Bring on the Bad Guys: The Kidnapper

Real name: Edgar Eggwell, Jr. 

First appearance: All-Star Comics#3 (Winter 1940)

Abilities: Being a jerk

Worst act: Attempted kidnapping

Created by: Gardner Fox (script), Sheldon Mayer (pencils)

This time, gatecrasher Johnny Thunder decides to interject and spin his own tale. In case you came in late, the wraparound story is the JSA sitting around a hotel room and telling stories. 

Johnny happens by his gal pal Daisy Darling's abode and find her necking with a new beau. Johnny wishes the fellow had some poison ivy and his magic thunderbolt obliges. Daisy kicks them both out. 

Dateless and flat broke as usual, Johnny stumbles across a kidnapping and manages to save the victim, Theresa, and she wants to give him anything he wants. He wants a hundred bucks a week and job. She agrees and makes him her bodyguard. Daisy happens by and sees another woman with her man, so she promptly dumps him.

The kidnapper is still out there, and yup, it turns out the whole kidnapping scheme was the invention of Edgar, Daisy's new boyfriend! Can Johnny figure it out in time?

Decent. Fast and we see the usual comedy relief character handling himself pretty well. 

Bring on the Bad Guys: The wizard and phantoms

Real name: Unrevealed 

First appearance: All-Star Comics#3 (Winter 1940)

Abilities: Magic!

Worst act: Attempted murder

Created by: Gardner Fox (script), Howard Sherman, E.E. Hibbard (pencils)

Dr. Fate takes over for this chapter. HIs wife Inza gets knocked out by a magic book, prompting doc to head out to the moors and melt a wizard and fight phantoms. 

Feels like I missed a few pages, but that's it. 

Bring on the Bad Guys: Dr. Faversham

Real name: Faversham

First appearance: All-Star Comics#3 (Winter 1940)

Abilities: SCIENCE!

Worst act: Attempted murder, murder, failing basic biology 

Created by: Gardner Fox (script), Chad Grothkopf, Sheldon Moldoff, E.E. Hibbard (pencils)

The Sandman takes over, and wow. We open with wealthy man about town Wesley Dodds (Sandman's alter ego) and his best gal pal Dian taking a scenic drive through the countryside.

That's when they hit a giant. 

Yup, a giant. The poor fellow escaped from the residence of the mad Dr. Faversham. His whole deal is pumping chemicals into pituitary glands. Why? SCIENCE! And he'll make those blind fools pay! Thankfully the Sandman and his gas gun make short work of the mad doc. 

A bit silly. The Sandman tended to face your standard crooks, so a mad scientist was a bit out of left field. The doc also brings to mind Hugo Strange but I'm sure that wasn't intentional. 

Bring on the Bad Guys: Mr. Durant

Real name: Durant 

First appearance: All-Star Comics#3 (Winter 1940)

Abilities: Insurance fraud 

Worst act: Attempted theft

Created by: Gardner Fox, Ken Fitch (script), Bernard Bailey (pencils)

So after the Spectre's grisly yarn, Hourman steps up. From God's own vengeance to a guy who's really tough for only an hour. 

Rex Tyler (Hourman's alter ego) scores an invite to a costume party. On a lark, he goes as Hourman...only to discover most of the guests had the exact same idea. Since no costume party in the DC Universe ever goes right, the Durant Diamond Collection is stolen!

The culprit? Hourman!

Naturally Rex is a bit put out by this and works to uncover the real thief. The phony Hourmen are actually in the pay of none other than Mr. Durant himself. Yup, he went to all the trouble of staging a costume ball to cover his insurance fraud. Seems like he could just stolen them and blamed a burglar, but what do I know? Turns out the gems on display were fake anyway, as Durant didn't want to get rid of the originals. 

Bit of a comedown from the last story.  

Bring on the Bad Guys: Oom

Real name: Oom

First appearance: All-Star Comics#3 (Winter 1940)

Abilities: Magic

Worst act: Attempted murder, murder

Created by: Gardner Fox, Jerry Siegel (script), Bernard Bailey, E.E. Hibbard (pencils)

The Spectre offers up a story. Always good to hear from the personification of God's Vengeance; in his day job as police detective Jim Corrigan, the Spectre investigates a series of full moon slayings. The killer doesn't waste any time. His name is Oom and he has a bargain for the ghostly guardian. He's looking for the Red Moon Stone of Yzgartyl. Whoever can find it can remain on Earth with the loser being banished forever.

For some reason, the Spectre humors him and goes on the hunt. Oom manages to find the stone, but the Spectre tricks him into dropping the stone in his hands, thus damning his soul to remain forever trapped in the stone. 

Dang. Bit harsh, pity Hourman trying to top that. 

Bring on the Bad Guys: Mazda

 Real name: Mazda

First appearance: All-Star Comics#3 (Winter 1940)

Abilities: FIRE

Worst act: Attempted murder

Created by: Gardner Fox (script), Sheldon Moldoff, E.E. Hibbard (pencils)

After Flash's tale, we have Hawkman (we'll get to his origin soon, I hope) and his chapter. Sheira and Carter go to study the Krakaota volcano, but it turns out the natives don't care for visitors. 

Yeah, natives. Seems there is a group of Volcano People and for the crime of showing up, they try to put the winged wonders to death. 

Hawkman manages to escape and rescues Sheira before the volcano blows up.

Which really shouldn't be a problem for a group of people who literally live inside a volcano, but yeah. I imagine after Hawkman finishes, there is a series of awkward pauses. 

Bring on the Bad Guys: The Nancy K

Membership: Burly Billy

First appearance: All-Star Comics#3 (Winter 1940)

Abilities: Sailors 

Worst act: Attempted theft, attempted murder

Created by: Gardner Fox (script), E.E. Hibbard (pencils)

This year we'll be looking at the first super group, the Justice Society of America! Looking back at the stories, one can't help but notice the sheer difference in storytelling. Nowadays the book would have all the assembled heroes fighting their foes at once, but back in 1940 All-Star Comics worked more as an anthology, with each heroes telling the reader of their separate yarns.   

So, with the first issue and the first chapter, what's it all about? We have the Flash (Jay Garrick) telling a gatecrashing Johnny Thunder about an adventure he just had. 

A Spanish galleon sank off the coast of Panama, its hold heavy with Aztec gold. A friend of Jay's girlfriend Joan is trying to salvage the gold, but the ship the Nancy K and its roughneck crew are making it clear they'll let the gold be salvaged first, then they'll be taking it. 

Thankfully Joan knows a guy who can run at supersonic speed. The Flash jogs down to Central America and easily slaps the would be pirates around. 

A pretty basic story but then again most of the stories in All-Star run about seven pages so one is not going to bogged down with a crazy amount of details. Technically I suppose these guys should be considered Flash foes but for this month we'll be looking just at the villains that popped up in the JSA stories at this time frame.