The Golden Age Directory: P-Q

The text on this site, except where otherwise credited, is © copyright 2004 Jess Nevins, and may not be duplicated, in part or in whole, without my permission.

Page Parks. Page Parks is the beautiful air hostess on Trans-Air Corporations' international mail flights, on their new sub-stratosphere plane. Page helps pilot Chuck Dawson and co-pilot Jim Jennings get the mail there on time and to fight crime.
First Appearance: Blue Bolt #1 (Funnies, Inc)

The Pals of Freedom. This group of kid crimefighters was formed by Rusty and included the nonpowered Mickey, Spec, and Peanuts.
First Appearance: Captain Aero #2 (Holyoke)

Panther. The Panther is an Australian hero. He fights crime and evil in the outback and jungles and cities of Australia. He has superstrength and agility.
First Appearance: Panther Comics #1

Parachute Patrol. Tommy, Blimpo and Curly were French boys and paratroopers who fought against the Germans wherever they found them.
First Appearance: Wings Comics #1 (Timely)

Pat Parker. See War Nurse.

Pat Patriot. "America's Joan of Arc" is a singing, dancing engine of righteous fury and destruction for the Germans and for those who scheme against America and Americans. She has no superpowers but her patriotism and two fists obviate the need for any.
First Appearance: Daredevil Comics #2 (Lev Gleason)

The Patriot. Jeffrey Mace, a newspaper columnist and reporter, was very patriotic and, inspired by Captain America, put on a patriotic costume and started to fight crime; for a brief time (one issue) he acquired a girl sidekick, Miss Patriot. He had no superpowers but was a good fighter.
First Appearance: Human Torch Comics #3 (Timely)

Patty O'Day. Patty O'Day is an adventurous newsreel reporter.
First Appearance: Wonderworld #3 (Fox Features)

Paul Bunyan. Bunyan is a giant (14' tall, possibly more) who volunteers for the Army out of patriotism and goes on to fight for truth, justice, and the American way.
First Appearance: National Comics #1 (Quality)

Paul Revere, Jr. Paul Revere, Jr., is a boy in New York City, who with his friends Betsy Ross (no, really) and Patrick Henry (I'm not making this up, you know) get into all sorts of adventures, fighting Nazis and solving crimes.
First Appearance: Banner #3 (Ace Periodicals)

Pen Miller. Pen is a "famed comic-book artist" who also happens to be a "renowned and respected detective."
First Appearance: National Comics #1 (Quality)

Pep Morgan. Pep is the right-thinking, pure-hearted, clean-cut young man who happens to be an outstanding boxer and athlete and whose adventures inevitably bring him into contact with criminals.
First Appearance: More Fun Comics #12 (DC)

Perisphere Payne. Payne was a science fictional hero similar to Flash Gordon.
First Appearance: Science Comics #1 (Fox)

Phantasmo. A young man leaves the U.S. to spend 25 years in Tibet, studying with the “Grand High Lamas” and learning all sorts of mystic secrets. After he has mastered spirit and body he returns to the U.S., takes on the identity of “Phil Anson,” and begins fighting crime. He is assisted by his bellhop, Whizzer McGee, who is Phil’s bodyguard. Phil has the ability to separate his spirit and send it moving about independent of his body; when he is in spirit form he has superstrength, flight, can grow to giant size and move invisibly. But if his body is hurt when he’s in spirit form, both body and spirit will die.
First Appearance: The Funnies #45 (Dell)

Phantom Bullet. Allan Lewis is a reporter for the Daily Bulletin who, although wealthy, still works as a reporter on minor stories. He puts on a costume and fights criminals the police can't or won't go after; in his appearance he is given a special gun--which shoots "ice bullets," which melt away, leaving no evidence--from a nameless inventor. He uses the gun in the pursuit of justice.
First Appearance: Daring Mystery Comics #2 (Timely)

The Phantom Eagle. Mickey Malone is a teenager in England stationed on an airbase who is a good pilot but is forbidden by Sergeant Flogg to fly against the Germans. Mickey, not daunted, puts together a plane of his own and flies off to fight, racking up large numbers of victories. Later on he is joined by the Phoenix Squadron, who help him fight the Germans. After the war he forms a charter airline and goes in search of the Golden Chalice which has the Formula for Peace inscribed upon it. The Phantom Eagle has no superpowers but is an ace pilot.
First Appearance: Wow Comics #6 (Fawcett)

Phantom Falcons. The Falcons are a group of who have an underground airstrip and base in Switzerland and from it fight the Luftwaffe across Occupied Europe.
First Appearance: Wings Comics #1 (Fiction House)

The Phantom Flyer. This mysterious, masked pilot fights for good and America. He's not really distinctive in any other way.
First Appearance: Bill Barnes Comics #2 (Street & Smith)

Phantom Lady. Sandra Knight, the daughter of Senator Knight, is waiting for her father in Washington when she sees two bad guys try to kill him. She thinks quickly and foils the attack with a rolled-up newspaper.  She enjoys the experience, and when she finds an invention that Professor Davis, a friend of the Knight family, sent to her father, she adapts it to help her fight crime as the costumed Phantom Lady. She has no superpowers but is a good fighter and uses the blacklight ray to project darkness and make herself invisible.
First Appearance: Police Comics #1 (Quality)

Phantom of the Underworld. "Detective Denton is called `Doc' by his fellow police officers because he is also a master surgeon." He doesn't have any powers, but uses his wits and skills as a detective and surgeon against the criminals.
First Appearance: Daring Mystery Comics #1 (Timely)

Phantom Ranger. Tex Maxon is the Phantom Ranger, a masked do-gooder of the Old West.
First Appearance: Wonderworld #3 (Fox Features)

Phantom Reporter. Dick Jones is the Phantom Reporter: "ex-All American fullback, ex-collegiate boxing, wrestling, fencing champ! By Day, cub reporter...by night, relentless scourge of the Underworld." He also has another identity: Van Engen, millionaire. That's about it, really; he's got no powers and is a standard square-jawed Golden Age hero, although his costume--blue jacket, fedora, red cape, and a glowing red domino mask--doesn't look bad.
First Appearance: Daring Mystery Comics #3 (Timely)

Phantom Rider. The Phantom Rider is a mysterious masked man who dispenses justice, with his horse Thunder, in the Old West.
First Appearance: Wham Comics #1 (Centaur)

Phantom Soldier. The Phantom Soldier is a nameless American who lurks around the jungles of the Pacific, helping out Our Fighting Men against The Devilish Japanese Hordes. He can turn invisible, teleport, and also has various plot-device powers.
First Appearance: Major Hoople Comics #1 (Better)

Phantom Sphinx. Jakeoster contributes the following:

The Phantom Sphinx is the great Amron, a mummy who wakes up after sleeping for 6,000 years in an Egyptian tomb and  decides to fight 20th Century crime. He has a variety of amazing powers, including flight, the ability to enlarge himself, and the ability to create illusions.
First appearance: Pocket Comics #1 (Harvey)

The Phantom Sub. "Seeking young blood and fresh minds to carry on his work, Prof. Blackburn, aged inventor, takes as his assistants Jack Damon and Slim Dugan, graduates of a well-known technical school. He has plans for a super-sub which will revolutionize modern warfare." Unfortunately, Prof. Blackburn dies, turning his plans over to Jack and Slim on his deathbed. Jack and Slim build the sub, despite attempts by "foreign agents" to take the plans. The sub has a "water-driven engine" that can move the sub "at a speed of 60 to 100 miles an hour!" It presumably has weapons, too.
First Appearance: Blue Bolt#1 (Funnies, Inc)

Phoenix Squadron. The Squadron were six boys from various European countries who fly planes against crime and help the Phantom Eagle to fight for world peace. Michael Norwitz adds:

The Phoenix Squadron comprises Sven of Norway, Josef of Poland, Hans of Denmark, Nickolas of Greece, Pierre of France, Hendrik Voorhees of Holland, and their plane designer and female companion Jenny
First Appearance: Wow Comics #27 (Fawcett)

Pinky. Pinky is the sidekick of Mr. Scarlet. He has no superpowers.
First Appearance: Wow Comics #1 (Fawcett)

Pinto Pete. "Pinto Pete" Webster is a young lad living on his mother's ranch somewhere in Arizona during the 1940s. When a group of gangsters decide to take over the Webster Ranch, as a way to control all the ranches in the area, Pinto Pete appears and rescues his mother from the enforcers. Then, with the help of his sidekick, Red, the grown-up foreman of the Webster Ranch, Pete rides into town and organizes the citizenry into running the varmints out of town. Pete has no superpowers (his pinto Swifty is pretty smart, though) but is very good with his lasso and with his twin six-shooters--yes, he's only nine or ten but he's packing heat and is quite willing to use it. He draws "with the speed of greased lighning" (sic). He wears an orange ten-gallon hat, a yellow shirt, and orange chaps.
First Appearance: Kid Komics #1 (Timely)

Pioneer. The Pioneer is a simple (very simple--his vocabulary is quite limited) backwoodsman who lives in the "deepest and most unknown canyon of Yellowstone" and is lured out of the woods by criminals. He defeats them and then does the innocent-in-the-big-city shtick.
First Appearance: Daredevil Comics #2 (Lev Gleason)

Pirate Prince. This nameless pirate, a "Robin Hood of the seas," roamed the Caribbean (presumably during the 17th or 18th century) with a crew of "jolly champions." They "preyed on the unjust and liberated those imprisoned in slave ships," although they traveled into the 20th century at least twice, once to help Daredevil.
First Appearance: Silver Streak Comics #7 (Lev Gleason)

Planet Payson. Planet Payson is the muscle and pilot for Professor Sandow, a scientist and astronomer, and whenever there's trouble--say, when there's a "war between one cloud and another" (there are castles on the clouds, see, and they sometimes go to war)--Planet gets involved. He's got the usual blaster and spaceship.
First Appearance: Planet Comics #2 (Fiction House)

Plastic Man.  Eel O’Brian, a crook, is shot during a crime-gone-wrong and trips into a vat of acid. He stumbles into a monks’ retreat up in the mountains. They heal him, in mind and body, and once he’s well he discovers that he can stretch and form his body into almost anything. He uses his new powers to fight crime. He is assisted by Woozy Winks, a friend and ex-con.
First Appearance: Police Comics #1 (Quality)

"Powder" Burns. "Powder" is an American soldier who fights the German menace across Europe, in Central Europe as well as France.
First Appearance: Wings Comics #1 (Fiction House)

Powerhouse Pepper. Pepper is an extremely strong and none-too-bright boxer. He has a good heart, though, and sticks up for the little guy wherever he goes. He's also a U.S. Marshal, and uses his status to take in bad guys.
First Appearance: Joker Comics #1 (Timely)

Power Man. Rip Regan, who is publicly known as Power Man, has a magic red jacket (from whence he got it is not shown) which when worn gives him superstrength and enables him to perform Hulk-leaps. He uses these powers to fight crime.
First Appearance: Fight #3 (Fiction House)

Powerman. Kerry Latimer, a Brit visiting Chicago one Christmas Eve, is visited by an old man who gives him a present "from the mist (sic) of time." It turns out to be a copy of A Christmas Carol, and what's more, when it's opened a ghost appears before Latimer and tells him that "On the dawn of Christmas Day you will become a crime-fighting force endowed with super-human gifts! Use this strength and wisdom to bring about good in this upset world! Farewell!" Naturally, when he wakes up he's superpowered and has a new costume, and so he goes out and fights crime in America. He has superstrength, superspeed, and is invulnerable to bullets.
First Appearance: Super Duper Comics #3

Power Nelson. "It is the year 1982, and civilization, exhaused by the second and third World Wars, has been conquered by a Mongol horde! The ruler of the world is Emperor Seng I! From his palace in New-New York, he governs with despotic might all civilized people, who groan under his oppression!" Power Nelson, a young man, is choosen by a group of scientists to be the test subject for a special experiment. It works, giving him "the strength of a steam engine and the hardness of tempered steel." With these Power Nelson fights against the rule of Emperor Seng I.
First Appearance: Prize Comics #1 (Prize)

Prankster. Michael Morgan, a vaudevillian magician, accidentally stops a robbery with a “funny mask and a loaded water pistol.” Inspired by his success, he puts on a costume and begins using magician props (hand joy-buzzer, flash powder, etc) to stop crime.
First Appearance: Red Circle Comics #1 (Rural Home)

Press Guardian. See The Falcon (I)

Prince Menou. Menou is the lover of Moon Girl and her assistant in the fight for justice in the United States. He is tough and strong but not superpowered.
First Appearance: Animal Fables #7 (E.C.)

Princess Pantha. Pantha is a Sheena clone who fights for justice in the jungle with the help of her boyfriend, author Dale Hunter, and her skill at jiu-jitsu.
First Appearance: Thrilling Comics #56 (Standard Comics)

Private Parker. Private Parker is a patriotic private who has various adventures and gets up to shenanigans while still in training camp.
First Appearance: Victory Comics #1 (Centaur)

Private Rook. Private Rook is a patriotic private who has various adventures and gets up to shenanigans while still in training camp.
First Appearance: Army & Navy Comics #1 (Street & Smith)

Prop Powers. Prop is a crime-fighting pilot for the Coast Guard.
First Appearance: National Comics #1 (Quality)

Punch Parker. Punch Parker is a clever and tough plainclothes detective for a coastal city.
First Appearance: World's Best Comics #1 (DC)

Purple Mask. This was Dennis Burton's second attempt at being a superhero, the first being the Laughing Mask. He has the same background, origin, and m.o. as the Laughing Mask, down to his twin .45s and killer vigilante approach. He also has a secret crime lab.
First Appearance: Daring Mystery Comics #3 (Timely)

Purple Trio. Warren, a ventriloquist, Rocky, a strongman, and Tiny, a midget, were three out-of-work vaudevillians who used their abilities to fight crime.
First Appearance: Smash Comics #13 (Quality)

Purple Zombie. The Purple Zombie was created by Doctors Malinsky and Hale. Dr. Hale intended to use "the invention...to prolong life, not to revive the dead," but the evil Dr. Malinsky wanted to create armies of zombies and become "ruler of the living and the dead." Malinsky shoots Hale dead but is then strangled to death by the zombie, who in his own words is "without a conscience...but not without a brain." The Purple Zombie then destroys (violently) Malinsky's allies. He has superstrength and is bullet-proof. We never learn what the Zombie did in life.
First Appearance: Reg'lar Fellers Heroic Comics #1 (Eastern Color Printing)

Pyroman. Dick Martin, who is studying electrical engineering, is arrested for an arson that he did not commit. While he’s being electrocuted, however, he gains superpowers, and he uses his new abilities to stop crime. He is wanted for the crime, though, and has to hide his identity. His superpowers include electrifying his body, forming electric force fields, and shooting lightning bolts.
First Appearance: Startling Comics #18 (Better Publications)

Q-Boat. Captain Foghorn, a descendant of John Paul Jones, is the chief of the four-masted schooner Albatross, a q-boat designed to lure German ships into combat and destroy them. Foghorn is a good pilot and a good fighter. He is assisted by Bob Wayne (mate), Dick Martin (bos'n and pilot of the Albatross's fighter-bomber) and Marmaduke "Freckles" van Weyden.
First Appearance: Military Comics #1 (Quality)

Quicksilver. Quicksilver, whose civilian identity is never named (he's just "Max") and almost never shown, was never given an origin. He simply worked from his secret lab and fought crime. He had great superspeed and was very acrobatic.
First Appearance: National Comics #5 (Quality)

Quorak. Quorak is the "super pirate, the man who stole a world!" He's got a big head and a spindly body, and "with his inventions Quorak threatens to rule the universe and destroy all traces of civilization...by means of the great deposit of lodium on Spectremus, he plans to conquer Pluto, greatest of known planets, by increasing the magnetic force of lodium one thousand percent...." All very worrisome, to be sure. Never fear, though; the Inter-Planetary Police are on the job, and they put paid to Quorak's scheme and manage to capture him.
First Appearance: Planet Comics #1 (Fiction House)

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