Villains
There aren’t many recurring villains in these early stories, usually because the bad guys end up dead one way or another (although the Red Skull seemingly dies every time he shows up, and is still around today). The few recurring bad guys – the Red Skull, the Black Talon, the Python – stand out by their rarity. In addition to those three, Angel fought a Catwoman-like villain named the Cat’s Paw over three issues before her disapperance/apparent death. Namor has his recurring cast of characters, and could count as a recurring villain himself (he’s usually the less smpathetic one in his clashes with the Human Torch).
The villains range from colorful characters with grandiose plans to simple thieves and killers. They’re usually about as grounded as the heroes they face – the Masked Raider’s foes are normal people with basic goals, while Captain America’s are more eclectic, and the characters who dip into science fiction and fantasy face even weirder enemies. And, of course, the Nazis are prominent villains, with characters like the Destroyer, Citizen V, and Headline Hunter in Europe helping to fight directly, while at home Captain America deals with Nazi plots to destabilize America.
Yeah, But Are They Any Good?
So, there are two big things to keep in mind on judging how good these comics are:
- They’re targeted at about 8-12 year olds. The plots are simple, usually with events that aren’t meant to stand up to scrutiny because the scrutiny’s not meant to come. Why, when the heroes get in a fight mid-story, are they always going to be overwhelmed by numbers or taken out by a cheap shot from behind, but in the final pages they’ll hold up? How do so many villains have their exact kryptonite ready for the fight to subdue them? (It makes some sense when it’s like the Human Torch who’s got to be fairly famous by now and being ready to fight back should he enter the fray is a good idea. Although, again, the Torch is going to overcome the asbestos1 so he can save the day.) Why don’t the villains, usually hardened criminals who don’t have much compunction about killing anyone else, not kill the heroes? The answers of course being “that’s how it’s gotta be for the story to work, now sit down, shut up, and enjoy it.”2
- It was the 1940s. Things were different then. That doesn’t excuse the racist stuff; it’s still not okay, but forewarned is forearmed. Also, the science is often laughable, even by early science fiction standards – the Whizzer getting powers from a mongoose blood transfusion is actually on the sane side.
So if that doesn’t scare you off, there is definitely stuff worth reading here. They were trying a bunch of stuff in the first days, and some of it didn’t work. But what did work made for some entertaining stories.
World War II
Despite this post group’s title, World War II was very much active in these years. The US was officially neutral for most of them, with Americans deeply divided on whether we should get involved or not. As Britain struggled to beat back the Blitz and much of the rest of Europe fell before the Nazi war machine, attitudes shifted to favor intervention. The Lend-Lease program in early 1941 effectively ended American neutrality, but American troops stayed out of the war for most of the rest of the year. Reading the comics, Nazis appear more and more frequently – as mentioned above, both being fought on the front lines and fifth columnists plotting against America from within. As 1941 winds on, the feeling becomes increasingly one of inevitability, that not only will America enter the war, but that they must.
Japan didn’t get as much attention as Germany, but of course, it was the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that ended the debate. The United States wouldn’t let a direct attack go unanswered. America was going to war.
Next: And superheroes were no exception.