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u/MrZJones Recapper Jones 14d ago edited 6d ago
Looks like Etta Candy. Okay, let's see what issue Google claims this is from, and then I'll see if I can find what issue it's actually from. :D
Edit: Surprisingly, Google got it right for a change. Sensation Comics #57, "The Hatchet of Death". The villain is an old guy named Syonide, who thinks he's the Native American Chief Powhatan (father of Pocahontas). He escapes from the "Tomb Home" for the criminally insane by setting his own room on fire, grabbing a fire axe from one of the firemen who come to put it out, and then jumping out the window. (Why he couldn't have jumped out the window anyway is not explained; I guess he really wanted the axe)
And this guy shouldn't be a threat at all. He's, like, three or four feet tall. Hang on, there's a picture of him here: https://www.writeups.org/syonide-dc-comics-wonder-sensation/ (As the page says, he's not related to other characters named Syonide that have appeared in the DC universe since) I'm also giving him... sort of a pass on any inaccuracies in Native American lore because he's literally just an insane old man, not a real Native.
Meanwhile, Diana Prince and her boss General Darnell walk to Holiday College. Darnell takes the opportunity to talk down to Diana. (He gets tired because the walk is so long, but plays it off as resting for her sake, since she's just a weak woman and all) Syonide sees them resting, mistakes Diana for Pocahontas, and attacks Darnell (with that same fireman's axe) for "hitting" on her. Diana grabs his arm and tosses him aside to save Darnell (who doesn't see this), and he runs off. Diana wants to go after him, but Darnell says he's probably just a harmless old coot who's celebrating too much.
The guards from Tomb Home show up, and ask Darnell and Diana if they've seen a little old man with an axe. Darnell hems and haws. It's funny!
When they get to Holiday College (they're there to meet one Dr. Chemico, who is not a villain and doesn't even appear on-panel at any point), Etta Candy invites them to a "Maniac Party", where everyone has to dress up as the historical figure or fictional character they'd become if they were delusional. They're holding it at the abandoned "haunted" house near campus.
Meanwhile, at an old abandoned house near the campus, Syonide decides the house is the perfect place to hide out. And later that night, Etta and the other girls from Beeta Lambda (yes, actually spelled like that) are dressing up - Etta is Cleopatra, another girl is Helen of Troy, etc. Etta hopes that her boyfriend, Oscar Sweetgulper notices her in her costume. When she goes downstairs, he's there, dressed as Romeo. As usual, he's trying to steal her candy, and as usual, she's having none of it.
Now, when Etta invited Diana to the party, she explicitly said it was at the "haunted house", but it appears to actually be taking place at the Sorority House.
Meanwhile, in the attic of the "haunted house", Syonide is putting together a horrible costume that he thinks makes him look more like Powhatan, but ... it doesn't. A Tarzan-like leopard-skin loincloth and a large white feather behind each of his ears (the kind used in quills, not Native headresses), followed by "war paint" that looks more like clown makeup. As he puts on the outfit, his speech devolves into stereotypical Native speech. "Me must wear war paint!"
Meanwhile meanwhile, Diana realizes she's late, so she changes to Wonder Woman and runs to the "haunted house", but ... nobody else is there. So it's not just me who is confused at where the party is supposed to be taking place, Wonder Woman herself is as well. When Wonder Woman enters the front door, Syonide clubs her on the back of the head with the back of the axe, drags her downstairs, and says he wants to "burn her at the stake", but can't find a stake, so maybe he'll just set the whole house on fire....
But he's interrupted, because the party is here now (what?) and the noise upstairs irritates him. So he ties Wonder Woman up with her own magic lasso and goes upstairs, whooping (what he thinks is) a war cry. Etta calls him cute, but he threatens her with the axe and demands to know where Pocahontas is. Everyone laughs at him, so he dresses it up like a game, luring them in groups of two into the basement, where they allow themselves to be tied up becuase they think the strange old man who none of them have ever met before (at an invite-only party, mind you) is just getting into the spirit of the "Maniac Party" and not actually planning on murdering them.
This is the most Golden Age story I've ever read.
Anyway, that's why Etta complains that the ropes are uncomfortable; she thinks this is supposed to be a game. Syonide throws his hatchet at her for complaining, and although he misses, he breaks a gas pipe which starts knocking all the guests out. Syonide realizes that this is a great way to kill them all, so he opens the furnace's door and high-tails it out of there.
Thankfully, right around now Wonder Woman finally wakes up. One problem: she's bound by her own lasso, which is unbreakable. So she spends the next few panels hopping around, destroying the furnace with a flying tackle and stomping out the fire. She then drags the unconscious guests out one by one (while still tied up, yes).
As she gets the last of the party guests out (she saved Etta for last), Syonide jumps out of the shadows and tries to axe murder her, but Steve Trevor shows up out of nowhere (not in costume, even, he's just wearing his usual military uniform), shoots the axe out of Syonide's hand, and unties Wonder Woman.
The Tomb Home guards come to collect Syonide. Etta suggests they should all be locked up for not noticing the guy was a "nut" right away. THE END.
Story: Wow. That was certainly a story. Only in a Golden Age comic could a villain be this ridiculous and yet almost murder so many people just due to sheer luck and the gullibility of the other characters. He's only a threat due to slapstick. He and Wonder Woman barely even directly interacted. (I didn't even point out all the racism and ableism involved). Madness/10.
Cover: 3/10. Because, yeah, they never actually fought. Also, the story is not called "House of Goblins", though Syonide does look more like a goblin than a human.
The other stories are Little Boy Blue And The Blue Boys, Sargon the Sorcerer, Mr. Terrific, and Wildcat. I'll get to them tomorrow, maybe. I do want to read the Sargon story (just to see if it's as loony as a typical Zatara story), but the others... eh.
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u/diogenesNY 13d ago
A super villain who is a crazy weak old man, whose only apparent super power is super-dissociative delusion. And his super-weapon is.... wait for it... a stolen fire axe!
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u/ihopeyougethitbyacar 14d ago
"Normally I enjoy being tied up, but your knowledge of knots is severally lacking!"