Dablo: 1946, Blue Beetle? (Fox). Roman Tyrant of 56 AD. A column of light transports Amicus, leader of the Freedmen to 1946 and back again with the cop Mike and reporter Joan Mason. On their heels follows the Blue Beetle who help overthrows the tyrant and get everyone back home.
Dame Areia: Wings Comics (Fiction). Buxom enemy agent that helped out Mr. Atlantis in his efforts to bring America to its knees but frequently foiled by Captain Wings. In the one story I¹ve read with her, her entire face is not shown.
Laura Dane: 1946, Claire Voyant #2. Dennis Durrant remembers: Laura Dane was an actress who shot her ex-lover Rodger Howell and framed the singer, Claire Voyant, for the crime through an elaborately conceived alibi in which her maid Hilda posed as her for half of a flight from Hollywood to New York dressed in mourning clothes on the day after her lover's murder. Claire's father and the sailor Tex Huston uncovered the truth with the aid of the memory expert Files and his manager/brother Hairy Harry. On learning she was wanted for the crime, Laura kidnapped Claire and headed for her victim's cottage in the country, where she intended to hide for six months before shooting herself and Claire; she was determined not to "burn for Rodger's murder," but the cabin caught fire and Claire burst her bonds and headed for the door, but collapsed before she could get there and was rescued by Tex Huston - who, ironically, was one of three sailors who had dragged her from the water after her ship had sunk two years earlier - while Laura apparently died in the fire when the cabin's roof collapsed.
The Deadly Dozen: 1941, Daredevil Comics #5 (Lev Gleason). A group of a dozen criminals banded together. Their by-laws don't allow any more members other than in case of death or willing departure. Sniffer is the highest profile villain of the group other than the time Iron Jaw tried taking it over. Members include: Sniffer, Crusher, Egghead, Snake-Eyes, Skully, Benito, Butcher, Giant-Killer, Lowl, Satan, Turk, and Lady Killer. Opposed first by Daredevil, other crooks and then by Crimebuster and the villain Iron Jaw. Over time they even headlined their own strip in the comic.
Death Head: Catman Comics (Holyoke). Apparently Middle-Eastern, this man was beheaded, but a mystic managed to grant the head life. The Death Head has vast mental powers, able to enslave many at a time with his voice. He planned on using that power to rule the world but the Hood was able to shrug off the hypnosis and stop him.
Death Mask: 1942, Blue Beetle #13 (Holyoke). This crook wore a green skull mask and could kill people by pointing his finger at them. He used this ability to take over Porky Ferro's mob and commit daring crimes. The Blue Beetle puts his mob out of business and reveals that his finger of death were just poisoned darts fired from the sleeve of his overcoat.
Death Mask Pilot: 1944, Captain Aero #15/v3#13 (Holyoke). A Japanese ace who wears a white death mask along with his pilot gear and whose plane also bears a skull insignia. He had shot down several American aces and even survived a bout with Captain Aero before being sent on a mission to America. However, his movements are suspected and Captain Aero is sent from the Pacific to bring him down which he successfully does with the help of his teen proteges, the Sky Scouts.
Decor: 1939, Amazing Man Comics #6 (Centaur). This criminal mastermind was being paid by a foreign power to destroy the US Navy. He commanded absolute loyalty from his masked henchmen who called him “Master” and “Master of All.” Among the weapons they used were gas bombs and a death ray and an underwater headquarters (submarine?) replete with death-traps and secret passeges. While Décor wore just a suit his high forehead with a prominent forelock of hair hanging down, mustache and van dyke beard and monocle over one eye with the other seeming a bit bug-eyed, he still looked a bit unique. Décor is apparently killed in the destruction of his headquarters while trying to destroy the mystery man, the Iron Skull.
Deimos Council: 1939, Amazing-Man Comics #7 (Centaur). This was the group of Martians that kept Martian society in virtual slavery until their power was challenged by the Magician of Mars.
Demi-Things: 1940, Fantastic Comics #12 (Fox). Denizens of the 4th Dimension where they were cast for crimes against humanity. They are bald pointed eared men with the legs and hooves of goats. Chongo, more evil than the rest charges up a ray that he uses to wreak havoc on Earth, destroying buildings and turning men into skeletons. Scientist-Adventurer Flip Falcon travels to the 4th Dimension to stop him.
De Vasco: 1946/47?, Movie Comics (Fiction House). Anthony Durrant writes: De Vasco was the dictator of the small South American country La Soredo. He captured Chiquita Sanchez, the sister of the rightful leader Juan Sanchez, who was working with the American stuntman Buck Hoskins, who had come to La Soredo to unseat De Vasco under the cover of starring in a movie there at the request of Jim Flanders, his old war buddy. After Buck had helped Sanchez break Chiquita out of De Vasco's prison, De Vasco captured Buck and secretly sent him a note wrapped around a dagger telling him how to escape as part of his plan to allow Buck to lead him to the rebels led by Juan Sanchez. They almost succeeded in making their getaway on a sailboat, but De Vasco caught up to them and was beaten only through Buck's efforts. On his capture, De Vasco was discovered to have "a sworn ballot count" sewn in the lining of his coat that proclaimed Juan Sanchez as La Soredo's rightful ruler. Buck returned to America with Chiquita and was reunited with his fiancee Gloria, who had read of his disappearance in the paper and whom he immediately promised to marry.
The Devil: 1942, Green Mask Comics 9 (Fox). In Chinatown, the Green Mask and Domino discover Chinese Hatchet men terrorizing the local merchants under command of a mysterious being called the Devil. The heroic duo track the Devil to his lair, filled with hidden passages and ornate throne room. When the hideout catches fire, the hatchet men turn on their Devil, severely wounding him and forcing him to reveal how to escape. Once out, he stands revealed as an investigator called Larchmont that the heroes had run into earlier. Larchmont had hoped to use the Devil disguise to control the hatchet men and force tribute from the local merchants.
Devil-God Idol: 1939, Keen Detective Funnies v2#12 (Centaur). Investigating the strange deaths of two men, Detective Degen realizes they were part of an expedition responsible for bringing the sacred idol of the Tibetan Devil-God to this country. The idol itself shows signs of being linked to the deaths, blood in its hands, bullet sized indentions on its body. Paying a visit to visiting Chinese scholar Li Wan, he's told that a high priest could possess the idol through a ritual and woe to all that would stand in its path. Later, thinking Li Wan seemed to be awfully well informed, he pays another visit and finds Li Wan in a trance and a room full of believers. While fighting them, he dodges a thrown hatchet which kills Li Wan, ending the threat. Degen is forced to report the murders were caused through supernatural means.
Devil Kyoti: 1943, Shadow Comics v2n11 (Street & Smith). This devilish appearing villain was a Japanese super-mastermind that bedeviled the Shadow over 4 issues aided by the Black Dragon and Shinto wizards, until the Shadow had to travel to Tokyo itself to stop him.
Devil Ladies: 1948, Rulah #19 (Fox). Foreign Agent Peters sends his chief female agent Lona and other women to the jungles to test out his new fire rifles on the natives. As part of the grand experiment they dress in asbestos red devil bodysuits to capture the natives and take them to a diamond mine where he conducts his experiments, also dressed like a devil where his satanic face fits naturally. Rulah overpowers Lona and swaps identities with her, however Peters executes Lona, falling for the ruse. Rulah manages to rescue the captured natives and many of the Devil Ladies are killed in the natives fighting back, one armed with their own fire gun. Peters himself falls into the boiling vat that he had executed Lona-as-Rulah with, and the mine explodes that was rigged to self-destruct.
Diablo, Prince Fernando: Fantastic Comics #8 (Fox). From a secret hideout in the Pyranees, Diablo plans to divide Europe into monarchies and cast people into a state of serfdom, aided by various unscrupulous members of Europe's royal families. Deciding the world is weak from war, he invades France with underground tanks and germ-warfare. He is stopped through the brawn of Samson, and thrown over a cliff.
Dictator's Shadow: 1941, Banner Comics 3 (Periodical House) This robed villain masterminded sabotage efforts in America. He seemed to possess the ability to shift to a shadowy insubstantial and invisible form. The Lone Warrior and Dicky opposed him.
Diller, Craig "Killer": 1939, Amazing Mystery Funnies V2#8 (Centaur). This gangster broke out of prison and off of death row early in 1939. After lying very low for six months he attempted to sneak out of New York City. Unfortunately for him he was trailed by Terry "Reel" McCoy. After attempting to kill McCoy Diller was captured by the combined efforts of McCoy and "Speed" Centaur and returned to prison.
The Disc Men: Planet Comics (Fiction): Anthony Durrant provides: Professor Kender and his queen are the leaders of the Disc Men, who are lving human heads on gleaming, golden robot bodies that are basically a couple of canteens joined together by a metal spine, each of which has a pair of limbs. Flint Baker and Reef Ryan are brought to this world along with the fiance of a missing explorer, whose head is grafted to one of the robot bodies while they watch. Because Reef Ryan looks like the man she loved before her head was grafted onto a Disc Man body, the queen leads Reef, Flint and the explorer's fiance back to their spaceship, after which they depart the Disc Men's world after firing a salvo at the Disc Men's hidden base in order to destroy it. This was the first adventure of the combined team of Reef Ryan and Flint Baker, who had appeared separately before.
Dizaster: 1943, Startling Comics 18 (Better). Enemy agent, hires a few local toughs to start some fires. Unknown to them, he uses them to distract firemen while he sabotages army warehouses and foundries by starting fires by remote control with a sonic transmitter device. What he doesn¹t realize, is that friend to the local toughs is the upstanding Dick Martin who tries to stop them. What he gets though is the electric chair. When he survives that, he puts on a costume and goes after the gang and the enemy leader Dizasta as Pyroman.
Doc: 1939, Amazing Man Comics #8, (Centaur). Western College was being investigated for unfair competition as they had a football team composed of eleven seven foot giants, being billed as Iron Men because of their toughness. Mighty Man (a 12 foot giant) investigates on behalf of his friends and discovers that the Doc (in cahoots with the Coach and the Dean of the college) had been rounding up large but below average intelligent men around the globe for his experiments, including his own son who was the quarterback. He had been performing delicate brain operations that robbed them of their memories and knowledge beyond what he taught them and would do whatever he directed them to do. The football team was just a tryout for what could be done with mindless armies, a sample of what he could sell for millions to dictators in Europe. However, Doc is killed by their very mindlessness as Mighty Man breaks free and throws a football, yelling out, "pass" and the ten giants trample Doc beneath them in their rush. The fates of the "giants" is unrevealed. NOTE: This story was suggested by professional football player Frank Filchock the younger brother of Martin Filchock, the creator of Mighty Man. This entry has been corrected to include actual GA information and not the revision information including dropping the name to just Doc from Doc Biggers.
Dr. Amato: America's Best Comics #14 (Standard). One of many escaped Japanese prisoners, Dr. Amato is a scientist that develops a remote-controlled Bomb. His plot is stopped and he's recaptured by American Eagle and Eaglet.
Dr. Arso: 1944, Topps Comics (Consolidated Book Publishers). After medical secrets of a colleague to replace his missing hand and fore-arm (he has a hook instead), Dr. Arso is able to raise dead killers who are under his hypnotic control. While battling the Black Orchid (who is secretly DA Diana Dawn), he loses control of his undead minions and they turn on him and kill him. With his death, they die once more. NOTE: This is a strange comic series, smallish in size that prints several stories, with inconsistant coloring, some pages seem to be full color where others use red as a spot color. The Jack of Spades battle with the Hawkmen is one of these books. They aren't really numbered and may have been bound together at one point. It's hard to make sense of the GCD entry. Personally, I only have the Jack of Spades book and no real clue there.
Doctor Barba: November 1948, All-Top Comics 14 (Standard) If for no other reason than the title of her story: The Doctor of Doom. Darci writes me: After experimenting with transplanting the brains of apes into some villagers, she attempts to transplant the brain of a tiger into Jo-Jo's lovely female companion, Tanee. As the doctor says, "You're going to see your Jo-Jo sooner than you think! And you will be his murderess!"
Dr. Cadaver: 1944, Red Band Comics #3 (Enwil). Dr. Cadaver is a charlatan, under suspicion for killing several wealthy patients. Through the use of rigged dummies, he’s again at work on beautiful Vivian Vance. However, a blown tire in a rainstorm sends Dr. Mercy and quippy ambulance driver Stompy Lion to the home. Almost immediately Dr. Mercy suspects Dr. Cadaver and the old woman family servant Ouida. As it turns out, Ouida was the next in line for inheriting Miss Vivian Vance’s fortune and in cahoots with Dr. Cadaver. Dr. Mercy manages to turn the tables on the pair, restoring Miss Vance’s troubled psyche and may have even gained himself a girl.
Dr. Centaur: foe of Don Winslow.
Doctor Cobra: 1941, Exciting Comics #14 (Better) This fiendish Asian criminal aided the Japanese in their plots against China. He became a recurring and persistant foe of the world trotting adventurer Ted Crane and girlfriend Betty Hawkins.
Dr. Chuda: 1938, Lightning and the Lone Rider strip by Jack Kirby. 50,000 year old immortal and telepath goes up against the Lone Rider in the Old West.
Doctor Deemon: Speed Comics 20 (Harvey). A misnomer. Other than on the opening page, we villain is never called Doctor Deemon. The kids of the Young Defenders witness several people falling over dead and see a mysterious figure in black with a large wide brimmed hat. After tangling with him and getting the license plate to his car, they take the info to newspaperman Don Wright (who's secretly Captain Freedom natch). They track the car to biochemist Simon Green who apparently has developed a strong bacterial weapon in the Yellow Death. Tangling with him and his strangely garbed assistants, Freedom unmasks the scientist and gang as several Japanese medical students who had hijacked Greens experiments with deadly bacteria and kept him captured downstairs.
Dr. Depression: 1939, Amazing-Man Comics #7, (Centaur). Traveling through an interdimensional rift(?) in the Pacific Ocean Dr. Depression found himself in the world of the polyp-men. There, he mentally subjugated one of the polyp-men and began to telepathically lure other travelers through the rift. Finally, he drew the Shark through the rift and attempted to transfer his mind into the Shark's body. The operation failed and his mind was consumed by his enthralled polyp-man.
Dr. Diablo: 1942, Four Favorites #8 (Ace). Doctor Diale had discovered radium under a asmall town. He decided to get the riches with the least possible expense and without the government knowing about it. He fakes the deaths of his patients by inducing catatonic states through drugs and making slaves of them once buried. His henchmen wear long robes and ghoulish masks. He was stopped by Lightning and Lightning Girl.
Dr. Diabole: 1946, Green Hornet Comics #30 (Harvey). Self-billed as “the world’s greatest scientist”(imagine Dr. Sivana might take exception to that), he contracted a rare tropical disease while searching for radium in the Amazon jungles. It ate at his skin and flesh until half of his face was basically just a skull and he started going mad. He enlisted the aid of lawyer John Doyle to save him from himself. Meanwhile Doyle as the heroic Zebra investigated some strange mass poisonings, the trail lead to Dr. Diabole himself. Turns out he was trying to inoculate the populace out of fear that his disease was contagious. After a close fight where Diabole even loses more flesh, he’s taken to trial where as Defense Attorney Doyle actually argues for the death penalty on his client’s behalf to spare him the years of agony imprisonment in an institution would bring.
Doctor Doom: 1940, Science Comics (Fox). Like his later day predecessor, he was a mad scientist whose plans were bizarre and knew no limitations. He was always up against aviators Jan and Wanda who always seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and found themselves at the mercy of his experiments. Jan and Wanda would take on a more mundane job as reporters for the “Daily Star” with a news editor named “Mr. Lane".
Dr. Dracula: 1941, Silver Streak Comics #17 (Lev Gleason). He has a death ray; foe of Captain Battle. And, if the image here is of him, he and his men also have flying bat-wing suits. Created by Otto Binder & Jack Binder
Dr. Drool: 1941, Big Three #3 (Fox). Dr. Drool was a madman who had been executed for murder. He was resurrected - twice! - by his hunchback assistant and tried to kill the men who had sentenced him to death. The Flame thwarted his scheme every time, but each time he kept rising from the dead. He used fear to kill the victims by causing them to go into a state of panic with letters warning them of his coming and then "shooting" them with blanks to cause a fatal heart attack.
Dr. Eptil and the Spider: Exciting Comics #20 (Better). Dr. Eptil is a mad scientist in the employ of the Japanese. When he witnesses the plane crash of mobster Joe Mattock and the subsequent battle with the mighty Black Terror, he comes up with fiendish plans for Mattock's broken body. He sets the broken arms and legs in a twisted fashion making Mattock a monster in a dark bodysuit, creeping on his four misbent limbs. Still Eptil, his gang, and his spiderman are easily bested by the Black Terror and Tim.
Dr. Fantom: 1942, Startling #18 (Better). A Nazi agent with a bit of supernatural knowledge, he is coming to America when he encounters Lycans, werewolves who can turn others into beings like them by their howl. They convert the ship's crew, but he manages to gain control over them. He and the Lycans are stopped by the Fighting Yank.
Dr. Ghoul: 1945, Black Terror #12 (Better). Out in Wyoming, Dr. Ghoul has found a way to convert honest men and making them into strong and bulletproof servants, obedient to him. He makes a mistake in the kidnapping of the rancher Richie Benton who happens to be the uncle of a visiting Bob Benton who is secretly the Black Terror. Dr. Ghoul himself is bulletproof and presumably had subjected himself to his own experiments, and might be what drove him insane.
Dr. Hsin: 1940, Weird Comics (Fox). Mad scientist. Taking a drug that saved him from the electric chair, he drains blood from great people and inject their life forces into chosen subjects in order to create a superior race. One such is the strong but mental midget Mako, whom he claims to have rescued from the dead. Thor stops him.
Doctor Igor: 1941, Cat-Man Comics #2 (Holyoke). On an island off of Africa, mad scientist Dr. Igor has made his lab in a castle built by South Sea pirates generations ago. He has mastered speeding up the human pituitary gland and able to make giants about 15 feet tall. He has one and is about to make more, the goal being to make an unstoppable army. He's stopped by Lance Rand and the castle goes up in flames. But, even Rand acknowledges that the good doctor may have escaped.
Dr. Katan: (Lev Gleason). Foe of Silver Streak. Created by Jack Cole
The Doctor Killer: 1940, Amazing Mystery Funnies #18 (Centaur). After his wife and child died under a doctor's care during a flu epidemic, Charles Linton went mad. Blaming all doctors for his family's death he began to seek revenge by kidnapping, torturing, and murdering doctors. Though captured once he managed to escape the asylum in which he was kept. On his second rampage he was tracked down and eventually captured by Detective John Degen. He was psychotically clever and employed a pack of specially trained wolves to help him.
Dr. Krako: 1941, Big-3 Comics #3, (Fox). Dr. Krako discovered a way to energize skeletons as well as making them so they fired bullets from their skulls. He wreaked terror on the city with his skeleton army and tough henchman Monk until they were stopped by the Blue Beetle.
Dr. Ting Loy: 1940, Fantoman #4 (Centaur). Loy was a brilliant inventor making a living selling hi-tech equipment for criminals. In his remote mountain laboratory, he creates artificial men through chemical means. They stand about 8 feet tall and mostly invulnerable and Loy controls them through a radio head-set.. He then uses them to sack neighboring towns until the Fantom of the Fair intervenes and discovers that the monster men dissolve in simple water. Tracking their maker through their chemical components, he quickly captures Loy. NOTE: Original notation for this character listed source as Amazing Mystery Funnies, no # but I read the story in Fantoman #4. Unless I find evidence that it first appeared in Amazing Mystery and was a reprint in Fantoman, I have changed the listing. The same source also called the artificial men Loy Men but they aren't given such a name in the published story.
Dr. Macabre: Catman 28-32 (Holyoke) The last of Catman's recurring foes and possibly the greatest. In his first appearance, he's a criminal mastermind (apparently from Lisbon) respected by the underworld to the point a gang boss willingly gives his own gang instructions to aide Macabre in any scheme he cooks up. Dr. Macabre also has hypnotic powers and holds a girl called Lenore under his sway. He calls her his ward, and she refers to him as "father" but that may be more a result of hypnosis than any real paternal relationship/obligations. He has been thought to have died a few times but foresight brought him back. During one scheme he contracted a "death touch."
Dr. Mesmeric: 1942, Prize Comics 19 (Feature Publications). Mad scientist type with a machine that casts hypnotic rays. Unlike most mad scientists, his appearance is a disguise, he is normal looking guy under the fake whiskers and thick glasses, though unnamed. He was stopped by Power Nelson
Dr. Mortal: Dr. Mortal is an elderly, brilliant scientist who lives "outside the city" with his beautiful young niece, Marlene. Much to everyone's regret Marlene discovers that Dr. Mortal is a classic Mad Scientist who's been breeding Monsters for bad ends. SEE?
Doctor Nodd: 1940, Crackajack Funnies #30 (Dell). Foe of the Owl
Dr. Q: foe of Don Winslow who tried to destroy the Panama Canal.
Dr. Plasma: March 1944, Clue Comics #7 (Hillman). Ronald Byrd provided: A disfigured tattoo artist from the Boy King's homeland of Swisslakia, Doctor Plasma is recruited by the Nazis to tattoo secret messages on the backs of their agents. His activities are discovered, and the Boy King's Giant "hurls him miles out to sea."
Mad Anthony Durrant gives a few more details: Dr. Plasma was a sinister tattoo artist who encrypted financial information for a group of enemy agents and then tattooed it on the backs of a group of human "ledgers" to hide the information completely from sight. The Boy King and his twin brother Muggsy interfered with Dr. Plasma's plans and were taken captive, but escaped. They then stopped him from escaping from a submarine, and during the struggle, Dr. Plasma was killed when the Giant flung him out to sea. Muggsy tattooed a final message onto the doctor's back: "The cost of crime has been paid - my death is the answer."
Dr. Royce: 1946, Clue Comics #11 (Hillman). Looking like a classic silent film villain who'd be at home tying women to train tracks, Royce bets railroad magnate Sidney Mansfield a million dollars he could steal a train. And he does, managing to make a train vanish in mid journey. Nightmare and Sleepy are on the case.
Dr. Scowl: 1941, Amazing Man Comics #25 (Centaur). Dr. Scowl is an old associate of Barmell's and is thus happy when he captures Minimidget and Ritty so he can find out how Barmell shrunk them. When they escape, he calls on his experiment Klang to find them. Klang is a bestial half-man half-beast who is able to track the two just by smelling. However, he is also near bestial in his intellect and the miniscule duo out maneuver him, letting his charge take out the Dr and his assistants. When Minimidget tries to gas him with chloroform, the beast-man falls against other chemicals and starts a blaze. Minimidget and Ritty discover some other human prisoners in the lab and are able to rescue them before the whole thing goes up in smoke, presumably killing Dr. Scowl and his assistants.
Dr. Silvio: Exciting Comics 15 (Better). In a helium balloon he and his crew fly high in the sky and fire small rockets at planes, hoping to terrorize airlines into grounding their planes and pay him money for the privilege to fly. He and his crew are presumably destroyed by the American Eagle who lobs one of their own rockets at them.
Dr. Skull: 1941, Pocket Comics #2 (Harvey). A pointy-eared dimunitive man with a large bulbous head to hold his tremendous brain, he was a leader of a white hooded and robed gang that was a huge counterfeiting organization. They kidnapped around a hundred engravers and pressmen for their purposes and under Dr. Skull's leadership were even prepared with extinguisher guns for the intervention of the Red Blazer. Still he managed to escape and defeat Dr. Skull's forces who was last seen about to jump from his rocketship to avoid capture.
Dr. Thor: foe of Don Winslow.
Doctor Voodoo: (Better). A Simon & Kirbyesqe villain: bald, big pointed elflike ears, a long goat style beard, and two long wisps of hair on his bald head much like horns. He's the chief plotter and scientist seeking to conquer Earth and the cosmos for Lilith. Stopped by Wonderman II.
Dr. Wrath: 1942, Blue Beetle #1 (Fox). No info other than he was the second and final known foe of the Gladiator.
Doktor Von Future: Air Fighters Comics (Hillman). The bald doctor (dressed in druid like robes with a skull and swastika on his chest) invents a large mobile machine that parts waters and puts up plastic walls to keep the water separated. Hitler makes use of the machine to part the English Channel and send an invasion force to England. Only the Black Angel gets wind of the affair and bombs machine and walls, letting the waters crash in on the troops like the Red Sea on Pharoah's army. Herr Doktor is assumed drowned with the rest of the forces.
Doll Store Owner: Anthony Durrant writes: This man was using coded letters to send naval secrets to a foreign angent through the mail. Unfortunately, one of the letters contained the name and address of Roy Lance, aka the crimefighter known as the Sword. Along with his partner, the Lance, the Sword quickly investigated and was able to bring the doll shop owner to justice. It appeared that the man had been sending secrets to foreign agents for some time, but that one of them had left his post, at which point the letters that had been sent to him went back to the apparent senders - including Roy Lance. NOTE: This story was actually based on the saga of the doll house owner named Velvalee Dickinson, who used an identical method to send secrets to enemy agents and was caught the same way by agents of the FBI, then was arrested for treason. For more information regarding the real-life Doll Woman, http://www.fbi.gov/libref/historic/famcases/dickinson/dickinson.htm
The Domino: 1941. Silver Streak Comics #9 (Lev Gleason). Dominic Leonetti, also known as "The Domino," was a gangster who loved to play dominoes. He would play a "game of death" with anyone who informed on his mob, and then kill that person if they lost. His racket was foiled by Presto Martin, the city's new Chief of Detectives, who had disguised himself as an informer. While on the run, the Domino wrote to Martin and asked him to allow him to keep running his mob, but Martin refused. Therefore, the Domino began murdering police officers, leaving a domino in the hand of each of them. Presto Martin put a stop to this crime wave by posing as Patrolman O'Keefe and then capturing the Domino and his men singlehandedly.
The Domino's Ghost: 1941. Silver Streak Comics #11 (Lev Gleason). After the Domino went to the chair, someone began killing off the witnesses at his trial and leaving dominoes in their hands; moreover, the Domino's fingerprints were found on the dominoes. The killer became known as the Domino's Ghost, and in the process of tracking him down, Presto Martin disguised himself first as the Domino himself in order to trap Scarface Klein, and then as Scarface Klein to track down the eventual killer, who turned out to be Peter Poulos, a member of the Domino's gang. Peter had been killing the gang members as well as the other trial witnesses so that he could get his hands on the Domino's loot. No go - he was captured by Presto Martin and imprisoned.
Doxol: 1939, Wonderwold Comics #4 (Fox). In his fortress with hidden traps, Doxol is the head of a hooded gang. He had discovered a "mystic" formula that when injected in his subjects turns them to his hypnotic power. He is defeated by the Flame in an aerial dogfight. Unmaske, he is a malevolent sight: green skinned with pointed ears, bushy eyebrows, and slits where his nose should be and has hands with gaunt fingers and sharp fingernails.
Professor Drade: 1948, Red Dragon Comics #3 (Street & Smith). This "zombie master" went up against the ghost breaker Dr. Neff.
The Dragon:1941, Fantastic Comics #22 (Fox). Japanese agent who ran afoul Samson several times. He was aided by Orchid, his beautiful sister.
Dragon Lady: Mystery Men Comics 12 (Fox). Actually using the name as a generic term since she is not named in the story. This sexy Asian woman seems to be head of a gang in charge of smuggling Asians into America. To this end, she employs a hypnotist to put the men to sleep while they are hidden inside giant fish. She is captured by Lt. Drake of Naval Intelligence.
Drax: A large brutish looking man, Drax also seems to be bit of a magician, able to hypnotize and escape from locked rooms and rigged his shabby hideout with trapdoors and such. He's also a killer, making Broadway star Patti Drew think she committed murder under the power of hypnosis. She's cleared by her reporter boyfriend Cort Lansing and the boy sidekick Mitch.
Droon: 1941,Target Comics v2 #1 (Novelty). In the kingdom of Noom on the planet Neptune is the evil little scientist known as Droon. In order to gain control of a certain valley, Droon uses Queen Haba's unrequited love for the hero Spacehawk to strike a bargain with her (she thinking he's a kindly scientist type). His plan involves torturing his assistant to the point of a murderous rage and amplifying those thoughts across space to bring Spacehawk to him and then bind the hero to his will via hypnosis. Spacehawk is ultimately spared of dispatching the villain as Droon's hulking assistant does the job quite well. Imagine SIMPSONS' Montgomery Burns as being green with bumps on his bald dome and hunchbacked, and you have a good idea of the appearance of Droon as drawn by Wolverton.
Hugo Drutz: 1944, Terrific Comics #1 (Holyoke). Also called the Butcher of Berlin and Hitler's Headman, Drutz does public executions for the Nazis. He dresses in a tux complete with tophat and a large pointed mustache. Incredibly strong and not above using the promise of freedom to satisfy his lusts for the more beautiful female prisoners. Drutz happened to be the first man that Army Intelligence officer Lloyd Raleigh was sent undercover to rid the Earth of. While captured, he gets a lucky break that they don't search him, for underneath his disguise is another, his outfit and weapons as the hero Boomerang (the US military completely unaware of his dual role). Even though this is Raleigh's first mission for the Army Intelligence, the story indicates he has already made a name as Boomerang
Duchess: foe of Don Winslow.
Duke of Terror Castle: 1944, Terrific Comics #5 (Continental Magazines).When the Colonel seems reticent about ordering an attack at the front lines in Burma and more interested in having dinner with his staff with the "Duke" at a strange castle in the frontier. And Raleigh realizes that the Colonel hadn't been the same since his last visit with the Duke, so he and Diana investigate as the costumed duo Boomerang and well, Diana. Turns out that the Duke is actually in league with the Japanese, and has a surgeon by the name of Saito who operates on the brains of the army leaders making them subjective to hypnotism. Diana takes out Saito with a well-placed arrow while the Duke himself is knocked off the castle wall by a boomerang. The Duke seems to be Burmese, wearing far-Eastern garb, complete with a turban.
Dundril: (Street & Smith) A criminal dwarf who bedeviled the Hooded Wasp. Teamed up with a villain called the Mask at one point.
Dwarf: A criminal mastermind with an organization of agents and assassins opposed by Don Winslow.
The Eel: Lightning Comics (Ace). aka Professor Aqua, a foe of both Lash Lightning and the Raven.
Eelo: Fantastic Comics (Fox). This fishman was a foe of Samson.
El-Buff-Ali-Rugg: 1944, Four Favorites #15 (Ace). Half Japanese-Half Moslem, El Buff creates unrest between India's fighting race - the Moslems and the rest of India, to the point of taking over leadership by killing the natural ruler and stealing the Symbol of the Eternal Kingdom which should make him invincible and the recognized ruler of the Moslems. The legitimate ruler's son and Captain Courageous defeat him.
El Terror: 1951, Tim Holt #20 (Magazine Enterprises). El Terror is a bandit leader in the American Southwest in the late 19th Century. His reign of terror is seen by the visiting Easterner Tim Holt. Holt hears about the legends of the Red Mask from a century before and adopts the identity to put a stop to El Terror.
Electru: 1940, Thrilling Comics #4 (Better). A giant of around 7 feet tall, bald with a mustache, he had the ability to throw electrifying bolts. Not only that, but with his scientific knowhow, he had outfitted his gang with electric guns and airplanes that did the same. With these powers he attacked the Panama Canal, a Treasury building, law enforcement buildings and banks, killing all that stood in his way. Only Doc Strange (back when he was Dr. Strange) was strong enough to stand up against him. Strange didn't pull any punches either. He threw a car of the villain's henchmen into the path of a locomotive, destroyed the dynamos that powered his men's equipment, bombed the ship that served as headquarters (killing everyone on board) and punched Electru powerfully enough that he crashed into his own lab equipment and apparently killing him.
Emerald Men of Asperus: Fantastic Comics #8 (Fox). "On a certain asteroid between Mars and Jupiter dwells a manlike race of super intelligence. They are known as the "the Emerald Men of Asperus." Their leader, the High Mogul comes up with an idea to destroy the sun and then bring the Earth to their control and make mankind their slaves. However, their plans are observed by the science-wizard Stardust who uses his vast abilities to destroy their bombs and send their planetoid to some distant uninhabited system so they cannot threaten the Earth again.
Emperor: 1942, Thrilling Comics #24/25 (Better). The Emperor is a way above average Yellow Peril menace. One, he wears a type of costume. Two, in just one story he has a burrowing craft called the "Glowworm", a super gas pellet gun, a projection ray machine (that allows him to project his image and voice to deliver threats and such) AND flaming gorillas which allows him to bedevil the hero Doc Strange and attempt to take over the world. Three, he actually manages to escape capture by the hero at the end of the story. One wonders why he felt the need to team up with the rather forward thinking ace Nazi spy Kamholz (he wore a bulletproof vest which saved his life when the Emperor betrays him). NOTE: The story in issue #25 is titled "The Return of the Emperor" and is definitely written as if it's not his first adventure. However, the GCD lists that as his first appearance and doesn't list an issue #24 at all. The GCD isn't always correct though.
The Evil Eye: 1944, Dynamic Comics #12 (Dynamic Publications/Chesler). Helen Jordan has inherited a mansion haunted by a ghost called the Evil Eye. No sooner does she avail herself of the services of the detective Lucky Coyne and partner Terry, than Evil Eye makes his presence known, a shadowy figure with a frightful face. Every encounter with the Evil Eye, he manages to stay disappear and stay almost a step ahead of the detectives. However, they ultimately unmask him as Harms, the old caretaker who was after jewels that were secreted in the mansion, though the mansion itself goes up in flames (sensing a theme in the villains this go around)
The Eye: (Oct. 1947, Thrilling Comics 62 (Better). Called a killer and the craftiest plotter of the underworld. When Doc Strange waged a one man war on crime and gangs, this tough man with a patch over his left eye freed the caught gangsters and set out to organize a great syndicate as well as capture and kill Doc Strange. All he managed to do was ultimately join the others in jail.
Face: 1946, Planet Comics #44 (Holyoke). Bald-headed master criminal and foe of Mysta of the Moon. He wore goggles and round ear pieces in issue 44. In issue 45, he wore a hood similar to a gas mask that covered his whole head. He manages to get a stooge planted with Mysta's crew, impersonating Bron, a talented student. However, Bron ultimately sides with Mysta and turns on the Face, killing him.
The Faceless Phantom: Thrilling Comics #1 (Standard). Doesn't that just sound like a natural bad guy for Scooby Doo and gang? Anywho, Bob Jase writes me: The first opponent of Dr. Strange, he wore a skull mask & had synthesized a formula that gave him just slightly less strength & durability than Dr. Strange. Apparently killed at the end of his 1st appearence, he returned in Thrilling Comics #7 with a new formula to equal Doc's (who got less formal in that issue). Unfortunately for the Faceless Phantom, Doc had just redesigned his own formula so that he could fly. The Phantom couldn't & apparently died in a fall from an airplane while fighting Doc. He even made the covers a few times: Thrilling Comics (1,7 and 36)
Faken, J.J.: 1939, Mystery Men Comics (Fox). Faken gets boys out of reform school and then trains them to be real crooks: pickpockets, second-story men, etc. The tables are turned when the Green Mask investigates the recent crime wave.
Faux Heroes: It is a long practice of the enemy, whether enemy soldiers or that undesirable criminal element, strive to replace the hero with one of their own. Some have the abilities to mimic their foes, others just get by on audacity and their acting. Regardless, they are all bad actors...
Ajax: 1940, Doc Savage Comics (Street & Smith). A crook who bears a resemblance to Ajax, puts on a costume and passes himself off as him. As he doesn't have any of Ajax's powers, he and his comrades use trickery to fake them.
Blue Beetle: 1943, Blue Beetle #27 (Holyoke). Captured Nazi spy Fritz looks enough like Dan Garrett and the Blue Beetle that he's bribed to go to Germany and operate some as the Blue Beetle to confuse things. However, once over there, he gets greedy and the FBI suspect a triple cross and send the real Blue Beetle to investigate. NOTE: This story doesn't make much sense as it seems that Garrett is working with the FBI and not the police and that his dual identity is not terribly secret. Nor is Fritz' final fate and true loyalty ever sure.
Clock: (Centaur). "Chief" Browser and henchman Clarence "Muscles" McGee rob and murder a man and leave calling cards like the Clock in order to frame him and get the police hot after him. Investigating, the Clock finds a clue that leads him to the pair. Chief is slain when he trips a trap that was geared up for the Clock. Out fought, Muscles signs a full confession.
Green Mask: 1945, Star Studded Comics #1 (Cambridge House). La Verne and Tiny (a short man) are acrobats in the circus. On the side, they masquerade as the Green Mask and Domino, committing daring robberies and shooting innocent bystanders.
Green Turtle: 1944, Blazing Comics #3 (Enwil). Anthony Durrant writes: This gentleman was Lieutenant Tasatu of the Japanese army; he was disguised as the heroic Ching Quai, aka the Green Turtle, and led a group of Chinese raiders into an ambush in Go-Wai Village at the behest of his master, General Kimonak, who then wiped out the raiders. Using a duplicate of the Green Turtle's rocket plane, the Lieutenant was trying to destroy the good name of the Green Turtle. Tasatu was eventually shot down by Burma Boy, and the General was taken into custody and committed seppuku shortly thereafter. As Burma Boy remarked: "General Kimonak's entire staff committed (seppuku) after his death. Is it not wisely said that he who plans a trap will often fall into it?"
Man of War: 1942, Man of War Comics #2 (Centaur). An imposter sent to kidnap General LeSan and lead the French forces fighting the Italians in Syria into an ambush. Which almost worked even after the real Man of War got involved, rescuing the general and helping fight off the enemy soldiers. I'm noticing these faux heroes, tend to be of normal people mimicking very powerful heroes.
Mask: 1940, Exciting Comics #4 (Better). Dennis Durrant illuminates: When the beautiful Broadway star Sandra Cummings committed suicide in her dressing room, she left a suicide note in which she named the members of a graft ring. The note was taken from the detective who found it by a gangster who was then surprised by the Mask, aka District Attorney Anthony Colby. The leader of the graft ring then turned off the dressing room lights and seized the note from the Mask, but not before the Mask memorized the names of the members of the graft ring. This individual then disguised himself as the Mask and teamed up with gangster Patrick O'Rooney to terrorize the members of his own graft ring. He succeeded in killing three of those members - leaving the sign of the Mask beside each one - before being shot dead by the Mask and unmasked as Dr. Lawrence Reid, a close friend of Sandra Cummings. Reid himself had been the man behind the graft ring, and Sandra had chosen to take her own life rather than be blackmailed by him.
Pyroman: Startling Comics #34 (Better). A Japanese doppelganger who simulated his powers.
Scarab: Exciting Comics#15. (Standard) Ramon Royale is a murderer and thief, he once tried to kill Peter Ward in an effort to steal some scarab statuettes. Nazi agents spring him from his Cairo prison, steal the scarab statuette and outfit him like the hero the Scarab in an effort to turn the Egyptian people against the Unite Nations. Only he is easily stopped by the real Scarab. There are several holes here. Ramon has a long then mustache and talks with a French accent so he doesn't make for a convincing Scarab even without the powers. And, the reason behind the theft of the statuette is not really explained either.
Shark: (Centaur) Anthony Durrant provides: This clown was a surgeon who looked like the Shark, the Golden Age undersea crime fighter, and who had opened gills in his own neck in order to breathe underwater. The fake Shark began a crime wave disguised as the Shark, who, unfortunately, captured him. The fake Shark bore an uncanny resemblance to the real Shark but did not have his webbed hands and feetFay Morgana: Super-Mystery Comics (Ace). The sexy spy Fay Morganna worked with the Hun ( a long-haired brute of a man), and the Goth (a bearded older gent) on behalf of Hitler as saboteurs and spies. However, they are stopped by the Sword, Lancer, and Merlin and dishearted enough to accept the aid of a dimunitive man calling himself the Genius. As the Sword and company make use of Arthurian myth and themes, a villainess with a name based on Morgan Le Fey is a natural.
The Fear: Yankee Comics #1 (Harry A Chessler). A masked and costumed axis (presumed German) agent. He had control of a witch who could use the hair of an individual to kill them by magic. They were killing key American military leaders when stopped by the fledgeling hero duo Yankee Doodle Jones and Dandy.
Professor Fenton: (Better). Inventor of a time machine, but uses his intelligence to head a gang and concoct schemes to steal money. Opposed by the mystical (Green) Ghost.
FFF: 1941, Captain Battle Comics #1 (Lev Gleason). Standing for Fire, Force and Fear, this is a vast league of green robed men seeking to subjugate America. They set their headquarters in Chicago and set about to bring the city to it's knees through murder and destruction. Their leader is Thompson, editor of The Midwest Nationalist and is stopped by Captain Battle.
The Fiend: 1939, Keen Detective Funnies v2 (Centaur). Criminal mastermind and foe of FBI man Dan Dennis. He has a satanic looking face and has created an "organ of destruction" that when he plays it, it can destroy objects or paralyze those that hear it.
Mr. Filch: Mr. Durrant provides: Mr. Filch was the man in charge of the reservation where the Princeton Lacrosse team's coach Eaglewing was living. Eaglewing was building an Indian village to honour his family, as he was the last of the elder Native Americans to be living on the reservation, the younger ones having gone away to fight in the war, but Mr. Filch refused to admit the public to see the village. Dick Cole's superior officer was a childhood friend of Mr. Filch's superior officer, and the man gave permission for the village to be opened to the public. However, Mr. Filch hired several hoodlums to pose as angry Native Americans and scare away the tourists. Dick Cole and the other members of his lacrosse team apprehended the hoodlums, and Mr. Filch was arrested by his superior officer, Mr. Dickon, for defrauding the government: all of the Native Americans he had been collecting funds and pension money had passed away years earlier. Mr. Filch was sent to a federal prison and Eaglewing was allowed to run his reservation as he saw fit. This was one of the few stories of its kind in the Golden Age in which Native Americans appeared.
Fire of Kenya: 1943, Clue Comics #4 (Hillman) Anthony Durrant writes: Not a villain, but a stone ripped from the head of a sacred idol in Kenya. It has a curse on it by which everybody who comes across it is brutally murdered; a whole series of crooks try to claim the Fire of Kenya but are killed in the process. Finally, it comes into the possession of a man called Mike Jaram, who himself is murdered for the stone by Benny the Fence, a gangster who sells stolen goods. Benny is then brought to justice by the crime-fighter Micro-Face, who recovers a stone from Jaram's flat that turns out to be a copy: the real Fire of Kenya had been cut up into smaller stones five years earlier.
The Fly: December 1943, Clue Comics #6 (Hillman). Again from Ronald Byrd: A small yet apish genius, the Fly has trained himself to be strong and agile; he uses a rope fitted with suction cups to climb and sports a "poison tooth" to disable his opponents. Zippo catches him in the midst of sabotage, and he is jailed and seemingly slated for the electric chair.
The Flying Dragon: 1940? Silver Streak Comics (Lev Gleason). Foe of Sky Wolf (I).
The Four: 1945, America's Best Comics 116 (Standard). Headed by Dagger Brent, a murderer six times over, the like-minded skillful group tries to seize control of a previously unknown Alaskan island to sell its location to hostile governments. They are stopped by the Fighting Yank. They dress in matching gray outfits with hoods and goggles ala the "Powermen of Mongo" and the only other member named is Gort Dagler, an international spy.
Frankenstein Monster: Prize Comics (Feature Publications). The Frankenstein strip by Dick Briefer had a very schizophrenic run...sometimes horror, sometimes super-hero, and sometimes humor. The Monster had a healthy career opposed by his creator, by Bulldog Denny, and once by all of the denizens of Prize Comics (Black Owl, Yank & Doodle, Green Lama, Doctor Frost and a comical police duo).
Fraulein X: Bomber Comics. Beautiful but deadly Nazi spy. She sets out to ruin the tests of a new aviation fuel developed by Dr. Benson. Unfortunately for her, Dr. Benson is good friends with Wonder Boy who uncovers and stops her plot as well as capturing her.
Friar Diablo: Captain Battle Comics (Lev Gleason). This portly hunchbacked monk lived in a castle on a south seas island guarding an engraved sword that contained a clue to Captain Kydd's treasure. He promised Baron Doom to use his black magic to defeat Captain Battle and Hale in exchange for a share of the treasure. In the end, he is defeated when his magic wand shatters and brings the castle to ruins.
Frost/Human Frost: Wham Comics 2. (Centaur). This ice encased person fought the hero Blue Fire. However, whether he was a gangster as I originally supposed or is a hero as hinted by Roy Thomas in Alter Ego I'm not sure.
Fu Tong/Fong: 1941, Daredevil Comics #4 (Lev Gleason). Fu Tong had devised a plan of kidnapping Navy fliers and doping them in order to brainwash them to fly and bomb their own bases. The hero Nightro managed to put a stop to him before his plans reached fruition. On the splash page blurb the villain is referred to as Fu Tong. In the story itself he is called Fong.
Funnibone: 1942, Prize Comics, No 24 (Feature Publications) A fancy crook with a perpetual grin and twisted logic sets out to ruin America's steel production by targeting coal mines in a small Ohio town. The reason behind his actions is unknown; however, his plans are thwarted by the Black Owl (I) and his girlfriend Terry Dane. NOTE: I originally proposed that this character was a re-working of the Black Owl villain the Laughing Head. While one may indeed be based on the other (and both as dull versions of the Joker), they are separate villains as proven in a later issue when Funnibone is going up against the boy heroes Yank and Doodle, while in the same issue, The Black Owl takes on the Laughing Head. Both end up back behind bars where they belong.