Derek Hinrich casts his eyes over a colourful line-up of cunning crooks and ne'er-do-wells!
Prior to the First World War, Sexton Blake's enemies were mostly burglars, swindlers, and aristocratic scoundrels. From 1893 until 1913, the stability of the British Empire was paramount in the stories, with respectable tippings of the hat frequently made by the authors in the direction of the nobility. However, from the turn of the century onward, the approaching conflict increasingly made its presence felt. Foreign agents appeared far more often, and the frail insularity of the empire became (at least, in hindsight) plainly apparent. Villains were suddenly far less concerned with inheritances, marriages, and jewels than they were with the weakening of Great Britain and its colonies. Then, on the eve of war, in 1913, something extraordinary happened. Beginning with George Marsden Plummer, a breed of "super-crooks" appeared. Through the war and right through to the 1930s, Sexton Blake found himself opposed by extraordinary individuals. These men and women had no cause (apart from revenge, in a few cases) other than personal power and profit. With their advent, the Sexton Blake saga entered its Golden Age. Meet the Master Crooks on this page ... but proceed with caution! These are extremely dangerous people!
Derek Hinrich casts his eyes over a colourful line-up of cunning crooks and ne'er-do-wells!
Perhaps the most popular of all Sexton Blake's opponent, Zenith is a stylish and elegant sophisticate ... and a fiendish villain!
Derek Hinrich discusses the passing of the era of super-villains ... Zenith being the last of them.
A highly skilled and well-respected surgeon, Rymer succumbs to drugs and alcohol and sets forth on a long and wide-ranging criminal odyssey.
Josie Packman charts the career of this most remarkable and complex villain.
The first super-villain! Plummer was an accomplished but crooked detective, a man who by an accident of birth had been denied a title and valuable inheritance.
Knowledge is death! Trust nobody! So says the Black Trinity!
She is mesmerisingly beautiful. She has greater power than most men can dream of. She is the Voodoo Queen!
A decent man disfigured and driven to crime ... a man who has harnessed the power of invisibility!
He is so sensitive to light that he's forced to haunt the shadows. His condition, however, is his greatest power ... Count Bonalli can see clearly in pitch darkness!
He is immune to pain! He possesses incredible strength! He's a criminal ... with a fast developing sense of honour!
A proto-supervillain ... a respectable man turned bad. Marston Hume was the first of Sexton Blake's recurring opponents.
One of the first super-villains, Count Carlac was also among the most evil and vicious Sexton Blake ever faced!
The most widespread and insidious criminal organisation ever created! The focus of Sexton Blake's longest battle! The black heart of a tremendous multi-issue saga!
A wealthy and powerful gathering of crooks, the Council was active during the First World War ... and took full advantage of it!
With her days numbered by an incurable heart condition, this implacable young woman sets out on a trail of vengeance ... and will remove anyone who stands in her way!
Derek Smith takes a look at the career of this tragic character.
Wrongly incarcerated on Devil's Island, John Hasford escapes and sets out on a trail of vengeance!
A stylish and mannered gentleman ... he is also a master cracksman!
Active during the 1920s, this fashionable young couple specialised in industrial crimes.
He is the Prince of Pretence! An unsurpassed mimic and impersonator! He is head of the Kestrel Syndicate, an organisation dedicated to profit by crime!
An innocent man serves a life sentence for a crime he didn't commit. When his sentence is commuted, he sets his sights on the individuals who sent him to prison!
A master toxicologist and chemist, Doctor Kew has a twisted sense of morality and little regard for ethics. He regularly teams up with Count Ivor Carlac.
The son of a deposed rajah, Gunga Dass hates the British and is driven by greed and revenge.
From THE COLLECTORS DIGEST: A brief history of Gunga Dass by William Colcombe.
An American couple who use the chaos of the First World War as a cover for their criminal career.
A master chemist, Satira has developed pheromones by which he can control the behaviour of animals ... which comes in handy when he discovers a hidden valley inhabited by the missing link!
Master of the Brotherhood of the Yellow Beetle, this honourable but fanatical tyrant desires only to overthrow the West!
When a bored monarch loses his royal allowance, he gathers around himself some of the most talented crooks in Europe and goes on an international crime spree!
He has brilliant skills and instincts where finances are concerned ... but Hammerton Palmer is entirely lacking in ethics!
Algy Somerton, Archie "Fairy" Pherison and Reggie "Cupid" Fetherston appear to be air-headed example of the vacuous aristocrac ... but it's just a front. Behind the clownish masks, they are ruthless crooks!
Josie Packman explores the crimes of this most despicable criminal trio.
He is the reincarnation of the High Priest of the Order of Ra, betrayed by his brother the pharaoh, and exiled at the dawn of the Ancient Egyptian Empire. He is now reborn ... as are the ten priests who betrayed him ... and vengeance is ten thousand years overdue!
A crook with not a single redeeming quality, Wicketshaw is wanted by the police of every capital in Europe. He is a man whose crimes are amazingly ambitious and who willingly commits murder to achieve his nefarious ends.
An exiled Polish nobleman, Von Kravitch is a wicked crook and killer. His innocent and unhappy daughter, Elsa, struggles to keep him on the straight and narrow with little success.