Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Suicide Squad 0?

Speaking of Golden Age prequels to modern franchises, there's the time the original Human Torch invented the Suicide Squad!



Sadly, the "Suicide Squad" never appears in this story, and this is the last pre-war issue of Marvel Mystery Comics that's on Marvel Unlimited, so I'm not sure if they ever actually showed up, here (or in an issue of the Torch's own book). Anyone know?

Anyway, of interest are the villain's name. Our lead "fifth columnist" is called...

Pinhead!!

What, is he a Dick Tracy villain??

And his chief henchman?

Mr. Wickedkop?

Wickedkop?!?

WICKEDKOP!?!?!?!??!?!

The odd thing is, he's not a cop of any kind. Go figure.

The Torch shuts down their plans, but at least Pinhead goes out in a blaze of glory...

...literally!!

From Marvel Mystery Comics #16 (1941)
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3 comments:

  1. George ChambersJune 19, 2018 at 9:46 AM

    I like the mayor's enthusiasm, but his idea needs a little work. The Torch might struggle to get recruits for a "Suicide Squad" but if they just renamed it "Nazi-Punching Squad" there'd be no such problem. Hell, Captain America would be first in line!

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  2. SFJune 19, 2018 at 10:39 AM

    Brian Pinhead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veJ-qYsH398

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  3. AnonymousJune 19, 2018 at 1:41 PM

    "Wickedkop" isn't a cop because (especially in a story from 1941) his name is more likely intended as the Yiddish/not-quite-German word "kop" ("head") -- making Wickedhead a fitting not-quite-Nazi henchman for Pinhead.

    Now, the real question is whether Pinhead eventually died and became this Pinhead: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/monster/images/c/c3/Hellraiser-pinhead.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20170518202004

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