horse trick (only this time with a giant gold lion). Ultimately, the lions go berserk, toppling the vast structure, killing many of their former captors presumably including Rora, the cruelest of them.

The Voice: 1948, The Black Terror #24 (Standard). The Voice is a fairly standard criminal, no costume or such. Five years earlier he was a suitor for a lovely redhead's hand but loses to a man named Bart. Jealous, he arranges for Bart's murder, but that she overhears the gang referring to their boss, the Voice and she vows to devote her life to hunting the mysterious criminal mastermind down. He's a canny criminal, he and his gang manage to stay a step ahead of her as well the Black Terror and Tim. He's also a bit of an inventor, he creates a bazooka type gun that fires strong plastic bubbles in which he can trap the heroes. Stray bullets are able to burst the bubbles, and he's captured along with his gang. He's lucky in that Red Ann is unable to kill him on the spot though it seems he's destined for the chair.

Satan's Shoes: 1940, Thrilling Comics #1 (Better). Zatu, chief of the pygmies learns the secret of Satan's Shoes, thigh high iron spiked boots. Kidnapping a young girl, marrying her and then killing her, he completes a ritual that enables the shoes to give him great powers. He is able to leap as far as a day's trek in one bound, crush the bones of a full-grown lion and swing a crocodile over his head. The death of the girl has Rulah vowing "If I live, I'm going to kill you like the jackal you are! And my apologies to the jackals!" The battle is swift and brutal, she's almost defeated by his lightning quick leaps, until at the last moment she spins with a spear-head upright and he stabs himself on it. With his death, the boots quickly lose their power and she throws them into the water, hopefully never to be used again.

Satanas: 1944, Red Band #1. Satanas belongs to a race of near immortals on the "dread planet Pluto". While the race has no virtues to speak of, they even find Satanas to be cruel and unpleasant. With no known method to kill members of the race and his scientific knowledge makes it impossible to imprison, so instead they put him on a rocket with no controls and launch him into space. After nine hundred years he gains control of the ship but is unable to find his way home, instead finding Earth. He uses his genius to master the languages of the world in no time and embarks on plans of conquest. Despite the covers intimating a conflict with the Bogey Man, it doesn't appear to be the case.

Quality

Druids: 1951, Doll Man #38. A secret sect of druids have survived hundreds of years. They become openly active again when an ancient druid temple is found with a parchment that details where a great treasure is hidden. Stopped by Doll Man and Doll Girl.

Kite Men: 1940, Crack Comics #6. From a secret advanced lab hidden in a crater strike the Kite Men. Strapped to giant kites and armed with lightning guns, they lay waste to one city and set their sights on Washington. The Black Condor manages to fight off one invasion and track them to their lair where the inventor Karlo Klug operates the kites by remote control. Klug himself follows the commands of an unseen "Master" who communicates via radio. After defeating the Kite Men, the Black Condor uncovers and captures the Master, a funny looking dwarf with long beard.

The Knife: 1944, Feature Comics #76?. Anthony Durrant writes us: The Knife was a knife-wielding killer who escaped from the state penitentiary during a breakout engineered by himself and killed the gang boss who had sent him to prison right in front of the hero Doll Man.  He then tried to kill his former gun moll, who was married to District Attorney Malone and didn't want him to know about her past, but Doll Man stopped him.  Pursued to the city zoo by Doll Man and the police force, the Knife locked himself in a cage with a hungry tiger.  Although the knife was thrown a gun by the District Attorney, ironically, he died at the hands of the tiger because he was terrified of guns and so could not use one even to save his own life.  NOTE: Durrant credits the story to Feature #76, but the GCD lists a different Doll Man story in that issue.

Sapphire King: 1940, Crack Comics #5. On the Danger Islands off of Ceylon there is a cavern with a deep pool, probably connecting to the sea. At the bottom of the pool is a fortune in sapphires. The Sapphire King is a brutish man, leader of a small band of armed men and a flock of giant eagles, able to carry a grown man in their talons. He uses the eagles to raid merchant ships, stealing their cargo as well as kidnapping the sailors whom he forces to dive for the jewels. The Black Condor investigates. He manages to kill the eagles with his black light ray gun but only after a fierce aerial battle. The Sapphire King tries to hide his jewels in a another cave in which the Black Condor seals him in, where all those blood jewels will do him little good.

Sihn Fang: 1940, Crack Comics #4. Beneath Mount Doom, possibly somewhere in Europe, a village exists where crops don't grow, trees are withering and dying and into the village walks an old man. The adults are emaciated and in tatters and run when he questions them, but the children direct him to the top of the mountain where rays lay waste to their fields. The old man happens to be the Black Condor in disguise and up he flies to find a fortress with great lightning-ray cannons. Here resides the portly would-be conqueror Sihn Fang, his number one man De Graf, his beautiful red-headed daughter and his numerous troops. In an attempt to kill the Black Condor, the daughter is badly injured. She throws a destruct switch destroying the fortress and killing her, her father and their dreams of conquest.

Thinking Machine: 1940, Crack Comics #8. The Thinking Machine is torpedo shaped, has tracks like a tank, two arms with small pincer like hands, and a drilling rotator nose like those underground burrowing vehicles. On top of that if flies, much like a rocket. Invented by an elderly Chinese man for two unsavory types, he warns them that the death machine is so sophisticated, it might possibly be able to think and thus rebel. They scoff but it does just that and more. It turns on them, returns to Woe's lab, seriously wounds him and then sets out to make copies of itself in order to conquer the world. Before he dies, he's able to impart the secret of the one vulnerable spot, the tip of the rotator, to the Black Condor. Using his ray gun, the Condor destroys the Thinking Machine, which seems to shut down all of its duplicates.

Yaho: 1940, Crack Comics #7. Yaho is a ten foot tall statue-god of the believed extinct ancient tribe of Waquo Indians. When a specific amulet is put around his shoulders, Yaho comes to life with one purpose, to destroy the white man. Turns out the tribe is not completely extinct. One of the surviving members kills the famed explorer who currently owns the amulet and Yaho is subsequently brought to life. Luckily, the explorer was friends with the Black Condor who is familiar with the legend. He stops Yaho's rampage by removing the amulet and then blasting it to pieces with his ray gun.

Updates: 10-02-08

Baroni, John: 1941, Shadow Comics v1#11 (Street & Smith). The Hooded Wasp and Jim Martin are invited to a costume party by a friend, Doc Johnson. It turns out that Johnson had received a threatening note and wanted the Wasp to look into it. After the first murder by a knife, the Hooded Wasp and Jim find themselves up against a killer with deadly aim and incredible agility. When Jim is captured, the Wasp looks into those that had already been killed and realized they were all on the jury that convicted Killer Baroni and sentenced him to death. Capturing this new murderer, he stands revealed as Baroni's son and is a circus acrobat and knife thrower (his missing Jim with his knife throws may be attributed to him not wanting to kill someone that had nothing to do with his father's death). He bites down on a poison capsule rather than go to jail. A colorful villain in his hat, mask and topcoat and able to go toe to toe with the heroes thanks to his incredible skills, a shame that he didn't take on a colorful name or make a return appearance.

Faux Green Turtle: 1944, Blazing Comics #3 (Enwil). Anthony Durrant writes: This gentleman was Lieutenant Tasatu of the Japanese army; he was disguised as the heroic Ching Quai, aka the Green Turtle, and led a group of Chinese raiders into an ambush in Go-Wai Village at the behest of his master, General Kimonak, who then wiped out the raiders.  Using a duplicate of the Green Turtle's rocket plane, the Lieutenant was trying to destroy the good name of the Green Turtle.  Tasatu was eventually shot down by Burma Boy, and the General was taken into custody and committed seppuku shortly thereafter.  As Burma Boy remarked: "General Kimonak's entire staff committed (seppuku) after his death.  Is it not wisely said that he who plans a trap will often fall into it?"

"Dan" Knight: 1948, All Top Comics #16 (Fox). Anthony Durrant writes us: Daniel Knight is a successful newspaper reporter who gets a letter allegedly written by Rulah, the Jungle Goddess, and heads for Africa.  There, alone without a guide, he runs into a group of pygmy slavers who almost take him prisoner, but are stopped by Rulah herself.  Taken to Rulah's village, Dan eats and sleeps in luxury, and in the morning, several of the village girls are taken by the slavers.  Rulah follows them to a nearby city, where she frees the girls from an auction and sends them back to the village.  After searching the city, she heads into the last street and manages to kill a warthog that has been released in order to kill her.  A pygmy leads her to a room where she finds Dan dying of a gunshot wound; he tries to tell her the name of the killer, but he dies before he can do so.  Hurrying back to the village, Rulah looks down from a tree and sees "Dan" leading the pygmies in a raid on the village, secure in the belief that Rulah is dead.  When she swings down from the tree, "Dan" vows to kill her the same way he killed his twin brother - the real Daniel Knight.  The brother is hit by poison darts fired from the pygmys' blowguns and dies while being chased by the Jungle Goddess; his real name is never given in the story

Sylvanus Kroch: 1941, Thrilling Comics #12 (Better). For sheer audacity, this man makes it to the list. Anthony Durrant writes: Sylvanus Kroch was a fanatical millionaire who bought up all the fishing boats near an island in Russian territory.  He and his men then attacked the island and massacred the Russian troops stationed there.  Once they had massacred the troops, Kroch and his men seized their aircraft and used them to capture the barracks at Nome, Alaska in a bid to seize control of the United States of America.  Unfortunately for them, the Lone Eagle was flying a new fighter/bomber called the Super-Rocket, and he attacked Kroch's men as soon as they were airborne.  Eventually, he strafed the captured barracks, killing Kroch and his men.  ...and when he was fatally injured in the Lone Eagle's attack, his last words were spoken to the Lone Eagle.  They were: "I aimed . . . for more power . . . than any man should have . . .and failed..."

Leopard: 1941, Shadow Comics v1#11 (Street & Smith). Strange killings plague the city, throats torn out as if attacked by a great beast. As the first death is a watchman at the zoo, the main suspect is the black leopard Riba though she is still in her cage. It seems almost a certainty when later a guard says he shot a black leopard figure attacking someone and Riba is found dead in her pen. However, the Lamont Cranston, aka the Shadow suspects otherwise, showing that Riba was killed by a knife wound. He tracks his suspect to a cult of Leopard worshipers. While most of the worshipers dress in the spotted skins of the leopards and conduct symbolic sacrifices, one insane fanatic dresses in the black skins and is a cold-hearted killer: Mr. Harper, one of the keepers at the zoo. The Shadow is forced to kill Harper when he goes into a murderous rage.

Lost Pharaoh: 1948, Dagar, Desert Hawk #15 or 16 (Fox). The issue uncertainty arises from the GCD lists it as #15, but Anthony Durrant who wrote me about the character says #16. Anyway, with the history that Durrant provides: The Lost Pharaoh was an Egyptian monarch who had been banished, along with his queen, Akhet, into the Sahara desert.  Their tomb was located at a mountain and was guarded by the Egyptian gods.  An enterprising criminal disguised himself as the Lost Pharaoh and made his curse come true for the local Bedouin by kidnapping their women.  Capturing Ayesha, the ladylove of Dagar the Desert Hawk, he hypnotized her into believing she was the long-dead Akhet and made her appear to come alive in front of the Bedouin.  Once hypnotized, she followed the man's commands until Dagar knocked him out, breaking the hypnotic trance.  He then left the man who had impersonated the Pharaoh to the Bedouins' mercy.

Queen Tua: 1941, Shadow Comics v1#11 (Street & Smith). Queen Tua rules the underground civilization Charon which dreams of conquering the surface world. Her plans are complicated by her attraction for the surface hero Iron Munro who stands in her way.

Rasnel: 1942, Planet Comics #16 (Fiction). In the year 2541, Rasnel is the lord of the planetoid Zaten who dreams of conquest, torture and beautiful women. Even with the aid of his bullet-hooded flying men, he finds Earth a tough nut to crack as it's under the protection of the immensely powerful Red Comet.

Quality Villainy

Crimesmith: 1947, Feature Comics #107. The Crimesmith was a criminal and scientific genius back in the days of organized crime until he was captured and put away for many years. When he's finally released, he's changed: grown old and weak. But, as he notes, science has changed greatly as well. He creates a taloned robotic hand that he can control from the comfort of his home which he sends out to murder those that were responsible for putting him away, including Dr. Roberts, a close friend of Darrell Dane, the Doll Man. Doll Man foils the attempt on Roberts and tracks the hand back to the villain controlling it.

Atmos Fear: 1943, Smash Comics #44. Atmos Fear is the great-grandson of the last of the warlocks; on his thirteenth birthday, he develops the power to either heat himself up to boiling point or to lower his body temperature to the freezing point; this power is a last gift from his great-grandfather.  Using his new power, Atmos goes on a crime rampage until he is stopped by the (lady) wrestler Daffy Dill, whose figure he reduces with his heat power until she is slim and shapely.  Daffy uses him to replace her old heating system and thereby save on her heating bill.

The Hag: Patricia Wentworth is a beautiful woman who dressed up as a traditional styled witch and used science tricks to mimic magic in her crimes. She was foiled by Doll Man.

Man of a Thousand Faces: 1942, Feature Comics. A foe of Rusty Ryan and his pals. From Anthony Durrant: The Man of a Thousand Faces was the leader of the Black Dragon Society, which was made famous in the movie Black Dragons.  As the name suggests he was a master of disguise who hid his real face under a series of masks.  He kidnapped a woman and a Federal agent with the intention of injecting them with a solution that would make their dead bodies look like Japanese people.  He was finally shot dead by a female agent who was impersonating an old spinner, and unmasked as the consul who was supposed to have committed suicide after Pearl Harbour.  The Man of a Thousand Faces last appeared in Feature Comics #59.

The Pharaoh: 1943, Feature Comics #70. A man named Janus takes advantage of a Pharaoh's curse to disguise himself and his crimes. He's stopped by Doll Man.

Updates: 09-11-08

General Villainy

Black Buzzard: 1942, Super Mystery Comics v3n2 (Ace). A hunchbacked saboteur and expionage agent. Had a poison that could skeletonize those that ingested it. Stopped by Buckskin.

Electru: 1940, Thrilling Comics #4 (Better). A giant of around 7 feet tall, bald with a mustache, he had the ability to throw electrifying bolts. Not only that, but with his scientific knowhow, he had outfitted his gang with electric guns and airplanes that did the same. With these powers he attacked the Panama Canal, a Treasury building, law enforcement buildings and banks, killing all that stood in his way. Only Doc Strange (back when he was Dr. Strange) was strong enough to stand up against him. Strange didn't pull any punches either. He threw a car of the villain's henchmen into the path of a locomotive, destroyed the dynamos that powered his men's equipment, bombed the ship that served as headquarters (killing everyone on board) and punched Electru powerfully enough that he crashed into his own lab equipment and apparently killing him.

Ghost Knights: 1946, Four Favorites #23 (Ace). After Magno and Davey give documents to Dr. Meade, curator of a local museum, he reads an incantation that raises ghosts of marauding knights. They take medieval weapons, kille Meade and start wreaking mayhem on the local populace who can only see the weapons. Magno correctly deduces that they may have something to do with the museum. He returns there and finds the incantation and returns them to the afterlife.

The Green Mask: 1940, Sure Fire Comics #1 (Ace). A green hooded man and his gang steel government secrets, torture agents to death all in plots to bring governments to answer to them. Turns out he's the famous sportsman Sam Barkley, his hatred of American stemming from his American father abandoning his foreign and presumably ethnic mother. He takes poison to avoid capture by X, the phantom fed. This story is a re-telling of the story "Ambassador of Doom" in the Secret Agent "X" pulp.

Fay Morgana: Super-Mystery Comics (Ace). The sexy spy Fay Morganna worked with the Hun ( a long-haired brute of a man), and the Goth (a bearded older gent) on behalf of Hitler as saboteurs and spies. However, they are stopped by the Sword, Lancer, and Merlin and dishearted enough to accept the aid of a dimunitive man calling himself the Genius. As the Sword and company make use of Arthurian myth and themes, a villainess with a name based on Morgan Le Fey is a natural.

The Phoenix: 1940, Sure Fire Comics #1 (Ace). The Phoenix wants to rule the world and to do that he makes artificial jewels inside a volcano in Central America which his gang sells in New York. To this end, he has captured a Mr. Parker and group on a secret expedition that are familiar with the region and natives. He's also managed to get a local tribe, the Tzutuhiles aka the Jewel Men to work for him, taking expeditions and other tribes as slaves. The Jewel Men wear Crocodile heads as headwear. The Phoenix apparently dies when a bolt from the neophyte hero Lash Lightning disables his plane and causes it to crash into the volcano.

Professor X: 1940, Blue Bolt #5 (Novelty). He bedeviled Sub-Zero over the course of two issues before apparently meeting his maker.

Von Kraut: 1944, Startling Comics #26 (Better). Steady-Hands Anthony Durrant delivers: Commander Von Kraut was a German agent who killed and impersonated a Major Bradley of British Intelligence and his assistant.  After having been temporarily fooled into believing Von Kraut was Major Bradley, the espionage ace Don Davis shouted "Actung!" while Von Kraut was receiving important information that was meat for the Major.  Thus exposed, Von Krout and his aides were apprehended by Don and his men. NOTE: The GCD lists him as "von Krug"

Updates: 09-01-08

General Villainy

Baron Zborov: 1941, Wings Comics #11 (Fiction). While flying important military papers to Cyprus, a storm forces Suicide Smith to crash in Transylvania. When he comes to, he finds himself a prisoner of Baron Zborov's in a medieval castle. The baron's hulking assistant Otto confides to him that the baron and the beautiful Hinda are vampires. However, Hinda reveals herself as a British agent and that Zborov is high with der Fueher. Smith escapes, shooting the baron in a dogfight and takes Hinda to the French Resistance in Paris, where he promptly runs into a little trouble with the Gestapo. It should be noted that Hinda didn't dispute the claims of vampirism and Zborov lived to fight the very next issue.

The Golden Skull: 1941, Jungle Comics #23 (Fiction). Anthony Durrant writes: The Golden Skull is the statue of a red devil that is worshipped by the Mobalo tribe.  After two brothers go into the jungle looking for the Skull, one of them returns injured and is killed by one of the Mobalos using a poison dart.  Roy Lance, the jungle ranger, then heads down into the tribe's territory, where he discovers the Golden Skull in a cave at the foot of a volcano, in the process saving the life of a Mobalo named Bomba.  Bomba then returns the favour by hiding behind the Golden Skull and ordering his people to release Roy.  Roy and Bomba then topple the statue, save the life of the dead man's brother, and escape from the cave through the secret passage that had been behind the idol.  The Mobalos are killed when the volcano erupts; Bomba is the sole survivor of his entire people.  (As can be seen from the description above, the name "Golden Skull" is a misnomer, and the statue was probably supposed to be called "the Red Devil," but the name was changed.)

Honest John Zazabo: 1943, Jungle Comics #41 (Fiction). Anthony Durrant writes: Honest John Zazabo was a trader who was about to retire; a tribe nearby held a farewell ceremony for him in which John  passed out gifts to the men; his real plan was to drug the punch he was giving to the male villagers and abscond with their diamonds.  Camilla, the jungle queen, tried to stop him, but was caught by honest John and tied up near a huge anthill.  Released by her friend Mala, Camilla rallied the women and they drove Honest John and his men into a nearby swamp, then dropped the jewels and the men into the murky water to get rid of them for

The Madman: 1943, Jungle Comics #41 (Fiction). Crazy-legs Anthony Durrant writes us: A man dressed as a native with a horned headdress forced two boys trying to win a place in the tribe to dive into a river and bring him diamonds.  Pursued by Tabu, the jungle wizard, the man tried to cut the strings of a bridge Tabu was crossing during the pursuit, but failed and was caught by the jungle wizard.  He was unmasked by Tabu as a white man with gaunt features and red hair and a moustache, who had been driven insane by searching for diamonds.  The man was allowed to leave with the diamonds by Tabu, but the jungle wizard confiscated his weapons; soon afterward, the man was killed by a boa constrictor.