Mystery Men & Women:

The G's

  G-1: 1940, Speed Comics #10 (Brookwood Publishing Company/Harvey). An attractive brunette, she's a resourceful American secret agent. She helps Lt. Jim Cannon on a case.
 

G-Man Gene:1940, Funny Pages #34/v4 #1 (Centaur). Ace G-Man Gene (no last name given) investigates a strange case of a dead operative and a haunted mountain which pits him against the Asian crime-lord Wu Chang aka Mad Ming. Gene has enough authority to operate fairly independently of reporting to superior officers, has access to and flies an autogyro and has as a girlfriend the capable Jinny who describes herself jokingly as a "safe expert, burglar and all around confidence woman."

Mad Ming does escape to bedevil the world in further stories. It appears G-Man Gene becomes Detective Gene Gerold and gains a kid side-kick by the name of Joey.

  G-Man Jim: 1937, The Comics (Dell)?. Jim is an ace Federal investigator.
  Gil Galen: 1939, Funny Picture Stories v2n3? (Centaur). Gil Galen is a G-man on a counterfeit case.
Gargoyle The Gargoyle: 1942, Captain Aero #4 (Holyoke). When reporter Dan Collins is framed for killing a cop, he hides out in a cathedral planning his next move. He finds a trunk with a costume (top hat, suit, cape, all green; and a white wig). In this bizarre costume and with the church as inspiration, he names himself the Gargoyle and goes after the men who framed him. He carries two guns in case his fists are not enough and is willing to kill in self-defense. He clears his name and writes it up for his paper, the Daily Star. More adventures are advertised.
Gordon "Iron" Gates: 1941, Captain Aero #1 (Holyoke). Gordon "Iron" Gates is a dashing "society sleuth"..."an ardent and wealthy student of scientific crime detection". While he may be a student of scientific crime detection, he is still a tough fighter and carries an automatic in his pocket even when going to a society party. Guess that's why his friends even call him "Iron". His girlfriend is the blonde debutante Trixie Parker.
  The Gaucho: 1942, C-M-O Comics #1 (Centaur). The Gaucho is a rich Argentinean rancher traveling in Montana to learn American techniques. Naturally this means he fights the bad owlhoots in the West. He uses a whip. He is sidekicked by his buddy Sanchez. They end up befriending Lois Young, the owner of the Bar CMO Rancho (notice the name). Gaucho and Sanchez both talk in a stereotyped manner, but otherwise when other companies were having Americans pretending to be Hispanic... I also wonder, how do you write someone of another nationality talking in English and get across they have an accent and it's not their primary language without being accused of writing them in a stereotypical manner? The first issue of this comic doubled as a catalogue, listing clothes and accessories worn by the various characters
  Gay Desperado: April, 1945, Punch Comics #13 (Chesler) Despite the name, this is a modern day version, he's Jim Collins, framed for a crime, and puts on a fairly loud suit and mask to fight crime as the Gay Desperado. Side-kicked by a boy named Patsy.  In October of the same year in Red Seal Comics, the strip looks more like a modern day Western and has him riding the Badlands looking for those that framed him. NOTE: Once he makes the transfer to being a cowboy hero, his original look and story are re-colored and lettered to make him into the Masked Blackjack at St. John. Meanwhile, the cowboy version is "reprinted" as the Bold Buckaroo and the Lone Vigilante.
  Toni Gayle: 1945, Red Circle Comics #4 (Enwil) AND/OR 1948, Guns Against Gangsters (Novelty). Toni is a globetrotting brunette model. But, being a comics heroine, it means she also gets into all sorts of adventures and mysteries along with her possible boyfriend Biff. NOTE: I'm only familiar with the one that appeared by Novelty. I'm not sure if the one from Enwil publishers is the same character or not.
  Ghanga/Gunga: 1945, Buster Brown Comics #11 (Brown Shoe Co.). A young Indian lad and elephant rider. His elephant is named Teela. He started off named Ghanga, but later issues featured an almost identical character named Gunga.
Ghost: 1940, The Ghost Super-Detective (pulp), Thrilling Comics #3 (Better). The Ghost is one of the few characters who started off in pulps and then had elements picked up for comics. In the pulps George Chance is a stage magician who uses various tricks, both sleight of hand and ability at disguise to fight crime as "the Ghost" (later "the Green Ghost"). George was raised in a circus and was taught his various skills there. He's assisted by girlfriend Merry White; freeloader and con man Joe Harper, angry midget Tiny Tim Terry, and Glenn Saunders. In his comic appearances, Chance knows real magic, learning it when he was raised in India as the foster son of an immortal yogi teacher. He was helped by a woman named Betty and his most implacable foe was time traveler Professor Fenton. Strangely, the pulp George Chance, the Ghost, is at the least the third man to go by the moniker of the Green Ghost: from FIVE NOVELS MONTHLY, December 1931. Michael Armstrong, professionally billed as "Signor Rubino, the World's Greatest Ventriloquist" is a young man with a mysterious past. His father was an American and his mother a Russian Countess and they were caught up with the revolution; his father killed and his mother captured. The guards promised her freedom if she showed them where she had hid a necklace of great value, but of course they lied and they divided up the stones of the necklace between them. So, Michael puts on a green silk mask adopts the identity of the Green Ghost to steal back his inheritance but is dogged by an old family friend, Patrick Hennesy who is also a police detective. The love of Michael's life is Jessica Grey and by story's end, the bad guys are punished, the necklace back where it belongs, the couple engaged and the Green Ghost retired. I don't know if Mr. Armstrong ever ventured out of retirement. Green Ghost number two is by Johnston McCulley in THRILLING DETECTIVE circa 1934 published by Standard Magazines, Inc. Danny Blaney was an honest cop until he was framed by crooks and lost his badge. While he was never tried, he was seen guilty by his comrades. So, he became the Green Ghost to capture and steal from the crooks the police were unable capture, showing up both the cops and the crooks. He pretended to inherit some money and ran a corner cigar store as cover. His costume was a green hood and gloves. Notice this is the same publisher as the one of George Chance's adventures.
The Ghost (II): 1941, Daredevil Comics #5 (Lev Gleason). Brad Hendricks had it a bit tougher than most heroes. Instead of starting as a star in his own strip, he starts out as an adversary against both Hitler and the monstrous Claw. He had no superpowers but he had the Ghost Plane to help even the fight.
  The Ghost (III): 1942, War Stories #6 (Dell). First known as “The Phoenix”, a speedy rum runner, it has been converted by the Navy into a “Q-Boat” for use in the Coral Sea as an undercover ship. By using a flourescent paint, the ship is made practically invisible and renamed “The Ghost”. She is commanded by the portly but clever, tough ex-trader Captain Joel Barnaby. Ensign Bill Ware represents the Navy onboard and heads a crack Navy gun crew. Professor Elmer Tobias who came up with the special paint from studying a special tribe of cannibals rounds out the core group.
  Ghost Guerillas: 1943, Captain Battle, Jr. #1 (Lev Gleason). In the sewers beneath France are the Freedom Fighters known as the Ghost Guerillas. They are lead by a woman captain or "mon capitan" as Pierre calls her. The text refers to her as Madelon. She and her freedom fighters aide Captain Battle, Jr in his quest.
  Ghost of Ivanhoe: 1941, Double Comics (Gilbert). From the cover where he probably only appeared: "Heeding England's peril, the ghost of Ivanhoe thunders in from the pages of history, crushing the foe with his mighty thrusts." He appeared as a full armored knight on horseback.
  The Ghost Rider: 1941, Miracle Comics #3 (Hillman). In the Old West, Ranger Bill Colt whose knack for stirring up trouble as well as his lightning draw and two-fisted ability is called the Ghost Rider. He doesn't wear a costume though.
Ghost Woman: 1945, Star Studded #1 (Cambridge House). Midnight on a slippery road, an unnamed woman is speeding through the countryside to contact a man named John who's about to leave overseas and thinks his wife and baby are dead. Only the child isn't. However, along a curve the car crashes and it's occupant is killed and becomes a ghost though she doesn't realize it. She is able to will herself to John's house but she can't be seen or heard by him. Despondent, John goes for a walk despite the fact a mad dog is roaming the countryside. He's spotted by a man who sees him and Ghost Woman. Turns out he can see ghosts because he's a werewolf. He grapples with Ghost Woman, while John flees. Ghost Woman finds she can touch supernatural things with no problem. She also realizes that silver can kill a werewolf and tries to give 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. Presumably, Ghost Woman accompanies him to help.
  G.I. Jane: 1952, Rangers Comics #67 (Fiction). Jane Walters enlists as a WAC, goes through basic training and finds herself working at an atomic research laboratory and has herself a couple of adventures.
  Greg Gilday: 1940, War Comics #2 (Dell). Aliens (assumed to be Martians) invade the earth with flying craft that seems impervious to earth weapons. The only man believed to be smart enough to stop them is old Dr. Gilday, and he's dying. Ignoring his nurse Joan's orders, he continues to work on his “atomic supervitalizer”, to be able to pass it on. He suffers a massive heart attack and as he falls, he accidentally throws the switch, turning it on and is bathed in its weird radiations. Joan finds him, turns the machine off. Gilday wakes up, not merely rejuvenated as a young man, but is super-strong, able to leap great distances, etc. To make sure it's not just an accident, Joan volunteers to go through it as well. The visual effects aren't as dramatic, it shaves maybe just ten years off, making her thinner and giving the same powers. Finding DC destroyed, Greg tries to rally and gather forces that he can make super powerful as well. However, when he returns to his lab, he finds fear-crazed looters have destroyed it and his inventions. Still, he slowly gathers and leads an ever increasing army to safety in the caves of Virginia from where he hopes to be able to strike back. In the third installment, the Martain War and destruction seems forgotten as Greg and Joan go down to South America to put an end to war fermenting. Also, they have to recharge their powers before doing so.
  Girl Commandos: 1942, Speed Comics #23 (Harvey). In India, Captain Pat Parker, aka War Nurse and her lieutenant Ellen Billings meet up with a couple of other women who decide they want to do more for the War so they band together to become "free lance fighters for freedom". In addition to Pat and Ellen there's Tanya (Russian photographer), Penelope "Penny" Kirk from England, and Mei Ling. Pilots Don Fraser and Dick Lane are often embroiled in their fights whenever they need a couple of pilots and/or planes.
  Gladiator: 1941, Fantastic Comics #23 (Fox). Dressed as a Roman Gladiator, art aficionado Dan Kenneth fought crime with the weapons of the past such as spiked gloves and a club. No real origin to speak of. He only made two published adventures.
  Golden Archer: 1944, Catman #26 (Holyoke). Kitchen boy Ned becomes one of Robin Hood's men under the masked identity of the Golden Archer.
golden eagle
Golden Eagle: 1944, Contact Comics #1-11 (Aviation Press, Inc). A pilot hero similar in appearance to Blackhawk, only his uniform and plane are gold in color. He's Dennis Quinn, and may have been formerly a pilot hero in WWI.
Golden Girl: 1946, Golden Lad #5 (Spark). Peggy Shane finds part of Golden Lad's Heart of Gold, the source of his powers. Thus, when she utters the magic words "Heart of Gold," she gains identical powers of flight and incredible strength.
  Golden Knight: 1939, Fantastic Comics #1 (Fox). Sir Richard Warwick is already a famed knight when he receives a vision of a beautiful woman directing him to go fight in the Crusades. So, he dons his golden chain mail and heads off to war, fighting evil along the way. In his adventures, he gains a magical cloak, ring and horn which gives him various magical abilities though he doesn't make extensive use of them. The strip takes a more surreal turn in issue #16, the brother kings of the moon and sun come to marry his sisters (promised by his father years earlier). Lord Lucifer comes for his youngest sister but takes his girlfriend Alice instead. Given aid by the third brother, King of the Wind, he goes to Hades to retrieve Alice. Payment for the help? Promise of his younger sister as bride. Following that he adventures on the sun and moon as well as Earth.
Golden Lad: 1945, Golden Lad #1 (Spark). Working in his grandfather's antique store, the lad Tommy Preston finds the "Heart of Gold," a Mixtec/Aztec artifact which through "the blood of a thousand martyred Aztecs" gives "strength and courage" to those pure of heart and devoted to justice. Qualifying, when Tommy only has to say "Heart of Gold" and he gains generic superstrength and flight to fight evil.
Bruce Gordon: 1935, The Lost City (Sherman S. Krellberg)/ Comic: 1942, Great Comics #3 (Great Publications). Scientist Bruce Gordon travels to Africa to research some natural disasters in the area. He finds they are man made by Zolok, the last of the Lemurians in a lost city. Zolok desires to take over the world. He holds brilliant scientist Dr. Manyus and his beautiful daughter Natcha hostage and forces the scientist to create giants from the natives, including the "six-armed crusher". Gordon must also deal with two traitorous men who want to use Manyus' inventions for their own use, a nd a slave trading Queen Rama. Tom Dolan is his assistant. Dr. Colton and Professor Reynolds are the traitors. NOTE: Originally an independently produced serial, it was partially adapted into the comics, part 1 in Great Comics #3 and part 2 in Choice Comics #3. Don't know if there was ever a part 3. Not sure the accuracy of the adaption where some of the story info comes from, as a giant six-armed man would be really hard to pull off but looks pretty good in the comic. He was played by Kane Richmond who played Spy Smasher as well as Lamont Cranston in a pair of Shadow movies.
  Guy Gorham: 1941, Great Comics #1 (Great Comics Publications/Dell). Guy is "the world's greatest chemist" as well as a good scientist in other fields judging from advance equipment that he stocks in his lab like his televisor that he can use to monitor bugs that he's planed on suspicious evil scientists.. He's helped by his beautiful assistant Zarita.
  Grit Grady: 1941, Captain Aero #1 (Holyoke). Grit Grady is an adventurer and owner of the Suzy Q, a small tramp steamer in the South Pacific.
  Don Granval: 1940, Planet Comics #6 (Fiction House). Inventor Don Granvel invents the atomoscope, which allows him to study sub-atomic matter, specifically planets of atomic universes. When one planet is threatened by fierce monsters, he and a crew of atomic explorers shrink themselves and his space ship to help the tiny planet out.
  Corporal Grant: 1941, Scoop Comics #1 (Chesler). Dick Grant is an American volunteer in the British Army (Chesler). American volunteer in the British Army.
Mr. Graves: 1945, Crown Comics #1 (McCombs). Mr. Graves is a ghost hunter, facing supernatural threats, especially ghosts. He has no powers but his own knowledge and a small camera like box that is a ghost disintergrater. In his first (and only?) published adventure, he faces off against a ghost of a witch who can transform herself into a cat and who's killing off the descendents of the Salem judge that condemned her to death as a witch.
  Greasemonkey Griffin: 1940, Wings Comics #1 (Fiction): A well meaning likeable airplane mechanic who gets in all sorts of jams and adventures. His love is a pretty little blond named Peggy.
Green Ghost (IV?): 1942, Champ #20 (Harvey): not sure of his relation to the pulp heroes of the same name...none of whom were published by Harvey. To further complicate matters, Harvey would also introduce the Green Ghost as a recurring villain in their Padlock Homes parody stories in Speed Comics. Don't think the two are the same but cannot be sure without seeing the actual stories. See The Ghost entry for other Green Ghosts.
  Green Ghost V?!:1942, Punch Comics #2 (Chesler). He's described as being hooded. As Chesler supplied stories to Harvey, this Green Ghost may be the same as that one. He is not given a real name or description other than being hooded as he hunts the kidnappers of an inventor's son. He uses a bit of trickery to play up the ghost aspect to spook the villains and he uses green darts which criminals know to associate with him. Reprinted in Scoop #8.

Green Giant: 1940, Green Giant #1 (Pelican). Brentwood works in a stocks brokerage office on Hall Street with an associate known as John Preston. Brentwood is also the hero known as the Green Giant. His first name and how he got his abilities are unknown, but he is able to control his size through his belt which is called a gravity defying device (which may explain why at his great size, his body does not collapse, vault over buildings like on the cover or destroy streets, etc). He's able to grow to great heights, able to grasp a car in his hand and with all the strength and invulnerability the size would suggest. Like Mighty Man, he may also be superstrong at normal size as in one panel he appears to be normal height but eaping across the skyline with the villain across his shoulders, or it may be just his belt making him super light thus allowing such feats even when not grown. In his one published adventure he goes after a gang counterfeiting stocks headed by Killer Jackson. The cover shows him in green pants, but his legs are bare in the story.

The Green Hornet. 1936, The Green Hornet (Radio show)/1940 Green Hornet Comics #1 (Helnit). Britt Reid is a crusading newspaper publisher by day and vigilante by night. Helping him in this is his sidekick Kato, a souped up automobile called the Black Beauty and gun that shoots knock-out gast. His extra-curricular activities soon have the police on his trail and he's thought to be the biggest crook of them all, a reputation he plays up. Former policeman and bodyguard of Britt, Mike Axford becomes a crime reporter thanks to his contacts on the force and one of the most persistant pursuers of the Green Hornet, trying to bring him to justice. This status quo is not to dissimilar to the pulp's Moon Man and would be used in slightly different variations with other comic heroes such as the Blue Beetle and the Black Hood.

Besides his sidekick Japanese/Oriental/Filipino Kato, only Britt's secretary Lenore Case knew his identity. Until a 1947 show where a reporter uncovered the secret while secretly working for Dan Reid, Britt's dad. Britt revealed his identity to his father. He was angry at first but then gave his approval, referring to a pioneer ancestor of Britt's in Texas and who acted as a vigilante, while the William Tell Overture plays in the background. This change in status quo gets carried over into the comics.

In the radio series, the Green Hornet did have a recurring foe who ran for several episodes, Mr. X. Each episode had the Green Hornet crashing some racket that Mr. X was running though the villain himself remained elusive. These episodes are reminiscent of the two movie serials that had a similar structure.

NOTE: It is supposed that Kato was made Filipino because of Pearl Harbor, but he is referred to as such in the radio series even before that date. There may be some early episodes where Kato is identified as Japanese, but they are not readily available. There is also a reason that Kato does not have a code-name of his own... while the crooks and cops think the Hornet is a crook and probably has a crew, Kato is not actually seen helping the Hornet, so it is not known that the Green Hornet has a masked Asian man helping him. He does some investigating for Reid and does serve as look out and back-up, but when he does fight, it's from concealment.

Green Knight: 1941, Dynamic Comics #2 (Harry "A" Chesler). Denis Knight dressed in a green costume in order to fight crime. In his first adventure he rescues a young lad who joins him as Lance.

Green Lama: Pulp: 1940, Double Detective (created by Kendall Foster Crossen writing under the name Richard Foster); Comics: Dec. 1940, Prize Comics #7 (Hillman). After graduating Harvard, Jethro Dumont went abroad and studied in Tibet. In the pulps and early comic appearances, he had ventriloquism, various mesmeric abilities, disguise skills, able to generate electrical shocks due to radioactive salts he digested, and above average but not super strength as well as some scientific knowledge in addition to his philosophies. His adventures in the pulps, he was aided by a few assistants that were unaware of his true identity. He seemed to go through some pains to keep his identity a secret. While Jethro Dumont was known to be a lama, he did most of his investigating as a Dr. Charles Pali and was usually disguised as him when operating as the Green Lama, so if anyone did suspect the Lama's identity, it would be as Pali and not Dumont. In fact, his first two aides Gary Brown and Evangl thought just that, despite being well acquainted with Jethro Dumont, who served as best man at their wedding after which they shortly retired in September of 1940. However, his true identity was uncovered by a mystery woman who also was a student of Buddhism, who would slip him clues and information, giving as her name Magga. Possibly, his servant Tsarong knew his secrets as well. Magga seems to have been a woman by the name of Pat Dell, though I don't know if Dumont figured that out. During these days, his sole super power was a shocking touch that could knock out opponents with minimum harm to them, come about by his digesting radioactive salts (can only guess at what that did to his life expectancy). Otherwise, he tried not to kill and carried no gun in battle though he didn't forbid his agents from doing so. He was decent in a fight but not superbly so, relying more on strategy and stealth to win the day.

His adventures were also chronicled in PRIZE COMICS #7, Dec. 1940 - 34, 1943, though one didn't see most of his aides. It had been a few months, so one can assume that Gary and Evangl retired from adventuring to lead a respectable life as farmers. Along the way in the course of his pulp chronicles, he had attracted the friendships and aid of Ken Clayton and adventuress Jean Ferrell as well as the continued presence of the mystery woman Magga, but they are mostly off scene from these exploits. Likewise, in these adventures Dumont seems to have shed the Dr. Pali identity. His foes were getting more powerful such as Stopwach, the man who was also a master of Tibetan hypnotism and the Frankenstein Monster where he helped the heroes Black Owl, Yank & Doodle, and Dr. Frost. In a couple of stories during this run, he displayed full blown magical powers. In one, he fought the devilish Mephistopheles, and in this one case, he calls forth past American patriots to help fight his cause ala Kid Eternity.

In 1944, a year after both the pulp and Prize comic run came to a close, another publisher would take on publishing the Green Lama's adventures, starting off with a slight retelling of the origin. Though this too is supposed to be from Crossen, the Lama had undergone some mighty big changes. He still wore a green hood, but instead of the green robes, his costume was green tights complete with cape and his long-time meditative phrase (Om! Ma-ni pad-me Hum! "Hail! The Jewel in the Lotus Flower!") now gave him super-strength and flight as it telepathically linked him to monks in Tibet who echoed the phrase. It all looked very good as done by Mac Raboy. By this point, Tsarong definitely knew his identity.

Around this time, another woman calling herself Magga would re-appear, only in a solo adventure sporting the powers and Raboy designed costume of the Green Lama and called Magga the Magnificent {April, 1946, Atoman Comics #2 (Spark)}.

The Green Lama also had his own short-lived radio series. In these, he called his aide, Tulku, the honorific that Dumont was usually referred to in the pulps implying a reversal of status. Because it was a radio series, details are sparse. He is considered handsome from the reactions of the female characters, seems to be commonly known as the Green Lama (or at least does not take take pains to disguise himself) and his mantra gives him limited strength, possibly a single super-powered punch ala Iron Fist.

Green Light: 1941, Double Comics (Elliot Publishing). Possibly a re-colored Masked Marvel (Centaur) character as MM graced the cover #2 and GL was cover #3 and the only difference seemed to be changing the colors. GL only appeared on the cover, as the interior pages were stories from other publishers.
 

Green Mask (I): 1939, Mystery Men Comics #1 (Fox) Michael Shelby's father is a Congressman and has been marked for death by the Grim Circle. When Congressman Shelby is gunned down, Michael is mortally wounded. Family friend Professor Lascomb rushes to save the young man and subjects him to his untested Vita-Ray machine that should heal him. The machine has a short, and subjects him to a super-charge, however. When he comes to, Shelby is not only healed but he's a miracle man, with super-strength, invulnerability and the ability to fly. He vows vengeance on his father's murderers and all crime and decides to take up an identity that will strike terror in the hearts of criminals, the Green Mask. A young orphan is hurt when the Circle tries to rub the Green Mask out. Subjected to the same treatment, minus an accident, he gains the same powers and takes on the identity, Domino ("little mask") and becomes the Green Mask's sidekick. Least that's what the text says, Domino doesn't seem to be able to fly. Shelby's girlfriend is Olivia Tracy. NOTE: This origin story wasn't told until GREEN MASK #1, almost a year after his first appearance and he didn't seem to have a side-kick for almost that long. Domino's first appearance in Mystery Men Comics #11 would have been on the stands about the same time as Green Mask #1. Before his origin, he possessed above average strength and capabilities, but not necessarily comic book superhuman levels. He liked to skulk around in the shadows a lot, and had acquired a paralyzer gun that would temporarily paralyze opponents (gone after a few issues). In those days, his identity was only known to Daily Globe reporter "News" Blake whom he gave scoops to.

He also gains a girlfriend in Olivia Tracey and the loyal chunky chauffeur Mr. Peters.

  Green Mask (II): 1944, Green Mask #10 (Fox). Johnny Green is a young boy and bookworm whose father Walter is supposedly the Green Mask fighting in the Pacific (Johnny knows his dad is overseas but not necessarily that he's the Green Mask).When Johnny gets angry at "crime and injustice." he changes into the adult costumed hero the Green Mask. As the hero, he's strong and capable, and seems able to fly. At first, after the excitement is over, the Green Mask goes to sleep and wakes up as Johnny who has no memory of his adventures. Later, he seems to know that he's the Green Mask and it takes anger for him to trigger the change. Other than having the same name and a similar costume, any link between him, his unseen father and the earlier Green Mask is unrevealed. Johnny also has a small white dog named Curly.
 

Green Turtle: 1944, Blazing Comics #1 (Enwill Publishing). The Green Turtle's real name and origin are unrevealed. He fought crime and evil mostly in China. His teenaged sidekick is Burma Boy who was taught English by missionaries, which the Green Turtle was pleased to discover. He had no powers but is a capable fighter and pilot and had the nifty "Turtle Plane". He has a hidden lair in Tibet. We never see him without his mask or get an origin. Every time he is about to take Burma Boy into his confidence, a case arises that requires his attention.

NOTE: The comic and character is fairly unique in that great pains were taken to never show his face beyond the covers. It is speculated because he was intended to be actually Asian, but there was reticence on having an Asian lead superhero. However, the Green Turtle only wears trunks, gloves, boots and mask and cape, thus he shows a whole lot of skin. While the rest of the Asians are colored yellowish-brown, the Green Turtle is clearly colored pink ala a caucasian. If the speculation is true and the hero was meant to be Asian, editorial and/or the colorist sabotaged the creator's efforts. The supposition does not really answer why his face was not shown as it would be far simpler to render his mask in such a way that the eyes couldn't be seen ala goggles or Batman's white slits than to stage each scene without seeing his face. So, it would be very disingenuous for that to be the reason behind not showing his face. There are two other instances where comic book creators have done this. Zack Mosley did something similar with the insanely handsome character Downwind Jaxon, a sidekick and co-pilot to Smilin' Jack. He was so handsome, his appearance would drive women crazy with passion. But, his face was never shown to the readers. Fox's Bronze Man kept his face hidden for the exact opposite reasons, it was horribly disfigured in the War so readers never saw his full face front on unless it was covered by his bronze mask. Also, if he was intended to be Asian, the importance of the scene when he discovers that Burma Boy speaks English is lost. Whatever the intent, a comic goes through many hands to publication and what makes it to the stands is the actual product, thus the Green Turtle IS a Caucasian character.

Grenade: 1944 Captain Flight #5 (Four Star). Nazi agents kill Danny Corbet, looking for a secret formula, but it's his brother Bruce, reporter for "The Star" they meant to get. Vowing revenge and to kill them the way they killed his brother, he adapts the costumed identity of the Grenade. He gets most of the gang, and kills the leader, the Fat Man aka the Limping Nazi in an aerial dogfight. His costume is roughly similar to the Sandman's: yellow shirt and pants, purple cowl, gloves, trunks and boots. Bruce's wife is a beautiful singer.
  Grey Comet: 1944, Camera Comics #1 (U.S. Camera). Colonel Doe is with the Army Air Force and the Grey Comet. He's a different kind of flier in that he does reconnaissance missions so his plane does not have guns though he has it souped up with extra gas tanks for extra range. His father is a “big-wig” back in the States, but he's considered a good guy and well liked by the other pilots and crew. The plane is called “The Flying Camera”. About the only nod to his name is that his flying togs are uniformly gray. Afterwards, he becomes a newsreel cameraman and continues to have adventures involving cameras but not flying. He rarely goes by his given name, everyone calls him Grey Comet as if it's his first and last name. To the point, he once introduces himself as “Colonel Grey Comet”.
  Grey Mask: 1943 Suspense #1 (Et-Es-Go ((Holyoke?))). Malcolm Muir was the Spirit-esque Grey Mask. His assistant is a peg-legged African American by the name of the Dove.

Grim Reaper: 1944, America's Biggest Comic Book #1 (Better). Bill Norris started off fighting the German menace ("hope for all freedom fighters -- nemesis of the Axis") but migrated at stopping crime. For the most of his run, he was merely good with his fists and guns. In his first story, he also used a noose to good effect.

A couple of curious moments in that first story, though. When the German says G.R. isn't human, the hero replies that he was wondering when he'd notice that. And, his trick with the rope to get the saber off the wall, it looks as if the rope is doing that under its own accord. Leads me to wondering if there was a bit more to the character than I have always thought.

Origin: Bill Norris was in Paris for his education when the Nazis came through and was too stubborn to leave. When he sees an old man being beaten, he comes to his defense and gets thrown in a concentration camp. Pierre Laroux, another old man or possibly the same one, is tortured every day and Bill tries to help him but is beaten for his efforts. Laroux dies, but not before revealing to Bill that he's a leader of the Underground and knows of the location of General Moret who waits to escape to Africa in order to organize forces to liberate France. Norris then escapes, goes to the Underground, and has them fashion a costume for him to strike terror in the Nazi hearts. He gets Moret to Africa and continues his fight against the Germans. His costume is described as being black and sometimes it appears as if it's all black with purple highlights. Other times the shirt is definitely white which indicates the purple areas are supposed to be black?

Grimm, the Ghost Doctor: 1944, Bomber Comics #1 (Elliot Publishing). Dr. Grimm specialized in helping out the disbelieving police in solving crimes with supernatural angles. He is armed with a ghost disintegrator. Very similar to Quality's Fero, though sporting some white hair. My research into leads me to believe this is not coincidental. Elliot had already been involved in a lawsuit with Fawcett in 1942 over DOUBLE COMICS that Elliot just re-packaged other publisher's stories with a new cover, often featuring never seen elsewhere heroes such as the Green Light up above.

  Peter Gritt: 1946, Silver Streak #23 (Lev Gleason). Peter is a famous two-fisted detective. So famous that even the President of the United States calls on him for aid in recovering Mussolini's secret treasure. In the process, he saves a beautiful shop girl named Eva who becomes his assistant.
  Guardians of Freedom: 1941,Yankee Comics #3 (Chesler). Over the course of three pages of text stories, the kid heroes Yankee Boy, Johnny Rebel, and Dandy (Yankee Doodle Jones' sidekick) work on a related case individually before teaming up. The title of the story was "Guardians of Freedom" so I'm using it as the name to make note of this team-up.

Gun Master: 1946, Clue Comics #10 (Hillman). Long ago in Tibet, a monk named Kattak Po discovered gunpowder and created a rudimentary gun. However, the secret to the powder and the first gun are stolen and he is mortally wounded. He manages to send a letter to his eldest son, charging him with the mission to track down the culprit and destroy the secrets because of the danger and evil they pose the world. His son spends years on the mission only to likewise be killed and pass the mission on to his son.

The secrets are obviously not contained, guns proliferate, changing the faces of war, crime and empires. Likewise, the mission changes. Not able to destroy all guns, the mission becomes one to curtail its availability and uses in crime and evil endeavors. The older descendents of Kattak Po, the oldest addressed as "Little Father. They reside in a modern brownstone, but never seen entering or leaving. The active agent is Dumas Poe, given a silk scarf called a "Kattak" with the name of their ancestor to remind him of their mission. He's trained in various skills as well as mastering the weapon they are sworn to destroy, the gun. He tends to shoot to disarm or wound and then wade in with his fists. However, he will shoot to kill on occasion as well. With the passage of centuries, their is obviously mixed marriages as Dumas appears thoroughly caucasian (due to the limitations of print, he may actually be more Eurasian). NOTE: An interesting psychological dichotomy or hypocrisy about this character's motivation and actions that's rarely on view in comics. In order to destroy guns, he is a master of using one and quite capable. He will blow up a shop manufacturing or illegally selling guns without a moment's hesitation and without even really considering who owns the building, collateral damage or loss of life. Puts me in mind of Batman (orphaned due to crime, becomes a vigilante in order to uphold law and order), Skyman (orphaned by plane crash so he masters aircraft design in order to make air planes safer), and the later Peter Cannon (a man who desires inner peace but is thrust into the role of active crime fighter), and Peacemaker (a man who loves peace so much, he's willing to fight and kill those that threaten it). The strip would be handled by many hands, including Simon and Kirby, and Dan Barry. His name is spelled both as two words and one word.

  Gunsmoke: 1940, Gunsmoke #1 (Youthful). On the first cover, he had a mask and a stylish, almost superhero look, but he quickly lost the mask and eventually the stylish clothes. Regardless, he and pal Pedro rode the plains fighting for justice.!