In today’s story, Dr H is being tortured by enemy agents. Yikes! He is strung up, hung from a ceiling. That has just got to hurt. As you who have read the origin story know, Dr Hypno can put his mind into an animal. It is what he does with a cat, in order to get someone to rescue him. I hope I won’t spoil this story by saying that Dr Hypno’s human brain gets the cat to dip its tail in ink. Beyond what he is able to accomplish with Dr Hypno’s brain controlling him, I don’t think a cat’s fur would be useful for other tasks, say inking comic books. Especially not for Frank Thomas, who created, wrote and drew Dr Hypno. Thomas had a nice brush ink line, which comes from the flexibility of sable hair. There’s no need to worry that some crazed artist will steal your cat and turn him into a feline Winsor and Newton Series 7 comic book inking brush.
This purr-ty good Dr Hypno entry is from Amazing Man Comics #18 (1940):
To see the Dr Hypno origin story, just click on the thumbnail.
I don't think that “fifth column” or the coördinate term “fifth columnist” should be regarded as a journalistic coinage. As Spanish Fascist Emilio Mola was preparing to attack Madrid with four columns, he asserted that his sympathizers within the city were effectively a “quinta columna”. This translates directly into “fifth column”.*
ReplyDeleteI wonder what the range were for the animals that might be overwhelmed by Doctor Hypno. Could he take-over the body of a roach? a chimpanzee? a bass guitarist? Could he have just had the fellow in the mask stick that hot iron in one of Kursk's eyes?
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* There is an old joke that “la Quinta” means next to Denny's, because in some areas La Quinta Inns are just that. I'm not sure what good would come from having a column next to Denny's; there is a limit to what one might accomplish with milkshakes or with pancakes.
Dan'l, in my hometown I have noticed the same phenomenon: Denny's next to La Quinta Inns. It seems only natural; people from out of town looking for a meal would go somewhere they recognized, so the placement would be beneficial to both. It has been years since I had a Grand Slam Breakfast. I wonder if Denny's still has them?*
ReplyDeleteI also wonder if Dr Hypno even thought about using the body of a roach. I have no idea whether a roach has a brain to inhabit. Or could Dr Hypno take over the body of a snapping turtle, and bite off a trigger man's finger? Questions, questions...
I like the term "fifth columnist." I did not know the origin, and thank you for your explanation, but for my third wonder: Would a group of people from another country using guile and trickery be considered fifth columnists should they use the Internet to interfere with the business of this or any other enemy country?
*Father Guido Sarducci had this comment about America: "Where else can you travel 3000 miles and eat a hamburger taste-a exactly the same?"