Bring on the Bad Guys: The Sportsmaster

Real name: "Crusher" Crock
First appearance: All-American Comics#85 (May 1947)
Abilities: Peak human strength, master of all sports
Worst act: Theft, attempted murder
Quote: "Me..."Crusher" Crock...bounced? You're nuts!"
Created by: John Broome (script), Irwin Hasen (pencils), and John Belfi (inks)

Given that this is the 29th, an unusual day for the month I'd figured I'd take a look at another personal favorite of mine.

The Sportsmaster might be my favorite Green Lantern foe, besides Solomon Grundy. Here's a guy who decides to tackle a dude who could level a city block armed with nothing more than a tennis racket. That is a level of dedication one rarely finds today.

His backstory, at least in 1947, is fairly straight forward. Crock is a pro football player, but not one the fans can root for; no, Crock makes it a point to injure at least one player in every game. While this might get some tut-tutting from a cable sports pundit today and a slight fine, Crock finds himself banned not only from football but ALL professional sports.

Not sure they had that kind of power back then, but whatever.

Deciding to strike back at the world that mocked him, Crock decided to rob a polo match. He immediately runs into the Green Lantern and apparently falls to his death.

You can't keep a good crook down though, and he was soon brought back. One thing that made him stand out from other crooks? The Huntress

Not the Batman/Birds of Prey supporting character, no, but the 'Kill Wildcat and mount his head on my wall' character. She and Crock run into each other and soon sparks are flying. Seeing two villains fall in love was a different approach back then and it works. Huntress was also a fairly tough cookie in her own right.

One thing I also liked about the Sportsmaster was his costume(s). Every time he showed up he had a different one with a different sports theme to it. He dressed as a baseball player, a polo rider, and even a tennis player too. Nowadays they have him in a goalie in tactical gear, but I thought it was cool.

Bring on the Bad Guys: Baldy

Real name: Arnold Corbin
First appearance: Green Lantern I#2 (Winter 1942)
Abilities: Forging wills
Worst act: Murder
Created by: Bill Finger (script), Mart Nodell (art)

Winding down here, we take a look at the first villain to take up an entire issue.

Green Lantern decides to throw some business towards lawyer Frank Benton. He finds one in Joe Stromboli. Joe's in a pickle, also an asylum as he claims that millionaire PG Jeffers named him in his will.

Obviously this was enough to get a man committed back in the day. Green Lantern doesn't have time for this legal nonsense and breaks Joe out before hunting for the men who put him in there in the first place.

Mr. Slagg is the lawyer for Lester Payne, who argues that Jeffers named him the sole beneficiary. Slagg ends up murdered, forcing GL and Benton to tackle the case and hunt down who wanted Stromboli out of the picture.

All the evidence points towards a fellow called "Baldy" but who is he? They narrow it down to a few suspects, most of whom work for the Jeffers Corporation, but when one of cleared and the other nearly murdered, who could it be?

Not a bad story, but again we see another corrupt guy in a suit.

Bring on the Bad Guys: Henkle

Real name: Henkle
First appearance: All-American#35 (February 1942)
Abilities: Gang boss
Worst act: Murder
Created by: Bill Finger (script), Irwin Hasen (art)

The biggest thing in this issue isn't the corrupt union boss Henkle, but rather this is the issue when Doiby finds out that Green Lantern is Alan Scott.

Doiby does most of the heavy lifting here when he finds the murdered body of Nealy, a construction worker who was striking against his boss Henkle. GL goes after them, but gets knocked out and captured. Doiby finds the mask and uses it to track down GL. When he rescues him, he finds out that Green Lantern is really Alan Scott.

"I have no idea who that is"

Which makes sense. Unlike Batman or even Superman, Alan Scott isn't a public figure. Why would Doiby know who he is?

Bring on the Bad Guys: Livingstone Construction Company

Members: Mr. Livingstone, Nick Darcy, Mayor Kastor
First appearance: All-American Comics#34 (January 1942)
Abilities: Graft
Worst act: Murder, shoddy building
Created by: Bill Finger (script), Irwin Hasen (art)

Getting back into the buildings; at this point it seems that the powers that be forgot Alan Scott used to be an engineer.

After a building in Capital City collapses, Green Lantern is on the case! Finding the construction firm at fault, GL promptly informs Mayor Kastor...pity that Kastor is also on the board of the LCC and makes it a point to bury the report.

When whistleblower Nick Darcy is murdered, Green Lantern decides to skip the mayor and turn the man over to the local D.A.

Bring on the Bad Guys: Pug Deagan

Real name: Pug Deagan
First appearance: All-American Comics#33 (December 1941)
Abilities: Gangster
Worst act: Racketeering, attempted murder
Created by: Bill Finger (script), Mart Nodell (art)

Cab drivers of Capital City are trying to organize a union. Gangster Pug Deagan thinks this is a wonderful idea. So much so he wants all the drivers to join his union. Union leader Hefty Martin disagrees, so Pug sends some of his boys to convince Hefty, i.e. break a few bones.

This gets Doiby involved, and thus the Green Lantern. Similar to the Superman yarn from a few years earlier (Action Comics#13), GL wages war on the gangsters and gets the cabbies a honest union.

Bring on the Bad Guys: Rebels

Real names: Unrevealed
First appearance: Green Lantern I#1/5 (Fall 1941)
Abilities: Some military training
Worst act: Attempted overthrow
Created by: Bill Finger (story), Mart Nodell (art)

And now the last story in the first Green Lantern issue. Generic to the point of parody, almost. Green Lantern and Doiby are going to South America. Not any one country, just South America. There they find rebels and spies!

Doiby gets arrested as a spy, but GL springs him. It seems the rebels don't know why they're rebelling. Yup, bunch of spies came in and told them to burn down their nondescript country so they did. Thankfully Green Lantern sets them with some stern talking to about democracy.

Bring on the Bad Guys: Burly guys

Real names: Unrevealed
First appearance: Green Lantern I#1/5 (Fall 1941)
Abilities: Able to drag heavyset people around
Worst act: Kidnapping
Created by: Irwin Hasen (art)

Well, this is a first. Crossovers were a rare thing back in the day (covers aside), and here we have the first time Green Lantern encounters regular All-American Comics backup feature Hop Harrigan.

Honestly, Hop is the main character throughout this. To wit, Tank (Hop's sidekick) is seen being hustled into a van by some rough looking dudes. Naturally Hop is a bit concerned and jumps into the nearest cab, ordering it to follow that van.

And of course Doiby is the cab driver. The pair end up in the slammer for all their trouble, but the Green Lantern busts them out and they're off to the rescue!

Except not really; oh, did Tank forget to mention why he was being dragged off? It seems he signed up for a weight loss clinic and they take their membership very serious.

Bring on the Bad Guys: Solomon Grundy

Real name: Cyrus Gold
First appearance: All-American Comics#61 (October 1944)
Abilities: Super human strength, stamina, near immortal
Worst act: Murder
Quotes: "Name? I...have no name. I...was born on Monday!"
Created by: Alfred Bester (story), Paul Reiman (art)

In the tradition of Two-Face, Lex Luthor, and the Cheetah, I'll be using the 22nd to look at a favorite of the villains of the DCU. Since we're looking at the Green Lantern, why not Solomon Grundy?

Around the 1890s wealthy businessman Cyrus Gold is waylaid and murdered in Slaughter Swamp. His body lays in the swamp for the next fifty years when he suddenly arises, now as a giant zombie. He first encounters two crooks on the run. He also discovers that he's pretty bullet proof being dead. The two crooks aren't nearly as durable.

Now actually dressed, he stumbles across a hobo camp. When one of them names him Solomon Grundy (after the old nursey rhyme), Gold takes to the name and soon has a hobo army. His first fight with the Green Lantern ends with him being hit by a train and seemingly killed again.

Of course you can't keep a good undead down and he'd plague Green Lantern (among others) up to the present day. He does seem to draw some inspiration from similar monster the Heap (1942) or even Theodore Sturgeon's classic short story "It!" (1940), although most writers seem to treat Grundy like DC's Hulk.

I think it was James Robinson on Starman who brought a different take with Grundy. Basically every time he dies, he comes back with not a different personality, but rather a magnified portion of Cyrus Gold. Which explains how Grundy has been smart, dumb, kind, cruel, heroic and monstrous in equal measure. Rather neat, as you can do so much with that kind of trick.

Although as of late, it seems that DC just wants to use him as a Hulk stand-in, which is a shame.

Bring on the Bad Guys: Barton and Murker

Real names: Barton, Murker
First appearance: Green Lantern I#1/4 (Fall 1941)
Abilities: Graft, yellow journalism
Worst acts: Arson
Created by: Bill Finger (story), Mart Nodell (art)

Barton here is the owner/publisher of the Daily Tattle. A series of fires in the slums prompt him to run a series of articles, demanding the city stop the fires but he also buys up the properties on the down low.

Mr. Murker, as it just so happens, is owner of said properties and many more beside. He's also the firebug. He's also working with Barton.

Naturally the Green Lantern gets involved and soon the crooks are exposed.

Bring on the Bad Guys: Boss Filch

Real name: Boss Filch
First appearance: Green Lantern I#1/3 (Fall 1941)
Abilities: Money laundering
Worst act: Stealing medicine
Created by: Bill Finger (story), Mart Nodell (art)

Boss is a real scumbag. Running the city, he diverts all the city's money to himself. When a pneumonia epidemic strikes the city, hospitals aren't able to afford medicine. That isn't his problem, even when Green Lantern leans on him.

Then his son gets sick and suddenly he cares. That gets his attention and soon he exchanges his evidence for the medicine.

Bring on the Bad Guys: Scar Jorgis

Real name: Scar Jorgis
First appearance: Green Lantern I#1/2 (Fall 1941)
Abilities: Gangster
Worst act: Horse theft, fixing races
Created by: Bill Finger (story), Mart Nodell (art)

Scar is memorable due to being the first villain ever seen in the very first Green Lantern comic (second story though, as the first is a recap of GL's origin).

GL gal-pal Irene inherits a racehorse, but local gangster Scar wants it. Working with her crooked cousin Gerald, he steals it and proceeds to rig a series of races in his favor.

Thankfully Green Lantern happens to overhear and gets involved and thus Scar is brought to justice. Irene apparently sells the horse as it is never mentioned again.

Bring on the Bad Guys: Gardenia Greene

Real name: Gardenia Greene
First appearance: All-American Comics#32 (November 1941)
Abilities: Mobster
Worst act: Attempted murder, framing
Created by: Bill Finger (script), Irwin Hasen (art)

Greene doesn't play a huge on screen role, but he does factor into the plot. He frames Danny Malone (just because he can) and when Danny is disowned by his cop dad and serves his time, he comes out of the pokey hardened and ready to do actual crimes when Green Lantern sets him straight.

From there Danny gets to infiltrate Greene's gang and helps bring the mobster down. Seems kind of a dumb to hire a guy you framed for a crime, unless he does this so much he can't keep track of them.

Bring on the Bad Guys: "Honest" John Logan

Real name: John Logan
First appearance: All-American Comics#31 (October 1941)
Abilities: Moving money around
Worst act: Stealing from orphans
Created by: Bill Finger (script), Mart Nodell (art)

Pretty darn similar to an early Superman yarn (Action Comics#27, June 1940). An orphanage is spending it's funds on the supervisor instead of the kids. Green Lantern investigates Mr. Grimstone which in turn leads him to assistant mayor "Honest" John Logan who's funneling money from various programs from the poor to his own pockets.

Good yarn, but again Superman did it first.

Bring on the Bad Guys: Hedge and Wile

Real names: Hedge and Wile
First appearance: All-American Comics#30 (September 1941)
Abilities: Bail bonding
Worst act: Murder
Created by: Bill Finger (script), Irwin Hasen (art)

Some crooked bail bondsmen this time out, with Hedge and Wile running a racket. Irene handles this case for the most part, but despite getting herself thrown in prison she still needs GL's help to bust the ring.

By the numbers at this point but a good showing all the same.

Bring on the Bad Guys: Mitch Hogan

Real name: Mitch Hogan
First appearance: All-American Comics#29 (August 1941)
Abilities: Racketeering
Worst act: Distributing counterfeit drugs
Created by: Bill Finger (script), Irwin Hasen (art)

A straight forward racketeer; Hogan runs a phony drug ring and makes chemists buy his snake oil. Thankfully Green Lantern is there to help. He does manage to get Hogan onto the stand, although most of the heroics at the end are handled by Doilby.

Bring on the Bad Guys: Spider

Real name: Unknown
First appearance: All-American Comics#28 (July 1941)
Abilities: Poisoner
Worst act: Murder
Created by: Bill Finger (script), Irwin Hasen (art)

Spider here is the leader of a murder ring, giving old rich men poison for various reasons. He's the real mastermind, despite Larry Brand (nephew of victim Cyrus) playing a prominent part in the story.

He does manage to elevate himself somewhat by kidnapping both Irene Miller and Green Lantern and forcing them to take poison. He still loses when GL fakes his death.

Bring on the Bad Guys: Barton

Real name: Barton
First appearance: All-American Comics#27 (June 1941)
Abilities: Saboteur
Worst act: Attempted sabotage, kidnapping
Created by:  Bill Finger (script), Sheldon Moldoff (pencils), and Irwin Hasen (inks)

The villain of this piece is pretty much secondary to the character introduced in this issue, namely Doiby Dickles. Doiby would become the Green Lantern's sidekick, which was odd as most sidekicks at the time tended to be youths. Doiby was a cranky old man with a wrench.

Barton, getting back to the theme, was a saboteur. Hearing that Irene Miller has a new type of radio, Barton sets it to mind to steal it. Doiby gets dragged into it when Irene takes his cab and Barton tries to take the cab.

Doiby even gets more screen time when GL gets knocked out, forcing the old fella to don his own version of the Green Lantern uniform. He doesn't use a magic ring. Nope, he beats the tar out of Barton's hoods with a wrench.

Bring on the Bad Guys: Richard Turpin

Real name: Richard Turpin
First appearance: All-American Comics#26 (May 1941)
Abilities: Loan sharking
Worst act: Fraud, assault
Created by: Bill Finger (script), Irwin Hasen (art)

Moving into the gritter world of loan sharking, this time we see the Green Lantern take on Richard Turpin (Do his friends call him 'Dick'? Little Highwayman joke).

Turpin seems to be a real piece of work; first he gives money to desperate people then he forges their names on the contract, trapping them in a never-ending spiral of debt.

Green Lantern tries a more subtle approach but still ends up smacking his thugs around and dragging them all to jail. Still topical, sadly.

Bring on the Bad Guys: Harkiss

Real name: Harkiss
First appearance: All-American Comics#25 (April 1941)
Abilities: Manipulating stocks
Worst act: Sabotage
Created by: Bill Finger (script), Mart Nodell (art)

Trouble arises at a steel mill. When Green Lantern decides to investigate, this freaks out the saboteur's boss, who has Irene Miller kidnapped. Because if the Green Lantern wasn't motivated before...

GL makes short of the thugs and was find out the sabotage was ordered by none other Mr. Harkiss, a stockholder! He might be have been ordered by a foreign power but the story's a bit vague.

Bring on the Bad Guys: RJ Karns

Real name: R.J. Karns
First appearance: All-American Comics#24 (March 1941)
Abilities: Can run a slavery ring and shipping company at the same time
Worst act: Slavery
Created by: Bill Finger (story), Mart Nodell (art)

Green Lantern is a bit a side player in this one. The main hero is Jim Cass, who goes to work on a tropical island. Turns out the residents there are more on the 'permanent and no pay' status. Cass escapes but no will believe him.

That is until the Green Lantern decides to investigate and links island boss Pancho Lupo with shipping magnate RJ Karns.

A serous problem, but Karns is again just another guy in a suit.

Bring on the Bad Guys: Frankie Fowler

Real name: Frankie Fowler
First appearance: All-American Comics#23 (February 1941)
Abilities: Handy with genealogical records
Worst act: Blackmail
Created by: Bill Finger (script), Everett E. Hibbard (art)

Another blackmailer this time; Frankie finds out that actress Delia Day is set to marry the fabulously rich Harvey Drake the Third. A secret that Ms. Day didn't tell her hubby to be is that her father is the infamous gang lord Al Maloney. Frankie knows this, however, and for a small monthly fee he'll be happy to keep her secrets secret.

Fowler bites it when Maloney breaks out of jail and shoots him, dying in the process. Green Lantern gets a new power when he brainwashes Fowler's gang to forget Day's parentage.

A bit scummy but forgettable.

Bring on the Bad Guys: Mark Karaste

Real name: Mark Karaste

First appearance: All-American Comics#22 (January 1941)

Abilities: Racketeering 

Worst act: Fight fixing, kidnapping, attempted murder

Created by: Bill Finger (script) Mart Nodell (art)

Karaste is introduced to us as the manager of Brute Nolan. Karaste tends to favor the 'anything goes' approach to winning, mostly by trying to have Nolan's opponents killed or failing that, have their spouses kidnapped.

Straight forward, although with the boxing theme it seemed better suited to Wildcat than Green Lantern.

Bring on the Bad Guys: Elias Strake

Real name: Elias Strake
First appearance: All-American Comics#21 (December 1940)
Abilities: Manipulation
Worst act: Fraud, attempted murder
Created by: Bill Finger (script) Mart Nodell (art)

The main focus here is the con artist Mr. Strake. Upon hearing that the Blake family is searching for their lost son, Strake brings in hooligan Cub Brenner and passes him off as the presumably dead Tommy Blake.

As these stories tend to go it turns out that Cub actually is Tommy and the Green Lantern manages to bring Strake to justice.

Not terrible, but that the missing heir yarn was getting a bit old by 1940.

Bring on the Bad Guys: Gates

Real name: Gates

First appearance: All-American Comics#20 (November 1940)

Abilities: Radio executive 

Worst act: Murder 

Created by: Bill Finger (script), Mart Nodell (art)

The issue we see the return of Irene Miller (last seen in All-American Comics#18) and Alan Scott going to work in radio, a job he'll be linked with for the rest of his existence.

When radio announcer Jim Telluem is murdered, Alan decides to investigate. Irene worked with Jim and gets Alan's foot into the door of the Apex Broadcasting Studio. From there he finds a gang of smugglers and their boss, Gates who as it turns out is the head of ABS.

Not bad, but I can't help but notice how many superheroes worked in either print or radio news. Although it does makes sense, since Alan's being an engineer hadn't been a plot point since his second appearance.

Bring on the Bad Guys: Baron Von Zorn

Real name: Von Zorn
First appearance: All-Star Comics#2 (Fall 1940)
Abilities: Medical doctor
Worst act: Being a Nazi, kidnapping
Created by: Bill Finger (script), Mart Nodell (art)

Moving into the All-Star series, we focus on the Green Lantern story and the first Nazi GL ever fought.

The Baron here is the leader of the Robot Men, kidnapped souls he forcibly abducted and medically altered into living machines, only thinking of conquering the United States.

Thankfully Alan Scott happened to have gone to medical school for a bit, along engineering I assume, and is able to correct the baron's handiwork.

Bring on the Bad Guys: Slade

Real name: Slade
First appearance: All-American Comics#19 (October 1940)
Abilities: Running a gang
Worst act: Murder, insurance fraud
Created by: Bill Finger (script), Marty Nodell (art)

I'm shocked no one has tried to tie this guy to Deathstroke.

Mr. Slade deals in insurance. The Green Lantern gets involved when he first saves a man from a hit and run only for the man to die later in a suspicious accident.

Saving another man, the Emerald Gladiator discovers the man and the previous victim both signed large insurance polices, with Mr. Slade being the sole beneficiary. A coincidence surely?

GL infiltrates the underworld gambling scene and soon exposes Slade, who dies in the fight. Short but decent.

Bring on the Bad Guys: Murdock

Real name: Murdock
First appearance: All-American Comics#18 (September 1940)
Abilities: Kidnapping
Worst act: Kidnapping and blackmail
Created by: Bill Finger (script), Marty Nodell (art)

Going to the World's Fair this time out and also the first time the Green Lantern uses the oath.

Alan Scott gets dragged into this when he prevents a woman from murdering a fellow fair goer. She has her reasons though, as the gentleman in question is the mobster Murdock who framed her brother.

In short order the Green Lantern also learns that Murdock has kidnapped a judge's daughter in order to blackmail the man. Short fight ending with Murdock facing the consequences of his crimes.

Bring on the Bad Guys: Cyrus Gorson

Real name: Cyrus Gorson
First appearance: All-American Comics#17 (August 1940)
Abilities: Graft
Worst act: Graft and corruption
Created by: Bill Finger (script), Mart Nodell (art)

For this story, Alan Scott apparently moved to Metropolis. No Superman though; no, Alan Scott must deal with the most insidious of foes, a public employee!

Cyrus Gorson is the Commissioner of Public Works for Metropolis, but he's also in deep with racketeer Muller. He undertakes the building of city projects but he makes sure his good buddy Muller gets the contracts for a small fee.

Alan Scott, as a mild mannered engineer, confronts the crooked duo but gets shots for his efforts. Deciding to use the magic ring after all, the Green Lantern confronts them again and Gorson takes a shot from his partner.

He dies, but its enough to bust Muller. A boring but corrupt figure, common at the time.

Bring on the Bad Guys: Dekker

Real name: Dekker
First appearance: All-American Comics#16 (July 1940)
Abilities: Manipulation, cheap builder
Worst act: Murder
Created by: Bill Finger (script) and Mart Nodell (art)

This year we'll be taking a look at the Golden Age Green Lantern and who better than his first foe?

Mr. Dekker and his thugs are officially in the construction business. Engineer Alan Scott gets a bridge contract instead of him, so he naturally wrecks the bridge while Scott travels on it. Scott survives and in the wreckage finds a glowing green lantern. You can guess the rest.

So, as far as first villains go, Dekker is a pretty bland fellow. He dies of a heart attack at the end, which was typical for stories at the time period.