Number 2001: Lady Satan no good for the Hood

The Hood seems generic to me. The character appeared in comics in the mid-forties, including Cat-Man Comics, which is where this story appeared. Here he mixes with Lady Satan, who joins a whole string of Lady Satans throughout comic book history, all of them for different companies and in different degrees of ladylike behavior, Satanic or not.

The Hood also joins the company of comic books characters like Black Hood. The Hood also had no super powers; he was an Army major who put on a costume.

This story was drawn by Jack Alderman, an artist I don’t see as fitting in with costumed characters. I see him doing what I thought he did best, crime stories. His dark panels lend themselves more to nefarious deeds of the underworld than heroics. Alderman drew stiff figures, not good for superhero comics. In order to do a hero socking a bad guy panel (last page) Alderman borrowed a Jack Kirby pose. If you don’t usually draw action poses, Jack Kirby is the artist to swipe.

In the story the Hood’s girlfriend is Ray Herman. Ray, or Rae, was a real person, an editor and publisher in one of the most confusing mixes of comic book publishing ever. Due to some sleight of hand of the guy who started the company — or companies — over 70 years ago it is hard to trace the connections between Et-Es-Go, Continental, Holyoke, et al. Rae Herman was involved in them, and she was co-owner of Orbit Publishing, which published Wanted Comics, Toytown, and Westerner, among others. The story also uses the name “Quinlan“ — a nod to Charles M. Quinlan, mostly identified with Cat-Man, which he drew.

Writing credited to Jack Grogan. From Cat-Man Comics #23 (1944):

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