Take, for example, this guy's scheme...
We begin with the funeral of Mr. Clem...
But young Bobby takes his distrust for Dr. Diale to harsh extremes!
Well, that's enough to get Bobby Clem sent to reform school. Fortunately, he meets Lash Lightning and Lightning Girl there, and they agree to pretend to be house guests of Mrs. Clem, to keep an eye on her health.
Yes, his name is Lash Lightning.
Anyway, the doctor shows up again, and is very polite...
Let's watch this "funeral":
Lash discover that Dr. Diale is actually Dr. Diablo, and in deep underground caverns...
Why?
You know, this guy's plot makes the average Scooby Doo plan--convince the town it's haunted so no one can disturb the mine--look rational and likely to work.
Remember, he's the only doctor in this town. But he's got to fake the deaths of enough patients to work his radium mine--yet not so many deaths that anyone would get suspicious (except gun-toting 10 year olds) or yank his licence. Then he's got to sell his radium to someone--but if he doesn't want the government to know about his mine, he can't sell it to them. So what--he's going to sell radium to the Nazis?!?
Too. Much. Work. You're a doctor, Diablo--just pad your bills, take kickbacks from Big Pharma, and live like a king!!
Or...since the town was built over a radium mine, just wait for everyone to die of radiation poisoning, and then no one will know about your mine!
Damn...maybe I would make a good villain...
From Four Favorites #8 (1942)
I agree... that's a ton of work and scheming with not a lot of return. But that seems to be a badge of honor with comic book villains.
ReplyDeleteThere's actually a 1966 Hammer movie with a similar plot, where people are turned into zombies and used to work a tin mine.
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Plague_of_the_Zombies
Basically, ever movie ever has ripped off its plot from a Golden Age comic book...
ReplyDeleteLazy writing too, since radium doesn't exist in a pure form, but is extracted from uranium and similar minerals.
ReplyDeleteAlso, what kind of villain digs a subterranean mine, and includes space for a rising staired platform, topped by a throne, flanked by two flaming braziers? Hope he had some good ventilation down there!