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, Famous Funnies #67 (Dell). The Panther is a female leader of a bandit gang that is infiltrated by the hero Lone Rider. Her base has hidden entrances (a door hidden in a mountain, another by way of waterfall) and equipped with modern devices. She is capable enough with the whip that she can knock a thrown knife out of the air. This adventure suggests that the Lone Rider and Lightnin' were actually set in the modern day West. NOTE: The publication info is from her comic appearance. As part of the Lightnin' and Lone Rider strip, it may have appeared in newspapers earlier.
The Panther III: 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 IV: 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.
Pantha Klaw: 1947, Sparkling Stars #28 (Holyoke). Mortal enemy and recurring foe of Inspector Click Hunt, Miss Klaw is mob leader and willing to kill anyone that gets in her way, even her own men if they get too uppity. She could go for Click if he'd only forsake the Law and wants to kill his girl Arizona Lee in order to free her way to his heart or break his will. She uses a circus to cover her crimes and launder the money. Pantha also acts in the circus as a knife thrower. She's raven tressed in her first appearance and red-headed in the second.
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.
Pari: 1941, Big Shot Comics #13. Beautiful blonde Pari is called a girl bandit and is leader of a native people of Pasir Panjang who worship the totem pole god known as Deli-deli. Their jungle is somewhere in "mountain country" near Singapore, but the natives appear to be cross between African and South Seas. They are armed with lassos, spears, and a catapult that shoots a giant spear. They burn at the stake any intruders and have captured inventor Chester Powell who is fated for a similar end. Enter Captain Devildog who makes it appear that their god speaks and by doing so, makes friends of Pari and brings Powell back to civilization.
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.
Dr. Passendorf: 1940, Science Comics #5 (Fox). Augustus Elba, the crooked Napoleon of Wallstreet fears arrest and hires the scientist Dr. Passendorf to help him. Passendorf uses an auto-suggestion ray to force a young man to steal some stocks and then commit suicide, thus diverting suspicion of the crimes to him. However, the Eagle, a friend of the young man's uncle, investigates. He manages to stop the crooks and destroy Passendorf's machines, including a paralyzing ray. Passendorf is presumed killed by shrapnel from the grenades that the Eagle used.
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 Driver: 1943, Heroic Comics #18 (Eastern Color Pringing). Hyrdroman investigates a series of crashes that involve an invisible man knocking out the drivers and causing crashes that cause extensive damage and mayhem. Before the case is over, he finds himself made invisible in order to hamper his effectiveness. The Phantom Driver was at one time an official of the public utilities company and decides to wreck transportation lines because of past wrongs done him. His invisibility comes from a solution using some unknown power from the company's own dynamos. NOTE: At this point in time, the Hydroman stories often ended with a panel or two leading into the next adventure. As these were often a tease, and not actually showing the criminal on the page (though it would sometimes give his name), I'm listing the comic that actually has the story as the first appearance.
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.
Phantom Killer: 1936, Detective Picture Stories #1 (Centaur). Ex-con “Killer” Krautz is the “Phantom Killer”. He's tracked by Detective Eddie Brannigan with dogged determination. Krautz is clever, ruthless, and a tough fighter. A footballer while in the stir, he's capable of delivering a powerful high kick to the chin. He slips and falls to his doom when trying to leap from one building to another. NOTE: Despite the title of the strip being “The Phantom Killer”, there's nothing phantom-like about the villain and he's referred to simply as “Killer” Krautz throughout.
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.
Dr. Plantz: 1943, Exciting Comics #30 (Better). Dr. Plantz is a Nazi spy and ringleader. He is notable for two things. 1) He has an invention that subjects those within range with an overpowering desire to destroy and which he uses on workers at defense plant factories. 2) His right-hand man is Hun, a super-strong brute. Dr. Plantz is killed when explosives meant for sabotage are thrown at his getaway car by the Black Terror.
Pluto: 1940, Wham Comics 2. (Centaur). Roman god of the afterlife and master of blackmagic, Craig Carter uses his ring to call him forth to battle the magic of the Rajah. Once he wins, he decides to see what mischief he can get into while freed on Earth. Story ends before finding out how Craig stopped him.
The Porcupine: February 1943, Clue Comics #2 (Hillman). Twilight stumbles onto a plot of a museum guards trying to steal a stuffed porcupine out of a museum that's been closed due to a theft of gems. However, he's not the only one interested as it is sold to a taxidermist and a man dressed in a quill suit kills one of the movers, but not before the other one is able to get the stuffed beast out. The Porcupine intercepts the crooked guards on the way to the taxidermist and kills them as well. He gets the stuffed porcupine only to discover it empty. He's captured by Twilight and Snoopy. Turns out the taxidermist had already found the jewels and turned them over to the mayor. With the quill suit, the Porcupine could throw his quills as well as kill by giving a bear hug to his opponents. He is unmasked by a news dealer of a nearby news stand. He was in cahoots with the guards, but killed them in order to not share the loot. Interesting in that you have both hero and villain in brown hirsute suits, though the Porcupine was a bit burlier, the brown a bit richer, and the suit a lot more hairier with its quills.
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.
Doctor Praecox: 1943, America's Best Comics v2n2 (Standard). Dr.Praecox is a bit of a mad scientist who comes up with rays that transforms items into rubber. He's waiting for some Americans to arrive to look over the device only some Germans come first. Praecox fights them but the machine is turned on and he is bathed in the rays making his body like rubber so that it bounces and bullets bounce off. The German agents convince him to team up with them and conquer the world. Praecox turns civilians into rubber men (which either makes them also mad or mentally compliant, either way, they also join up with the Nazis). In trying to stop them, Doc Strange confronts Praecox and forces out of him a way to reverse the process. Doing so, the men come to with no memory of what happened. Somehow, the reversal process also killed Dr. Praecox.
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.
Prime Minister of the Fishmen: 1940, Science Comics, #1 (Fox). This leader among the Fishmen aimed to rule and found himself on the outs once Navy Jones came around. He managed to build an army of like minded fishmen and took over the city in issue 2, but was again defeated. As ruler, he set himself up to wearing robes.
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.
Princess Sheba: 1941, Daredevil Comics #2 (Lev Gleason). Dr. Pierce discovers a serum that allows him to bring the mummy of Princess Sheba back to life and he teaches her English and about modern civilization. However, when he reveals that she must regularly take a serum that's kept in a gold cobra artifact, they fight for control of it until she stabs him in the back. From there, she uses her beauty to seduce men, making them her slaves with a kiss and the cutting out their tongues. She then sends them to rob and steal. This brings her into conflict with Daredevil. He outfights her men and finds her lair where he she is guarded by bald spearmen. However, she considers him a perfect specimen and tries to likewise enslave him. When he resists her charms, she gets angry and in spite throws the golden cobra at him where it breaks and spills all the serum. She ages back into a mummy before his eyes. NOTE: There's a certain irony that Daredevil who started off in Silver Streak as a mute would fight a group of mute men early in his own title (though he was already speaking by this point).
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: August 1938, Dan Dunn, Secret Operative 48 (Publisher's Syndicate). The Professor is a criminal mastermind with a flair for the dramatic as he wore a red cape with his dark suit and used a whip. He was also either forward thinking or lazy or a combination of the two. He liked electronic gadgets and the modern age which allowed him to do things remotely as opposed to physically doing them himself. He had a plush chair rigged up as an electric chair that he could activate with a remote control. The gates to his estate were also operated by remote control within the house. Presumably brought to justice by Dan Dunn
The Professor II: 1940, Silver Streak #2 (Lev Gleason). "A super criminal" who steals some chemicals and is opposed by the Wasp.
The Professor III: 1940, Mystery Men Comics #10 (Fox). The Professor is the ruthless mastermind of a blackmail ring. He tricked four big businessmen into a phony crooked trust and then blackmailed them. When they could no longer afford to pay, they committed suicide instead of facing the disgrace. He's apparently shot and killed by the Green Mask.
The Professor IV: 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 V: 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, a man simply identified as
Professor. In addition to heading a gang of crooks, the Professor is an extremely talented hypnotist, able to hypnotise a normal man into becoming a criminal. 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 VI: 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 smart and clever criminal. Hugo is his dimwitted but large, hulking assistant. They are hired by the leader of the Hell's Gang to steal evidence in order to overturn their trial. Unfortunately for the duo, the Black Cobra intervenes. Because he's on a timetable to bring the evidence to court, the Black Cobra is actually unable to bring them to justice though he does prove to be able to outfight Hugo. The Professor walks with a cane and often a little stooped. However, Hugo is strong enough to lift a man under each arm or a mass of rock weighing hundreds of pounds over his head and throwing it.
Professor Aries: 1942, Four Favorites #4 (Ace Periodicals). Professor Aries worked as a street magician/fortune teller specializing in tricks with invisible ink. He perfects the formula and by bathing in a tub of ink, he is able to make himself invisible (don't know why the tub doesn't turn invisible). He uses his power to rob banks until soldiers come to make him report for the Draft. Evading them, he draws the attention of the Unknown Soldier who figures out that water can simply wash the ink off. However, the news of his capture and discovery gets out, he is freed by Nazi agents for his secret so they can build an invisible army of planes, troops, and tanks. He likes that idea, kills the head man and uses their resources to build an army to conquer America. While grappling with the Unknown Soldier, he's accidentally run over by one of his own tanks who only saw the hero and was trying to kill him.
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 Morgan Le Faye: 1944, Power Comics #3 (Narrative). Professor Le Faye and his gang are knocking over magic shops and such, looking for a special two-headed coin. The coin is really a medallion that belonged to the Merlin of Camelot and supposedly the source of his power. However, one of the people they steal from is the Boy Magician known as Merlin. Realizing that the crooks are looking for a coin, Merlin and pal Pancho decide to consult Professor Le Faye as he's an expert on coins. When they call on him, the recognize him as one of the crooks. When Le Faye finally gets the coin, it grants him magic powers, but it's short-lived as the coin has no effect on the Boy Magician. He theorizes that the boy must be descended from the original wizard, but he's captured and taken to jail.
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 Octopus: 1941, Four Favorites #1 (Ace Periodicals). When Davy came to the rescue of a reporter from some thugs on the docks, it set him off on an adventure to meet up with one of the strangest villains of his and Magno's careers: Professor Octopus. Octopus is a four-armed Asian warlord in charge of his own submarine and armed men. His gang is made up of both Caucasians and Asians. Despite his bizarre appearance, he has no apparent super-powers and it's unclear what, if any, government he is working for.
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.
The Prophet: 1946, Startling Comics #38 (Standard): The turban wearing Far-Eastern man called the Prophet foretells future crimes to the police. However, it's all a ruse and disguise by escaped criminal and wanted by the FBI "the Rod". He's stopped by the true future telling detective, the Oracle.
Prophetic Painter: 1944, Blue Beetle #35 (Fox). The Prophetic painter did drawings and quick paintings that would come true. He did a set that revealed the deaths of Bill, Jack, and Sally Dane, three siblings: one being run down by a truck, another in a car accident going over a bridge and the last of a suicide by hanging. Rescued from their individual fates by the Blue Beetle, he reveals the killer to be no less than their guardian Dr. Allen in disguise.
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.
Purple Plague: 1942, Four Favorites #5? (Ace). As of right now, information on the previous issues are unknown, so questionable whether this is first appearance. The Purple Plague is a Japanese agent who tries to bring America to its knees by instigating a plague by the same name. The plague is carried by animals (specifically rats and dogs in the story) who are immune although they and the victims turn purple. In addition to his knowledge of diseases of poisons, he has the ability to fly and carries vials of knock-out gas. He may also possess some level of super-strength. Despite being a dangerous opponent, he cuts a ridiculous look. He wears a purple robe along the lines of a bathrobe but no pants, yellow slippers and yellow cape. He also wears a fedora and large round glasses. He has the stereotyped buck-teeth AND slightly pronounced canine teeth. He is opposed by Magno and Davy and apparently is killed by his own diseased rats.
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.