Kali:1940, Amazing Man Comics #16 (Centuar). This old bearded man had been jailed in Cairo thanks to the actions of Prince Zardi. He and his gang had a formula that when applied to a living being turned them into statues. They kidnapped Janni Bayless, a girl that helps Zardi at times in order to trap him. And, they were aware of the items that gave Zardi much of his power. However, through his cunning and magic he managed to capture them and restore all their victims.
Kamroff: 1937. Funny Pages v2#2/13 (Comics Magazine Co/ Centaur/Chesler). This Russian chartered Dave Dean's schooner to make a trip across the Berring sea. Turns out, he has pals there that had escaped from a Siberian prison along with the prison director's beautiful daughter Natalie and stolen jewels and wants passage back to Alaska. After close calls, Shorty and Dave manage to turn the tables on the cut-throat crew and capturing them, last seen waiting for the hangman. Among his group is Ivan the Mighty, dressed as a Cossack but colored yellow, maybe partially Mongolian? Kamroff himself is bald with a van dyke and a monocle.
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."
Kaos: 1939, Fantastic Comics #12 (Fox). Fiendish criminal scientist on the highly civilized planet of Venus. He grows a flock of giant vultures to the size of a city bus and sends them to invade Earth (he controls them via a hypnotic ray). However, his actions have been observed by the space wizard Stardust (who is apparently about 8-9 feet tall himself) and they battle on Earth. Kaos is transformed into a worm to feed to the vultures, and a beautiful woman that he had kidnapped to be his queen accompanies Stardust back to his home.
Karrion: 1940, Amazing Man Comics #13 (Centuar). The old hag Karrion rules great vultures in the Land Beneath the Sea and is more than a little bit nuts. When Chuck Hardy kills one of her pets, she attempts to use his crossbow against him. However, the bow has a legend attached to it. One, it always hits its mark, and two, it can only be used for just purposes. If used for evil, the culprit will die a sudden death. It holds true as the arrow bounces off a rock and strikes Karrion in the throat, killing her.
Karlak: 1944, Mystery Comics #1 (Better). Earthling Karlak is a renegade scientist in the 30th Century who has thrown in with tentacled Venusians in order to rule the city of Futuria. He's dethroned and generally opposed by 20th Century flying ace Dick Devens.
Karno the Chessmaster: 1940, Wonderworld Comics #9 (Fox). Karno is an insane chessmaster, shrinking down people to be his chess pieces. He uses inventions to give his henchmen the power of flight (in red hooded costumes and green wings, the press dub them collectively as the Moth). After kidnapping heiress Irene Jonson, they abduct Dr. Fung and his assistant Dan Barrister. They rescue the girl and get away, but without capturing Karno, who returned to bedevil them.
Karno: 1941, Fantastic Comics #17 (Fox). Undersea pirate that shows a bit more style than Sub Saunders' usual foes in that he sports a mask and a roguish mustache. He and his crew kidnap Sub because Sub is the best sub-mariner in the business.
Simba Karno: 1941, Blue Bolt Comics #13 (Vol 2, #1). Raised by evil scientist to be a "wonder boy" by Dr. Karno, his life parallels that of Dick Cole. Both were born October, 1924. Both raised by scientific regimens leaving the two with identical abilities. Furthermore, it's revealed that both scientists received this brainstorm via a "double thought wave" though where the wave originated remains unknown. Simba is a hulking man instead of the dashing American pie good looks of Dick Cole. Interesting over the course of the stories and their clashes, Simba slowly reforms, becoming a truly good guy, rejecting Dr. Karno's attempts to bring him back to a life of crime, and becoming Dick Cole's partner in many adventures.
Swamp-Rat Keefe: 1946, Clue Comics 11 (Hillman) When "Swamp-Rat" Keefe escapes from prison and flees into his native Florida swamps, the authorities call in Micro-Face to pit his skills agains this swamp version of Tarzan. Keefe is an expert at archery and laying snares and takes out two cops and the lead dog before Micro-Face pursues him alone through the treacherous swamp lands. Ultimately, Keefe takes some poison rather than being captured and sent back to prison. An oddity of a story, as it takes Micro-Face out of his urban element and portrays him as a known friend of the police.
Keero: 1940, Weird Comics #5 (Fox). On the Ice Planet ruled by Empress Ilera, Keero and his robot army seek to seize the throne. The robot invasion with huge cannon-like Electro Guns are all remote controlled by Keero safe in the hills. He successfully takes Ilera's palace but he doesn't count on the intervention of famed space-hero Blast Bennett. Blast destroys the robot controls and Keero is taken prisoner.
Caleb Ketchum: America's Best 26 (Better) An old teacher of Bob Benton's (aka the Black Terror) who developed a chemical that makes termites grow big as well as exterminating spray powerful enough to even stun a human being.
Kalla Khan: 1940, Reg'lar Fellers #1 (Eastern Color Printing). A modern day leader of a Thuggee cult of worshipers of Kali. He has a secret underground lair in the Temple of Kali where he has been amassing a secret arsenal of weapons. He has two problems. One is the heroic writer Chickering Mann who is living in India. Another is the beautiful but evil Indira, Queen of the Dacoits.
Kilgor: 1940, Fantastic Comics #4 (Fox). Kilgor is your typical mad scientist, built a giant robot army with funding by Rigo, a foreign dictator. He then uses the robots to kill Rigo and his men and sets himself up as dictator. His robots are destroyed by Samson and he is killed by one of them himself when he rebuilds it but doesn't issue a command quick enough.
Killraye: 1940, Speed Comics #7 (Harvey). Killraye was the ruler of Jupiter until earthman Mars Mason opposed his plans and he was forced to flee to his cousins, the Needle Men of the comets. However, his plans are stopped again by Mars Mason and the intervention of the Saturn Men, the long-time foes of the Needle Men. Killraye has rayguns and other devices that a good sci-fi villain needs. He's very much an alien being, his humanoid body being covered with jagged edges like he's made of holly leaves. He has horns, pointed jagged ears, a long nose, large mouth full of pointed teeth, and large round eyes. His returning for a second bout with Mars Mason is what earns him a spot here.
King Loti and the Spiritmen: 1940, Silver Streak Comics #3 (Lev Gleason). On a far planet Lance Hale and Professor Grey discover King Loti and the Spiritmen. They are described as having no souls nor bodies and are less evolved than humans. However, we see them having human like bodies with the faces of beasts, mostly lions. They are ruled by the human looking King Loti who claims to have a device that gives them human bodies and will enslave the Earth. As King Loti's real appearance is that of a vulture-headed man, it's unsure if the device is what gives the supposedly bodiless spiritmen the beast-men bodies or if it's what makes Loti look human and will do so for the rest. Loti also has the ability to be invisible although the treatment that gives Lance Hale his superior strength also allows him to see Loti during those times. One of the spiritmen's weaknesses seems to be that by someone enacting a strong force of will through the medium of silver, their bodies can be willed out of existence. It's not easily done as it took both Myra and Professor Grey to do so against one small group of them as Hale battled them.
King of Manhattan: Sparkle Comics. This madman who lived in the sewers with access to dutch settler's gold was in the habit of kidnapping and torturing beautiful women. Was opposed by the Spark Man.
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.
King Questionmark: 1941, Daredevil Comics #6 (Lev Gleason). Mop-headed hunchbacked foe of 13 & Jinx. Helped out by the lunatic Goebells. Both villains were seemingly destroyed by a bomb that Questionmark threw at 13 and Jinx. Created by Bernard Klein.
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.
Klug: Thrilling Comics (Standard) Nazi scientist who creates a machine that makes things light absorbant, an almost invisible shadow. He works with Dr. Sanaki who created a dio-radiumet that makes a person glow with a blinding light as well as sap their will power. The two decide to steal some planes, make them near invisible and bomb the White House. However, Sanaki is captured, but Klug falls out of an airplane while fighting Doc Strange and is presumed dead. Other than the related inventions, the two villains aren¹t all that memorable. NOTE: while the story art depicted people and objects as being solid black when rendered a shadow, the story itself implied them being invisible.
Klutcher: Thrilling Comics (Better). This mad-scientist villain and his gang steal Dr. Stanton's fast growing yeast in order to make large Yeast monsters for acts of sabotage. The Ghost and his assistant Betty capture the gang and Betty discovers that the monsters can be destroyed by simple sugar, which reacts with the chemistry to make alcohol.
"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
Knights of the Blue Flame: 1942, Blue Bolt vol 2, #11 (Novelty Press, Inc).Hooded and robed in blue, this racketeering group operated under the guise of a vigilante organization. When they try to kill and frame Blake, the Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, they are put on ice by Sub-Zero and Freezum. Turns out the group was led by the Police Chief.
Herr Kommandant: ~1940, Popular Comics (Dell). On a hidden base in the Carribean, this short stocky Kommandant commands several submarines that terrorize the area. His base and operations are compromised by the Voice.
Kong: 1941, Fantastic Comics #15 (Fox). In the future, Kong is an under-sea pirate with a fortress and army under the sea who demands a billion dollars or he'll bomb New America and wage war upon her. He's captured by Sub Saunders
Koth: (Centaur). Evil sorcerer against Dr. Mystic. NOTE: Dr. Mystic was a Centaur version of Siegel & Shuster's Dr. Occult for National. Only the names changed.
Herr Kraus: 1942, Prize Comics #24 (Prize). The year is 1925 and Herr Kraus and a band of men are early and loyal supporters of Adolph Hitler. The timing is not good and Kraus takes to a life of piracy, but that doesn't go well either. After a battle with the American coastguard, he and a couple of his men hide-out in a nearby home, that of a young married couple with twins just months old, the Walters family. In a shootout, Kraus is able to escape at least, but not before Mrs. Kraus is gunned down trying to protect her twins. With her dying breath, she admonishes her husband to raise them as good Americans. Which he does. Years pass, Hitler is in power and Kraus is a favored lieutenant in the Gestapo. Hitler sends him back to America as head of the sabotage ring. He has the misfortune to be recognized by Mr.Walters at a dedication ceremony where Walters worked as chief engineer. Which brought Kraus & his gang into conflict with Yank and Doodle, secretly the twins, now 17. While this is before Walters assumed the identity as the second Black Owl, it means that Kraus is the indirect cause and motivation of this crime-fighting family. So, this otherwise regular German agent is deemed worthy enough to be in these pages.
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..."
Kroll Mul: 1948, Black Terror 22, (Better). Tyrant of the year 9767 who keeps the populace under control through large television screens whose images keep them docile (technological bread and circuses foreshadowing modern concerns of the roles that television and video games have now on people as well as virtual reality). His rule is overthrown when the Black Terror, Tim and Doctor Fission come from the past through an atomic powered time machine the latter built. The artist of this story was Shelly Moldoff who did Hawkman for several years at DC.
K'Tonga: Jungle Comics (Fiction). Anthony Durrant writes: K'Tonga was a half-caste witch whose arm was severely burned in a fire that was apparently set by a plantation owner named Bob Sharpe. She went to the crippled dwarven healer Harana, who told her that he could not restore the use of her crippled arm. Instead, she had him graft the arm of his sacred ape onto her own body and set out to get revenge on Bob Sharpe. She killed Bob, and kidnapped his wife Beth when she came to his aid, then tried to make her sign over the plantation to him. Instead, she and her men were trapped in the temple and killed by Camilla, the Queen of the Lost City, who jumped on the back of K'Tonga's elephant and forced it to ram the temple. Only then was Harana's healing power restored. NOTE: This is one villain I wished I could see a pic of.
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.
Kursk: 1940, Amazing Man Comics #18 (Centaur). Kursk works for a foreign government and had approached Dr. Hypno to develop a super-explosive. After Hypno had turned him down, he and his masked gang of fifth columnists laid a trap for him. Through his power of transferring his mind to animals, Hypno was able to communicate to Wun and the authorities caught Kursk and his gang. Kursk was a white bearded man with large brimmed hat and cloak.
Lady Satan: 1944, Catman #23 (Holyoke). A brunette woman with a pinched death-head face starts appearing at an aircraft factory, seemingly able to kill the workers by merely showing her face. She is stopped by the Hood and unmasked as the wife of Abel Garling, the company owner. Garling was being paid by the enemy to halt production and had worked up this scheme with his wife wearing the skull-face mask to terrorize the workers. They rigged up the plant grounds with electric wires and when she stepped on a contact plate, her victims were electrocuted.
Lady Serpent: (Better). This murderous female fought Black Terror. She had hypnotic powers and loved gems.
Lailani: Wonderworld Comics (Fox). Vampire Queen of the Valley of the Moon. The magician/mystic Yarko and an expedition are on a search in the frozen northwest of the Yunnan Province looking for the Hoshai, a flower with human blood and found in the Valley of the Moon. They find not only the flower but a kingdom of vampire women. Lailani has vast hypnotic powers but not as strong as Yarko's.
Landor: 1939, Speed Comics #1 (Harvey). Landor lives up to his billing, "maker of monsters". He wears a hooded robe and creates monsters like a seven foot tall woman with functional bat wings, giant mosquitoes, and various Frankenstein styled monsters. He's opposed by the non-powered couple Anthony "Tony" Torrence and Torrence's fiance Marcia (the GCD lists her as Maria, but the stories I've read have her as Marcia). Landor may have powers himself as he repeatedly escapes sure death, and each time Tony seems to think the villain is surely dead this time. Landor's head and face is skull-like ala the Phantom of the Opera or the Red Skull.
Lana the Lion Girl: 1941, Amazing Man Comics #19 (Centaur). Beautiful Asian Lana is hired by mob leader Scarskull to kill the DA Sam Williams whose investigations are putting the pressure on the mob. To this end she and her lion Leo are a girl lion tamer act for a stage/vaudeville show starring the local celebrities such as the state governor, mayor, senator and the DA. And, also starring Dr. Hypno. Suspicious of her behavior, Hypno mentally takes over Leo and cowers Lana when she tries to use him as a weapon. Scarskull later falls to his death while fleeing capture. NOTE: Other sources give her a last name. This is a correction of that data.
Lapadra: Anthony Durrant provides: Lepadra was a jungle ruler who could transform herself into a leopard and also transfer the brain of a leopard into a human or vice versa. She succeeded in transplanting the brain of Tanee, the mate of Jo-Jo the Jungle King, into the body of a leopard. Jo-Jo forced her to reverse the fiendish operation, after which she died at the hands of her own victims
Laughing Head: Prize Comics (Feature Publications). A crook with a big grin and a "ho ho ho" commits daring crimes and leads his gangs against the Black Owl (I) on several occassions. However, each time the Black Owl has the last laugh.
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.
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.
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.
Leopard Queen: Exciting Comics (Better). White queen of the Majaja tribe, she wears a leopard skin, steals and kills for the sake of doing so and has the reputation for being able to change into a leopard to kill. She is defeated by Judy of the Jungle, killed by falling on her own claws. Judy also reveals that the woman only appeared to change into a leopard, she'd change places with a leopard she had trained to kill for her. Whatever it was that drove her to insanity, was lost when she died.
Leopard Women of Venus: 1940, Fantastic Comics #3 (Fox). The Leopard Women of Venus fly on the back of saurians through space. They dress in spotted red tights and shoot flames through a horn on the skull-caps on their heads. They capture Space Smith and Diana and transport her to the robot scientists of Venus.
Lilith: (Better). "Regent of Darkness--Princess of the planet Pluter--Supreme ruler of the universal Realm" With the aide of her allies Dr. Voodoo and the Immortal Emperor, this femme fatale has her sights on ruling the entire solar system yet is stymied by Wonderman II.
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.
Lion Heart: (Fiction).Anthony Durrant writes: Lion Heart was a bearded man with a bald head who stumbled on the body of a lion that had been killed by Sheena, Queen of the Jungle. Seizing the opportunity, Lion Heart skinned and tanned the hide of the lion and made it into a robe that he himself wore. He then went to a nearby village and proclaimed himself the new chief. When the old chieftain tried to kill a lion with his bare hands as Lion Heart claimed he had done, he was himself killed by the lion. Lion Heart expelled the Chief's Daughter from the village and she immediately went to see Sheena, who was captured when she and her mate Bob went to Lion Heart's village. Lion Heart then called a meeting of all the chiefs in the area, so they could see Sheena and Bob being sacrificed to the lions in the village square. In the end, Sheena and Bob escaped and the lions fell victim to Sheena's dagger. Lion Heart was killed when the other chiefs forced him to fight a wild lion who had been drawn to the village by the scent; he proved to be, in actuality, a craven coward.
The Lip: 1945, Golden Lad (Spark). Wearing a bushy wig and eyebrows, and make-up to protrude his lower lip, the Lip sells beef on the black market. Swiftarrow exposed him.
"Spot" Lipton: 1941, Thrilling Comics #21 (Better). A crook and a killer, he escaped from a squad car and hid out at a circus, killing the animal trainer as well as a clown whose costume he put on in order to escape. He was captured by the Woman in Red.
Little Fuhrer: 1944, America's Best Comics 12 (Better). A diminutive German about the size of a young teenager, the little Fuhrer grafted the brain cells of a German strongman named Hans into his own making him a genius and making Hans obey his every command. They were stopped by the American Eagle.
The Living Torch: 1942, Man of War Comics #2 (Centaur). Professor Books has found a way to temporarily produce living torches (they die shortly after, all burnt up) and fires them through a special cannon at armored cars and such. His plans are discovered by Fire-man and Nancy and he and his henchmen are killed by their latest Torch who breaks free before he dies.
The Lizard: 1942, Lightning Comics v3#1 (Ace)?. The Lizard is able to climb walls with webbed gloves and boots and carries pet gila monsters which he has trained to go for people's throats and kill them. In the story I've read, no origin is given for the Lizard nor any indication if his look is a costume or not. He's apparently killed by a combination of a bite from one of his pets and the multi-story fall it causes. His ill-gotten gains are taken by the Raven and used to build a playground for poor children.
Llaslo: 1940, Amazing Man Comics 15 (Centaur). This turbaned leader is approached by a scientist friend who has hit upon a plan to capture the Iron Skull and use his blood to create an invincible army of living robots. First phase goes off perfectly, they draw and capture the Skull via a powerful magnet that reaches across countries and then inject a formula that spreads the iron effect through his whole body. However, this makes the Iron Skull even more invincible and he quickly mops the floor with them, wreck the magnet and heads back to the ole USA.
Lodar: Anthony Durrant writes: Lodar was a bandit who rose up in protest against the peace treaty between the Atlanteans and the Miro Men, two undersea races. He abducted Queen Maureen Marine in order to kill her and bring war to both the Miro Men and Atlantis; unfortunately for him, he was killed by Romko, one of his own men, who had once been an Atlantean. Mortally wounded, Romko himself died shortly afterward.
Loki: (Fox) Anthony Durrant gives us: Loki was an African native who was capturing women of the tribe ruled by Rulah, the Jungle Goddess, and forcing them to dig for gold at a site where he had found a large amount of gold. Later, he split the gold with Rulah herself, intending to locate Rulah's stash and replace her own share wiith fool's gold, to besmirch her reputation. He was killed by Rulah, who got to keep the gold for herself!
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.
Lonna: 1940, Crash Comics #1 (Holyoke). Lonna is a princess/queen of the mystic land of Shangra located somewhere in the vicinity of Tibet. Her 200 year old great, great, great grandfather is the ruler. When reporters Jack Flynn and Joan Joyce crash, Lonna seeks to make Jack her husband and the new king as the old man wishes to retire. The two royals are willing to go to any lengths to make this happen, the one hitch being Jack and Joan love each other.
Duke Loran: 1941, Amazing Man Comics #22 (Centaur). Duke Loran is the jealous suitor of Princess Deila in the subterannean kingdom/city of Atlantia. Jealous of the attention she shows Reef Kinkaid after he is marooned there, he turns to murder and treason. He attempts to kill Reef and secretly forms an army of real frog-men to overthrow the kingdom. However, Reef Kincaid and Princess Deila are able to commandeer an undersea tank and rout the frogmen. However, Duke Loran not only remains free but his perfidy is left undiscovered. Atlantia was the first city of a lost continent 9000 years ago. When a tidal wave destroyed and sank much of the land, there were survivors who had fled to some caves in the hills. The cataclysm had expanded the cave but also put the only entrance beneath sea level and they rebuilt their civilization there.
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.
Lucifer: 1940, Fantastic Comics #6 (Fox). In his first appearance, he just seems a one-off villain facing against Flip Falcon who is trapped by Flip. Later (issue #15), he and his demons become recurring foes for Falcon when he travels through the 4th Dimension. He is able to speak backwards magic.
Lucifer: ~ 1943, Doc Savage (Street & Smith). Roy and Jane Drake are in possession of a treasure map belonging to their ancestor Sir Francis Drake. However, Roy is kidnapped with the map by the mysterious being known as Lucifer. Jane recruits the help of Doc Savage, Monk, and Ham to rescue her brother and find the treasure at Skull Island off of Hawaii. Despite Lucifer throwing obstacles in their way the whole adventure, with the aid of his sacred hood, Doc and his men ultimately foil him and reveal the devilish villain to be Roger Hale, Roy and Jane's guardian.
Luko: 1941, Man of War Comics #1 (Centaur). On the coast of Mexico, Luko is a self-styled dictator with an underground base hosting a huge army. He is goaded into preparing to attack the US by an invisible Mars; however, he and his army are stopped by Man of War. Luko is apparently killed when shot by FBI agent Wanda Hall.
Mr. Lunar: 1945, Blue Beetle 40, (Fox). After serving his time in prison, Mr. Lunar decides to get revenge on the DA and witness that put him there. To distract the police from his target, he created masks that drive their wearers into murderous deeds. Once the masks are taken off, they dissolve into a bitter gas leaving their wearers with no memories of their deeds.
Lurida: 1940, Silver Streak Comics #3 (Lev Gleason). Lurida is an evil woman who spent time in Africa. While there, she learned of the "Gem of Evil" which could be used to summon the Shadow Monster. She somehow learns of the adventures Lance Hale had that has resulted in him carrying a fortune in gems and reasons that the Gem of Evil is one of them. She hires men to steal it and she uses it to call forth the Shadow Monster and commands it to commit various crimes of mayhem from which she and her gang can profit. Hale sets himself against her gang, shooting many of them. She offers Hale a place by her side, but he destroys the gem, banishing the monster. Lurida seems to prefer death over capture and jumps into roaring flames that were originally meant as a death-trap for Hale.
Lutz: 1941, Startling Comics 12, (Better). A sabotage ace working for the Dictator of Fascovia (read Germany), he developed a super-magnet that pulled meteors out of the sky to bomb different US plants. He was captured by Mystico.
The Lynx: February 1943, Clue Comics #2 (Hillman). Ronald Byrd writes: The heavyset, cat-faced Lynx is a black marketeer who smuggles bars of "defense steel" hidden inside children's dolls; "Of course the country needs the metal," he chortles, "but we need the dough!" The Lynx and his gang are defeated by the speedster Zippo.
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.
The Mad Gobi Giant: Fantastic Comics #6 (Fox). Seeking to destroy civilization he injects a powerful chemical into the Earth's core causing violent volcanic eruptions. He is captured by the super-wizard Stardust and delivered to the Inter-Planetary Police.
The Mad Botanist: 1941, Thirlling Comics #23 (Better). Foe of The American Crusader.
Mad Fiddler: 1940, Reg'lar Fellers #12 (Eastern Color Printing). The Mad Fiddler wants to conquer and set up a new order based on the order of music. To this end he needs funding and so he steals a formula that allows him to make fake Stradivarius violins. He also hijacks radio waves and communicates to his gang members through regular radios. He's opposed by the fledgling hero Music Master.
The Mad Ghost: Anthony Durrant writes: This monstrous villain murdered the detective who had arrested him after a jewel heist, then kept the jewels for himself, in a hotel room. He was stopped by Nightbird, who found the stolen jewels hidden in the hotel's bridal suite and was able to take a photograph showing that the Mad Ghosts' adversary, Count Strogo, was the leader of a gang of hoodlums who were also after the stolen jewels.
The Mad Madespos: 1941 Crackajack Funnies 38, (K.K. Publications). Ma Madespo and her four sons are a killer gang that special investigator Nick Terry (the Owl) and the Chief put away. They escaped with the help of a trained gorilla that wears a jacket and bow-tie.
Mad Ming: 1940, Funny Pages #34/v4 #1 (Centaur). Wu Chang is an oppulent and overweight Chinese Importer. To the underworld, he's also the Mad Ming, head of smuggling empire, leader of a tong as well as having pull in the homeland. He has no problem with murder or torture, even of a beautiful woman. Unlike many "Yellow Peril" menaces, the only part of him that is stereotypical is his long hanging thin mustache. Running his shop, he wears a Western style suit, and he's large and powerful looking if overweight. His first outing, he's captured by G-Man Gene. Prison doesn't hold him long and he returns to undertake other various criminal schemes. Sadly, in those stories, he takes to wearing more stereotypical garb, at least when he's amongst other Chinese.
Mad Mong: 1940, Double Comics #1 (Gilbert). Sorta cross between Fu Manchu and Ming the Merciless, this Mongolian villain was opposed by a stereotypical adventurer called "White Flash." This villain and hero more than likely were nowhere inside the comic as it was a series of bound remaindered comics. The covers often featured different all-new heroes, but you couldn't be sure of what was on the inside, except for it wouldn't be the guys on the cover.
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.
Mad scientist (Un-named): foe of Don Winslow and inventor of the "paralysis ray...the weirdest weapon in the world."
Mad Scientist II (Un-named): 1941, Liberty Scouts #2 (Centaur). In the woods of Utah, a bald bearded scientist is causing forest fires and using them to cover his huge assistant Gaston and his hypnotized niece Nancy kidnapping subjects for a mad experiment, instantly heating a body to transform it into being of "solid gas". His experiment finally succeeds too well with a fireman by the name of Jim who uses his new powers against the scientist. The scientist perishes when his lab explodes. In addition to his mad experiment, the scientist has the knowhow to make a large rubber fire proof suit, a miniaturized flame gun, a special suit that helps the subject control his new state as well as hypnosis. Not bad for a mere 7 pages and not even getting a name.
Madame Claw: Air Fighters Comics (Hillman). Beautiful Japanese woman with a hook for a left hand. She captures a huge Japanese freedom fighter Mia-kah and turns his brain to mush, making him her slave. She takes poison when captured by the Black Angel.
Madame Death: 1944, Four Favorites #15 (Ace). Madame Death is a criminal leader. She may be middle-aged or the smoking and life of crime may have left her a little hardened looking. Her chief henchman is a man by the name of Dark Eyes. They aren't above murder and selling plans to foreign governments to make their money. Captured by Lightning and Lightning Girl.
Madame Intrigue: 1944, Speed Comics #34 (Harvey). Axis agent and a master of disguise. Or is that mistress? She is involved in plots in the Middle East during the war where she runs afoul of Pat Parker and the Girl Commandos. In her second outing with them, she falls into a vat of fluid that causes advance aging (to be used against tanks and such, causing the metal to rust and fall apart) and she ages to a crone.
Madame Mystery: 1941, Prize Comics #9. Beautiful brunette gang leader. She was billed as the world's most dangerous woman and "her gang has looted and killed for jewels from here to Hong Kong." Least that¹s how reporter Barney Dunn feels and he hatches a plan to stop her and get a scoop to boot: he publishes a story that the Black Owl has vowed to catch her thus drawing the Black Owl and female sleuth Terry Dane into the case.
Madame Olga: 1940, Amazing Man Comics #14 (Centaur). This saboteur was a member of the Anarchy Circle which, in turn, worked for the Great Question. She escaped capture by Amazing Man at least once. An odd feature about her is that she appears to be Zona Hendersen's identical twin. There is no indication that she was surgically altered to look like Zona. Which raises the question if the Great Question had a hand in Hendersen's meeting with Amazing Man.
Madame Wu-Wu: 1947, Airboy vol 4 #11 (Hillman). Lady Asian Pirate, she runs a resort where those with too much money and time come to "go out of the world" and live high. And, they do with gambling, drinking and other high living until in a few months they have aged themselves prematurely for years. To supplement the resort, Wu Wu's pirates also loot ships from all nations. Her plans hit a snag when Link Thorne, the Flying Fool investigates a college buddy's death of premature old age. Last we know, he's loading a plane full of bombs to send a certain pirate ship "out of this world."
Madam Zubar: 1946, Exciting Comics #48 (Better). Madame Zubar was a phony clairvoyant who could supposedly call up the spirits of the dead, assisted by Janet, her supposed niece, who did the ghost voices through a special horn. She was apprehended by Kid Terror working alone for the first and only time. Zubar admitted that she had kidnapped Janet from an orphanage as a baby. The story was called "The Kid Plays A Lone Hand." Madame Zubar and her aide have the distinction of being the villains in the last Golden Age Black Terror story.
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.
The Maestro: 1943, Four Favorites #9 (Ace). This is one of the odder villains. The Maestro plays a violin with which he is able to command bees, having discovered their secret language. Thus, he has a bee inspired costume in his first appearance: yellow-black striped tights top, yellow boots, blue trunks, antennae, and gossamer wings. The antennae and a radio allow him to block Lightning and Lightning Girl's powers.
Originally, the Maestro was Basilo Tosca, a musical genius and conductor while also planning robberies for his small gang to commit while the victims were away from home attending his concerts. That life of crime came to an end when one person failed to attend the concert and the crooks were interrupted which put Lightning and Lightning Girl on his trail. It was at this time that years of experimenting with bees paid off and he discovered that he could communicate with them through his music, thus the costume and replacing his henchmen with bees.
The Maestro would return, changing his costume and some of his m.o., becoming an almost grotesque figure. His music could enslave others and he wore a dark suit, cloak and top hat (retaining an antenna to counteract Lighting's powers). In his employ he had a hunched back midget dressed as a jester that was his headsman and torturer, carrying a mace that he could use to deadly effect.
Magic Mandarin: 1940, Whirlwind Comics (Holyoke): From the Far-East comes the Chinese man named Lee Ching but who also goes by the name of the Magic Mandarin. Through the aid of some Manchu allies and the power of the Stone of the Dragon he dreams of conquest but is opposed by correspondent Smash Dawson. The stone has magnetic properties but also possibly some real magic as Ching and his allies change from business suits to robes and the Mandarin himself manages to somehow evade sure capture.
Mr. Magna: 1947, Black Cat Comics #7 (Harvey). This portly gentleman is an auto manufacturer of the Magnacar. But, instead of being a great and safe car, his plant uses inferior and cheap materials. While people die driving and having accidents in his cars, he amasses a small fortune and is ready to leave the country. However, the Vagabond Prince and his court, the teen Chief Justice and the Jester have been investigating the accidents and are ready to bring him to justice. He jumps in a car and flees, but he has jumped in not his own car but a magnacar and he promptly has a fatal accident.
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.
The Mallet: 1942, Daredevil Comics #11 (Lev Gleason). The Mallet is a Japanese spy. Along with his right hand man Tiang, they are passing themselves off as Chinese and head the Chinese forces along the Burma Road linking China with Burma. When Pat Patriot and her female army arrive to train the Chinese soldiers, the Mallet incites them to slay the women and isn't above torturing them himself. Pat exposes them as Japanese and their forces are easily routed by the combined might of Pat's army and the Chinese soldiers. The Mallet's final fate is unknown. He wore a dark blue cap and red sea-captain's jacket and slightly bearded. His nautical look was completed by having a just a wooden club where his right hand should be, hence his name. Created by Lin Streeter.
The Man on Crutches: 1947, Prize Comics #67 (Prize). Erik Manfredi is a jewel thief who was promised a great sum of money for a ruby owned by the oil heiress Miss Rita Henway. Unable to get Rita to give the jewel up, he devises a clever dart gun concealed into a crutch with which he kills her and then hides the gem inside the other crutch. He's brought to justice by Yank & Doodle with the help of the previously retired Black Owl.
The Man Who Can't Die: 1942, Cat-man Comics #6 (Holyoke)."Dice" Rovelli is electocuted for committing murder, but is dug up by his henchmen and he embarks on a murder spree, to kill the various men responsible for his death. He is fighting Rag Man before he just collapses, death catching up to him. Dying, Rovelli's last victim confesses all. He was Dr. Walters of the State Prison who had developed a formula that would put someone into a catalytic sleep (that would also keep him from being electrocuted) and had been forced to inject Rovelli with it who was later given an antidote by his men but it seems the formula was only good for sustaining a life for a week.. Rovelli was after the Prison Warden Crane, the DA and Judge Simpson who had framed him for the murder he was "executed" for. Rovelli signed his death threats as "The Man Who Can't Die" and he had his head completely bandaged and possibly a black mask around his eyes (or just an artistic effect).
Manta: 1944, Bouncer Comics 12 (Fox): Sexy white brunette who is in command of some dark Burmese jungle natives. She managed to capture Rocket Kelly¹s gunner and sidekick Wacky and is torturning him for vital information concerning American forces when Rocket Kelly comes to the rescue of him and other American airmen, capturing Manta in the process. More info on this mystery woman was promised in upcoming Bouncer 13.
Anthony Durrant tells us a little more: Manta, the woman you mentioned in the entry under her name, is in reality Susan Andrews, the daughter of a doctor working at a hospital in China. After her usefulness as Manta has ended, she returns to work at her father's hospital, where she again encounters "Machine-Gun" Kelley, whom she had first met in her guise as Manta. He and his friend "Wires" Welken saved her, but as they escaped from China, the rocket controls of Kelley's plane are hit by Japanese bullets, and they end up unconscious and on a journey to the planet Sakura.
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 threatened 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.
Marcus: 1945, Four Favorites #19 (Ace).This villain invented clocks whose chimes would put listeners into a paralyzed trance and leaving them with no memory of going under. He sent the clocks anonymously to his two former business partners whom he felt had cheated him. He managed to kill the first one while a whole dinner party was entranced, including the hero Magno. Magno & Davey managed to figure things out through a little luck and with earplugs were able to stop him from killing his second partner. Sadly, this bald villain only has the neat m.o., and being called "the watchmaker of doom" to recommend him.
Marius: 1940, Weird Comics #5 (Fox). Evil Roman sorceror of 2200 years ago (circa 1940) who's gang was being beset by the Roman Caius Martius. When his men capture Martius, Marius uses occult powers that put Caius to sleep until the 20th century where he becomes the Dart.
Marko: 1942, Cat-man Comics #10 (Holyoke). Dr. Marius manages a formula that accidentally shrinks him to Doll Man size. Before he can figure out an antidote, his brother Marko captures him and steals the formula. However, a visit from Rag-man and Tiny shortly later puts them a bit wise to the scheme. When strange thefts are being committed, they realize that the clues point to a small man and deduce that Marko is using the serum. After a battle and being temporarily shrunk themselves, they overcome the villain and unmask him as Dr. Marius himself. Turns out that Marko was forcing him to commit the murders but once he perfected an antidote, he killed Marko and continued with the highly profitable thefts. As the size changing thief, he had an interesting look but no code-name.
Marko, Hack: Jumbo Comics (Fiction). Anthony Durrant writes: Hack Marko was a ruthless killer bent on revenge; he killed the district attorney who presented the prosecution's case and the judge who presided at his trial after his release from prison. Hack was apprehended by Inspector Dayton, a police officer who impersonated the judge and was able to capture and arrest Dayton for the murders when he went to the "judge's" hospital room to finish the job. Marko is very unusual among the revenge killers that proliferated in the comics at that time because he was an innocent man who had been wrongfully convicted and sent to jail.
Mars: Planet Comics (Fiction). The Roman god ram amok through the universe in this series. Eventually he was stopped by Mysta. The following month, the series was devoted to and named after Mysta. The Roman God also figured into the stories of Man of War by Centaur where he opposed his "creation" that he had mistakenly placed on the side of a nation craving peace (America) instead of war (Germany).
Martians: 1944, Mystery Comics #2 (Standard). Tall gray beings with four arms, they are accidentally brought to Earth by Dr. Voodoo while he's fighting Wonderman.
Marto: 1940, Blue Bolt Comics. Highly evolved human, most head, employed by the Green Sorceress. Envies the developed physique of Blue Bolt.
The Mask: 1940, The Flame #2 (Fox). Mysterious masked man, leader of the rebel forces in Mauchako, and also supplies guns to General Boros. Joining the rebel forces is Rick Anthony, author and soldier of fortune, and also a childhood friend of dashing spy K-5 (you can tell he's dashing because he has a cravat, a pencil thin mustache and Asian man-servant called Tong). However, K-5 has been charged with finding out the identity of the gun-runners and putting a stop to it by the government, placing him and Rick on opposite sides. After much ado, it becomes a battle in the air as the Mask forces Rick to pursue K-5. When Rick refuses to shoot down a friend, the Mask executes him, but must then jump to his own freedom or risk crashing in the plane. He gets riddled by bullets from K-5's aircraft and is revealed to be one Senator Stanley.
The Mask II: 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 Mask III: Shadow Comics #9 (Street & Smith). In the small mountain town of Marshall, Mr. Winston brings in the Hooded Wasp to investigate a haunted mansion. By the time they arrive, they find the spectral ghosts, Mr. Winston's body, Dundril the dwarf, and his new master, the Mask. By adventure's end, it's revealed to be a scam by Winston to scare people away so he can get the golden hoard under their homes as well as a plot to rid the world of the Hooded Wasp and Jim Martin.
The Mask IV: 1949, Exciting Comics (Better). Old West villain dressed all in black. He is actually an Easterner called Dude Johnson who uses brass knuckles in a fight. He was unmasked by the hero Billy West and shot in the back by his own men.
Mask of Death: 1942, Cat-man Comics #10 (Holyoke). Various men are given new medals for patriotic duty but are then killed by the Mask of Death, a man in brown business suit with a green skull and a gun that fires electric bolts, giving them his Medallion of Death to go along with their new medals. FBI man Craig Williams investigates as himself and the Hood. The Mask of Death is possibly killed when one of the medals is thrown at him as he fires his gun. He proves to be Krimmer, the State Department's Purchasing Agent who was in reality a Nazi agent. As he was head of purchasing and providing the medals to be given out, he was treating them with a special coating that would attract the electric bolts of his specially designed gun.
Masked Bandits: 1944, Yellowjacket Comics #4 (Frank Communale Publishing Co.). At various swank parties, three masked men burst in and rob the guests of their jewels. One of the hosts, Mr. De Quincey raises an uproar with the police and the D.A. Ralph Nelson who is secretly the Black Spider. Yet, when he is captured by the gang it's up to his secretary/girlfriend Peggy Dodge to become the Black Spider to save him! The leader of the gang is revealed to be De Quincey's son Frank.
Masked Leader (un-named): 1944, Catman #23/24 (Holyoke). The Little Leaders (Kitten and Mickey) in their civilian identities investigate the claims of innocence of a lighthouse keeper imprisoned for signaling enemy subs. They find a Coast Guard man held prisoner at the lighthouse by gang and their un-named masked leader. Overcoming the group, they find out the leader is really Von Hoogstraten, well known sea-raider of WWI, now a spy for Nazi in the guise of the local bait man who would lure the lighthouse keeper out fishing so that his gang could use the lighthouse.
Masked Man: 1943, All-New Short Story Comics #1 (Harvey). Big Mike Scorey is the Masked Man whose crimes are brought to light by the two-fisted reporter Steve Case.
Masked Marauders: 1940, Exciting Comics #44 (Better).Masked Arab bandits who kidnap the cat of Peter Ward, the Scarab. The cat Akh-Tu-Men is the reincarnation of an Egyptian priest who tended the pyramid of the pharoah An-Meses II and the villains will hope that the cat will reveal the location of the secret panel that will lead to the treasure room. Their leader is the non-masked Aton.
Masked Terror: 1940, Rocket Comics #3 (Hillman). Old West villain that fought the Phantom Ranger. Revealed to be man named Anson and apparently killed
Master Mind: 1940, Amazing Man Comics #13 (Centuar). While a young man, he had been shot in the legs by a police chief during a raid. To save his life his legs had to be amputated. He travelled the world and spent time in India where he discovered the talent of being able to look at the photo of a crook and bend him to his telepathic will. Because of his strong mental powers, the Indian populace called him the Master Mind. He returned to America and devoted his powers to destroying the now retired police chief. To this end, he remotely bent crooks to his will and telepathically ordered them to attack the chief's house and kill him and his daughter. However, he had not counted on the intervention of Mighty Man. He was able either through device or force of will to temporarily hold Mighty Man to one spot while his strong giant and bodyguard Trojan attacked Mighty Man. While they wrestled, Master Mind aimed a powerful ray gun at the hero but Mighty Man had gotten the upper hand and threw the giant against Master Mind, crashing the two against the wall. The villain's chair was full of destructive devices designed to kill others but the impact caused them to explode, ending his threat.
Mastermind:
1941, Lightning Comics vol. 2, #1 (Ace). An evil
scientist, he had created machines that could temporarily
give him lightning powers by harnessing lightning from storms.
He took over a lady scientist's castle due to its proximity
to constant storms and built his machines. He then rescued
the Mummy with the goal of gaining the secrets of the radium
coating the Mummy used on his bandages to make himself invulnerable.
However, during a falling out, he slayed the Mummy before
getting his secrets. Still he used his super-brain to blackmail/sell
his services to the US. In addition to his vast intellect
and glowing eyes, he could teleport at will. Whether this
was a natural talent or artificial was unrevealed. His plans
were stopped by "Lash" Lightning.
Mastermind II: Target Comics (Novelty) In La Paza Texas, a masked criminal and his highly organized gang embark on a murderous crime wave of terror, kicked off by killing the mayor and then freeing ruthless criminals from the state penitentiary. Unfortunately for him, Niles Reed, Tom Brown and Dave Foster are vacationing locally and the case attracts their attention for they are the Target and the Targeteers. By the end of the case, the Mastermind stands revealed as Mr. Smythe, president of the Anti-Crime League who had been giving the DA a hard time.
Mastermind of Crime: 1940, Blue Beetle #3 (Fox). Brian Downhill is the hooded Mastermind of Crime. He plans a series of violent crimes in order to hold New York City for ransom, to have all control turned over to him. In addition to his army of thugs, he has his own island off Central America. His endeavors are foiled by the Blue Beetle.
Maurice: 1945, Green Hornet #26 (Harvey). Not the gangster of love, he’s a homicidal maniac. He’s teamed up with Nada, a gorgeous red-head and they’re crooks after a prized diamon. However, Maurice just cannot stop killing people in a variety of different ways: poison, gun-shot to the head, blow-dart. Heck, he even poisoned a victim’s goldfish. But the murders attract attention before they can get the diamond and it passes into the custody of lawyer John Doyle (secretly the Zebra). They try to trick him into giving away the location of the diamond but arouse his suspicions and he tracks them. When he is shot by Nada, Maurice goes nuts and chokes her to death for robbing him of his enjoyment. When the Zebra finally comes to and catches up to Maurice, he’s about to torture the lawyer John Doyle’s secretary and the enraged hero throws him through a window to his death. Very few killers are quite as gleeful about their murders as this one.
Dr. Maxwell: X-Venture 2. We'll let Columnist Fran Chapman tell the story: "Dr. Maxwell joined the remainder of the Hitler-Tojo gang, who continued to aim to rule the world thru atomic devices! Maxwell claimed to have discovered a thought-being that could be placed in a human brain and so control that person! Maxwell wanted to experiment on his assistant! Edwards refused. The doctor then wanted to inject the thought being into his own daughter! But Edwards and attorney Martin had him committed to an asylum! Maxwell swore revenge! He promised to get me took because in my column, I exposed his tie with the rule-or-ruin gang!" If nothing else, we've learned that Miss Chapman is a bit excitable or paid by the exclamation mark. Mr. Mars, the Atom Wizard, reveals that it was reported that Maxwell died in the asylum, but a giant robot had killed both Edwards and Martin and left a threatening note for them. Their investigation uncovers that the Marcia Maxwell has control of the thought beings and the giant robots and is out to avenge the death of her father. The giant robots are controlled by human brains that had been injected with thought beings. However, the Atom Wizard discovers that a strong electric current can kill the thought beings and manages to take the robots and Marcia down before she can transplant Fran's brain into a robotic body.
McCann, Hugh: 1941, Cat-man Comics #3 (Holyoke). This gangster practically runs the city where Steve Prentice works as a lawyer. In fact he has Judge Hayworth in his pocket and the city "has been a relief stop for every thug and racketeer in the country!" Afraid that Prentice might discover the truth, he's framed for bribery and killing his own secretary. What McCann doesn't count on is Steve's resourcefulness. Instead of being captured and convicted, he takes on the identity of the Pied Piper to capture McCann and Hayworth.
McMann: 1940, Amazing Man #5 (Centaur). This scientist was a true genius. Using human-sized robots that could shoot out gas and electric bolts, he robbed a bank as a trial run as well as kidnapped the bank president who denied him a loan. His real plan that he enacted was having his gang drop man-sized mech spiders in the sewer across the city and then had them go on an unstoppable rampage in order to hold the city for ransom. He was captured by the Iron Skull who had infiltrated his gang.
Mechomen: 1943, America's Best Comics #4 (Standard). In a secret headquarters of a Gestapo Sabotage Unit, Nazi scientist Vurmann has two incredible inventions. The first is the Psychoscope, a device that displays images from a strapped in man’s thoughts. The second is the Colchicine Beam which can transform the victim into a horrific version of those visions. Using the devices on captured soldiers, he’s able to turn them into murderous Mechomen, half men and half airplanes, tanks or even anti-aircraft guns. Doc Strange defeats the Mechomen and destroys Vurmann and his gang by blowing up their base, a huge blimp disguised as a cloud.
Medusa-Man: 1946, Planet Comics #35 (Fiction House). The Medusa-man of Mars is featured on the cover, having captured Mysta but about to experience a beatdown by her robot. The story does not actually appear in the book despite the cover-blurb. A shame.
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.
Mendezzi: Thrilling Comics (Better). A second rate stage magician who sells his soul to Satan for real occult ability. He teams up with 5th Columnists in efforts to overthrow America but is stopped by the forces of white magic under the command of the Ghost.
Mephisto: 1939, Fantastic Comics #12 (Fox) A great poisonous sea serpent, he'd approach boats and let out his venom into the waters, and sailors would be overcome by the fumes. Undersea adventurer, Sub Saunders had spent years trying to track this monster down before coming across signs of it and tracking it to its lair where he discovers a great under-sea civilization.
Mephistopheles: An underling of Satan, seeking to gain more souls for his area of Hell and for his boss, Satan, he recruits the help of Benedict Arnold and Dianatha, a huge black bat that is able to make her be seen as a beautiful brunette. As his plans begin to unravel due to the intervention of the Green Lama and his girl Jean Parker, Mephistopeles calls forth other traitors "Dr. Bancroft who betrayed Benjamin Franklin, Simon Girty the renegade, Arron Burr, the Traitor. Captain Teach Lias Bluebeard (sic)." Outnumbered, the Lama calls forth champions of his own (who does he think he is, Kid Eternity? Major Liberty? Captain Fearless?). "Om-Ma-Ni Pad-me Hum! Here, the fighters for democracy and justice! Mad Anthony Wayne, Lighthorse Harry Lee, and Stephen Decatur, valiant American Heroes." The patriots win out, and the Green Lama sends Mephistopheles packing.
Merciless the Sorceress: All Your Comics #1 (Fox). "Pages of history recount the tale of a woman whose fantastic beauty is matched only by her evil genius! She twists the minds and warps the souls of men who worship at her feet and finally turns them into beasts! Such was Merciless the Sorceress, ruler of the mysterious land of Volcano People at the top of the world." She is opposed by the famous explorer Captain Bob Darlington, his assistant "the Professor," and his pilot "Happy" Jack Smiles, although they win mostly by luck. She can change men into animals, is bulletproof, can disintegrate guns with a gesture, and can fly, among other abilities.
Minstrel: 1947, All Top Comics #8 (Fox). Boris is a great celebrated opera singer. However, when he's rebuked by the woman he loves, he slaps her and she throws a brush that hits his throat and damages his voice. His mind turns and he travels in hopes to get his voice back. Later he arrives in Africa dressed as a medieval wandering minstrel and talking always in rhyme. He harbors a deep hatred for women and seems able to kill with a song, killing one of the white tribal women of the tribe that Rulah hangs out with and then again his former love who has pursued him. Before she dies, she reveals to Rulah that Boris is wanted for killing women in America. Rulah fights the Minstrel and discovers that he uses his lute as a powerful bow to fire little darts. In the fight, the taut bow string snaps around Minstrel's throat and strangles him.
Mighty Mite: 1941, Target Comics 12 (Funnies Incorporated). Operating out of Chicago and the brains of a criminal syndicate, he flies to New York personally to handle the Target and Targeteers when they prove to much for his subordinate Hammerfist. However, even this dimunitive Napolean of crime reports to a higher up, a mysterious foreign agent.
Mikal: 1940, Weird Comics #5? (Fox). Ruler of Undersea pirates and ally of the Sea Demons. His kingdom commands powerful water pressure cannons. Defeated by the air breather Typhon and his submarine.
Professor Mikla: Jet Comics (Magazine Enterprises). In the Pennsylvania hills, Professor Mikla, a scientist with a devilish face, has created a machine that he calls a Multipliciter and the hero Jet Powers would come to know as a "Devil Machine." Mikla has successfully used the machine to make perfect duplicates of zoo animals and is ready to try it own humans. He gets his chance when he falls into the machine during a brief struggle with the hero. The machine works imperfectly on humans, all the dulicates come out inches high. Maddened, the Miklas destroy the machine and themselves.
"Crazy Joe" Miller: 1947, Prize Comics 64 (Feature Publications). An escaped convict whose chief claim to fame is he shot Black Owl II, leading to the Black Owl's retirement.
Misery: Airboy Comics (Hillman). Robed in green and a skull-face and in control of The Airtomb, a huge plane covered with white mold that serves as a graveyard for aviators.
Miss Shady: 1945, Hi-Lite Comics #1 (E.R. Ross). Miss Shady is a blonde adventuress as well as a clever and amoral thief.
Mist Men: Doc Savage Comics (Street & Smith). Bizarre creatures came out of the mists haunting the mining town of Elvino. The Hooded Wasp and his protege Jim Martin prove the creatures to be only costumed men working for an evil Nazi agent.
Mr. Atlantis: Wings Comics (Fiction). Asian (presumably Korean or Chinese) agent mastermind that fought Captain Wings during the Cold War. Helped out by the beautiful and mysterious Dame Areia.
Mr. Axis: Captain Aero Comics (Holyoke). Bald Nazi agent that bedeviled Miss Victory.
Mr. Death: 1939, Mystery Men Comics #5 (Fox). Mr. Death is an innocent looking unassuming man which accounts for him being able to kill 150 people by his own estimate. He just calmly walks up and shoots them. No explanation is given for why he does this. When the newspapers carry a story written by Gail Blanch how the hero Mystery Man is going to capture him and then goes on describing Mr. Death as a "huge, powerfully-built man" he feels the need to confront and correct her. Which of course, was the Mystery Man's plan all along. Text story by Will Eisner. The artwork calls him Dr. Death, but at no point is he referred to as such in the story.
Mr. Lucifer: 1944, Bouncer Comics. Ok. The Bouncer is a pretty silly hero even by 1940's standards. So, it stands to reason he'd get a villain just as bit as silly if not more so. Mr. Lucifer is a fat clown in a pseudo-devil costume complete with tail who thinks he is the devil. In fact he's constantly referred to as "Mr. Lucifer, the clown who calls himself Satan" or something equally tongue tying.
Mister Que: See the Great Question
Mitzah the Mystic: Champ Comics (Harvey). Mitzah is a native Moroccan mystic popular with the other native Nationals. Enough that the Nazi Colonel Ludwig Von Vonson offers him dictatorship of Morocco in exchange for his magic aid. However, Dr. Miracle investigates the recent activity in Morocco and pitches his white magic against Mitzah’s black magic. It is discovered that Mitzah’s magic comes from an amulet much like Miracle’s own locket and the two if possessed by the same person renders them magic-less. Ultimately Dr. Miracle prevails, turning both Mitzah and the colonel into swine. NOTE: This story actually reflects a real world event. In 1856, stage magician Robert-Houdin was invited to Algiers by the French Government. The French feared that the popularity and superstitious awe of native Algerian magicians who would eat glass and heal wounds would inspire the natives to rise up against the French soldiers. Robert-Houdin was to discredit them through his own magic tricks (notably through using an electro-magnet to make a small box too heavy for a strong man to lift).
Mobo: (Fiction). Anthony Durrant writes; Mobo was the son of Chief Abu (?), who had been sent to the West to be educated. He came back dressed in a brown hunting costume, on a stretcher borne by native bearers. He had returned to take his position among his tribespeople, but his Western education had made him greedy. He tried to exploit his tribespeople for money, and even assaulted his father - who was now no more than a savage to him - but was stopped by Sheena, and forced to face his father's wrath. Strangely enough, Mobo was depicted by the artist as a white hunter, not one of the native tribes people, who are black-skinned.
Modern Achilles: 1954, Frankenstein Comics 29 (Prize). Ok, this one is a bit different in that he didn't face any superheroes or sleuths or spies, it's a Twilight Zone-ish story of a crook that gains invulnerability. However, it's wonderfully drawn by Mort Meskin and a decent story to boot. And, it's my site so I can pretty much stretch the rules if I wanna. :p
For 10 years, petty thief Jim Lees shares a prison cell with an elder scientist named Strong. Eventually the old man dies, but not before he revealed the secrets of an untested formula that would make one invincible for a limited time. Upon getting out of prison, he creates the solution, coats his body with it and embarks on a crime spree of stealing and murder. The cops get more desperate and when he is leaving one bank, a group of police meet him with a barrage of machine-gun fire. Lees is driven back, brought down by a ricochet into the one area he didn't cover, his ears.
Mojo: 1944, Fighting Yank Comics #9 (Better). The Japanese come up with a way to shrink soldiers temporarily to the size of insects and use this to send over squads of soldiers and saboteurs. The leader of this force is Mojo. Mojo is particularly beast-like in his features complete with egg shaped head and fangs. He wears a green shorts and t-shirt with a red sun burst on the front. However, he and the invading force are stopped by the Fighting Yank.
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.
Mongolian Prince (un-named): 1940, The Flame #2 (Fox). I'll be the first to admit, yellow peril menaces are practically a dime a dozen during this time, that like the numerous gangsters and Nazi spies, they become a little tiresome and I decided to not include them all. But, this chap has earned the right to be here for sheer audacity in his plans. Namely, he orchestrates an invasion of the U.S. by somehow burrowing through the earth and then sending almost invincible tanks through the tunnel coming up in the Florida everglades. With the help of some large alligators, his forces are decimated by the mystery man known as the Flame. The Flame then confronts the man himself. The prince apparently falls to his death fleeing from the hero across the tiled palace rooftops.
Monster: 1940, Fight Comics #5 (Fiction). Rip Regan, the Power-man and his friend Punchy investigate reports of a monster terrorizing a small town. The investigation leads to the reclusive preofessor Mori. When they find the monster in the cellar, a violent gorilla, Regan easily takes it out. He realizes the scientist was as surprised as they were and that the real culprit is the handyman he had hired recently. The man was running a dope smuggling operation and using the gorilla that he'd brought back from Africa to scare away the townspeople but which was getting un-manageable.
The Monster (un-named): 1941, Big Three #6 (Fox). This bizarre looking villain is not given a name. His face is pale white, looking a bit like a humanoid cat-fish with his drooping mustache and wearing a loose fitting blue tunic, orange/tan slacks and brown boots. He is behind the kidnapping of serveral teen-age girls at a camp. When captured by the Flame, he stands revealed as bank owner George Benson. Years earlier, Benson and Mr. Tracy the owner of the camp were in love with the same woman, Sally Crane but she spurned Benson's advances. Jealous, he tried to cause the bankrupty of the camp and indirectly caused the death of Sally. When her daughter got older and looked the same as her, he went insane in his obsession and jealousy, vowing to have her any way possible.
The Monster in the Pool: 1940, Phantom Lady 16 (Fox). Phantom Lady¹s fame as a detective has grown to the point that someone advertises for help in the newspaper. When as Sandra she and her boyfriend Don Borden drive out so she can snoop unofficially, they find that two girls have died in the area of Highmoor Estate. Faking an accident, she and Don meet Mr. Dorcas Phyfe (who placed the ad), his sister Calla and their dwarfish butler who invite them to stay until their car is fixed. After Don is attacked while swimming in the pool, Sandra investigates that night as Phantom Lady and finds a drain that leads to a pipe large enough for someone to swim in and out undetected. By the exit is a costume of a monster. It¹s not much later she spies Dorcas Phyfe diving into the pool to investigate only he is attacked by the monster. But, before he dies he utters, "Phantom Lady. . . you came. . . good. . . save my sister. . . not her fault. . . Lycan. . . " When she hears howling in the woods, she rushes to find a girls camp terrorized by a werewolf but manages to chase it off.
Later Calla finds the butler burning the monster costume and he confesses to killing her brother though it was out of love for her. Enraged Calla attacks him and chokes him to death before Phantom Lady can intervene. Turns out the little fella somehow knew that Calla was a werewolf (a fact she didn't know herself) and had been disguising himself as a monster in order to divert suspicion and protect her.
Monsters from Mercury: 1942, Speed Comics #17 (Harvey). Over the radio comes news of a spaceship crash bringing "Monsters from Mercury". These monsters appear to be intelligent giant lizards and they prey on the wealthy, robbing and pillaging. Shock Gibson (revealed to be Daniel Gibson, heir to the Gibson fortune) stops them revealing the monsters to be robots manned by small men under the command of the dwarfish John Thumb who apparently dies in a plane crash. What's not made clear in the story, are the small men Asian (judging by size and yellowish skin) or are they truly from "Mercury" who had come under the influence of John Thumb? After all the way the story opens, we see the rocket crash and hear the radio broadcast but aren't shown if and how those were faked.
Monster of Madness: 1941, Fight Comics #12 (Fiction). In the jungles of South America, an elder scientist has developed a formula that will turn a young boy into a huge and strong giant. And, he plans to teach him to likewise be the wisest. However, while waiting for the formula to take effect, the old man is walking through the jungles and is killed by a snake. The boy grows quickly to be several stories tall. Investigating reports, Rip Regan, aka the Power-man, comes across him but a previous pilot's shooting at him has turned the giant into a being of rage. He chases the Power-man to the Panama Canal and he seems to be able withstand the armed forces there. Power-man delivers a 1000 lb shell with the force of a bullet into the giant's chest that knocks him flat (though whether it has killed him or just knocked him out is un-revealed).
Monstro: 1941, Cat-man Comics #4 (Holyoke). Monstro is a circus gorilla and advertised to be fierce. When he escapes, the public panics and soon random attacks and brutal killings start occuring. However, Lance Rand uncovers that the killings are by gangster Puggsy Sloane dressed as a gorilla to serve as decoy while his gang are committing crimes elsewhere. They had captured the gorilla who is in reality quite peaceful, only advertised as ferocious for publicity.
Mother Hubba: 1947, Airboy vol 4 #9 (Hillman). This kindly proper little old lady runs a resort for tired businessmen and she hires Link Thorne aka the Flying Fool to shuttle them. What he doesn't know right off is substitute gangsters on the run for "tired businessmen" and that all the pilots she's hired in the past have a habit of disappearing after a few weeks, and you have a better handle on what kind of deal she's offering.
The Mummy: 1941? Lightning Comics (Ace). Professor Vatz created a radium solution that when coated on his gauze costume it made him bulletproof and invulnerable to other weapons as well. This did not keep him from being defeated by "Lash" Lightning though. Ultimately, he was rescued from prison by the Mastermind who was after his secret. However, they had a falling out and he was quickly slain. The Mummy's costume was of gauze, head to foot. However, his wavy hair stuck out on the sides lending the threatening villain a ridiculous look.
The Mummy II: 1942, Man of War Comics #2 (Centaur). Famed Egyptologist Professor Stone is killed while going over the "Book of Dead" which reveals ancient secrets, one of which is hypnotism. Soon, a mummy is running around, hypnotising people such as Stone's niece. Investigator Chic Ferrell uncovers his identity as Dr. Carver, a rival of Stone's who wanted the "Book of Dead", and had arranged to have a fake mummy sent to Stone full of drugs. He had to go after the niece before she remembered and revealed that there was a tunnel between Stone and Carver's houses. Carver is shot by Farrell and presumably falls into the vat of acid he had prepared for killing Stone's niece.
Mummy III: Miss Masque foe, reprinted in Golden Age Greats #6 (Better). Diana Adams' aunt has two combs reputed to have belonged to Cleopatra. When she takes one to a museum to go on display, she and the comb are kidnapped by a mummy leading Diana Adams to investigate as Miss Masque. The mummy is revealed to be the curator and part of a cult dedicated to retrieving the artifacts so Cleopatra can rest in peace.
The Mummy Master: 1941, Silver Streak Comics #15 (Lev Gleason). Foe of Captain Battle. Created by Otto Binder & Jack Binder.
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.
Murder Company: 1940, Amazing Man Comics #17 (Centaur). Nine criminals banded together under the name of the Murder Company to kill men for their insurance money. They used a set of exotic and almost undetectable poisons to kill their victims. All nine were captured by Mighty Man.
Mustard Gang: 1940, Amazing Man Comics #15 (Centaur). Working for the Great Question until their capture by Amazing Man, these criminals used protective suits and gas guns to commit crimes.
Mystery Man: 1940, Amazing Man Comics #9 (Centaur). Out west, college students are being kidnapped and never seen again while hitch hiking. Turns out, that the "Mystery Man" (only name given) has been picking them up and using them to test out a new insane weapon to take out snipers and machine gunners in order to sell to foreign powers. Basically, he's been breeding Timber Wolves with police dogs and making them vicious killers that hate a certain scent. He allows the students to escape, to even get to a machine gun nest, but with the scent on them, not a one has been able to fire off a shot before the devil dogs get them. His plot is foiled by the intervention of Mighty Man. The Mystery Man and the foreign agents having unknowingly stepped in the fluid with the scent are torn to shreds by the dogs. In order to capture the students and control the dogs, he made use of a huge manacled assistant, but even that man was dwarfed by Mighty Man and is felled by one punch.
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.
Nazi Wolf-Dogs: 1943, Cat-man Comics #22 (Holyoke). In one of the strangest plots ever, Hitler has parachuted into Hollywood dozens of vicious and trained to kill wolf-dogs. With a recording of a wolf's howl, the Hood manages to lead them away from the crowds with a truck and over a cliff. Those that don't die that way are gunned down by the army.
Negus: 1940, Fantastic Comics #3 (Fox). Negus is a powerful witch doctor with real black magic powers. He has a crystal ball with which he can spy on others and makes his home in a great tree. Captain Kidd destroys the tree and possibly Negus himself.
Nekroff: 1941, Big Three #2 (Fox). He's billed as a mad general and he does seem to have an army at his command. He's apparently killed by an explosion in his bid for conquest caused when Samson throws his amphibious tank into a river followed by a tank of Nekroff's poisonous gas which is highly explosive when contained.
Neptina: Champion Comics #2 (Harvey). Neptina is the queen of the fish-men, an underwater race which is inimical to surface life. She is opposed by Lieutenant Brad Fletcher, "the Navy's best undersea expert."
Neptune and the Mermen: 1940, Weird Comics #2 (Fox). Neptune is the king of the mermen, men described as having red seaweed beards and red-scaled fish tails (the pics have them having red saucer-like eyes but their demonic faces and beards are yellow, caucasian skinned torsos and red fish tails instead of legs). Despite being mer-men and living on the bottom of the ocean, they don't live in the water. Instead they live behind an invisible wall barrier under intense heat and can breathe fire themselves but have guns that can encase their foes in blocks of ice. They seemingly drown when Typhon blasts a hole in their invisible wall with his ray-gun.
Nicoli: 1939, Mystery Men Comics #4 (Fox). Criminal mastermind who approaches it with a scientific bent. To aid in these endeavors, he's created a gun that temporarily paralyzes its targets as well as a larger machine that will do the job permanently and belts that make him and his gang immune to the effects. He's captured by the Green Mask who uses the gun in later cases (though reduced from a rifle to a handgun). You can tell Nicoli is an evil genius as he has a monocle over his right eye, a hawkish nose, a widow's peak hairstyle and long waxed mustache.
Noman and the Little Men: 1940, Silver Streak Comics #2 (Lev Gleason). The Little Men are dwarfish men with large heads and Noman is their "creation", a large bald man with above average strength, possibly a zombie or android of some sorts. Their goal is to rid the world of beauty and kidnap beautiful women to do so. Mr. Midnight investigates and tracks them down. During a big fight with Noman, a gas that is harmless against humans is accidentally released that disintegrates the Little Men! With their deaths, the women are set free but the secrets of the Little Men went with them.
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.
Norvo: Cat-man Comics #6? (Holyoke). Norvo is an expert at mass hypnotism and a ruthless criminal to the point that he's institutionalized in an insane asylum. His hypnotism is along the lines of many magician characters like Mandrake. Regardless, he's captured by Lance Rand.
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.
Octopus: Wonderworld Comics #30 (Fox). A true misfit with 3 arms and an apish fanged face, this man devoted himself to becoming the number one gang-leader. A mirrored invention that would fire an aimed electrically charged blast when it caught a ray of light allowed him to weak havoc against his rivals. The beam almost spelled an end to the hero called the Flame, causing him to reveal his identity and source of powers to his girlfriend Linda so that she might carry on as Flame Girl. However, the Flame does not die and the two heroes battle the Octopus and his gang. The Octopus is set aflame during the battle and he flees into the garage which then blows to kingdom come.
Octopus II: Target Comics. Bald master criminal that was decked out in a mask and a shirt (robe?) with an octopus on the cover. Fought the T-Men (agents of the Treasury Dept).
Hans Odin: X-Venture.Commander of a Prisoner of War Camp and when Germany loses the war, he flees to Africa to evade not only justice but the wrath of Jack Tamor whose brother died in his camp. Though he manages to become a councilor in the native tribe Bar-Ongi, Tambor manages to catch up to him, and after a brief enslavement, free the white slaves and exact his justice. Tamor, disgusted with civilization, opts to stay in the jungles. Beautiful blonde Ayilia, leader of the slaves goes with him. NOTE: As fairly common with strips of this type though this is the African Congo, the native tribe looks more South American and of course a pretty white woman is also on hand. Ayiila says the slaves are her people but where they come from and their own future is uncertain.
Og, King of the Ape-Men: (Fox). In the Malay jungle, Dr. Fung and Dan Barrister are searching for the daughter of the Earl of Winlliston lost years before and hear of the rumors of a white woman living with Ape-men.
Ohisis: 1943, Four Favorites #9 (Ace). 4,000 years ago in ancient Egypt, Princess Ohisis, daughter of pharaoh Ibis (sure there's no relation) and beloved of Fadouah lived. Fadouah was an alchemist and he discovered the secret of immortality and had Ohisis drink it. Before he can also partake of the potion, the Nile overflows and he rushes to save his countrymen only to be mortally wounded by a falling column. Ohisis doesn't want immortality without him and so he tells her that the antidote is in some imitation diamonds, crushing them will make a powder that she can swallow and die. Alas, the flood had destroyed his laboratory and washed away the diamonds, losing them somewhere buried in the mud. Ohisis lives a long life, watching civilizations come and go until the diamonds are discovered in the modern day. This brings her into conflict with the criminal the Clown who in an attempt to steal some government diamonds instead gets the imitation Egyptian ones while she accidentally makes off with the real ones. They work out a deal while Magno & Davey are caught in the middle. True to form, the Clown double-crosses her and she delivers what should be mortal wounds to him. Then she crushes the fake diamonds and joins her beloved Fadouah in death.
Old Man of the Mountain: 1941, Pocket Comics #2 (Harvey). In a crater of an extinct volcano in the Andean mountains, the Old Man of the Mountain is a mad scientist. He kills all that come across him and so his crater is a mass graveyard of lost pilots. He dies trying to kill Spin Hawkins, falling into a pit.
The One: 1940, Exciting Comics #1 (Better). In Midtown, two gangs of racketeers are working the town over to the point that Mayor Kurt Piersole enlists the aid of freelance gangbuster Gunner Thompson and points him in the direction of the DA as possibly being the "One", leader of one or both groups. Gunner uncovers the fact that it's none other than Mayor Piersole himself.
Orchid: The beautiful sister and aide of the Dragon. Foe of Samson.
Orchid Princess: 1944, Mystery Comics #2 (Better). She opposed attempts by the jungle boy Zudo, Dr. Turner, and Dr. Howard in finding the rare Black Orchid.
Ornitz: A spy for a gang of saboteurs eavesdrops on Doctor Clark when he and Dick Martin (aka Pyroman) discover some ancient bacteria that live in iron ore, converting the metal into sustenance. However, the spy thinks it's the secret of Pyroman's abilities and gangmember Ornitz is injected with the stuff. Instead, his body becomes like steel itself making him an equal to Pyroman. Not only that, he somehow reasons that injecting samples from his own blood will make others like him only under his control and he does so by holding false inoculations for a troop of soldiers.. He dies while fighting Pyroman, he falls on a sharp rusted piece of metal, rust being the one thing that kills the bacteria (luckily, instantly). The death of the leader also cancels out the powers and hypnotic hold over the others.
Owens, William: 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.
Owl-Eyes: Crackajack Funnies (K.K. Publications). A smuggler with his own submarine (albeit a little rundown) and crew that faced off against Don Winslow. The bald-headed fiend was so nick-named due to his wide-awake bulging eyes.
Panther: (Fiction). From Mssr. Durrant: Panther was a man who was blinded in a mine explosion and went to see a native healer who grafted the eyes of his pet leopard into the man's empty sockets. Panther took the brother of the mine owner's widow prisoner and tried to force her to sign over the mine to him by torturing the young man, but Sheena challenged him to a blindfolded duel with staffs and managed to defeat the madman.
The Panther II: 1940, Silver Streak Comics #4 (Lev Gleason). The Panther (also called the Panther Man) robbed both a bank and a jewelry store and in each place, killing someone horribly. Ace Powers investigates and discovers the Panther is an escaped patient from an insane asylum, having gone crazy when his face was horribly scarred in a car accident. The Panther wears a mask resembling a panther's head as well as an outfit complete with claws on his hands and feet though minus a tail. He appears to fall to his death fleeing a burning building but he returns the next issue, setting free other inmates of the asylum and garbing them in similar garb, all in a single-minded effort of ridding the world of Ace Powers. In issue 6, it is revealed that he was seemingly doing the work of a weird supernatural being calling himself the Spook who kills the Panther for his failures in a "The Pit and the Pendulum" manner.
The Panther III: 1945, All New Comics #11 (Harvey). The first panther killing in the small town was of Steve Mason, in love with beautiful Annette but whose relationship was forbidden by her step-father at the end of a gun. Following that were two police officers that were investigating, sending the town into a state of panic. Enter the short rotund criminologist Professor Augustus Bonnard (ie Poirot). He seems to suspect a killer neither man nor beast. His investigation seems to madden the creature, it kills a horse as well as Annette's brutal step-father before going to the zoo into the panther cage where the cats attack it. In the end, it is revealed the marauding panther was Annette in a panther suit, that she suffered from a form of lycanthropy, that she thought she turned into a panther under the light of the moon and she killed without being conscious of her acts. Her step-father was just trying to protect her.
The Panther Lord: (Fiction). Anthony Durrant writes: The Panther Lord was the head of an African tribe who controlled many slaves. He tried to kill Ka'anga, the Lord of the Jungle, and take his mate Anne as his wife, but the Jungle Lord captured him instead. It was then revealed that he had come to the jungle a year earlier with two friends, Lance and "Specs." He had killed "Specs" and put the man's skull on a pole as a warning, causing Lance to swear revenge against him. Lance abandoned this idea after the Panther Lord was captured.
The Pantherman: 1941, Crackajack Funnies #31 (Dell). This "emperor of crime" was a tough boss, tangling with the Owl over several issues. His headout below the streets of the city provides him with deep sewer pits and tunnels with which to dispose of enemies, both living and dead. The Owl finds in the Pantherman's "bone pile" many skeletal remains, one of a policeman that had gone missing 4 years earlier, giving an idea how long this crime-lord had been in operation. During the course of this adventure, his confidante Belle Wayne dons an Owl costume consisting of all blue halter top, shorts, boots, cape and Owl mask, becoming Owl Girl (Crackajack Funnies #32). The Pantherman wore a light tan cougar/panther mask and a suit. Judging from how homely a face he had, it was a definite improvement.
Papaloi: 1942, Cat-man Comics #6 (Holyoke).A papaloi is an Obeah Priest. When a man just suddenly dies on the street by apparently being crushed to death through no cause with his dying words being "the curse of Damballa", the Pied Piper finds himself investigating a case of death by voodoo which is almost too much for even his magical pipe. He manages to unmask the voodoo priest behind it as Dr. Ralph Hanson. He and the murdered man, Dr. Parday had been doing research into voodoo deep in Louisiana. Hanson had studied voodoo for many years and was the only white man initiated into the secrets of the Damballa curse and used it on Parday when he found that Parday was going to take sole credit for their work. Hanson and his African American assistant are apparently killed when their house burns and collapses on them, the Pied Piper barely escaping himself.
Paris: 1944, Clue Comics #9 (Hillman). A tall, almost effeminate man in tails and tophat, Paris is part of Melton's gang. What makes Paris special is that he's not human but a mechanical man who does everything in silent clock-work precision. When the Boy King separates Paris from the gang, Paris goes on a rampage at a circus, eventually killing his master Melton. With a little help from his twin brother Muggsy, Muggsy's fiance Anastasia, and the robotic Giant, Paris is captured and deactivated.
Mr. Peccary: (Holyoke). An obese Cat-man villain visibly patterned after Sydney Greenstreet. He had worked out a deal with some Japanese spies but Cat-man and Kitten got wise and captured him.
Pecos Pete: Fighting Yank #19. Six-gun villain in the style of the Old West cowboys. However, as he was rounded up by the Fighting Yank, it's safe to assume he's a modern day throwback. The villain is on the cover by Schomburg and as his covers rarely had anything to do with the insides other than the heroes to be found in the book, it's a safe bet, this is as far as he got.
Dr. Phineas Peble: Jan. 1942, Thrilling Comics 24 (Better). Psychic investigator and fraudulent spiritualist. He used trickery during seances to milk his wealthy clients. Exposed and stopped by the Woman in Red.
The Phantom Fisherman: 1940, Super Spy Comics #1 (Centaur). 57-8R is down at the water front investigating a leak of how the enemy seems to know ship movements, that every time one goes out, a submarine attacks it about a hundred miles out. He hears a story about a Phantom Fisherman, he is spotted fishing off Rock Point, but never seems to catch fish nor comes in to the docks at night. A loose lipped filing clerk is sweet on a local waitress and talking to her about the ships comings and goings. The old deaf cashier is actually an enemy agent, lip reading everything said and then by using the weathervane on top, he sends coded messages. The Phantom Fisherman is actually enemy agents watching for the weathervane to pass along to enemy intelligence.
The Phantom of Notre Dame: 1942, Daredevil Comics #11 (Lev Gleason). Rene Venge was a fighter, a stunt man and lastly an extremely vain and jealous star actor about to marry the gorgeous Brenda Bronson who attracted men like flies. On the day of the wedding, he's trying on his hunchback "make-up", a grotesque mask and extremely heavy hunchback costume. An outfit that he's warned to wear for only half an hour or it will break his vertebrae and leave him a cripple (this isn't literally true as we find out). Insulting his make-up man Tony who also has the hots for Brenda by asking him to be the best-man, Tony leaves the dressing room with Rene still in costume and then someone locks him in. Unable to remove the costume by himself, it does irrevocable damage to Rene, leaving him hunched over and suffering and in full costume vows revenge when he sees Brenda marrying Tony out of spite. He kills Tony but the hero Daredevil saves Brenda, at least for a little while. She is killed shortly after, electrocuted when trying to leave her room as a wire was wrapped around the door knob. He then vows to kill everyone else associated with the picture one by one until the person who locked him steps forward. The camera man is killed by a concealed knife in his chair, the director by knocking out his barber and giving him a close shave, and almost hangs Daredevil as well. Daredevil finally captures him and tricks Rene's understudy into admitting that he was the one who locked the actor in his dressing room
Phantom Pirate: 1944, Heroic Comics 25 (Easter Color Printing). The Phantom Pirate controls an invisible sub and uses it to prey on shipping. What the pirates didn't count on was that Rainbow Boy can see in the invisible range of the light spectrum. The pirates were stopped by Rainbow Boy and Hydroman. We never actually see or learn the identity of the Phantom Pirate.
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.
Pirate Prince Blaga Daur: 1940, Planet Comics #5 (Fiction). This villain did his best Ming the Merciless routine but consistently stopped by Gale Allen of the Girls' Patrol/Women's Space Patrol (and her boyfriend Jack North in tow). He finally gave up trying to be a universe conqueror and just get some personal revenge on Gale Allen, but seemingly fell to his death in issue 11.
The Porcupine: February 1943, Clue Comics #2 (Hillman). Ronald Byrd says: Dressed in a quilled suit, the Porcupine is a jewel thief who skewers his enemies with his quills, either by throwing them or in a "quilled hug." His schemes are punctured by Twilight.
Porky Hogg: 1941, Big Three #2 (Fox). This obese crime boss had his gang train to take on the Blue Beetle, seeing him as their only obstacle to plundering the city through the use of a secret cannon gun they were going to use to shell the city. They manage to pin the murder of a young boy on him but he ultimately clears his name and while it appears that Porky is killed by falling off a building, the newspapers claim that he was "captured". In addition to the cannon, Porky had an advanced television screen with which he could spy on the city and a subterranean lair.
Portable Man: 1941, Stars and Stripes #2 (Centaur): Also called the Headless man, Von Lougg is a small man with a large head and is behind a gang of saboteurs. He leaves to continue on his own, by simply showing them that he can remove his head and yet still talk. Furthermore, he isn't harmed in the least by bullets. Later, he launches a new attack on New York with submersible planes. While the Shark deals with them, Neptune has found Von Lougg in an undersea castle where the genius shows his ability. The Shark follows the planes back to the castle, licks Von Lougg's private army and floods the base. But, Von Lougg seems proof to drowning as well. And he claims that no prison will hold him since he can separate his body parts. The Shark captures him anyways and King Neptune sews him back together so he can be imprisoned, although he manages to sew an arm and a leg in the wrong places. While the Shark feels like he can come up with an explanation as to how the man separates his body parts, he's at a loss to explain why Von Lougg feels no pain nor able to die. However, he does manage to escape and vows revenge on the Shark and Father Neptune in the pages of Amazing Man Comics.
The Power: 1939, Amazing Man Comics #8 (Centuar). The Power is a pseudo-Napoleon with military styled garb. On his island of Castle Rock, he has amassed an army and slaves and advance technology. He also has agents in various governments working to bring them down, some already fallen. All for becoming ruler of the Earth. He also likes to collect unusual things, which is his undoing as his agents capture Minimidget and Ritty as a gift for his collection. With the aide of a captured scientist, the duo manage to escape and alert the American forces of his hideout who launch an all out attack. He is apparently killed as he tries to escape in his private plane and it's shot down.
Pretty Face Killer: 1937, Detective Picture Stories #5 (Centaur). A handome man who kidnaps his victims and holds them for ransom, killing them if necessary. He leaves behind a calling card of a heart with an arrow through it. Detective Thurston Hunt unmasks him as a man whose own face was horribly disfigured, burned off claims Pretty Face, though he doesn't look that bad, probably the art not up to the task of really showing that kind of horror. He has taken to wearing life-like masks to disguise his features. He's shot, possibly killed by the boyfriend of his latest kidnapped victim.
Prince Ghut: Planet Comics #36 (Fiction House) Anthony Durrant provides: The villainous Voltaman leader into whose body the brain of a prisoner named Bruce was transplanted; he appears in the LOST WORLD ENTRY.
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.
Princess Hsu-San: Anthony Durrant writes: Princess Hsu-San was the leader of the spy ring opposed by Agent X-71. She planned to conquer the world using a weapon to gain control of people's minds using the power of sonics. She was badly injured in a plane crash while being chased by X-71 and succumbed to her injuries later on the operating table, leaving her spy ring leaderless.
Princess Ipiram: (Fiction House) Anthony Durrant provides: Princess Ipiram was a high-caste Arabian woman who came to Africa to capture animals after her face was scarred by a tiger, which left her unable to marry as her family wished. Her hunting activities were disrupted by Wambi the Jungle Boy, who released her captive animals and saved her life when his elephant knocked her into the river. Having realized that looks don't matter and good deeds do, Princess Ipiram left the jungle, never to return.
Procustous: Exciting Comics #2 (Better). A rich man living near the Minoan ruins in Crete, he for unclear reasons tries to prevent Professor Craig and Dr. John Thesson from excavating the ancient site by sicing a gang and later his brutish servant Cercion on them. It could be he suspected and wanted to prevent Thesson from claiming his heritage the ring of Poseidon that would mark him as the reincarnation of the Greek hero Theseus, just as Procustous was the reincarnation of the villainous Procrustes (who stretched hapless travellers on the rack before Theseus had slain him) and his servant the reincarnation of Cercyeon.
The Professor: 1940, Silver Streak #2 (Lev Gleason). "A super criminal" who steals some chemicals and is opposed by the Wasp.
The Professor II: Planet Comics (Fiction): Anthony Durrant writes: The "Professor" was a scientist whom the Space Ranger Gale Allen found stranded on Jupiter when she went there to take a political prisoner to Earth. The three of them ended up stranded on a distant planet, where the Professor found the conditions to be like those on Venus, his homeworld. He tried to kill Gale Allen using a giant crab and then the monster bats that were found on the planet, but the prisoner and Gale saved each other's lives from those monsters, and after the Professor was strangled by the local vegetation, the prisoner assumed the Professor's identity.
Professor III: 1941, Fight Comics #11 (Fiction). Spencer Steel and his pal reporter Joe Doaks are on the trail of the ABC Gang when Steel spots criminal Eggy Hatch. Unfortunately the two are captured by Hatch and taken to his boss, an un-named Professor. The Professor is able to quickly hypnotize Doaks and then does the same to Steel. However, Steel only pretends to go under and tricks them into attempting to rob a bank that he had already set up to be guarded in case the ABC Gang struck. The Professor is your typical old man with white hair and van-dyke goatee and white doctors/scientists' garb.
The Professor IV: 1942, C-M-O Comics #2 (Centaur). The Professor lives in a big mansion and has developed a large anti-aircraft ray gun (they call it a ray gun, but it looks like the other). He lays a trap for messengers to find out the orders and scheduled flight plans and manage to trap Star Spangles Branner and his pals who are doing some work as messengers. Branner figures something is rotten and manages to turn the tables. The Professor works with a long-haired fellow who talks in rhyme called the Poet, a midget who disguises himself as one of the boys to deliver fake messages called "Little Dude", and several other toughs not even so nick-named. The Professor and the Poet are apparently killed when Branner and pals turn the ray gun on them. The Professor wore a long trench-coat, wide-brimmed hat, thick round glasses and bit of a long face.
The Professor and Hugo: 1941, Dynamic Comics #1 (Chesler). The Professor is a stoop shouldered middle-aged man with a goatee and walks with a cane. What he lacks in body strength, he makes up with his keen criminal mind. He is helped by the tall and abnormally strong Hugo who is as weak in mind as the Professor is in body. They manage to escape justice at least once while fighting the Black Cobra.
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.
Professor Froott: February 1943, Clue Comics #2, (Hillman). According to Ronald Byrd: In Sunnytown, Professor Froott warns that gravity is "disappearing"; his claim appears to be supported when some people are seen apparently holding onto the ground to keep from floating into space, while others apparently double up as though being pulled to the ground (which would be an example of gravity increasing rather than disappearing, but never mind). However, the true explanation for these instances is hired hand-walking acrobats and food poisoning, respectively, part of Froott's somewhat unique plan to encourage people to leave Sunnytown, enabling him to buy up everyone's property cheap, and charge them ten times as much to buy it back when gravity returns to "normal." Froott's scheme is exposed by Nightmare and Sleepy.
Professor Morta: Captain Flight Comics (Holyoke). He seeks a formula for eternal beauty. Thus, he has been responsible for the disappearance of the gorgeous women in the Twilight Land on the planet Mercury. When their Queen disappears while crossing the Dark Frontier on her way to a conference with the Lobstermen on the hot side of the planet and Earthman Captain Rock Raymond, Rock investigates with two of the Lobstermen. The hero manages to rescue the queen and escape but Morta and his servants, the cat men who can see in the dark stay free. Morta has the appearance of a Middle Eastern, hawk-like nose, brown skin, but as this tale takes place on Mercury, cannot be really sure where he and his cat men are truly from
Professor X: 1940, Blue Bolt #5 (Novelty). He bedeviled Sub-Zero over the course of two issues before apparently meeting his maker.
Professor Zorn: 1941, Stars & Stripes #5 (Centuar). Professor Zorn is a bald scientist working for the Nazis and charged with getting rid of the Iron Skull with the aide of Bernice Wild and spies to lure him into a trap, to lock him into an iron maiden and then with one of his inventions, solidify his body into immobilization. They fire him from a cannon as a human missile into DC. There, the process seems to wear off and he goes into a mindless age. Witnessing, Bernice feels remorse and talks the FBI into letting her approach the Skull and calm him down. He calms down on his own, but Bernice comes to him, promising she can reverse the process (thought it was no longer working?), they head back to the headquarters and she cures him. Zorn and his men show up and the Iron Skull is able to take them captive. Miss Wild meanwhile had disappeared.
Psyk: 1939, Amazing Mystery Funnies v2 #7 (Centaur). Homer Carlin on his deathbed gives his neice Diana and her boyfriend Jack Strand a pin with a gem that contains a ray. They are to guard it from a villain called Psyk, but at the same time it will protect them from him. With the gem Psyk can ruin the world. When Psyk gets Diana in his thrall and brings her to his "Realm of the Subconscious" Jack uses the gem to track her and also travel from this world to that one to rescue her and to stop Psyk. In the "Realm of the Subconscious" Psyk has vast mental powers and he rules over all the denizons. They are all bald, a possible side effect of long term residing in the realm and may also be linked to Psyk's mental prowess as he comments to Diana that when she loses her hair, she'd be a real asset to the realm. Psyk eventually is able to launch an attack on the real world with his armies and machines that weaken mental resistance and allows him to force his will on the populace. Strand and Diana confront Psyk in his castle, trapping him in his own rays so that he cannot use his mental powers against them. Strand is able to overpower him and turn off his machines. With them gone, the Realm of Subconscious fades away, apparently taking Psyk with it, leaving all the events like a memory of a dream in all those involved.
Punch & Judy: Boy Comics #19 (Lev Gleason). A crime duo; foe of Daredevil and Crimebuster. Created by Charles Biro.
The Purple Dragon Gang: 1940, Amazing Man Comics #16 (Centuar). The Purple Dragons are a gang for hire and have been contracted to destroy an airplane factory. In order to keep the Iron Skull from interfering, Al Avison and the others kidnap Professor Kenneth Shenton in order to impersonate him and trick the Skull into agreeing to some experiments. Avison injects the Skull through his one vulnerable spot, an artery on his arm and incapacitates him while slowly rusting his body. However, the real Shenton escapes, the Skull is given an antidote and the plant is saved. Avison goes nuts on the gang and they scatter. One of the gang, the Moose who has a large nose and long face, decides to try to go straight and joins up with the Iron Skull in tracking Avison down.
The Purple Hand: 1942, Four Favorites #6 (Ace). Lightning has been invited to a masquerade party and during the party, a judge is killed by electrocution in some mysterious way, much like another judge the night before. To add to the macabre scene is that on his face is a purple hand imprint, apparently burned there. Lightning investigates, suspecting someone at the party. As he tracks the killer, he comes across a strange duo, a gunman and Maizie, a woman dressed as a witch, who seem to know something about the Purple Hand. Soon, they too are killed in the same mysterious way. Lightning finally discovers that the Purple Hand is John Radford, a man convicted and executed twenty years earlier! Only his body somehow was able to withstand the electrical shock and had revived shortly after. With the help of Maizie, his girlfriend, he faked his funeral and got a new face. He created a small portable charger and a gauntlet wrapped with copper coil that allowed him to commit his murders. He had feared that the judges were beginning to suspect him despite his new face and his ex-girlfriend had tracked him down and was blackmailing him, hence his murder spree. In the opening splash page and one scene where battling Lightning, the Purple Hand wears a blue hood, white shirt and orange/tan slacks and the copper glove, otherwise he's in a pirate's disguise at the masquerade party and when he's captured.
Puzzler: 1949, America's Best Comics #30 (Better). A young man is down on his luck though he¹s always been good at solving puzzles. In fact he happens to be walking by a bank when he hears that the vault has been closed by accident and it contains papers that are needed for a multi-million dollar deal. He reckons a safe is just another puzzle and soon he has it open for them. But, they offer him no reward and in fact are all to happy to have him leave due to his rather sorry appearance. He decides, then and there to no longer live the life of the straight and narrow and puts on a green and yellow checker-board costume and commits outrageous crimes. He even sends out riddles to the Black Terror challenging him to solve the crimes and catch him. Which after a few close calls, the Terrors do. The Puzzler also seems to have penchant for bad puns.
Queen Darma: 1946, Jumbo Comics #93 (Fiction). In a lost world in Africa, Queen Darma rules over the Dawn Race. She and her race are brown skinned hominids, with hair about their bodies and long tails. When Sheena, her boyfriend Bob and a professor with his expedition accidentally find Darma's land she captures them and prepares to sacrifice them to the stone idol of their god Da-Kaahn. She fights Sheena in single combat and apparently falls to her death in her pit of giant "craw-crabs".
Queen Izzuki: 1940,Fantastic Comics #6 (Fox). This Queen rules the Amazons in Amazoland. She kidnaps Dr. Chandler in order to make him operate on her and make her young and beautiful again, after which she plans to force Captain Kidd marry her. Kidd manages to escape with Dr. Chandler, leaving the Queen an old hag.
Queen of Evil: 1941, Fantastic Comics #22 (Fox). In Thebes, 1000 BC, Nagana is "called the daughter of Isis", a faithful worshiper. However, she is envious of the goddess' hold over the city and plots evil. Isis strikes back at her, leveling the temple. Nagana spends the next 3000 years as a statue when archaeologists uncover her and she comes back to life. Isis realizes that she cannot destroy Nagana directly, so she ressurects Kalkor a faithful worshipper and priest-to-be that had stood up against Nagana in Thebes.
Queen of Hearts: August 1941, Victory Comics #1 (Hillman). Daring spy and 5th Columnist, she's their counterpart of the Spade of the Secret Service. Like him, she leaves a playing card to identify her actions. She evades capture several times.
Queen of the Majaja: 1949, Exciting Comics #67 (Standard), reprinted in 1993, Jungle Girls 15 (AC). Anthony Durrant writes: The Queen of the Majaja tribe pretended to be a wereleopard to instill fear into her subjects. Clad in an outfit made from a leopard skin, she stole diamonds that had been found by an explorer and tried to take his son Billy captive. However Judy of the Jungle intervened and the Queen of the Majaja fell victim to the poisoned claws of her leopard-skin glove.
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.
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.
The Quisling Queen of Tambu: Speed Comics 38 (Harvey): On the South Pacific isle of Tambu, they sexy Queen Lagoona has thrown in with the Japs. However, Bob Gibson, aka Shock Gibson happens to be on the island with his army patrol and manages to capture the Island and its quisling queen.
Quorak: 1940, Planet Comics #1 (Fiction House). Quorak, the Space Pirate, is a would-be ruler of the universe. Like many space aliens of the time, he has the large bulbous head and spindly body and limbs. With his great inventions, he threatens to destroy all civilizations starting with the greatest of the planets, Pluto (Seriously? The greatest of planets? Take that 20th Century scientists!) Quorak's plans are halted by the Inter-Planetary Police.
Rad Omeron: 1938, Cocomalt Big Book of Comics #1 (Chesler). A Martian bandit and interstellar bandit, he kidnaps Dr. Carter's daughter Gloria in hopes to hold off the officials and get free reign on plundering. However, he's tracked and possibly killed when blasted by a ray gun by Dan Hastings. NOTE: This is an oddity of a book. Various features seem to indicate it's a continuation of Centaur's Star Comics, the GCD lists it as a Quality book, but the mag and features claim that it's copyrighted by Harry "A" Chesler syndicate and includes characters like Boodini, Dan Hastings, Lucky Coyne who all appeared in books by Centaur, MLJ and later Chesler's own line. The book otherwise seems to be a product of sponsorship by Cocomalt and early vaudeville, radio and animated (!) star Joe Penner.
Radion: 1940, Green Mask Comics 3 (Fox). Foe of the Green Mask and Domino.
Rajah of Destruction: 1942, Cat-man Comics #15/16 (Holyoke). Fatman in a turban, appeared in the last panel of the Cat-man story in #15 setting the stage for the story of #16.
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.
Ramun: aka The Evil One. Ramun is a Far-Eastern magician and foe of Marvelo. He has a small trained ape named Edpo whose talents include throwing knives.
Rand, Barton: 1943, Heroic Comics 19 (Eastern Color Printing). The head of an Axis sabotage ring in Louisiana that blew up American ships in the Gulf of Mexico. He posed as a genial sportsman in order to know which ships to target. He was captured by Man O'Metal.
Trigger Ratsel: 1942, Green Hornet Comics #7 (Harvey). A gangster whose gang is leaning on food and milk truck drivers for protection money. He has the honor of being the first man to be brought to justice by the modern Robin Hood and his men.
Comrade Ratski: Speed Comics 10 (Harvey). In a hollowed out mountain peak lair in the Rocky Mountains, Comrade Ratski holds 3 scientists prisoner and forces them to create devices for his use. They create an earthquake machine and a formula to enlarge insects to the size of an ox. He is stopped and the scientists are rescued by Shock Gibson. However, Ratski does escape, I don't know if he returned to bedevil Shock Gibson.
Racker: Exciting Comics15. (Standard) This fiendish man used to be a scientist before turning his mind to evil. He kidnaps scientists and through various torture and death devices, forces them to sign over ownership to their inventions before they will conveniently disappear. He and his gang are captured by the Black Terror and Tim.
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.
Rassimoff: Popular Comics (Dell). Rassimoff is a spy for the country Urasia which is waging war on the neighboring peaceful country of Novoslavia. Dr. Hormone's plucky grand-daughter slipped him a potion containing donkey hormones which has given him donkey ears as well as massive strength of the beast of burden, after which he's called Assinoff.
Rasputin, Jr: 1944, Cat-Man Comics #25 (Holyoke). Rasputin Jr is a hypnotist who puts on shows. His main bit is showing that hypnosis cannot force people to do something that offends them morally. He picks a girl out of the audience and hypnotizes her and then hypnotizes her friend, having her friend first stab her in the back with a cardboard knife and then showing the person wouldn't do it with a real knife. Rasputin is also with a gang of crooks and seeing the Deacon as part of the audience, the Deacon is recognized as being a former great safe-cracker. The banker's daughter is hypnotized into guiding the crooks into a bank (where they kill a guard) and a hypnotized Deacon is ordered to crack the bank vault. The Deacon struggles mentally against the command. Mickey had shadowed the Deacon and picks up a gun and blasts the crooks, killing Rasputin and breaking the hypnotic hold.
Rats: 1948, Airboy Comics (Hillman). Rats with human level intelligence attempt to take over the world and even enlisting the aid of bats as their air force (think of Hitchcock's The Birds only turn them into rats and grant the viewer insight to their conversations and plans). They are opposed and thwarted by Airboy in both of their attempts.
Ratzo: February 1943, Clue Comics #2 (Hillman). Ronald Byrd contributes: The rodent-faced Ratzo leads a gang of criminals who use purple fumes to paralyze their victims. He and his gang are brought to justice by Stupid Manny.
Red Gang: 1942, Amazing-Man Comics #26 (Centaur). A gang of crooks that came up with some goggles that allow them to see into the King of Darkness' blackout rays. He still managed to take out the gang.
Red Raider: 1940, Keen Detective Comics #21 (Centaur). A submarine captain of an un-named country goes nuts and through his mania is able to hypnotically control his crew. He starts attacking all ships, even those of his own country. Eventually, he paints his sub, calling it the Red Raider and takes down his country's flag and replaces it with the black and white skull and crossbones of pirates. The captain dresses in red sea captain's garb. Captured by the Masked Marvel.
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.
Relley: 1945, America's Best Comics 116 (Standard). A known and oft convicted fifth columnist and black marketeer. He took to wearing a hood and robe to hide his identity from the men who worked for him. He was stopped by the Black Terror.
Rikor: 1941, Stars and Stripes #4 (Centaur). Anthony Durrant writes: Rikor was a member of a group of German spies who killed the Union leaders of an unnamed American city and took their places, forcing the union members to sabotage their workplaces by threatening to harm their wives and children Three concentration camp escapees named Pepper, Van and Whitey - Pepper and Van were framed on false charges, and Whitey killed a German soldier who was beating a little crippled girl - have formed a team called the Stars and Stripes, swearing an oath in their own blood that they will protect America and clean out all the enemy spies, and the three of them put a stop to Rikor's evil plot. This task is made especially difficult because Rikor and his gang control the Union's enforcers and the Stars and Stripes have to fight them off in order to capture the spies.
The Ripper: (Harry "A" Chesler) The Ripper is a "swamp rat" and along with his loyal gang, does jobs of sabotage and such for Hitler in exchange of being made leader when he invades America. He and his gang are undone by the brave boy hero, Johnny Rebel and old family servant, Rufus.
The Riverdale Killer: 1941, Thrilling Comics #8 (Better). A hooded killer stalks the halls of a Riverdale Mansion, killing first Frank Parsons. Peggy Allen (aka the Woman in Red) is sent to investigate and prevent more killings. Henry and Violet Parsons, along with their butler are supposedly the only ones there, but Peggy realizes the family has a secret. When Henry is also killed, she discovers that the family keeps an insane brother locked away. The Woman in Red exposes the killer as none other than Violet, who had hoped to frame her brother for the killings, his insanity nothing more than a frame-up itself after he had suffered a nervous breakdown years ago. Violet had hoped to inherit the family fortunes once her brothers were out of the way.
Robbing Hood: 1944, Prize Comics #39 (Prize): Anthony Durrant provides: Robbing Hood lived out the Robin Hood legend in reverse, stealing from the "decadent" poor to give to the "unfortunate" rich people. He was apprehended by Airmale and Stampy after getting himself caught inside a chimney on his way to play Santa Claus for another rich person! Robbing Hood was an expert archer.
Robot: 1939, Amazing Mystery Funnies v2 #11 (Centaur). Don't know if he appeared in the story, but he was getting the worse of it on the cover by the Fantom of the Fair.
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.
Robot Terror: 1941, Miracle Comics #4 (Hillman). Most of the world believes mad scientist Howland to be dead, but he's not only alive but he's built the marauding Robot Terrors: about 8-foot tall robots that are bulletproof, strong enough to stop a car dead and can fly via a small propellor on the tops of their heads. The Sky Wizard uses Howland's own microphone to command them to attack each other. When Howland tries to intervene they choke him.
Robotmaster: 1946, Exciting Comics #45 (Standard). This mad scientist had a remote controlled robot. Only appeared on the cover but was kinda cool looking.
Rocko: Planet Comics #5 (Fiction House). Foe of Space Admiral Curry.
Rodent: Boy Comics 15 (Lev Gleason). A ratty faced muscular foe of the boy hero Crimebuster.
Rogats, Erick: 1941, Stars & Stripes #3 (Centaur). A foreign agent and scientist, Rogats operates out of an abandoned castle with his servant Argo, whose malformed, scarred and tusked face is kept obscured by a hooded robe. Rogats is after Professor Taft's petrifying formula and sends Argo to kidnap the professor and bring back the formula. However, Argo is followed by the hero the Black Panther. Argo is accidentally injected with the formula and possibly dies. Rogats flees from the Black Panther by attempting to scale the castle tower, but he slips and falls into a black quick-sand mire at the base of the castle and presumably dies. The castle is some set-up, it's by a cliff in the woods near an unnamed town. It has a secret entrance via a tunnel at the base of the cliff for vehicles. Inside Rogats has equipped a large laboratory with every known scientific device known.
Rokula: 1941, Silver Streak Comics #7 (Lev Gleason). Rokula keeps a base full of scientific marvels including machines that allow him to hypnotize others which he uses to make kidnapped scientists create stuff to help him become ruler of the universe. Stopped by Zongar
Rook: 1941, Mystery Men Comics (Fox). This bug-eyed villain had a flashlight-like weapon that cast a hypnotic ray. He seemed to be in the employ of a Sonya Voska. While he was opposed by the mystery man Lynx, he apparently also had earned the enmity of a gangster called Baldy Burke.
Roscoe, Violet: Jumbo Comics (Fiction). Anthony Durrant writes: Violet Roscoe was a vicious gangster and murderess who left the scent of her violet perfume on her victims' bodies. After she was hanged on testimony provided by Agent ZX-5, she appeared to come back from the dead when she killed the judge who had presided over her trial, and later a prison guard who had seen the murderer tear Violet Roscoe's dress in the prison morgue was murdered as well. Making it look like the judge had survived the murder attempt, ZX-5 hid out in the bed in the hospital room where the judge was allegedly recovering from his wound. The murderer made her attack, and ZX-5 grabbed her by the arm. Breaking free, she rushed up to the roof with ZX-5 right behind her. When she tried to attack him with a shovel, she slipped off the roof and fell to her death many stories below. When unmasked, the dead woman proved to be the prison matron, who had lost to the judge in an election years ago and hated him with a passion. She had killed the guard when he had seen her tear a piece out of Violet's dress in the morgue.
Roulf: 1940, Fanastic Comics 12 (Fox). Editor of the Daily Standard. Also a masked leader of a group of Nazi spies and saboteurs. Defeated by Samson and David.
Vance Roy: Amazing Mystery Funnies (Centaur). In the Year "X" (circa 2500 AD), he bedevils King Kurt and the heroes Skyrocket Steel, Invex, and Sari Marston.
Rubberman: 1943, Air Fighters #6 (Hillman). Herr Riktor is head of a rubber factory in Nazi Germany. When British bombers destroy his plant, he falls into a vat of hot liquid rubber which burns away his skin and somehow, through hate and force of will, he doesn't die but the rubber bonds to his body, allowing him to stretch and bounce and even deflect bullets. While fighting the Iron Ace, he is hit so hard he ricochets off the walls and into a boiling hot vat that seems to dissolve and kill him. NOTE: One of the more interesting and unique supervillains I've come across.
The Ruler of the Underseas: 1940, Weird Comics #1 (Fox). An evil underwater villain, he rules from his underwater castle various giant sea serpents, serpent-men and even enchants a beautiful surface woman to do his bidding alongside his monsters. He was stopped by Typhon. NOTE: For reasons that aren't clear, the woman would show up with the undersea blonde amazons in issue #5 and Typhon aims to escort her to the surface where she belongs. Makes me wonder if one of the villains of issue 5, Mikal, the leader of the undersea pirates and self professed ruler of the deep is supposed to be the Ruler of the Underseas in issue 1.
Sabina the Sorceress: 1950, Ranger Comics #56 (Fiction). A sorceress of minor magical ability has been making a living off the medium racket. At some point in the past she had made a deal with prospector Leo Southward to swindle his partner Hobart Margin out of his share in a mine, only Southward mysteriously disappears. Thinking he's dead, Sabina holds onto a map that leads to hidden pilfered wealth. Years later Leo returns during a "seance" that Sabina is holding with Margin, and he kills Margin while Sabina watches on. However, the police blame Sabina for the murder and she fears Leo will come after her for the map. She enlists the aid of Dr. Drew, hoping to get Leo imprisoned and leaving her free to get the wealth unhindered. Dr. Drew insists that for once she wasn't really faking but really raised a ghost who'd come after her. He defeats the ghost, but also takes the map so Sabina doesn't profit from her crimes though neither does she go to jail.
Santa Clause: 1945, Star Studded Comics #1 (Superior Publications). Ok. I have to confess I am sorely disappointed that I am putting ole Saint Nick on this list. Oh the shame. Actually, it's just a man dressed up as Santa Clause who enlists other "Santas" to break into homes and steal loot. To this end, he provides them with pipes that will blow bubbles that will knock out anyone present. However, the concoction is geared to kill not render unconscious thus binding the crooks to him for they are all killers now. He and the gang is stopped by the neophyte hero Captain Combat. The evil Clause dies when a table hits him causing him to inhale on his pipe and swallow the deadly poison.
Satan: 1941, Pocket Comics #1 (Harvey). At one time, Satan was mortal, a conquistador travelling with Ponce DeLeon looking for the fountain of youth. This nameless man does find it, but drinking of it transforms him into a deathless man in the image of the red devil from whom he takes his name. He searches for death as well as causing as much misery and death as possible. To this end, he allies himself with Adolph. In his first outing, he's opposed by air cadet Jim Brady and nurse Pat Randall.
Later, he also goes up against the hero Spirit of '76 and has the help of the beautiful and seductive Duchess Tana aka Satana. He seems to have met his doom when he throws an acid bomb at Spirit of '76 and misses, creating a "bottomless pit" and is then thrown into it. Satana is captured and left for the police.
There are definite parallels between Satan and the Claw: a seemingly immortal supernatural villain that starts off fighting normal opponents before moving on a costumed hero.
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.
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.
Satana: 1947, Moon Girl #1 (EC). Satana is a "Queen of the Underworld". Despite a few tricks and her devilish green hood and costume, Satana displays no real powers but usually has a gang of henchmen who will do her bidding (though she's not above using a gun or a knife when the need arises). She is frequently captured by Moon Girl. A page of her and Moon Girl.
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 him, 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.
Satani: (Better). A recurring foe of Doc Strange. He controlled a monster in one story.
Scarlet Skull: 1941, Silver Streak Comics #13 (Lev Gleason). Villainess foe of Daredevil. Created by Don Rico.
Scarskull: 1941, Amazing Man Comics #19 (Centaur).Scarskull is a gang leader. However, he's on the ropes as the young DA Sam Williams is gathering evidence and building a case to put him and his mob out of business and in jail. To the point that at a benefit stage show where local celebrities (Governor Graft, Senator Filchit and the mayor Hon. M. I. Blue in addition to the DA and Dr. Hypno), he plots to put the DA out of business. Scarskull has hired a lion tamer act Lana and Leo (the lion) to do the deed and is disguised himself as her mid-eastern assistant. It's unclear which came first, female assassin for hire or lion act. Regardless, suspicious, Dr. Hypno takes over Leo and is able to turn the tables on her when she tries to use the lion to kill Williams. Scarskull tries to shoot the DA but without his turban, Leo/Hypno recognizes him and chases him. Scarskull flees up a rope but is shaken loose by Leo/Hypno and he falls to his death. In addition to being criminal scum, Scarskull is a racist, repeatedly calling Lana "slant eyes"..
Heinrich Schmidt: March 1944, Clue Comics #7 (Hillman). As told by Ronald Byrd: Nazi agent Schmidt disguises himself as assistant zookeeper Smith as part of his experiments in developing a fluid that draws jungle beasts to attack humans, a tactic he hopes to use against "American jungle fighters". Twilight dodges tiger attacks and has Schmidt arrested.
Schnubel: Nov. 1942, America's Best Comics 3 (Better). A nazi scientist working in America.No hair which accentuates his high forehead, the skin on his face drawn tightly back, sunken eyes, a nose little more than slits, and protruding upper teeth give this short slouching man a cadaverous look about his head. He comes up with a machine that transposes the conditions on Mars to Earth and is used as a weapon against America (thin atmospheres choking people, lower gravity causing earthquakes and so on). However when the ray is coupled with Pyroman's electro-magnetic energy, the ray turns several of his henchmen to "Martians." It is assumed all die when Pyroman sends their globular lab over a cliff and it smashes against the rocks.
Professor Schooner: 1943, Clue Comics 4 (Hillman). In his castle laboratory, this mad scientist concocts a formula that when injected will revert a being to it's stone-age characteristics. When he turns a mouse into the size of a bull, he tussles with the hero known as Zippo and accidentally injects himself. He grows to over seven feet tall, and fantastically strong. He is seemingly destroyed when Zippo has his castle blown up with TNT.
Scimitar: (Fox). A middle-eastern man in robes and a hat with his namesake on it. By use of hypnotic fumes, he commands the Sons of Liberty, a group of young Americans willing to kill for him as well as making women slaves. However he's done in by his own vanity when he coerces a painter named Rembrandt Speedball to paint his portrait through a sword of Damocles trick. However, when Speedball tries to escape and they struggle, the sword imbeds Scimitar in the chest. Despite such a wound and loss of blood Scimitar does not die and lives to fight and be defeated by Samson.
The Scorpion (I): Don Winslow's bald, cigar-smoking nemesis, the head of the secret organization, Scorpia, which aimed to take over the world.
The Scorpion (II): 1941 Fantastic Comics #21 (Fox). International criminal. He killed Jim O'Donnell's stepfather leading the Irishman to pursue him to America as the Banshee.
Sea Demons: 1940, Weird Comics #5? (Fox). Enemies of Mermea, the home of the sea Amazons and friends of the hero Typhon and his super submarine.
Seaclops: 1940, Weird Comics #5? (Fox). A large one-eyed tentacled denizen of the deep and controlled by the Sea Demons. It was slain by Typhon.
Secret Agent 36: German pilot that opposed Captain Combat.
Senor Muerte (Mister Death): 1946, Punch Comics #16? (Chesler). Norton Bemis hires Hernandez to destroy his planes, which he plans on pinning the blame on Shoals, the owner of a rival airline. However, Shoals' attorney is Cal Martin, secretly the hero Rocketman who investigates. Hernandez dresses up in a hooded cloak and flies an unmarked plane with an open cockpit as Senor Muerte. He's captured by Rocketman and Rocketgirl and Bemis' plans come to naught. NOTE: The story has a few holes and just seems to end with the revelation that Shoals had discovered Cal's secret identity and he blurbs it to Bemis! Leads me to wonder if the copy I read was incomplete or if this is a truncated reprint of an earlier story which sometimes happens.
The Serpent: 1941, Silver Streak Comics #14 (Lev Gleason). Villainess; foe of Daredevil. Created by Don Rico.
Sewer Rat: 1941, Amazing Man Comics #23 (Centaur). From the sewers, this masked gang leader directed his gang to steal all sorts of military supplies from a new plane to machine guns. He was brought down by the Marksman and revealed as Major Strobo who hoped to make a fortune by selling them to foreign powers.
Shaitan: Anthony Durrant writes: This high priest and his wife sought to gain control of the jungle through the use of the giant idol of the Blind God, crouched on a huge wagon with six arms protruding from its body. Controlled by Shaitan's wife, this monster tried to kill Tanee, the mate of Jo-Jo the Kongo King, but he upturned the idol, shattering it and revealing Shaitan's wife inside it. She and Shaitan were executed by their own people.
Shangra: 1940, Crash Comics #1 (Holyoke). Shangra was born the 7th son of a 7th son in a remote region in Tibet. Now, 200 years old, a master of mystic arts and supposedly possessing the secret of immortal life, he is tired and searches for an heir to take over and marry his great, great, great grand-daughter Lonna. Enter stranded American reporters Joan Joyce and Jack Flynn. Jack eventually is bestowed magical powers by Shangra.
Queen Sheba and the Black Knights: 1940, Speed Comics #8 (Harvey). Shock Gibson goes to Africa to investigate reports of slavers. He finds himself against an armored knight which he easily defeats. The knight tells him of "The Secret Kingdom" beyond King Solomon's Mountains which Shock heads for at once. The kingdom is ruled by Queen Sheba, descended from the original, while her knights are descended from medieval crusaders that had wandered into the secret kingdom years all those years ago. She reveals that she needs the slaves to complete her pyramid which Gibson does easily with his great powers. She then agrees to free the slaves if he will rescue her son from her enemies, the black knights who are garrisoned in a castle. Speed is able to easily outfight the black knights and return the prince to Queen Sheba. She proclaims the slaves free and invites Shock to stay as king but he turns her down and returns to America. Sheba is a caucasian and a red-head and no mention is made of the boy's father (maybe that's why the great need for the pyramid). Also, the leader of the black knights is not named, nor does Shock take them prisoner, so ostensibly, they still remain a threat to Sheba's rule.
Shinto
Samurai: 1944, Four Favorites 16 (Ace). Shinto's
tale is a strange one. Centuries ago, he was a samurai.
And one so mighty, that the legend says he was immortal.
Yet, he did die and scientists kept his brain alive for
hundreds of years, hoping to place him in a body powerful
enough to serve him. Captain Nippo hit upon a plan or rather
borrowed a plan from Doctor Frankenstein and they built
one from the honored dead, an arm here, a leg there. Once
brought back to life, the towering Shinto is brought up
to date on Captain Nippo's version of history and is sent
off to fight Captain Courageous. However, when Captain Courageous
defeats him and is willing to hold him for trial he realizes
Nippo's version of events and Americans is one sided. Courageous
is willing to let him redeem himself and the two go after
Captain Nippo who is trying to convince some American born
Japanese soldiers to turn against America. Nippo manages
to stab Shinto in the chest with his sword, the only weapon
that can supposedly kill the immortal.
Baron Von Siedorff: 1941, Victory Comics #1 (Hillman). Messerschmitt pilot, he and his squadron attack and down the unarmed plane that "Bomber" Burns and Dave Matten were delivering. His firing on them while parachuting to safety, killing Matten, provokes Burns into vowing revenge and becoming the Firebrand. However, a reunion between the two pilots doesn't seemed to have happened.
The Silver Cult: Silver Streak #5 (Lev Gleason). In a hidden temple, a secret cult white hooded and robed worships and plots mayhem and destruction of America and the stealing of silver until the country no longer uses Silver, the sacred metal of the gods, for barter and standard of money. Silver Streak investigates and tracks the destruction the cult. He also discovers that their supply of silver bricks are just painted over standard bricks, that the leader of the cult had been duping the fanatics. He was Gregory Randil of the Randil Silver Company, and using the silver to build up his own business.
Silver Fox: 1936, Funny Pages v1#3 (Centaur). The Silver Fox and his men are after "the Sapphire Eye of Sekhmet", a jewel that will allow the user to see through solid objects, with which would allow him to easily find hidden treasure and such. He captures Princess Nadja as well as the Murray family, the father having a line on the jewel's whereabouts. As the story takes place in Egypt, he wears desert robes. NOTE: The date and comic is actually of the beginning of the story. Funny Pages serialized the stories in two-page installments, so it is an actual later issue that the Silver Fox is first mentioned.
Silver Spear: Jungle Prince #3. The Silver Spear is just that, a spear made out of silver. It's used to threaten or attempt to kill Bosto, a merchant on the outskirts of the Congo. The jungle prince Zago investigates, finding at the heart of the matter a silver mine, a beautiful woman called Lola and a devious and cunning mind of a 20 year old man who appears to be only about 8 or 10 years old.
Professor Simm: 1940, Fantastic Comics #9 (Fox). Another bald-headed mad scientist (all that brainpower must make hair fall out). From his "Island of Mystery", Professor Simm held the US hostage. Supposedly, the island featured prehistoric creatures and man still alive and Simm somehow managed to get them to do his will. As some of the giant lizards breathed fire and his cave-men could ride the aquatic ones for invading, some were clearly modified by Simm. He's stopped by Samson. Simm begs Samson not to put him in a cage with the creatures, that they'll kill him which of course Samson does. The scene shifts before we see his end as Samson fights off other creatures and un-corks the volcano, letting it erupt and killing every creature on the island, except for the giant condor that he used to fly away on. What about other birds and the aquatic dinosaurs you ask? Or the possibility that Simm pulled a Br'er Rabbit on Samson?
Singapore Sally: 1940, Crash Comics #2 (Tem Publishing). Sally is a beautiful blonde woman who has established herself in the native quarter of Singapore as the "Queen of the Quarter". Surrounded by a gang of murderers and cut-throats, she has managed to evade capture until detective Red Castle comes for her after she had committed a murder in New York. Castle managed to out-tough and outfight the gang and capture the ruthless criminal boss. Sally herself is not above doing torture herself.
Singing Skull: 1943 ,Bill Barnes#10 (Street & Smith). Death's head villain who opposed boy detective Danny Hawk. Don't know anything about him beyond this one page.
Sir Morbid and his Ten Knights of Doom: 1939, Amazing Mystery Funnies (Centuar). Sir Morbid and his knights have usurped the throne of his nephew, Prince Albert of Avon. Time tossed 'Reel' McCoy and Speed Centaur help the prince defeat the knights and regain his throne.
Sir Satan: 1942, Silver Streak Comics #18 (Lev Gleason). Leads devil worshippers; foe of Captain Battle. Created by Otto Binder & Jack Binder.
Skeleton Key: 1945, Key Comics #3 (Consolidated). According to the GCD, while the story was titled "The Story of the Skeleton Key", it sadly had nothing to do with this rather colorful villain on the cover.
Skies Terror: 1939, Amazing Mystery Funnies v2 #2 (Centaur). Cover blurb reads: "Death from the Skies Terror in THE DESERT MYSTERY ABOARD THE MIDNIGHT EXPRESS" The menace looks cool on the cover as he menaces Skyrocket Steele and girlfriend.
Professor Skinn: Silver Streak Comics #7 (Lev Gleason). Foe of Dickie Dean, Boy Inventor. Created by Jack Cole
Skull: 1939, Amazing Man Comics #5 (Centaur). A cybernetic criminal who fought the Iron Skull.
Skull (II): 1940, Fight Comics #3 (Fight). First foe of the hero Rip Reagan, the Power man.
The Skull (III): 1943, Doc Savage (Street & Smith).This skull-faced villain fought the hooded and super-heroic Doc Savage over several issues.
The Skull-Men (un-named): 1940, Amazing Man Comics #12 (Centuar). The Shark agrees to help out a scientist and travel to Mars via a rocketship. However, the ship crashes into an unknown planetoid on the way there. The planetoid seems barren but for a malevolent un-named race of men in robes whose heads resemble skulls. They capture the Shark and put him with some other scientists that had traveled there by rocketship (!), all but one having gone insane. Discovering that the skull-men will destroy his ship, the Shark and the one sane scientist manage to outfight the skull-men, rescue the others, restore their sanity and return to Earth.
The Skull Men: 1941, Silver Streak Comics #14 (Lev Gleason). Herry Skull and his Skullmen are foes of Captain Battle. Created by Otto Binder & Jack Binder.
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.
Mr. Morpheus Slumber: Triple Threat Comics. After his death, his mind still plotted evil and he returned as a ghost with a ghost gang visiting the mortal realm in their dreams where he could terrorize those he disliked in life. Because he and his minions are ghosts they are able to battle the ghostly Duke of Darkness on an almost equal footing. However, the Duke proves that good is always stronger than evil.
The Smiler: 1941, Fight Comics #16 (Fiction). First foe of Captain Fight.
The Smyth Brothers: Green Hornet 33 (Harvey). Lem and Luke Smyth are your stereo-typical back woods hillbillies: tall and lean with long bushy black beards, red noses, dressed in tattered clothes and overalls and carrying the ubiquitous rifle. While normally, they'd probably be afearing "revenoors" this time out they run across cadets Gary Blakely (Spirit of '76) and pal Tubby Reynolds who were forced to land their plane nearby in a storm. Even more unfortunate is that the Smyth brothers are currently working for a Mr. Bohden guarding the kidnapped Martin baby. So, it's up to the costumed adventurer Spirit of '76 to save the day. A fun breezy tale even with its stereotypes done by the excellent Bob Powell.
Sneer: 1947, All Top Comics #8 (Fox). With slightly malformed legs that limit his mobility, Sneer has become a mad scientist, dressing in Medieval style tights and slippers with a modern-day shirt, jacket and tie. He has created the Eonscope which he uses to bring forth "The Treacherous Trio", three criminals from the past: Blackbeard the pirate, Jack the Ripper, and Doctor Crippen. He has them committing various crimes on his behalf though they cannot suppress their baser instincts. Which is how Joan Mason gets on the trail, having been assigned by her editor to get the story on a series of bizarre murders which has her path crossing with Jack the Ripper. Luckily, her boyfriend is secretly the Blue Beetle and he sends the killers back to the past and the police arrest Sneer... although the Commissioner doesn't believe Mike's story about Sneer so who knows what happens with him.
Sons of the Atom: 1939, Amazing Mystery Funnies #15 (Centaur). This secret organization worships Satan Rex and are based in the City of Mists in Tibet. All bear a tattoo on their foreheads.
Solaris: (Better). Faced Wonderman (II).
Sons of Liberty: A hypnotized cult headed by Scimitar to carry out acts of destruction and terrorism. They will turn against their own families and even commit suicide for their group. They were stopped by Samson and David.
Sons of Pharaoh: 1940, Amazing Man Comics #15 (Centaur). The Sons are a cult of Egyptians that hate white explorers because they desecrate the old royal tombs and commit murder and blow up targets such as the Explorers' Club in London. They are stopped by Prince Zardi. Zardi reveals that their recent action and targets are directed by crazed explorer Jeffry Agnew who had known them in Egypt years ago. He had gone crazy and embittered when beaten to the tomb of King Tut years earlier.
Sorceress of Zoom: 1940, Weird Comics #1 (Fox). The Sorceress of Zoom is the ruler of a magical cloud city that she can make appear and disappear. Her subjects are magic creatures that she's created through her magic and she sets out to conquer the Earth. She's opposed by two normal humans, Janice and boyfriend Tom. By issue 3, the Sorceress seems to have seen the errors of her ways and becomes a heroine. Her reformation is short-lived as by issue 4, she's back to her old tricks.
Space Emperor of Jupiter: 1940, Exciting Comics #1 (Better). An Earth colony on Jupiter is in danger. A man calling himself the Space Emperor has the Magic Belt of the Ancients, a super-race that lived on Jupiter years ago. With it, the native Jovians worship him and the belt gives him powers such as turning intangible. Plus, he has also discovered how to turn the earthmen into evolutionary bestial throwbacks, binding some earthling followers as well. Major Mars destroys the caves and defeats the Space Emperor, revealing him to be Mr. Kells, Vice-governor of the colony.
Space Hunter (un-named): 1940, Mystery Men Comics #12 (Fox). On a "horror planet" this un-named giant of a man exists. He dislikes earthlings and hunters especially. So, when people land on his planet he turns the tables on them, transforming them into various animals and hunting them, mounting their transformed heads on the walls. When husband and wife Jan and Yna land on the planet due to some rocket trouble, he changes them into a crow and dove. As a crow, Jan managed to stowaway on a rocket and make his way to Rex Dexter of Mars and his girlfriend Cynde. They confront the hunter who transforms himself into a giant gorilla. Rex bluffs him into thinking that he cannot change into anything larger than a worm which the villain then does only to find himself eaten by the crow Jan. Once dead the spell breaks transforming Jan and Yna back to human (the heads on the wall also change to mummified heads).
Baldy Spade: 1940. Super Spy Comics #1 (Centaur). This mob boss was after an incredible invention that Red Morgan's father created and was willing to have his men kill for it. The invention turned out to be a special metallic suit along with a charging box, that when charged, the wearer of the suit becomes invisible. The secret of the suit is destroyed while Red tries to recover it. When his father dies, he puts on the suit and sets out for revenge against Spade. The suit creates an aura of dancing sparkling lights when making Morgan visible, earning him the name of the Sparkler, and when he appears out of the ether in front of Spade demanding vengeance, Spade jumps out the window in a blind panic and plummets to his death.
The Specter: 1946, Startling Comics #40 (Standard). Dennis Reading is the Specter. When he is caught cheating his business partners, he is turned out and left destitute. He puts together a small gang (with his number one man named Steve whose advice he actually listens to!) to get revenge. On his left black gloved hand, he wears a ring that has a cyanide poisoning needle which is how he mysteriously kills. When we first see him, he is debonair but sinister looking guy with a mustache in formal wear with a cape, making him quite the dashing villain. He and his gang are captured by the Oracle.
The Spectre: Crackajack Funnies 38 (37?)(K.K. Publications). A villain captured by the Owl. Don't know if he actually appeared in a comic or just in the newspaper headline in Crackajack Funnies 38. As most of the strips in Crackerjack are serial in nature, both are a distinct possibility.
The Spider: aka the "sinister fakir" and enemy of Don Winslow.
The Spider II: Fight Comics (Fiction). A bald criminal mastermind who carries two canes, that are cleverly concealed long barrelled handguns (one of which is a gas gun). He's knocked overboard by Shark Brodie and apparently drowns.
Spider Cult: 1941, Fight Comics #39 (Fiction). On the cover is advertised the Seniorita Rio story, "Slave Brand of the Spider Cult" where we see her and a two-fisted type fighting off some native types with spider brands on their chests and backs. However, this isn't the story inside. Now there is a villain called the Spider fighting Shark Brodie inside and he does have a gang of natives, but nothing about brands or such.
Spindler Sisters: (Ace) Anthony Durrant gives us: Matilda and Effie Spindler, the Spindler Sisters, allowed three very beautiful Waves to spend weekends at their country estate, where they would entertain them. Later in the evening, though, the three waves would be taken prisoner and three spies, dressed in the Waves' uniforms, would go to Washington in their place. This went on for some time until their henchmen kidnapped Lightning Girl, who sent Lash Lightning after them. He was able to unmask the Spindler Sisters as two unnamed male Nazi agents and put them securely under arrest, along with the latest consignment of phony Waves.
The Spook: 1940, Silver Streak Comics #6 (Lev Gleason). A robed and hooded figure claiming to be a creature of the dark who cannot abide sunlight so he reigns below ground. It seems he was behind the Panther Man's activities and kills him for his repeated failures. The Spook also commands "skeleton men" (a little hyperbole, they more resemble cadavers), who he gives to life by the powers of his mind and who are immune to bullets and such. When the Spook is knocked unconscious, his skeleton men likewise collapse. Escaping from their clutches after witnessing the sad gruesome death of the Panther, Ace Powers has their lair blown up.
Steel Nazi: America's Best #4 (Better). Fought Pyroman.
Steel Shark: 1940, Rocket Comics #1 (Hillman). The year is 1960, and the Steel Shark commands a state of the art submarine that has flux ray guns that will stop a ship cold and ultimately sink it. He carries a gun that has the symbol of his submarine on the butt of the handle and he's strong enough to club a man hard enough to leave a depression with the image. In the first story, he's bald and green skinned, but displayed with a more normal appearance later. He's opposed by Lt. Dick Jones.
Doctor Stepet: 1939, Amazing Man Comics #7 (Centuar). A crazed bald hunchbacked scientist, with his fantastic machines he is able to instantly vaporize whole lakes and holds the country for ransom. His plans are stopped by the Shark and it's unclear whether Stepet is captured or killed by a giant octopus doing the bidding of the Shark.
Stinger: 1941, Catman v1#8/#3 (Holyoke). The Stinger was a masked super-criminal, always managing to commit crimes where the police weren't. To aid in his crimewave, he and his men believed to have knocked off the Rag-man as well as kidnapping the police commissioner. Rag-man was injured but not out and soon he rounded up the villains and unmasked the Stinger as police lieutenant Burns, one of the detectives in charge of the task of bringing the crooks in.
Stogie, Cheroot and Upsweep: 1944, All Top 1 (Fox) A family of crime, Stogie is the father; Cheroot, the son with leading man good looks, and Upsweep, the sexy daughter able to sweep any man off his feet. They and a gang of toughs use the goodwill of Captain V to rip off charity monies in Hollywood which of course brings the hero himself to the land where reality and dreams mix. He even almost falls for Upsweep's charms thanks to knockout vapors concealed in her hair. A good plot, but Captain V didn't follow their script and they all found themselves going to jail but vowing to return.
Stone-Age Killer: 1943, Four Favorites #9 (Ace). Gammon is a racketeer and is being chased by what appears to be a caveman complete with a club who is after the one bit of money that he earned honestly and hid away for his daughter, the model Tina Grand. Gammon is half dead when he flees to Mr. Risk and tells him where the money is hidden. While Risk is out of the room, the caveman catches him and kills him with Risk's letter opener, framing him for the murder and forcing Risk to get the money and hope to capture the real killer. It works out and the caveman is unmasked as Legs Levelle, Gammon's old partner. NOTE: He wasn't given any code-name as a cave-man in the story, so the name "Stone-Age Killer" is my term that sounds a bit catchier and less generic than "Un-named caveman".
The Stone Man: 1940, Weird Comics #1 (Fox). This brown gnarled and robed figure is the self-styled ruler of the Lost Canyon, his subjects the vultures (large enough to carry off a full-grown woman) and coyotes. His plans to make a pretty lost woman his queen is foiled by Birdman though he seems to escape harm or judgment himself.
Stopwach: 1943 Prize Comics 34/v3 #10 (Feature Publications). Yes, that's the correct spelling. Trained by the same men who taught the Green Lama, Stopwach can bend almost any man to his hypnotic power. He fears the Lama whose ability dwarfs his own and so goes about wearing shades.
The Striker: 1942, Boy Comics #5 (Lev Gleason). Foe of Bombshell. Created by Norman Maurer.
Subterranean Men: 1940, Fantastic Comics 12 (Fox). An underground race with an appearance similar to devils (horns, pointed ears, red skin) who plot to take over the surface world. Plans discovered and de-railed by the efforts of explorer-adventurer Captain Kidd.
Subterron: 1944, America's Best Comics 12 (Better). A large boring machine used by the Nazis to wage war on American soil. It was ultimately stopped by Pyroman.
Suez: 1941, Blue Bolt v2#3 (Lev Gleason). Suez is a stage magician and spiritualist (and possibly escape artist) who uses all the tricks of the trade to commit daring crimes that end up reported as being done by a "ghost crook" that causes Sgt. Spook to investigate. In addition to his various stage tricks, Suez also has powers of hypnotism, is able to somehow turn himself invisible, AND he can see Sgt. Spook who is normally invisible to mortals (to the point that Suez doesn't realize he's being chased by a ghost and not just a rival magician). Suez has the stereotypical look of silent film villain: long mustache, cloak, suit with tails.
Suicide Master: 1942, Cat-man Comics #6 (Holyoke). Central City is subject to a plague of suicides, leading the Deacon to intervene. The Suicide Master kidnaps the Deacon's sidekick, Mickey as a hostage. Central City is not a big city apparently as the Deacon quickly narrows down the headquarters of the gang to being Town Hall itself and manages to save Mickey from being hypnotized into committing himself. The Suicide Master is revealed to being Boss Wilson, the political boss of Central City. He'd hypnotize his victims into signing over all their property and then have them commit suicide. NOTE: He appears in the same issue as Lance Rand's foe Norvo who is billed as a master of mass hypnotism. Suicide Master only hypnotized people one at a time but was obviously very powerful as he could make them kill themselves. He wore street clothes but a yellow handkerchief style mask that covered his whole face. There's also the unexplored/ unexplained angle as to why at one of the victim's houses, the Deacon finds the gang as well as a wall of masks of the various suicide victims.
Slick Summers: 1946, Golden Lad #5 (Spark). Silky Smooth Durrant writes: Slick Summers was a crook who was apprehended by the crimefighting team of the Shaman and Fire for attempting to rob a publisher. After his release from prison, Summers and his assistant Strangler Jones set up a school for detectives. Once the victims had completed the courses, they would be brought to a bank and told to rob it as their final exam. One student, a man named Harold Hummer, released the Shaman and Fire from a bank vault and the two of them were able to apprehend Summers and Jones.
Super-Brain: 1941, Rangers of Freedom (Fiction). Super-brain is a supergenius with powers of hypnotism. He wears an Eastern-style green robe and has a bulbous bald head ala Brainwave, indicating just how smart he was. Regular foe of the Rangers of Freedom. He also has the ability to project an image of himself.
Superbrain: 1945, Planet Comics 36 (Fiction). Fresh from defeating and preventing the mad god Mars from his bid to conquer the universe, Mysta runs up against the Brain or the Superbrain as he calls himself. He's a diminutive wizened supergenius with an abnormally small body with an equally abnormally large head complete with an abnormally large percentage of it being forehead. To get around he must use a small flying capsule that he sits in. He has equipped his zombies with both gas and fungus guns that not only entraps opponents but over time will disintergrate them from the inside out, leaving the shell of the body but just gas inside. He also has scientifically created zombies, men brainless beyond basic instincts and obeying the commands of their master and a beautiful helper in the raven haired Bela. He is seemingly destroyed when he and his ship fall victim to the green fungus from his devices
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.
Swami: 1945, Four Favorites #17 (Ace). The Swami becomes a friend with Captain Nippon while the two are in prison. Nippon slips him a message and arranges an escape attempt. Captain Courageous manages to foil Captain Nippon’s escape but the Swami is able to slip out and embarks on a scheme that Nippon had planned. It was a bold attempt to ingratiate himself with the wealthy Judson family who recently had a son gone MIA and kidnap their daughter in ransom for some manufacturing plans. Captain Courageous manages to put a stop to the scheme and return the Swami to jail. By all appearances, the Swami is a fake fortune teller and mystic with no real powers of his own. NOTE: Captain Courageous seems to possess a mystical sense in that he can hear any brave man or woman lifting up a plea for courage.
Swastie: 1943, Target Comics vol 4, #3 (Novelty). "The most treacherous gremlin of them all… a Nazi at heart, he works against the Allies and does a great dal of damage to Allied planes." While on a patrol mission as a pilot, Niles "The Target" Reed encounters Blue Nose of the good United States gremlins who aid the Allies against the Swasties, nasty hirsute brown gremlins with swastikas on their chests and biceps.
Dr. Tana: 1942, Prize Comics 24. (Feature Publications) Dr. Hideyo Tana is your typical Asian menace, billed as the genius and mastermind behind Japanese spying and who had a hand in the planning of the attack on Pearl Harbor. He is opposed by the Green Lama and dies when he accidentally injects himself with poison meant for the hero.
Doctor Thorne: 1941, Fantastic Comics #14 (Fox). This robed villain was part mad scientist and part sorcerer. He raises the dead bodies through backwards speaking magic ala Zatara who fly off as spirits into the 4th Dimension. After the mystery of the empty graves gets attention over the news, he plays the part of as a concerned citizen and pays the famous scientist and adventurer Flip Falcon a visit, prompting Flip to use his dimension machine to go to the 4th Dimension once more in pursuit of the spirits. The trap is set and sprung as Flip is overpowered by the spirits and brought to Thorne's "Castle of Misery" where he uses Flip's body to transmit electricy to give to his spirit army. Thinking that killed Flip, Thorne sends his supercharged ghost army to Earth to wreak havoc, their electric touch being instant death. However, Flip is immune to electricity and escapes. In his tussle with Thorne, a powerful blow sends the villain crashing into the dynamos and is electrocuted. Flip then uses the machines to render them dead once more.
Targala: Exciting Comics. (Standard) The last disciple of Esh-Kar, the ape god of evil and foe of jungle princess Kara who rules the immortal warriors of Arohiti. In issue #15, he calls forth the massive statue of Esh-Kar and when that is blown to bits, each part becomes a smaller man-sized ape, invulnerable to spears as hardened stone. Eventually, they are defeated and Targala himself is slain by the supreme priest of the Arohiti. UPDATE(01-10-08). He's the ruler of a race of Eagle Men, men with fully functioning wings on their back and who worship Esh-Kar, the ape god. Targala himself has/had wings (they may have been burned off), and Targala at one point manages to call forth the power of their god that makes his body as hard as the statue itself.
The Teacher: 1942, Lightning Comics v3#1 (Ace). Dennis Durrant writes: The Teacher is a mortarboard and cloak-wearing master spy who kidnaps Captain and Colonel Blake, then sends Colonel Blake out on a mission of sabotage that ends with his death. Captain Blake's daughter Isobel vows to clear their name, and Lash Lighting is assigned to go with her in order to do so, departing on a naval ship under false identities to head to Panama. Of course, the teacher has eavesdropped on Lash's mission briefing, and after Lash and Isobel save the ship on which they are traveling by an attack from captured American fighters piloted by Japanese aviators, he and she are kidnpped by the Teacher at the dock when they arrive at their intended destination, and Lash is strapped to a machine that increases his power a thousand times, then returns it to his body, weakening it severely. He grounds the current, then takes Isobel's hand and sends power into her body, transforming her into Lightning Girl. While Lightning Girl goes to an American fleet to warn it to change course so they will not fall into the Teacher's trap, Lash Lighting breaks the master spy's hold over her father, and he dies while leading a legion of troops against the Teachers own platoon. Meanwhile, Lightning girl succeeds in warning the American fleet to change course, saving the day. She and Lash then discreetly attend her father's funeral, and she vows to stay by his side to help him fight injustice.
Terrible Midge: 1943, Prize Comics #43 (Prize). Foe of the the Black Owl.
Terror Castle: Mystery Men Comics 12 (Fox). At Terror Castle, an unnamed mad doctor operates on dead bodies that he has a gang dig up from cemeteries. Unfortunately, he attracts the attention of the Moth who after throwing him from a tower, blows up the castle.
Thacker the Great: 1941, Amazing Man Comics #19 (Centuar). Aman and Zona are investigating a series of suicides at a hotel across the street from where Thacker is advertised performing. After coming across the name Thacker in relation to a realty company, Amazing Man follows up with some research and discovers all the suicides happened on one side of the building when the sun was the strongest because Thacker needed the sunlight to reflect off his large mirror to hypnotize from the distance across the street. Thacker was the brother of the president of Thacker Realty Company who were hoping to drive the price down with the suicides. Amazing Man's mind proved strong enough to resist the hypnotism and captured Thacker.
Thade: 1944, Shadow Comics v3n11 (Street & Smith). Called "The Death Master" and "Crime's Colossus" he was a balding, black magic foe of the Shadow.
The Thinker: 1941, Popular Comics #60 (Dell). Don't know much about this fellow, only seen one part of a serial story and his actions are hardly that of a villain. He's able to project his thoughts, voices and powers over great distance and calls Dr. Hormone to come to him. While Hormone follows the call, he's ambushed by the Klan who try throwing him into a deep pit, but the fall becomes just a few feet as the Thinker telepathically fills it instantly. And then he makes it a pit once more as the villains try to cross after Hormone and Jane. When the Naziians try to strafe the pair, the Thinker remotely gives Hormone his power, making him bulletproof and able to literally blow the plane from the skies. To get to the Thinker, Hormone and Jane parachute into a mysterious gorge and start to fall through time. And that's where that particular issue ends.
Thorga: 1939, Fantastic Comics #1 (Fox). Thorga is the first villain to face Samson and thus the first of his parade of foes that were bald geniuses and madmen that tried to conquer the world through super-science. And, like most of them is killed in fighting the hero. In addition to his army, he has advance tanks and airplanes.
The Three Outlaws: February, 1949, Western Adventures (A.A. Wynn): Blackie Evans and his two friends embark on a crime spree in Red Dog, disappearing after each crime, unable to be found by neither Sheriff Sal nor the posse made up of the men of Red Dog who feel the job of sheriff isn't one for women. Yet it's Sal's friendship with the Brennans, an older couple that lead Sal to capture the gang. When they don't show up in town when they said they would, she suspects something is up and visiting she notices evidence that more than just two people are living there and sure enough, the gang was forcing the couple to let them hide out there.
Ticonda: 1939, Amazing Mystery Funnies #12, v2 #8 (Centaur). An enormous arctic ape, he was on display at the World's Fair. When he saw the Fantom, he broke free and fought him. Fantom eventually knocked Ticonda out and returned him to his captivity. A comment is made that Ticonda and the Fantom fought 10,000 years before which opens all sorts of cans of worms.
Topaz: 1944, Yellowjacket Comics #4 (Frank Communale Publishing Co.). This clever crook is a master planner and apparently decent at judo. After spending some time in jail, he decides to open up a school of crime.Unfortunately for him, he sets up shop in the rooms next to those of the hero Yellowjacket. NOTE: This story is interesting as the basic concept and the whole introduction are lifted from a 1943 Hangman. See the entry on Markov on the MLJ Villains page
The Torch: 1944, Exciting Comics 36 (Better). A research scientist for the Timberly Mine Company, Dr. Rydenham uncovered a fabulous Indian ruby. He sent it back via an accomplice to bury it in the empty lot next door to his house. Unfortunately, when he got back to the states, he discovered his accomplice had died in an accident and a hospital going up where the empty lot used to be. He creates a torch that can throw a flame fifty feet and in a yellow welder's outfit decorated with red flames, he reigns terror on those working on the site through sabotage and outright attacks. He's stopped by the Black Terror and Tim.
The Torch Men: 1944? Tops Comics. Ramsey and his lieutenant Carson head up a ring of men dress in gray protective gear complete with face masks and flame thrower torches attached to the tops of the hoods, all in an effort to force Doctor Mityken to give up his flame thrower patents and inventions. However, the Black Orchid witnesses their first attack against Dr. Mityken where an underling burns the doctor’s face and pits her paralyzing black vapors against their flames to bring them to justice.
Torchmen: 1945, Startling Comics #32 (Standard). Nazi Major Horstel developed radium powered jetpacks as an effort to save pilots lives as opposed to parachutes. However, a design flaw makes them have a tendency to burst into flame after sustained use. He adapts the jetpacks to also have a hood with a nozzle to re-direct the heat and flames. Soon, he and a small gang are destroying planes and sabotaging war plants which attracts the attention of the Fighting Yank. Their flight, flame powers, and numbers allow them to get ahold of his cloak but even without his powers, he fights on. With the help of Joan and his ghostly ancestor (who has to save him a couple of times as well as directly intervene this time), he is able to defeat them: Horstel is apparently captured while the others are apparently killed when the Fighting Yank turns their weapon against them. Horstel has a monocle over his left eye.
The Tormenter: 1947, America's Best #21 (Better). The Tormenter: The town of Granger is where Bruce Carter I was born and his descendent Bruce Carter III, aka the Fighting Yank, makes a yearly visit on the anniversary of his ancestor’s birth. However, on one such trip he finds the town being terrorized by a series of murders by a masked man called the Tormenter whose arrivals and departures are accompanied by a whistling sound. He finally stood revealed as banker Frank Meadows who was trying to cover and make up money that he had embezzled. The whistle was just that, a whistle that could be blown or even thrown to attract attention elsewhere.
Doctor Toyat: 1939, Amazing Man Comics #7 (Centuar). In the year 1960, Toyat and his assistant Kito kidnap women in order to make them powerful giants under his control. Toyat is also able to make self-destructing humanoid robots. He's stopped by the Iron Skull and forced to return the gals to normal. Preferring death to capture, he electrocutes himself.
Treacherous Trio: 1947, All Top Comics #8 (Fox). The trio are Blackbeard the pirate, the serial wife killer Dr. Crippen and Jack the Ripper brought from the past to the present day by mad scientist Sneer. They are outfought and sent back to the past by Blue Beetle.
Professor Henry Trepper: 1940, Amazing Mystery Funnies #19 (Centaur). A carnival huckster with a strong ability of hypnotism. He used his talents to gleam blackmail information and his hypnotized subjects would then carry out the blackmail and then turn over the money to Trepper, thus the trail could rarely be traced back to him.
Trepper's wife divorced him and then blackmailed him unless she continued to receive a cut. Trepper used his carnival freak Agar, the "man without a brain," to kill his wife and her associates. His killing spree was almost completed when Fantom caught him.
The Trigger: (Centaur Comics) When her real estate agent boyfriend Larry receives a death threat, Lucille Martin investigates why someone called the Trigger doesn't want him managing old Mrs. Harnett's estate. As the Blue Lady she discovers hooded men and a mining operation for radium ore underneath the estate. She takes care of the hoods, but the Trigger, a former professor of mining (?), escapes.
Tusk: 1940, Amazing Mystery Funnies #17 (Centaur). An ugly man with large tusk-like teeth on his lower jaw, runs a small gang. With a fast acting knock-out gas of his own invention, Tusk and his gang commit a number of robberies before being stopped by the Masked Marvel.
The Tuxedo: 1943, Exciting Comics #31 (Standard). Anthony Durrant writes: The tuxedo was a spy whose men ran a fictitious lighting company, under which guise they would install special light bulbs made of a photographic material in which the nation's secret plans would be "photographed" as they were drawn up. He and his men would then replace the special light bulbs with more regular light bulbs. He was tracked down and killed by the American Eagle and Eaglet just after he had delivered the plans of a new bombsight to the captain of a Nazi submarine! UPDATE (01-10-08): Since the police weren't sure what the raids were about, the Tuxedo's gang were called the Enigma Raiders. The Tuxedo's final fate is a bit obscure. It's presumed he died when the submarine he was meeting up with fired on the ship with him and his gang in an attempt to get rid of the American Eagle and Eaglet. The two heroes survived however and destroyed the submarine.
Tyrant King: 1946, America¹s Best Comics 18 (Standard). Rex Topsed (read his last name backwards) was an assistant to Dr. Chilton and helped him develop the Electrosorber, a machine that can draw and redirect electrical energy from whole towns. Rex develops insulated rubber-asbestos costumes and electrical "voltoguns" for his gang. With such devices, he wreaked havoc until stopped by Pyroman.
Tyrannus: 1941, Fight Comics #15 (Fiction). Head of a 5th Columnist Army, he achieves an invasion of America, killing senators, capturing the President, etc. However, this is the time that Super-American comes from the future and puts a stop to his invasion plans. In issue 16, Tyrannus reports to Vultro, the German dictator that has conquered all of Europe.
Underground Race (Un-named): 1939, Fantastic Comics #12 (Fox) A red skinned race with demonic horns lives beneath the surface. Under command of their king, garbed in kingly raimants out of medieval Europe, they plan on conquest of the surface world by creating volcanoes to destroy various cities. They are stopped and apparently destroyed by the adventurer Captain Kidd.
Undersea Queen (un-named): 1940, Fight Comics #2 (Fiction) When Kinks Mason volunteers for the Navy to investigate the disappearance of several ships as well as a Navy sub, his own boat is pulled under by giant seaweed. With a diving helmet he finds the sub but minus people or bodies and he's soon captured by what appears to be half men and half seaweed beings. They take them to their beautiful queen who reveals her plot for conquering the upper world. They need chlorophyl to survive and they have a huge plant (as in a power plant, not vegetation) that converts rays of the sun which they use not only for their own survival but to vitalize the huge clinging seaweed as well as turning the captured air-breathers into humanoid sea-weed slaves. Mason manages to escape and uses the submarine single-handedly to launch an attack, destroying the chlorophyl plant and apparently dooming the seaweed people as well as rescuing the captured humans.
The Undertaker: Fall 1944, Clue Comics #8. (Hillman). Ronald Byrd provides: Operating out of tunnels beneath a cemetery, the cadaverous Undertaker helps embezzlers fake their own deaths, then kills them for real and collects their ill-gotten gains. Nightmare and Sleepy expose his operation and turn him over to the police.
The Unholy One: 1940, Miracle Comics #1 (Hillman). From his lair he sends his flying Snow Men to steal a stratosphere plane. Meanwhile, his gang headed by the ruthless Hawk Armand and Vera Tigress kidnap the test pilot's children in efforts to ransom for the plans. But, the master inventor of the plane among other things is the Sky Wizard who rescues the children and sets out to rescue their father. The Unholy One has his lair in the Himilayas and is a corpulant Asian villain. In the first issue, the Snow Men (also spelled "snowmen"), are only seen on a small screen but appear to look a bit like humans in scalloped edged flying suits that give them an hour-glass shape when flying. In issue 3, they are human sized gargoyle like beings with brown skin, devilish heads with small devil horns and large gray batwings that enable them to fly. The Unholy One apparently dies when he tries to stab Sky Wizard in the back but instead plumets off the hero's flying island. Most of the Snowmen likewise perish in an all-out attack against the flying island and its defenses, though Sky Wizard spares one that had saved his life earlier. This epic ran over 3 of the title's 4 issues.
Unnamed: Amazing Man 21 (Centaur). A robed man steals a special acid gun that reduces men to mindless ghouls which he can control. He begins a life of piracy recruiting the crews for his gang of ghouls. The Shark tracks him to his underwater and kills him, and the gang as a result.
Un-named II: 1943, Speed Comics #28 (Harvey). Sadly, I don't have the text story behind this cover, so I cannot give this guy a name.
The Unseen: America's Best Comics 20 (Better). A recurring foe (at least twice) of Pyroman's. His ultimate goal is to find something he calls his "phagoment," a master element that will allow him his vengeance on the world by destroying all matter. The Unseen is a large hulking and possibly hunchbacked man with straight shoulder length hair that covers his face, the only feature of his head we ever see are his ears.
The Vacuum: 1952, Boy Comics (Lev Gleason). A thief with an atomic powered air pump that is kept in the sleeve of his coat. He can use it suck and expel air with incredible strength (enough to slow his fall from a tall building). Although, the pump makes a powerful weapon, the Vacuum is not a killer. Crimebuster stops him.
Valkyrie I: (Hillman). The Valkyrie and her girl squadron were trained and taught to be good little Nazis by Herr Oberst, a Nazi colonel. When she captured Airboy, three of her squadron hid him in old hangar but were found out by Oberst who ordered them whipped and Airboy killed. The Valkyrie rebelled, killed Oberst and then used Airboy's own plane, Birdie, to rescume him and her three girls.
Valkyrie II: Anthony Durrant writes: A mysterious pilot is shooting down Allied aircraft all over Germany, whose face is concealed throughout most of the story. When shot down by Airman and unmasked, this pilot is revealed to be a blonde-haired woman, the Valkyrie, who shoots herself rather than be captured by him.
The Vampire: August 1941, Victory Comics (Hillman). A vampire is stalking the city, leaving dead and barely alive drained victims in his wake. The Crusader barely rescues one woman, receiving a nasty punch and cut on his chin. He notices the cut is from a signet ring with the symbol of a fang and research reveals that to be the coat of arms of the Rostavic family of Transylvania and there's a Count Rostavic currently living in the city. He captures the Vampire and reveals him to be Rostavic who was using a strong sedative in the fangs to knock out his victims and then took them to his lab where he was draining their blood which he was providing to Germany who was paying him.
The Vampire II: December, 1941, Dynamic Comics 2 (Harry "A" Chesler). In a seemingly deserted house on the everglades, lurks a red robed vampire and his servant, a giant luring and killing the unwary. Unfortunately for them, the Green Knight discovers the house, them, and a kid sidekick in Lance.
Vampire III: 1942, Cat-man Comics #8 (Holyoke). The Pied Piper finds himself facing a murderous vampire. The vampire is red-eyed, pointy eared, and green skinned with a darker green body suit and bat wings flaring out from his arms. He's killed when he crashes through a stairway railing and one of the railings stabs him through the heart.
The Vampire IV: 1945, Green Hornet Comics #23 (Harvey). Cain Murdair calls on attorney John Doyle to commit his younger brother Abel to an asylum as he's clearly insane. During this time, there are reports of vampire attacks in the park. As the attacks continue, Cain calls on Doyle again, accusing his brother of being the vampire. Doyle investigates as the Zebra and soon finds that it's Cain who is insane and thinking he's a vampire. Abel has been the first victim, steadily being bled but when he gets to the point that he cannot supply more blood, Cain is forced to go elsewhere. It turns out that Cain is suffering of "Pernicious annemia", causing his craving of blood.
The Vampires: Yankee Comics: 3 or 4 (Chesler) Young Paul Witherbee's mother is sufferening from a strange ailment and he calls on the aide of the Echo's assistant Dr. Doom. At the house, Doom clashes wills with another physician, Dr. Anton who doesn't want Doom to interfere with his treatments. When the Echo comes to investigate he finds Anton giving doses of blood to a gang of vampires and jumps to the conclusion that Anton is behind it all. Turns out the opposite was true. Aware that the gang of vampires were trying to convert Mrs. Witherbee, he was trying to keep them at bay by placating them with blood until he could save her through his own treatments. Unfortunately, the transformation was too close to completion and the Echo and Dr. Anton barely save Witherbee's daughter Jane from falling prey to her vampiric mother. However, just as the vampire formula starts to take completely over, Mrs. Witherbee suffers a heart failure and the gang of vampires perish with her. Yes, a very convoluted story with a few gaps and leaps of logic. Also, the Echo who I had previously seen as just being a detective with incredible ventriloquist abilities here has a radioactive ring that fires blasts of light able to hold the vampires off and a belt buckle that can render him invisible.
The Veiled Lady: 1942, Boy Comics #?(Lev Gleason). She was a foe of Young Robin Hood. Created by Norman Maurer.
Professor Venom: 1942, Daredevil Comics #9 (Lev Gleason). Short, pudgy, monocled Nazi agent. Presumably, the monocle covers up the fact that his eye is actually in a staff he carries that gives him hypnotic powers. He was stopped by 13 and Jinx.
The Viper: 1941, Pocket Comics #2 (Harvey). In Baghdad, the Viper heads up a gang of mystical fakirs and an army of confederates, all in service to his god, a wooden idol of the Spirit of Night. He has his fakirs gather gems and jewels that he may offer as sacrifice to the idol. The Phantom Sphinx smashes the army and exiles the Viper to wandering in the desert.
Vishnu: 1946, Speed Comics 41 (Harvey). In India, it appears that a huge idol of Vishnu has come to life and is on a rampage, telling Indians that war is sin and if they must pay for waging war on behalf of the Allies. Shock Gibson manages to uncover the fact it's a machine housing many Japanese soldiers. He manages to melt down the idol (killing the soldiers inside, natch).
The Voice: 1940, Fantastic Comics #2 (Fox). The island of Morgia appears to be off the African continent. Supposedly, it has a vast resource of gold but none ever reaches the mainland. Captain Kidd and his friend Freddy investigate and find a large talking idol god who exchanges whiskey for gold. The Voice of the god drowns fleeing from the adventurers through the underwater passage that leads to the temple.
The Voice II: 1945, Black Terror #11 (Better). In Nevada, two men die after seeing a mysterious skull and crossbones in the sky. When Fred Swanson sees the same thing, he mails an old classmate of his, Bob Benton who is secretly the Black Terror. Black Terror uncovers a nefarious plot against America by a robed mystery villain called the Voice. The Voice is a master of gases, who made gases his hobby after suffering from gas attacks in the last war. He has a gang and advance auto-gyro type airplanes with the skull and crossbones painted on their undersides. He also has the symbol on the front of his hood and apparently wears armor beneath his robes, making him able to stand up against the mighty punches of the Black Terror.
The Voice III: 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.
Von Gratzoff: Monocled German spy who attempted to sabotage the Panama Canal. The Cloak thwarted his plans and apparently killed him.
Von Haupt: 1939, Fantastic Comics #1 (Fox). Von Haupt has a lab hidden deep in some un-named wilderness. He's a fat man with a iron gauntlet over his right hand. Using his V-rays, he is able to shut off the motor of Captain Kidd's plane as he flies overhead. He tells Kidd that has unlocked the secret of immortality, that the withered stump of his right hand is the only part he cannot protect. His secret seems to involve strapping people to large dynamos and stealing their life-force, skeletonizing them. In fighting Kidd, he shows himself to be immune to bullets. However, he falls into a vat of sulphur which seems to kill him and reveal a mechanical hand under the gauntlet. Kidd barely escapes before Von Haupt's whole lab and his men are blown to kingdom come.
Fritz von Heim: 1940, Amazing Mystery Funnies #17 or v3 #1 (Centaur). Dacia Zaroff approached this German munitions maker with a proposal to get the US into the war against Germany, thereby increasing his sales. He agreed and even lent his WWI u-boat to her. It was sunk by Frogga and Barry Finn. Although Zaroff escaped and thus von Heim possibly did too, he has yet to be heard from.
Fritz von Holz: 1940, Amazing Man Comics #11 (Centaur). A monocled Nazi spy who encountered the Shark several times while in the US.
Field Marshall Von Klawe: 1945, Speed Comics #36 (Harvey). This bald hefty man is Hitler's top man in Granada. He's captured by the Girl Commandos who get close to him by pretending to be bull-fighters. He has a metal claw instead of his right hand.
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"
Captain Gottfried von Slagian: 1940, Amazing Man Comics #13 (Centaur). An SS officer, he was sent to the US to retrieve a Nazi infiltrator with a vital secret for Germany. He was captured by the Shark. He later escaped and again encountered the Shark. This time he severely wounded the hero and escaped.
Kurt Von Stangle: 1940, Rocket Comics #1. Head of an international spy ring and is trying to steal Professor Sterling's inventions, specifically the secrets behind how to explode the atom that Sterling has incorporated into his interplanetary rocket ship design. But he's stymied by Rocket Riley, assistant to the professor and fiancé of Griselda, the professor's daughter. In one attempt, he and his chief henchman, the hulking brute Sam Vacco (misspelled on GCD as Yacco), they all end up accidentally rocketing through space. During an emergency landing on what must be Mars, Vacco is captured and probably killed by the natives, the Octopus Men
Colonel von Stutz: Fighter Comics. Anthony Durrant writes: Von Stutz is the killer of Bill, the American fiance of the Spanish actress Carmen Avila. After his death, she fakes her own death and becomes known as Senorita Rio, the beautiful Spanish agent. He intends to mislead the allies as to the location of the next Nazi attack with forged papers that are stolen by Senorita Rio, who has assumed the identity of the Countess, Colonel von Stutz's aide. Eventually, the countess and von Stutz meet their ends at Senorita Rio's hands. NOTE: Another source says that Senorita Rio's real name is Rita Farrar whose fiance died during Pearl Harbor.
Saber Von Tigron: 1945, Miss Cairo Jones #1 (Croydon): Anthony Durrant writes: Modelled on Orson Welles, this unscrupulous Nazi married an American girl named Cairo Jones in order to get himself a passport to America when Germany fell. Saber was a talented banker who financed Hitler's Third Reich with his own wealth. Sought as a war criminal, he persuaded Cairo that he was secretly working against the Nazis and fled to America separately from her after the war. Cairo believed what her husband had told her - that he was working for the German people and not the Nazis - until she met him at an apartment and his Mexican girlfriend Mercedes hit her over the head with a candlestick, then went to Brazil with Saber to reclaim the fortune he had hidden there. Pursued by Cairo to the cave where he had hidden his fortune, Saber von Tigron hanged himself to avoid capture. This character has a real-life parallel in Gert Frobe, the actor who is most famous for playing the title character in the 007 movie Goldfinger. Frobe, apparently, was forced to join the National Socialist party, but instead of persecuting the Jews, he used his position to help them escape from Germany. Because Frobe had been a member of the National Socialist party, his film Goldfinger was banned from Israel for many years. Only when it was revealed that he had been using his position to help the Jews was the film allowed to be shown in Israel.
Professor Helmut Voodoo: 1943, Prize Comics #43 (Prize). Foe of the Green Lama.
Voodoo Man: 1940, Weird Comics #1 (Fox). Boanga, an evil Haitian houngan resents and opposes Bob Warren, a square-jawed young doctor, who goes to Haiti to set up his medical practice and to investigate voodoo.
Vulcan: 1940, Prize Comics #7 (Prize). This ruler is of a race from the Earth's core and tried to conquer the surface world. He was opposed by Dr. Frost over several issues.
The Vulture: 1941, Amazing Man Comics #24 (Centuar). This bald man leads a gang of saboteurs. In addition to blowing up plants, he is also kidnapping draftees, stamping them with a hypnotic stamp that enslaves them to be part of his private army. Below ground, the Vulture is also building tanks and guns using his slave labor. The stamp is on the chest and of a vulture sitting on a skull. He even manages to trap Amazing Man's assistant Tommy. Ultimately, his plans are undone and he barely escapes, revealing himself to actually being Mr. Que/the Great Question, Amazing Man's most hated enemy.
The Vulture II: 1942, Lightning Comics #5? (Ace), A purple fog drifts over the ocean, only sailors discover it's not a fog at all, but something solid enough to sink their ships when they try to sail through it. Lash Lightning investigates and finds a city in the clouds, the Black City of the Sky ruled by the winged Vulture, clad in purple so as to be near invisible against his fog. Investigating, he discovers Linda Larkin and her father Sam Larkin, the inventor of the fog, floating city, and the flame ray gun, all stolen by his brother who's now the Vulture. Feeling rather bloodthirsty, Lash Lightning not only defeats the Vulture and engulfs the city in flames, but with an extremely powerful bolt of lightning, sends the whole thing in a crumpled molten mass to the bottom of the sea with the criminals on board.
Vulture's Claw: Cat-Man #14 & 15 (Holyoke). Baron Von Tug is the greatest of the Nazi aces. When his plane is shot down, his face is heavily scarred and his right hand is amputated by the docs. They replace it with a vulture's claw with talons like steel. He puts on a costume and strikes at America as the Vulture's Claw. He's fought by the Hood. In his confrontation in issue #15, he goes through a window ten stories up and is presumed dead.
Vurmann: America's Best #4 (Better). Nazi who was able to turn men into machines of war. Stopped by Doc Strange.
Walrus Men: 1939, Mystery Men Comics #5 (Fox). The Walrus Men are stone age savages at the South Pole with long tusk like teeth lead by their chieftan Numa. The cave to their tribe and a huge reptilian monster they give human sacrifices is sealed by the magician Zanzibar.
Dr. Henry Walton:1945, Headliner Comics (Prize). A mad scientist and would be world conqueror created a large cannon that harnessed and fired great electrical forces equal to the strongest lightning bolts. He ran afoul the fledgling hero Atomic Man whose vast powers enabled him to survive a blast from the lightning cannon. The crazed scientist was unimpressed and declared, "…I don't wear any fancy costume.. but I have the power to destroy you and the world.. and I'm going to start with you!" A great boast, but Atomic Man's powers proved more formidable than he expected and his gun was destroyed. Captured and taken to the police, he was last seen babbling almost incoherently about the hero and his powers.
The Wanderer: 1937, Detective Picture Stories #5 (Centaur). A master villain that for 4 years committed daring crimes and being pursued by "Old Jacques" who helped first the French Surete, Scotland Yard and lately the Metropolitan police in America. This tendency to move from place to place and being unpredictable in his methods earns him his name. He's a crack shot, good at disguises and seems to work alone. He's confident enough of his crimes, he's taken to goading Jacques by telling him what he plans to do next, daring him to stop him. Sadly, this is the only appearance of the villain and the elder sleuth.
The Wasp: 1941, Big Three #5 (Fox). The Wasp is a bald midget killer who is a foe of Samson, and teams up with Samson's other chief foe, the Dragon.
The Wasp II: 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 again 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 the Wasp escapes.
The Weasel: 1944, Blue Beetle #34 (Fox). With the war going badly and the Fascist leaders seeing ultimate defeat, one is already organizing for the next one, the German master strategist known as the Weasel. With an organization that is in America and South America trying to get money for their cause, the Weasel is unseen by most of his men. A scientist in his employ comes up with a formula that turns men into physical supermen but lacking any will of their own other than to obey their leader. However, his betrayal and murder of the scientist sets the Blue Beetle on his trail and leads to his eventual capture.
The Web: 1941, Big Three #4 (Fox). Criminal mastermind with male pattern baldness and possibly above average strength judging the size of a piece of rock he picks up. He has a special type of radial ray that causes physical damage, carries a cat-of-nine-tails whip and likes to use bombs. Knocking the city's power supply out, he and his gang plan to loot the city. They are stopped by the Blue Beetle. In trying to blow up the Blue Beetle, the Web falls on his own bomb, killing him.
Carl Weltner: 1940, Amazing Man Comics #17 (Centaur). He headed the American Crime ring.
The Were-wolf: 1941, Four Favorites #1 (Ace). Twenty-thirty years earlier, Adolph "Wol"f Krimetz was teased by his classmates at a military academy for his wolfish features. Hitting one of his tormentors, Krimetz accidentally kills him and he flees into the woods to avoid imprisonment. There he grows into a huge man with longish hair. He also discovers he's a true werewolf, able to transform from the waist up at will. He vows revenge on his former classmates and starts kidnapping them, all military men now. This draws the attention of Lash Lightning who deduces and defeats him.
Later, when killings seem to be attributed to the Were-wolf, "Lash" Lightning goes to prison where the villain is supposed to be incarcerated. He discovers that Krimetz has apparently hanged himself while his cellmate Mike Lewser escaped, using strength and agility that the Werewolf possessed. Researching, Lightning discovers that Lewser was known as "Putty-face" Lewser, having the ability to mold his face into the likeness of anyone he chose. While this might explain the resemblance, it doesn't explain the other powers and the fact that he is searching out doctors for a cure and killing them when they fail him. Lightning deduces that it's Lewser disguised as Krimetz hanging in the cell and the real Werewolf is on the prowl. As he falls into a factory chimney stack, Lightning hopes that the fire will kill him by burning the demon out of him.
Before prison, as a human he had long dark hair, a prominent nose and wore his skirt and boots made of fur skins. While in prison, it was apparently shaved. After his escape, he is bald, has brutish, slightly wolfish features including pronounced eyebrows and fangs and wears a suit, fedora and cape. As the Were-wolf, he's strong enough to bend metal and stand up to Lightning's lightning bolts as well as gunfire. Capable of savage attacks, he doesn't seem to lose his sense of identity or cognizant ability while a were-wolf.
Werewolf: 1941, Cat-man Comics #4 (Holyoke). Ten years ago in Tibet, Dr. Ralph Arno was bitten by a werewolf, and his close friends Dr. Martin and Dr. Smith were unable to treat him. However, nothing happened until one night a decade later, he transformed under the full moon (looking a bit more like Mr. Hyde than a werewolf, but why quibble). Filled with murderous rage, and apparently stuck as the werewolf, he lets the world think Dr. Arno has vanished while he plans his revenge against his friends that failed him. He succeeds in killing Martin, but the Pied Piper tracks him back to his lair in a deserted lighthouse. The Piper's pipes only incapacitate the supernatural creature down but they also bring the lighthouse crumbling down. The Pied Piper dives into the ocean to safety, but the werewolf is assumed dead. The Pied Piper and Dr. Smith decide that the world never need know that Dr. Arno was the werewolf, to spare his good name before the curse overtook him.
Werewolf II: 1943, Cat-man Comics #20 (Holyoke). In Pineville, Rag-man and Tiny investigate the disappearance of a couple of missing girls which seem to be linked to some sightings of a werewolf and a hermit on the edge of town. They soon find that the werewolf story is true, that in his human guise as Cowan he was bribing the hermit to supply him with prey. He's killed when thrown on pitchforks in a supply store. This werewolf has human like body but the head of a wolf. Otherwise, not too superhuman.
Werewolf III: 1945, Star Studded #1 (Cambridge House). This particular one was wreaking the countryside of a village possibly somewhere in the state of New York. One night he sees a man walking through a graveyard with a woman and realizes the woman is a ghost. He grapples with Ghost Woman, while the man flees. Ghost Woman realizes that silver can kill a werewolf and tries to give the man, John, clues by exerting her will and moving a blunderbuss and silver fork. The werewolf leads an attack with other werewolves. When he's shot and killed the others flee and John vows to make hunting them down his life mission.
Werewolf Master: This fanged man lured children with candy (drugs?) into his power and turned them into wolves, and the more prey they brought him, the closer they became to being true werewolves like himself. Lady Satan tracked him down and dealt with him and cured the children.
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.
Whistler: 1940, Prize Comics #7? (Centaur). Robed foe of the Black Owl (I) and at least faced him twice. The first time he fell into a deep well, horribly disfiguring his face. The second, in a bid to obtain King Arthur's sword, he and the sword are seen disappearing beneath the ocean's waves.
White Dragon Flower: 1940, Silver Streak Comics #7 (Lev Gleason). An exotic Eurasian agent, White Dragon Flower is working with airline owner "Fat Sam" Jackel to replace several pilots of a General Staff flight with those of her spies in order to kidnap the officials. She doesn't do much in this story, but she remains free though her plans are ruined and Jackel is captured by Cloud Curtis.
White Face: Mystery Men #1 (Fox). Common thug disguised by a white handkerchief type mask over the lower half of his face. He is out to get the riches of a bank vault and kidnaps the bank president and daughter to get the combination. He's caught by the Blue Beetle and revealed to be John Brandes, the banker's secretary. Has the honor of being the villain of the Blue Beetle's first published case though not the origin story.
White Goddess: 1940, Amazing-Man Comics #18 (Centaur). After her parents deaths, this white woman was raised by an African tribe. She was tricked into leading the tribe in an attack against the Iron Skull who was in Africa on the trail of a criminal. Defeated by the Iron Skull and convinced of his good intentions, the White Goddess helped him bringing the criminals to justice.
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.
White Mask: 1945, Punch Comics #14 (Chesler)?. White Mask robbed a bank in Texas but the Law thinks that rancher Jim Collins did it, forcing him to flee and become the Gay Desperado (don't know what he has to be gay about as he's a pretty serious fellow). Collins tracks him to Mexico in order to clear his name. White Mask wears green cowboy garb, a Spanish styled hat and red scarf and a white mask covering the top half of his face as well as a distinctive handle-bar mustache. He is apparently killed in the resulting explosion and cave-in of the mine when his henchman tries to blow up the Gay Desperado, making it all the more difficult for Collins to clear his name. Considering the presence of things like automobiles, the stories are set in the modern day West though everyone dresses and acts like it's the Old West.
White Terror: See "White Killer".
Whitey: 1942, V... Comics #1 (Fox). While this is his first published appearance, Black Fury and Chuck have encountered him before. He would appear to be your average gangster and drug dealer but he has a knack for disguise, preferring that of an old man with beard and glasses and he somehow survives shooting himself in the head and falling into the waters and coming back.
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.
Witch: 1941, Amazing Man Comics #19 (Centaur). The Witch uses a "hex potion" that she must take periodically that gives her apparent magical powers: able to change her face into that of a number of beautiful young women as well as a hag, pass through walls, turn invisible (although they may all just be variations of illusion abilities). Mighty Man opposed her. But, she is unaware that Mighty Man can also alter his appearance in addition to his strength and size-changing and thus does not realize how he is seemingly able to bring down her criminal organization from the inside. She apparently dies by drowning when a dam bursts and water engulfs her home and gold mine where she was hiding out (Stars and Stripes #3). Some sources list her real name as Hester Corning but her real name is unrevealed in the GA stories.
Witch of the Volcano: 1939, Fantastic Comics #12 (Fox). Kataka is the Witch of the Volcano, a hideous old hag living in a volcano and able to brew destructive potions. The Golden Knight and Alice are sent to her by the evil wily King Raton who is Kataka's son and likewise apparently lives underground. When the witch shows herself to be as evil as her son, the Golden Knight throws her into the lava. Presumably, he takes the potion to his friend and the king's enemy, the Queen of Blackamoor.
The Wizard: 1942, Boy Comics #13 (Lev Gleason). Dr. Izan; foe of Daredevil & the Little Wise Guys. Created by Charles Biro
Wolf Carson: 1941 Daredevil Comics #6 (Lev Gleason). A wolf with a human brain, he was a foe of Daredevil. Created by Charles Biro
Wrench: 1942, Crime Does Not Pay Comics #22 (Lev Gleason). Tall, muscular Nazi agent who in the last war hugged an incendiary bomb saving a munitions area but leaving his face and arms scarred. He now wears sleeves of nails on his arms which he uses to kill men in deadly bear hugs. However, when he is confronted by the legendary War Eagle, he chooses the better part of valor but doesn¹t get too far.
Wu Fang (II?): Amazing Mystery Funnies v2 #10 (Centaur). Although of Japanese descent, Fang is largely a Chinese warlord operating in China and involved in all sorts of criminal trades. After the start of WWII, when he was able to openly accept Japanese support, he acknowledged his Japanese heritage. He was frequently at odds with mercenary pilot Steve King.
X2: 1944, Super-Mystery Comics vol. 4 #1 (Ace). Japanese spy/scientist who kept lepers in a lab in caves beneath the subway system of NYC. He used the lepers' blood to infect blood and plasma shipped to soldiers in the Pacific. His actions drew the attention of Dr. Nemesis and was killed when he touched the third rail in the subway.
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.
X-Atlantis: 1941, Miracle Comics #4 (Hillman). X-Atlantis is an ancient sorcerer, master intellect, and tyrant of ancient Atlantis. At some point he died or was near death, but his intellect lived own via macines that slowly sustained his body even after it mummified and his mental powers allowed him to rule all of the undersea Atlantis. When surfacer Bullet Bob Dunn inteferes and trespasses in the Hall of Aeons where his body and machines are kept, the machines revive X-Atlantis and he vows to use his powers to enslave the world. However, he is presumably killed when Bullet Bob escapes and uses his ship's ray guns to destroy the Hall of Aeons. X-Atlantis is a bald old man in robes, befitting an ex-Mummy. All of the Atlanteans have some mental ability as they communicate telepathically, but X-Atlantis' is either far greater or amplified by his machines. He boasts also that he has occult powers though he doesn't display any ability not explained by the science fiction of the strip. As this version of Atlantis has a breathable mist like atmosphere, it is safe to assume these Atlanteans do not breathe underwater.
Yellow Hoard: 1941, Cat-man Comics #4 (Holyoke). A group of saboteurs wearing yellow full body hazardous materials type protective suits and hoods, they attack various plants with rifles that fire spheres of fire that also emit a deadly sleeping gas even if the fireballs miss the victim. At the Manison Steel Plant, FBI agent Craig Williams is posing as a worker when the Hoard attacks and as the Hood he unmasks one as a Chinese and gets him to talk. The man says they were smuggled in and forced to work, their leader and hangout is in a Tong Mission in Chinatown. The Hood breaks up the gang and fights their robed and hooded leader and unmasks him as a Nazi agent (possibly the owner of the Manison Steel Corps, the story is light on details).
The Yellow Hood: 1945, Major Victory (H. Clay Glover Company). Yellow hood, gray robe, this portly villain went about killing great American leaders, coverting their heads to shrunken skulls which he delivered on to whatever appointments they had with a note: Don't wait for me any longer, here I am. The nation weakening, the great spirit Father Patriot sends his champion Major Victory to get to the bottom of it. He does, revealing the Yellow Hood as Professor Curran, a man trusted to draw up invasion plans of Japan and who had faked his own beheading in front of the hero earlier. Rather than standing trial for treason, the Hood jumped off a cliff, smashing his body on the rocks below. All things considered, could've been worse. He could have been called the Yellow Spot.
Yellow Spot:1941, Dynamic Comics #1 (Chesler). Dr. Moore created an artificial man to combat the evil witchcraft of The Yellow Spot (yes, "The Yellow Spot"). The Spot, who could travel as a bat, was killing off or entrancing the minds of American scientists. He went to the home of Dr. Moore, who was creating an artificial man, and tried to stop him by stabbing him. While being stabbed, Moore somehow managed to throw the switch giving life to his Dynamic Man. Dynamic Man was able to stop the fiendish plan of the Yellow Spot and release the trapped minds of other scientists. Grabbing the bat form of the Yellow Spot, Dynamic Man proclaimed, "The Yellow Spot is rubbed from the world." The Yellow Spot wore a blue robe with a skull on the front. He was bald with just a curl of dark hair on the top of his head and was reputed as being the last of the witches of old.
Z-3: 1941, Amazing Man Comics #24 (Centaur). Agent of a foreign dictatorship (read Nazis) stationed in the US. He is sent by the leader to steal the supposed death-ray created by Bruce King (in actuality it's his Black Zero transmitter, a dark light of intense cold). When his three men fail and are killed, Z-3 assassinates them.
Zahinda the Legless: 1947, Jungle Comics #87 (Fiction). According to Durrant: Zahinda the Legless was a big brutal man who had no legs and so rode on the back of a zebra. He tried to kill Ka'a'nga in order to usurp the rule of the jungle for himself, but only succeeded in blinding him. Then he raided the very trading post where Ka'a'nga was being treated for his injuries and abducted Ann, his mate. Despite his injuries, Ka'a'nga rose from his sickbed and tracked Ann and Zahinda down, then rescued Ann from the mine where Zahinda kept slaves working day and night to mine valuable ore. Zahinda died when his zebra was gored by the ox that had been pulling the carriage that had brought Ka'a'nga to the mine. Once Zahinda was on the ground, the ox gored him too.
Doctor Zandricks: 1943, Shadow Comics v2n11 (Street & Smith). Zandricks and his animal men were defeated by the Hooded Wasp.
Zarita: 1941, Fight Comics #12 (Fiction). On a jungle coastline, Zarita heads up the Black Sword Cult operating out of an estate built during Spanish dominion. They brand their victims with a black sword and then are killed by her pet, a deadly swordfish. When jungle fighter Oran defeats her men and kills her pet, she chooses suicide over capture.
Dr. Ignatio Zaroff: 1939, Amazing Mystery Funnies #8 (Centaur). A spymaster at the beginning of WWII and father of Dacia Zaroff. He ran a small efficient espionage ring that ran afoul of Barry Finn.
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
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.
Zog, Prince of Mars: 1940, Amazing Man Comics #15 (Centaur). Zog and his men are teleported to earth by some strange race of men on a mysterious island. Zog promptly kills the scientist responsible with a strange beam and starts to bring more of his race to Earth. Only, the Shark (who, with his pop, had been captured earlier by the island's strange inhabitants) managed to outfight him and wreck the teleportation machine. Their vulnerability to water was discovered when he threw water on them to revive them.
Zombie Master: 1945, Catman #29 (Holyoke). The Zombie Master looks more like a gypsy fortune teller, wearing a turban, dark suit, monocle and sporting a pointed beard and curled mustache. However, he's in the service of Khara-El whose spirit demanded a human sacrifice. He came to the States and performed a dance of Damballa, knowing his intended victim would be drawn to him. He was soon rewarded by nightclub singer Ellen Cole presenting herself. However, when his powerful dark servent Kuala kidnapped her, the Deacon and Mickey intervened. Kuala easily manhandled them but was shot by a cop and died before the Zombie Master. He rose Kuala as a zombie just in time to fight the Deacon and Mickey once more who had followed the blood trail. Again, the Deacon is no match for Kuala's inhuman strength but when Mickey punches the Zombie Master, the man dies and his zombie with him. Was the Zombie Master truly that frail or just an unlucky punch or was he killed by his god for failing in the sacrifice?
Zombies: 1940, Speed Comics #11 (Harvey). Their origins are unknown, but when Comrade Ratski meets up with Baron Von Kampf, the so-called zombies are under the command of Von Kampf. They are not the mindless undead, but something else entirely. These zombies look a bit like the Heap in that they are large, furry or grassy as they are green, but have large ears and one eye. And, they speak, though their sentences are backwards. They seem to have normal intelligence as they can use guns, gas masks, parachutes, and radios and able to make their own decisions. When one group is unable to outfight Shock Gibson, they surrender to him. After the destruction of the Florida headquarters, what Shock Gibson chooses to do with them is unrevealed.
Dr. Zorn: 1940, Thrilling Comics #5 (Better). The Three Comrades (Lucky, Cal, and Books) are on vacation in Puerto Rico visiting Tom Carroll, an old friend of Cal's and Tom's sister Caroline (Caroline Carroll?). However, there's a mysterious man on the island, the bespectacled and bewhiskered Dr. Zorn. Turns out Tom owes him a lot of money and he plans on taking over the coffee plantation where he also has his secret lab with a voice activated robot. Then from there, he's set to take over the world. However the three young men manage to destroy the robot and Dr. Zorn is electrocuted when he tries to self destruct his lab.
Zuko, the Bird King: 1941, Jungle Comics v2 #22 (Fiction). In the tall trees of the swamp is the lair and domain of the native Zuko. Under Zuko's command are large vulture-like birds and he makes use of wings attached to his arms to glide through the air. He teams up with Sawabi, the witch doctor of the Tree Kingdom in an effort to get to a stash of diamonds. He's stopped by Ka'anga.
Zwei, August: Scoop Comics (Chessler).A criminal on death row, Zwei has the strength and stamina of two men. He escapes and re-unites with his gang in order to go after space hero Dan Hastings whom he wants to not just kill but to torture to death. Even a bullet to the back (from his old girl-friend) doesn't put him out of commission. Hastings finally defeats him by gassing him.
Zzed: Airboy (Hillman). An old madman who seems to always be on hand during disasters. He seeks to destroy the world for that is when he believes he will die. He's frequently stopped by Airboy. In addition to his seeming immortality, he is shown to have hypnotic abilities.