Let me ask you--as brilliant as
Lex Luthor is supposed to be, did he ever take over the world from his prison cell?
More to the point--did he ever take over the world while stranded on a desert island?
Because
Emilio Gargunza did!
When Gargunza is captured after his latest scheme, the authorities
finally realize that he
ALWAYS escapes from prison, perhaps an
alternate form of incarceration was in order:
So the
Marvelman Family drops him off in the middle of nowhere:
Well, that's that, then, right? Stuck there forever? Oh, sure, he'll come up with
coconut powered radios or something, but no more threat to the rest of humanity, right?
No, dudes. Emilio Gargunza is far, far smarter than
The Professor:
Well, OK,
sure, he can build a boat, a motor, synthesize fuel for that motor. That definitely puts him several up on the Professor, I'll grant you. Apparently,
Gilligan could have gotten off the island far sooner with proper scientific advice.
But it's not like Gargunza can take over the world or anything,
right?
Wow, those must have been
some mineral resources on the island.
Still, it's just a boat and a paralysis gun. Not too much trouble there, eh?
After escaping, he finds an island populated by hapless natives, and...
And so, like an
SEC "
powerhouse" building up it's record by plowing through the likes of
Chattanooga or
Louisiana-Monroe, Gargunza builds his island empire:
The next obvious step:
What?!!??!?!??
Sadly, or perhaps happily, Gargunza will
completely forget about this formula after this adventure.
Anyway, after he gives some demonstration bombings:
And broadcasts his ultimatum:
The world immediately surrenders!!
OK, "
Japonica" and "
Germanica" surrender. But the rest of the world will still follow, because Japonica and Germanica set the standard, right?
So, trapped on a desert island with no modern technology, Gargunza has conquered the world!! Take
that, Luthor!!
Except, of course, that the Marvelman Family turns out to be
really good at stopping missiles...
...and at capturing Gargunza--it takes all of
one panel!!
Well, now that the world is saved, how do you imprison Gargunza this time?
SPOILER ALERT: It doesn't work.
From Marvelman Family #14 (1958), as reprinted in Marvelman Family's Finest #5 (2010).