PDSH Magic Users

I am trying to find a list of Magic using characters. I was wondering if perhaps we could compile a list. I have searched but I cant find a list. Thanks in advance.

I'm assuming that you mean from comics, Thunder Lad? Here's a list of the magical characters I've come across (this is all the info I have on them):

• Captain Wizard (John Preston) - Enwil (USA), 1945 - War veteran John Preston, unjustly accused of murder, hides from the police in a wax museum, where he meets a magician, Theophrastus Bombastus Paracelsus. Theo sees that the man is innocent & gives him a magic cloak so he can do good. The cloak makes him invulnerable and lets him fly. He is helped by Baldy Bean.
  
• Destiny - Quality (USA), 1943 - A homeless man went to a magic show, hoping to win a prize. Prof. Seezall Nozal tried to read his mind & told him that he had a great destiny & power. The homeless man thought this was ridiculous, but when he tried to clear his mind, as the Professor had suggested, he was whisked to a crime scene: the murder of 711, who’d tracked Oscar Jones to his lair, only to be shot and killed. Destiny saw the murder, brought in Oscar Jones, and continued to use his power to fight crime.
  
• Dr. Miracle & Akim - Harvey (USA), 1940 - Somewhere in Nepal protected from intrusion by the high and forbidding Caucasus, the great super-scientist and Master Magician, Dr. Miracle, attended only by his giant Nepalnese servant Akim, perfects a series of instruments designed to fight evil and crime on the Earth.
  
• Dr. Mystic - Centaur (USA), 1936 - Dr. Mystic is an agent of the mystic Seven and enemy of the evil sorcerer Koth. He is assisted by his friend and fellow sorcerer Zator. He's a two fisted type of mystic detective but knows some spells such as being able to grow to giant size and travelling through a limbo.
  
• Duke of Darkness (Danny “Paddy” Sullivan) - Gerona (USA), 1942 - Policeman Danny “Paddy” Sullivan was killed in the line of duty, became an Earth-bound spirit, and decided to fight crime as the Duke of Darkness. His powers include intangibility, flight, super strength, and the ability to perceive ghosts and demons. He can be knocked out by head blow and battles crooks like Mr. Slumber and Professor Evil, who attack people in their dreams. Danny’s police captain tried to lock up the Duke as a nut.
  
• Elliman, Ace of Magic (Nigel Elliman) - Street & Smith (USA), 1948 - Nigel Elliman replaces Blackstone in Super-Magician Comics as the lead feature magician in this comic series.
  
• Futuro - Great Publication (USA), 1942 - A robed being with the ability to travel through time and space and beyond. In his only appearance, Futuro takes Adolf Hitler to hell.
  
• Ghost (George Chance) - Nedor (USA), 1940 - Raised in a circus by a trapeze artist mom and animal handler dad, he gains many skills: ventriloquism, contortionism, knife throwing, acrobatics, makeup, etc. Studying mysticism, he gained levitation, astral projection, invisibility, and other powers. As an occult investigator, he and his wife Betty battle evil. After dying, his skills let him to stay on Earth as the Ghost. AKA The Green Ghost
  
• Green Lama (Jethro Dumont/Dr. Pali) - Crestwood (USA), 1940 - Wealthy New Yorker Jethro Dumont studies Buddhism in Tibet for 10 years and becomes a Lama, gaining superpowers due to mystic secrets and radioactive salts. He recharges his powers by chanting the Jewel Lotus Mantra: “Om mani padme om.” He can fly, is super strong, can generate electricity, and is connected to the spiritual world. He sometimes uses the name Dr. Pali.
  
• Hale the Magician - Harry “A” Chesler (USA), 1941 - Hale, son of a 15th-century Spanish noble, helps South American Maonis fight conquistadors. He joins the tribe, becomes the chief’s successor, learns magic & science, and gets an enchanted spearhead. A jealous Maoni stabs him in the back. Hale’s sealed in a magic tomb. In 1941, Henry Starrett & daughter Lois open the tomb, killing Henry. Hale takes Lois back to the US, & fought evil w/his magic spearhead.
  
• Illuso - Fox Features (USA), 1944 - Illuso was taught the mysteries of illusion by a high llama of Tibet!
  
• Jack Flynn - Holyoke (USA), 1940 - Jack Flynn & Joan Joyce, covering the war in Asia, are stranded in a remote mountain region in Tibet and meet Shangra, born the 7th son of a 7th son. Now a 200-year-old master of mystic arts and possessing the secret of immortal life, he’s tired & wants an heir. Jack eventually is bestowed magical powers by a slowly dying Shangra and returns to the US w/Joan & Shangra’s great, great, great granddaughter, Lonna.
  
• Jupiter, Master Magician - Prize (USA), 1940 - Jupiter, sent from his planet to Earth to clean up evil corruption, lands in upper New York State. By speaking magic words, he can move objects, tear apart buildings by magical force, or become invisible and immaterial. Jupiter explains that he can do seemingly impossible things because everyone on his planet can do magic. Magic is a common practice there.
  
• Kalkor - Fox (USA), 1941 - Kalkor was high priest of Isis when Nagana destroyed his city and was turned to a statue. She’s revived in modern times, so Isis returns Kalkor to life to fight her. He takes on the identity of John Kerry. He has vague supernatural abilities.
  
• Kon Fu - Street and Smith (USA), 1940 - Dr. Kon Fu, a young Chinese man in San Francisco's Chinatown, uses his skills and knowledge to fight for his people against oppression and magic. In a hidden cellar, he has a Temple of Magic to the Green Goddess, who comes alive to give advice when Kon Fu prays to her.
  
• Lady Satan - Harry “A” Chesler (USA), 1941 - A German bomb sinks a ship that a young engaged couple is travelling on. The man is killed, so his fiancé vows to fight the Nazis. After learning magic, Lady Satan traveled Nazi-occupied France, battling the invaders. She fought the occult using powerful magic and wore a ring, shaped like a serpent, that could release gasses derived from “dragon scales” that allowed her to “unveil the shadow world."
  
• Magga The Magnificent (Kay Magga) - Spark (USA), 1946 - Radio star Kay received her powers from a mystic source in Tibet. By saying 'Om mani padme hum!' she can fly with the speed of thought.
  
• Magician From Baghdad - Harvey (USA), 1941
  
• Man in Black - Harvey (USA), 1946 - The mystic Man in Black operated as a guiding force to others.
  
• Margo the Magician - Quality (USA), 1941 - Margo is the daughter of The Great Presto, a stage magician who could do real magic. She took after him on both counts, using her power to fight crime.
  
• Marvelo, the Monarch of Magicians - Columbia (USA), 1940 - The “Monarch of Magicians” used his amazing magical abilities and flying carpet to fight crime. He can do just about anything with a casual flick of the wrist and a few well placed magic incantations. He is often aided by his Chinese servant, Zee. His Chinese servant Zee wears a leopard skin and helps out. His chief opponent is Ramun, the evil one.
  
• Marvo the Magician & Tito the Monkey - Ace (USA), 1940 - Marvo is a magician detective capable of casting realistic illusions, who is also good with his fists. He uses his powers and his pet monkey to fight and solve crimes! To use any of his powers, he has to say a word but change some of the letters into something vaguely resembling Italian.
  
• Merlin (Jack Kellogg) - Quality (USA), 1940 - Playboy Jock Kellogg is the last descendent of Camelot’s magician. Inheriting Merlin’s magical green cloak, he finds that it gives him the ability to cast magic spells.
  
• Miraco the Great - Centaur (USA), 1941 - Miraco, a magician/mystic with magical powers, mastered hypnosis and discovered a secret of mystical super strength. He is the star of Dolan Circus, friends with high wire man Frank Webb, his fiancé trapeze artist Donalda and enemy of Franzetti, the trainer of the gorilla Colossus. Miraco has a sidekick in Eddie.
  
• Mr. Miracle - Holyoke (USA), 1941 - A man jumps off a bridge to kill himself, & is taken to Prof. Rietz for an experiment; he’s treated for near 20 hours with a mind ray. Before the man comes to, the professor is attacked by Sango for the plans and shot. When the man comes to, the dying professor tells him he has the power to perform miracles and should track down Sango. The man can do magic like changing guns to snakes and birds, suspending crooks in air, altering his clothes and looks, appearing and disappearing in puffs of smoke, etc. He wears a suit and a gray/purple hooded cloak.
  
• Mr. Mist (Roy Gates) - United Features (USA), 1940 - Roy Gates is given magical powers by an Eastern monk
  
• Mr. Mystic - Fox (USA), 1940 - Ken is stranded in Tibet where a council of seven lamas proclaim him to be a man of prophecy. They brand his forehead with a mystical symbol that imparts the mysteries of life to him (in other words, catch-all magical powers) and send him forth into the world to combat evil.
  
• Mother Hubbard - Harry “A” Chesler (USA), 1941 - Remnant of an age long past, the mysterious Mother Hubbard commands the power of ancient witchcraft to battle the evils of the present day. She's is a very powerful witch, and uses magic rhymes to help in her battle against the Nazis. She can also fly with the use of her broomstick.
  
• Mystico - Nedor (USA), 1940 - Mystico was a mummy stolen from his museum by Dr. Slade, a mad scientist who resurrects him with a life-restoring "vita-ray." However, the vita-rays were turned up too high, and the machine explodes. The explosion not only destroys Slade's lab, but it also kills Dr. Slade. However, Mystico is revived and decides to become a crime fighter. His super powers were magic-based and did whatever the plot required.
  
• Phantasmo (Phil Anson) - Dell (USA), 1940 - A young American spends 25 years in Tibet, learning mystic secrets from Grand High Lamas. After mastering spirit and body, he returns to the US, takes the name Phil Anson, and begins fighting crime. Phil can send his spirit about free of his body; in spirit form he is super strong and can fly, grow to giant size, and go invisible. If his body’s hurt when he’s a spirit, body and spirit die. He is helped by his bodyguard, bellhop Whizzer McGee.
  
• Phantom Magician - Eastern Color (USA), 1937 - Of all the masked, costumed, super-powered mystery men who stride, fly, stretch, swim or teleport through the comics medium today, one of the very first was an early supporting character in The Adventures of Patsy.
  
• Red Dragon (Bob Reed) - Street & Smith (USA), 1943 - Teenager Bob Reed's parents are killed by the Japanese, so he swears vengeance, spends studies ancient sorcery and gains power to fulfill his vow. By holding his hands together and saying "Po-She-Lo," he gains magic powers: flight, matter transformation, illusion projection and dispelling, force fields, and firing beams of destructive energy. He’s helped by a Chinese friend, Ching Foo, and by pet komodo dragon, Komodo. The Red Dragon,
  
• Sgt Spook - Funnies Inc (USA), 1940 - Sergeant Spook is an ordinary police scientist who is working on a chemical analysis when he "absentmindedly leans his pipe against a rack containing vials of chemicals." This sets off an explosion that kills him. However, his ghost remains, and he decides to fight crime this way. He can't be heard or seen (except by Jerry) but he can physically affect people and things, as well as walk through walls.
  
• Snowman - Baily Publications (USA), 1944 - Snowman is an idol/protector of Eskimo natives in the Arctic.
  
• Solar, Master of Magic - Holyoke (USA), 1941 - Solar, Master of Magic has a diamond from King Solomon's Mines. This gives him the "power of performing miracles." With that and his "Cape of Mystery" (which turns him invisible) Solar fights crime and the German menace.
  
• Tor (Jim Slade) - Quality (USA), 1941 - Press photographer Jim Slade learns of the magic power in speaking spells backwards. He disguises himself with a false moustache and stage magician outfit to use this power to fight crime.
  
• Tulpa of Tsang - Sun (USA), 1940 - In faraway Tibet a few of the holiest Lamas are said to possess strange mystical powers. By employing an age-old secret of concentration they can actually will unto being Tulpas of phantoms of themselves. Such a lama was Tsang. A Tulpa is a materialized thought that has taken physical form.
  
• Voodini - Prize (USA), 1940 - Mystic Voodini & sidekick Nikki say spells backward.
  
• Warlock the Wizard - Fawcett (USA), 1940 - Warlock the Wizard was a crime-fighting magic-using stage magician whose enemies were occult and evil. He had a trunk full of magic items, and Hugin the talking raven as a partner.
  
• The Wraith (Gary Kennedy) - Fox Features (USA), 1942 - Gary Kennedy is killed by criminals, thus freeing him from mortal concerns. He can finally concentrate on his hobby, fighting crime. He can become solid, when he has mild super-strength, or he can become a ghost and fly around and possess other people's bodies.
  
• Yarko the Great, Master Magician - Fox Features (USA), 1939 - Yarko the Great is both a stage magician and a real one, and he uses both sets of abilities to fight crime. Yarko is one of those catch-all magician heroes whose powers of magic and hypnotism can meet and defeat any adversary whether they be voodoo masters, vampires, or hellish denizons. He has the luxury of being created by Will Eisner as well as having some of his adventures drawn by Bob Powell. So, he always looked good regardless of the tux.
  
• Zanzibar the Magician - Fox Features (USA), 1939 - A stage magician dressed in tails & a fez, Zanzibar had mental abilities that he used to battle evil and crime. He's got telekinesis, mentally-powered super-strength, and hypnosis and mind-control. Zanzibar has devoted to using his real magical and mental powers to aid the police and fight crime. He's also good with his fists when the situation demands it. He's on good terms with the police who often call him in on bizarre crimes
  
• Zardi The Eternal Man - Centaur (USA), 1940 - At least 10 thousand years old, centuries past, Zardi was prince of Zandipore who learned the secrets of Chaldean magic and saw the birth of Hindu magic. He has vast wealth in buried treasures and lives in an American hotel; he has his quarters set up in Mid-East themes, wears appropriate clothing, and has a servant named Nogi. When called to solve a perplexing crime, he wears a tuxedo and a cape that makes him young again. He carries a magic cane that he can use to cast various spells and that can become any weapon that he desires.
  

Also PDSH has a list of magicians called Category:Magic Characters.

Wow, nice list Bard!

Thunder, we've also been creating a new freely licensed magic character named Dr. Acacia, The Mystriarch!

I read the thread on Dr Acacia. It was really good.

I dont know how I missed that on PDSH. Thanks for that. I will go there and check it out.

Wow Bard. That is a great list. Thank you so much for it.

What are everyones thoughts on guys wearing tuxes and some of them wearing top hats, turbins or fez? If you were to update these clasic characters would you still have them dress like traditional magicians? Would you have them wear the hats?

My humble opinion is that the tux and top hat is over the top. The Fez reminds me of the guy from Austin Powers. The turbin reminds me of Haji from Johnny Quest. Not that I think they would be a bad look but would they fit in todays culture. Most people that think of magic nowdays seem to think of sexy witches or Chris Angel.

If you were doing retro stories or stories where the characters travel through time from the past, then keep their original look, because it makes them different than the characters we are used to seeing in modern times. But, if you're trying to update them, I'd go mre the "Chris Angel" or Harry Potter or "Sorceror's Apprentice" route. Something kinda goth maybe. But really, if you make the character badass enough or likable enough, he can wear a pink leotard and clown hair.

Thunder Lad wrote:

What are everyones thoughts on guys wearing tuxes and some of them wearing top hats, turbins or fez? If you were to update these clasic characters would you still have them dress like traditional magicians? Would you have them wear the hats?

Personally, I like the hats; it really says "magician" to me. A lot depends on how you set the character up. For instance, I liked how DC handled Zatanna in the series they are cancelling, where they made it clear that she doubled as a stage magician and an mystical crimefighter, and her stage outfit doubled as her "work clothes" (her words) when crimefighting.

One neat idea for a story might be something like "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," where one of the classic magic heroes is training his successor, and they're arguing over it.

"I don't care what you say, I ain't wearing the hat. The hat is stupid!"
"The hat, you little twit, makes the outfit! You kids today have no sense of style..."

roygbiv666 wrote:

Also PDSH has a list of magicians called Category:Magic Characters.

Well, sure, if you want to do it the easy way... ;-)

I am trying to come up with a new look and a back story for the Old Man of the Pyramids from Lash Lightning. I am not a great story teller or writer so its not going to be that good but I am giving it a shot. Its more of what he would be like today and what he would be doing.

Sounds cool...in the first PD appearance of Dr. Mystic, there was a reference to a group called, "The Seven." I found it intriguing because not much is said about "The Seven" except that the bad guy is going after them, and that is extremely concerning to the two ultra-powerful sorcerers in the story. In thinking about how to make sense of this idea in the "Free Universe" I thought, maybe it could be a reference to "The Council of Seven" in Amazing Man....but they're just monks with relatively minor powers. So then I though, maybe "The Seven" are another council...of the most powerful sorcerers in the entire world. So, then I thought, which sorcerers are the most powerful? Then it came to me!

The Old Man of the Pyramid from Egypt
The Wizard Shazam from Greece
Wonder Man's Mentor from India

We still need one from China, one from America, one from England or France and one from someplace else. A few names to consider: Green Lama, Zanzibar, Yondu, Chandu the Mystic (from radio), Ozmar the Mystic (from the old pulps)...although I think it should mainly be old guys...Chandu and Ozmar would be old by the time Lightning and Wonder Man were active...Zardi would be another good choice since he is immortal, much like Shazam, and possibly Old Man of the Pyramids....

What about "the Sorcerer": The Sorcerer also called the Magus was the most powerful magician in Venice during the 1500s. He took on an apprentice named Joe Djerk as an apprentice. The villainous Borgia wanted revenge on the Sorcerer and his Apprentice for refusing his request to make him invisible. However the Sorcerer outsmarts him. The Sorcerer was a powerful magician who could cast spells invoking the powers of powerful enties such as Cthulu and Melek Tuas.

Would you consider Fantomah a sorcerer? She could represent the African continent, or at least to have a powerful woman on the Council.

They should perhaps be more representative of regions of the world instead of modern countries. If they've been around a long time, they would pre-date many nations.

Ibis, Sargon, etc.

argosail wrote:

Sounds cool...in the first PD appearance of Dr. Mystic, there was a reference to a group called, "The Seven." I found it intriguing because not much is said about "The Seven" except that the bad guy is going after them, and that is extremely concerning to the two ultra-powerful sorcerers in the story. In thinking about how to make sense of this idea in the "Free Universe" I thought, maybe it could be a reference to "The Council of Seven" in Amazing Man....but they're just monks with relatively minor powers. So then I though, maybe "The Seven" are another council...of the most powerful sorcerers in the entire world. So, then I thought, which sorcerers are the most powerful? Then it came to me!

The Old Man of the Pyramid from Egypt
The Wizard Shazam from Greece
Wonder Man's Mentor from India

We still need one from China, one from America, one from England or France and one from someplace else. A few names to consider: Green Lama, Zanzibar, Yondu, Chandu the Mystic (from radio), Ozmar the Mystic (from the old pulps)...although I think it should mainly be old guys...Chandu and Ozmar would be old by the time Lightning and Wonder Man were active...Zardi would be another good choice since he is immortal, much like Shazam, and possibly Old Man of the Pyramids....

What I had in mind for the Old Man of the Pyramid was that he may or may not be the living embodiment of the god Anubis. Perhaps he is an avatar of the god or just a priest of the god that has lived for thousands of years. He would be trying to rid the world of undead since Anubis is the god of the dead.

Sounds really interesting, Thunder Lad. Did you have a look in mind? Because as I was reading your description, I thought of Boris Karloff as Ardeth Bey in the original Mummy:

http://ih2.redbubble.net/work.1219801.2.flat,550x550,075,f.boris-karloff-as-ardeth-bey-from-the-mummy.jpg

That would be a great look for the villian. I have invisioned him being dark skinned or even black, grey beard, bald, glasses. Depending on the time period he would be dressed a bit like Indianna Jones' dad.

I have an idea where he would lead a group of superheroes that fought undead and other supernatural menaces.

Have any of you ever checked out Gravel? http://www.comicvine.com/gravel/29-51752/ I have a street level type guy that is a bit like him. I would have him be part of the team.