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History: Looking over the diverse cast of hypnotic characters in the Golden Age of Comics (which is the period from the start of comics publication through the end of WW II) one is eventually struck by the rampant sexism and male domination involved. There were a number of villains whose primary motif was some form of hypnosis in the Golden Age, but almost every one was male, from the shady sideshow hypnotists and crafty con artists to the mysterious mystics and malevolent magicians to the sinister scientists and demented doctors. Which should be no surprise, as there were very few female villains at all during that time. Also, the great majority of these characters were “one-shot” characters who only appeared in a single issue: for re-occurring characters like Lex Luthor, hypnotic control of the hero was a ploy they might use on rare occasions but never specialized in. Strangely enough, or, rather, more likely another sign of the times, is that such hypnotic control was rarely used against or by women.
There were a few exceptions, of course, such as the reoccurring Justice Society villainess Harlequin, who used a pair of hypnotic glasses as part of her circus clown motif, but she was a much more sympathetic character and eventually reformed, and the one-shot villainess Lady Serpent, who used her hypnotic gaze to mesmerize a female jail guard into letting her escape, yet her foe, the Black Terror, forewarned about her powers, was able to resist her. (Curiously, Catwoman would use use the same trick to escape prison in a much later comic, hypnotizing a female guard with a cat’s‑eye-jeweled locket.) It almost seems as though the comics writers just didn’t want to or weren’t allowed to have a female character, hero or villain, who could control the male characters: it was acceptable for Luthor to put Superman under his hypnotic control, but no woman could. Given the sexism of the culture at the time, that seems a likely explanation.
But there was one exception to all of this sexism, the most famous heroine of this era and possibly any era. And that was Wonder Woman.
⇒ Continue reading “Comic Archetypes: The Golden Age Hypnotic Heroine”
As my birthday occurs this month, I thought it appropriate to blog about items in the Collection that are older than myself. Items I am considering include:
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An article in the Radio World magazine from March 26th, 1927, entitled ‘Hypnotism Practiced Over Airway!’
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‘Minions of the Tiger’ by Chester S. Geier from Fantastic Adventures, September, 1946
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“Under the BIrds’ Nests ‑or- The Brutality of Hypnosis” by Carolline Cunningham
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“Flint’s Lessons in Hypnotism”
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“The Secrets of Clairovoyance and How to Become an Operator / Mesmerism and Psychology and How to Become a Mesmerizer and Psychologist”
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‘Svengali of Sex! Expose of Carnival Hypnotism Racket’ in Detective World Magazine
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‘My Eyes Have Seen Your Mind’ by Franz Polgar in Sensation, March, 1942
[amtap book:isbn=0425178609]
They only come out at night
Cloth tearing, she spread-eagled her arms and legs, tautening the leathery folds of swelling batwings. The wings were part of arms, growing out of the shoulders, attached to the long thinning skeletal arms and legs with scalloped leathery black bat membranes.
Batwings beat the air frantically, trying to stop or at least slow the fall.
Among the Undead, only the most powerful vampires can muster the occult force needed for shapeshifting, to become a giant bat, a wolf, or mist that can drift through solid walls.
Such a queen vampire was Marya Zaleska.
Countess Marya Zaleska, Dracula’s Daughter.
The Universal Monsters: Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, the Wolfman, Dracula’s Daughter. All returning, just as they returned in so many Universal horror movies, this time in fictional form.
⇒ Continue reading ““The Devil’s Night” — David Jacobs”
Over the past several years, there has been significant research in determining the state of the brain during hypnosis, including proving the difference between hypnosis and sleep.
Now, this study from reported in New Scientist and referenced here at Io9, describes a physical sign that a person is in a state of hypnosis, and, of course, it happens to involve the eyes. In hypnosis, according to this research, people have different eye reactions, including blink rates and pupil response, things that are impossible to fake or duplicate, things that are caused by changes in the brain activity under hypnosis.
“We found that during hypnosis, the frontal area was almost perfectly disconnected from the rest of the brain,” says Kallio. “There are usually lots of connections but during hypnosis they were almost gone.”
More than just an additional proof that hypnosis does exist, it also confirms the stereotype of the blank-eyed subject. The old saying “The eyes are windows to the soul” also comes to mind here.
Not really anything about hypnosis but certainly verging into areas of outright mind control, this article in the Io9 website is a bit light but still at least interesting reading and maybe a little thought-provoking. The article lists ten different ways electro-magnetic fields can affect brain functionality, usually to the detriment of the person affected. These ways are:
10. Shred its DNA
9. Stimulate its Growth
8. Train you off food and water
7. Make you spin in circles
6. Pacify you completely
5. Alter your morality
4. Take out your power of speech but leave your ability to sing
3. Induce panic, disorientation, and deep fear
2. Cause Seizures and Death
1. Make you see ghosts
Sound far-fetched? In reality, research is already underway in ways to make use of electro-magnetic fields (and similar energy projection methods) in combat or crowd control situations. There is already in use a high-frequency, high decibel sound projector that has been in use for crowd control situations in recent years. Not to mention the alleged secret government experiments into similar mind controlling devices in the past.
Now can this be applied to hypnosis? Well, hypnosis is a complicated state but one that is definitely affected by the mental state of the subject. Could the brain be so stimulated through electro-magnetic fields that can induce a trance-like state that can be used to effect a hypnotic state? Given that several MRI studies have shown which parts of the brain are in operation during hypnosis (studies which show that the brain in sleep uses different areas, demonstrating that hypnosis is not a form of sleep) these areas could be targeted for stimulation in induce that effect.
Of course, the article here needs to be treated with a certain level of skepticism, but the idea is worth keeping in mind.
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