“The Royal Wraith, as Mr. Justice was sometimes called, was Prince James of England, lured to his death by Scottish rebels in the year 1040. He murdered them back, but afterward, his destiny thwarted (according to an unseen voice), his spirit was trapped in the castle where all this took place. In 1940, the castle was dismantled and shipped to America, where it was to be re-assembled, but the ship carrying it was sunk by a Nazi submarine. James's spirit was thus released into the modern world. He then re-assumed corporeal form, took on the ‘Mr. Justice’ monicker, and, love interest being de rigeur for a 1940s superhero, picked up with an American woman named Pat Clark. The story was written by MLJ regular Joe Blair and drawn by Sam Cooper, both of whom stayed with the character through most of his run.”
Don also tells us that Satan is featured in the strip, as he is in this episode. Mr Justice is a supernatural being, which is fine. Despite the hokum surrounding how super heroes are made, most of their origins seem like magic.
This story is from Blue Ribbon Comics #18 (1941).
Mr Justice: Like DC's spectre but his main ghost super-power is punching people!
ReplyDeleteDid he really need to drag his love interest into what was obviously a bad situation? I enjoyed the very 40s artwork of both the green ghoul and satan!
Of course, Archie Comics revived some of the MLJ line in the late mid-'60s, attempting to cash-in on the fad for “camp” superheroes associated with various television series, including Batman, Captain Nice, and Mr. Terrific. But the results of their revival were like the stalest of situation comedies.
ReplyDeleteI think that Archie missed a bet in not reviving Mr Justice after the Summer of Love. He could have been surreal and psychedelic With No Drugs Involved™. Certainly a more appealing product for les hippies manqués than was Brother Power.
Brian, you'd think he would use some supernatural powers, but what powers can a ghost use? I'd think a ghost would have the punching power of...nothing. He's a spirit, not a person. Since I've never met a ghost I'll hold that as an opinion only. I would hate to be accosted by a ghost and have him punch me.
ReplyDeleteDan'l, the problem with camp is that in its original form camp is done by people who are not thinking that it is funny. In the early '60s college kids were going to revivals of old serials. Flash Gordon and the original Batman serials were funny to them. When the Batman TV show came around it was not really camp, it was more like a sitcom without a laugh track. Having the Archie super heroes "camped up" by Jerry Siegel and (forgive me, Paul Reinman fans) Paul Reinman's un-super artwork did not make it camp. It just looked like a bad imitation of the non-camp Batman TV show.
ReplyDeleteI saw my share of the Archie "camp" and the only thing of the whole lot I thought funny was the name of a character, The Awesome Bravo.