Blue Circle - Len Stafford was a young inventor who decided to use the fortune he inherited from his father to fight crime as the Blue Circle. He arranged a pardon for seven reformed "past masters in crime" - in exchange, they agreed to assemble whenever he asked as the Blue Circle Council. The Blue Circle Council provided advice to the Blue Circle and offered more direct assistance if necessary.
Commando Ranger - Commando Ranger was many things before the war. He was a scientist-explorer who fought the plague in the Congo, an Olympic boxer able to k.o. a heavy weight champion, a mysterious ace pilot, a sole survivor of a ship sunk by pirates in China seas, and climber of Mount Everest. While in Tibet, he studied for two years under the Great Lama in Tibet, mastering "the secret of mind's dominion over matter." However after hearing the cries of the enslaved, Commando Ranger was sent by the lamas back into the world. So with the agreement both of FDR and Churchill, he put on a mask and costume to fight the Nazis and free the countries occupied by Germany as the masked Commando Ranger.
The Dart - A vigilante of Ancient Republic Rome, Caius Martius was given by the gods the power of flight so that he might fight for the rights of the average citizen. One day, he took on an evil sorcerer and was trapped in a block of stone. Later, he emerged in the modern era from the stone to find himself in an American museum. He takes a new last name, "Wheeler," and begins fighting crime in modern society with his new sidekick, Ace, the Amazing Boy, who joins Dart after witnessing a horrifying drive-by shooting which kills his parents.
Dr. Synthe - Dr. Synthe was an enormous energy-based alien from Mo, a planet located a million light years from Earth. Like the rest of his species, he had an ability to create and destroy any object by manipulating electrons. While traveling through the solar system, he crash-landed in Long Island, NY. Or, to be more specific, he crash-landed straight through the boat that belonged to Ray Rogers. The young man hoped to sell the boat in order to raise money to save his terminally ill girlfriend, Betty Jordan. Dr. Synthe tried to ask Ray what planet he was on, only to realize that his form terrified the young man, so he transformed himself into a human. Upon learning of Ray's plight, he used his powers to heal her. And, because he was a good natured being, Dr. Synthe decided to reward his new friends by giving them anything they desired. Unfortunately, they got them into trouble with the law enforcement, which took the dim view of a young couple suddenly getting goods they could not possibly afford. Luckily for them, Dr. Synthe arrived just in time to prove that their story wasn't as crazy as it sounded.
Although he could have recreated his spaceship any time he wished, Dr. Synthe decided to stay behind and stop crimes and anything else that might threaten his new friends and (by extension) the planet they lived on.
Dr. Synthe wasn't particularly violent and was usually prepared to believe the best about everyone. He tried his best to follow Earth laws and customs, but, because he was an alien, he inevitably made mistakes and failed to fully think through the consequences of his actions. As an energy being, he had no concept of death (he merely found the war "boring"), but he understood enough to protect his friends from harm.
Duke of Darkness - The Duke of Darkness was Paddy Sullivan, a police officer from an unnamed American city. When he was killed in the line of duty, Danny discovered that he continued to exist as an "Earth-bound spirit." He decided to continue fighting crime as the Duke of Darkness.
Fantomah - Fantomah, the "Mystery Woman of the Jungle," is a mysterious goddess-like being who protects the jungles of Africa. She has vast magical power, to the point of being practically omnipotent, and can transform herself into a frightening blue phantom/skeleton creature as well as a floating skull with blonde hair.
The Flame - When Gary was a baby, his father, Charteris Preston, worked as a missionary in China. The elder Preston was washed away in a flood but managed to save baby Gary by placing him in a basket. The basket was washed downstream to Tibet, where Gary was rescued by a group of lamas. They raised Gary in the lamasery, where they trained him in their mystical ways.
Gary obtained the ability to control fire and heat. He can raise his own body temperature to the point where he can burst into flames or melt bullets. He can control and direct any flame in his presence. He can also teleport from place to place by appearing inside of any fire source, no matter how small. The Flame's one weakness is water, which can severely weaken him. In order to provide fire whenever he needs it, the Flame carries a small, pistol-sized flame thrower.
The Ghost - George Chance, the Ghost, knows real magic, learning it when he was raised in India as the adopted son of an immortal yogi teacher.
Green Mask - The second Green Mask was Johnny Green, an American teenager. He was the son of Walter Green who, according to his back story, fought crime as the Green Mask until he joined the US Army. Unlike his heroic father, Johnny was meek, awkward, and generally dorky. Since Walter Green's secret identity became public at some point, Johnny got teased quite a lot, something which he tried his best to ignore. In his debut story, Johnny was referred to as "a motherless son." Ever since his father joined the army, he's been living on his own in a rented room above the exclusive Miramar Club, scraping by on his father's savings and the kindness of the club's owner, Punchy.
On the day Johnny turned 15, Michael "Slug" O'Banion, a former Prohibition-era Chicago crime boss, decided to come out of retirement and move in on Johnny's neighborhood. When Slug's goons failed to intimidate Punchy into letting them use the Miramar Club for their criminal enterprises, they tried to shoot him. Luckily for him, Johhny was coming back from walking his dog, Curly. Curly attacked one of the goons, preventing him from making a killing shot. The enraged gangster turned his ire on Curly, seemingly killing him. This was when the enraged Johnny suddenly transformed into a super-powered, grown man calling himself "The Green Mask."
The stories were inconsistent about the relationship between The Green Mask and Johnny Green. In early stories, Johnny Green "blacks out" while he is Green Mask, not remembering what he did while in super-powered form. In some later stories, Johnny Green perceives his adventures as the Green Mask as dreams and thus remains oblivious to his dual nature. In others, he is aware of it and tries his best to facilitate the transformation when Green Mask is needed.
The Heap - Baron Eric von Emmelman was a German flying ace under the command of the Red Baron (Manfred von Richthofenshot) who was shot down on October 12, 1918, while fighting in World War I. He crashed in a mystical Polish swamp called Wausau, near the small town of Rodz, and was thrown from his plane. With a beautiful wife, and a newborn baby, the Baron had told his friends that he had everything to live for, and as he lay in the swamp, mortally wounded, he simply refused to die. Mother Nature came to his aid, and decided to save him from death, to transform the Baron into her champion against evil. Over 20 odd years, Eric's body merged with the "dreary vegetation" of Wausau to make him a massive humanoid plant that was forced to drain animals of blood in order to get oxygen. He targeted birds, dogs and livestock, but he usually did not attack men, unless they were evil.
Hydroman - Harry Thurston, a young chemical engineer, accidentally compounded a formula to convert human flesh and blood into water. A huge container of this remarkable solution was spilled and splashed over Bob Blake, Harry's friend, causing him to disintegrate and become a pool of water on the laboratory floor! Promptly, an antidote was concocted, and with the aid of this, Bob regained his natural form. He then discovered that he could control this phenomenal change merely by the power of thought.
The Hyper - Don-Vin a.k.a. Hyper the Phenomenal was a young scientist under the employ of the United States government. He was allied with the Winifred, codenamed Agent 2Y, who served as an undercover operative of the U.S. Secret Service. The beautiful Dolores, while being an enemy, was enamored with Hyper, and attempts to recruit him into her villainous gang which also included Ashknif and Boris. He was able to repel & attract metal (e.g., deflection of bullets) by means of his magno-hydro gauntlets, and utilized the gloves in keeping steel walls from crushing Agent 2Y. His chest was protected by a plastron comprised of bulletproof fabric. Hyper's characteristic neogas helmet had a built-in radio and, although heavy, somehow enabled him artificial flight.
Iron Skull - The Iron Skull was originally a soldier who was gravely injured during World War II (which, in this timeline, was fought partially on American soil well into the 1950s). He was brought to Chicago, where Dr. Watson, a surgeon at "Chicago Hospital," worked to replace his flesh and bones with metallic components. The resulting cyborg was super-strong, resistant to bullets and capable of limited telepathy. His new face was missing a nose, giving him a skull-like appearance.
By the year 1960, the Second World War wound down and reconstruction began. This year also saw a rise of rampant crime that the police struggled to contain. The cyborg decided to use his abilities to fight crime in Chicago as the Iron Skull.
In Amazing-Man Comics #9, the story jumped forward to 1970, when America was once again threatened with war. The spies working for an unnamed country "spread terror throughout United States," forcing the Iron Skull to intercede. Two issues later, in 1971, war broke out in Europe and spy activities intensified.
In Amazing-Man Comics #14, the Iron Skull set up operations in New York City. The next issue, he developed a mental link with the D.A. of New York. The D.A. used that ability to alert the Iron Skull of any crime in progress.
Jupiter - Jupiter was a master magician from the planet which shares his name who came to combat evil on Earth, especially in the form of his arch-foe, Racko. He was allied with ace reporter Jim Johnson, who he would immediately come to aid whenever Johnson called for help.
Jupiter's powers included teleportation, flight, invisibility, healing others, creating objects from thin air, transforming living creatures into other creatures, and much more thanks to his magic.
Lightning - Robert Morgan was the American student of an ancient Egyptian mystic called The Old Man of the Pyramids. (How they met is unknown, possibly the Old man raised him after his parents died.) He schooled Morgan in "all the ancient and modern sciences" and gave him the "Amulet of Annihilation, the weapon of the forces of right" which he tied around his right arm.
The Amulet grants him powers including super-strength, super-speed, flight, the ability to generate electricity and radiate
Author
Topic: Golden Age PD characters with more potential then ever showed in print (Read 11615 times)
