The Dreams of Evil-Doers

 As I said previously, I thought for many years that Wanted number 8, with its vivid red cover was the final issue of the series because I never saw another in the newsagent. But last year, I acted on vague recollections of an origin for 1980s All-Star Squadron villain Ramulus. I tracked down the final issue of the Bronze Age reprint series on ebay.  

 Crime's Comedy King is a clever Superman tale from the 40s featuring the Rollicking Rogue, the Prankster. The Absurdist conman embarks on a series of remarkably contemporary crimes against celebrities. There's a genuinely witty scene where the judge's wife leads a demonstration and stops the Prankster's trial.


The Adventure of the Magic Forest  is a high-octane horror with sci-fi elements as the "Juggernauts of Justice" explode through a series of death-traps. Sandman  and Sandy's destruction of the Nightshade's sinister mechanized forest is a memorable ancestor of the Mighty Marvel Manner.


Wanted was cancelled as DC launched a variety of new titles: the Aragones/Wolverton vehicle Plop;  Prez, the late Joe Simon's belated attempt to tap into the Counterculture; the Simon & Kirby reprint series Boy Commandos and Black Magic; and Champion Sports and Strange Sports Stories. However, one of the most memorable villains in DC's pantheon was making an iconic return that month:

But, seriously, look at the opposition from Marvel:

  
I got these four on a visit to the landward side of Glasgow Airport. They were like the comic book equivalent of LSD for a ten-year-old. This one, meanwhile, was picked up a few weeks later in Stonehouse. Marv Wolfman would recycle elements of the villainous Warlord in Cyborg of the New Teen Titans.

 If Wanted had limped on to see out a year of publication, what kind of reprints might have appeared in the remaining three issues?

 The all-female collection suggested in Wanted 8's letters page sounds interesting but here, I'll cheat a little: the second Secret Origins of Super-Villains tabloid in 1976 will feature Catwoman and The Cheetah. Poison Ivy is too recent a villainess for Wanted but Giganta would be a possibility.
It was impossible to find a one-part Lesla-Lar story and Black Flame's origin had been reprinted in the Sixties so Supergirl wasn't going to be represented. Similarly, Aquaman's most interesting foes all made their debut in the mid-Sixties. The oft-requested Justice Society would take two issues but why not split a story ?

Number ten could feature the first three chapters of  "The Wiles of the Wizard", the last Gardner Fox JSA tale from 1947. The Original Flash's second encounter with The Fiddler, "Violin of Villainy"(1948) would be a fine second feature; Jay-Flash was neglected  when it came to Golden Age reprints. 

If the JSA tale was simply too long for inclusion, I'd go with "Weapon-Watches of the Time-Wise Guy", the Chronos/Atom story from 1964, although it was "only" nine years old.
.
Number eleven would conclude The Wizard story, partnered with  Wonder Woman vs. Dr. Psycho in "Battle for Womanhood" (1943).

 Again, if the JSA story were too long in the first place, why not run another Golden Age Green Lantern adventure? Perhaps 1947's "The Tricks of the Sportsmaster" or "The Fool Comes To Town"- a villain whose gimmicks seem right up ENB's street.

 
Number twelve : for a finale, how about a Batman and friends issue, featuring "1001 Tricks of Clayface and Brainiac" from World's Finest, followed by 1948's "Scoop of the Century" introducing The Mad Hatter? That's three villains for the price of one.


If you haven't had enough of DC villains, visit my Materioptikon blog soon for the 100-page Justice League 111.

Next: "Cow Parsley?!"

All images are presumed copyright of their respective owners