The Curse of Skeleton Munroe

Category: science revenants

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 987: WILLIAM SCOTT

    (Jackpot Comics 002, 1941)

    William Scott is your textbook mad scientist delving into the mysteries of life and death that man was not meant to comprehend, and in fact is so clearly going to be a problem that Mr Justice shows up to tell him off in advance, just based on a feeling. Despite this, Scott signs up condemned gangster “Rod” Dugan (and whether the Rod part is short for Rodney or the now-somewhat obscure slang for a gun is impossible to know. Probably the gun, though) as a candidate for post-execution reanimation. Prison officials! You have to stop releasing bodies to men with crazed looks in their eyes who stink of ozone!

    Scott’s plan is successful, and he soon has his very own science revenant that he sends out to loot and plunder for him. Please not the multiple dentition-based signifiers in the above: while Dugan’s tusk-like canines are one of the signifiers of the monstrous in Mr Justice comics, Scott’s missing teeth are a mark of his derangement, like his long messy hair and the deep circles around his eyes.

    Mr Justice has no trouble tracking down Scott as the source of the trouble, having already pegged him as a troublemaker. He proves to be more than a match for the the resurrected Dugan, but is unable to fully defeat him fully. The reason for this is simple: though Scott brought Dugan’s body back to life, his soul is condemned to wander in torment until it is laid to rest. This is all set-up for a Mortal Shell vs. Immortal Soul fight to the death, and the Immortal Soul is not playing around.

    Meanwhile, Scott takes the classic mad scientist’s way out and blows himself, along with his lab, to high heaven. Hopefully he gets to reconnect with his old friend Rod Dugan when he gets there.

    Categorized in: Supercrime (Monster Making)

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 987: WILLIAM SCOTT

    (Jackpot Comics 002, 1941)

    William Scott is your textbook mad scientist delving into the mysteries of life and death that man was not meant to comprehend, and in fact is so clearly going to be a problem that Mr Justice shows up to tell him off in advance, just based on a feeling. Despite this, Scott signs up condemned gangster “Rod” Dugan (and whether the Rod part is short for Rodney or the now-somewhat obscure slang for a gun is impossible to know. Probably the gun, though) as a candidate for post-execution reanimation. Prison officials! You have to stop releasing bodies to men with crazed looks in their eyes who stink of ozone!

    Scott’s plan is successful, and he soon has his very own science revenant that he sends out to loot and plunder for him. Please not the multiple dentition-based signifiers in the above: while Dugan’s tusk-like canines are one of the signifiers of the monstrous in Mr Justice comics, Scott’s missing teeth are a mark of his derangement, like his long messy hair and the deep circles around his eyes.

    Mr Justice has no trouble tracking down Scott as the source of the trouble, having already pegged him as a troublemaker. He proves to be more than a match for the the resurrected Dugan, but is unable to fully defeat him fully. The reason for this is simple: though Scott brought Dugan’s body back to life, his soul is condemned to wander in torment until it is laid to rest. This is all set-up for a Mortal Shell vs. Immortal Soul fight to the death, and the Immortal Soul is not playing around.

    Meanwhile, Scott takes the classic mad scientist’s way out and blows himself, along with his lab, to high heaven. Hopefully he gets to reconnect with his old friend Rod Dugan when he gets there.

    Categorized in: Supercrime (Monster Making)

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 266: DR BRUNO VAROZ

    (Marvel Mystery Comics v1 010, 1940) 

    I like this guy. This guy is the fun kind of mad scientist with a lot of fun details. First of all he lives in a castle roughly the same size as the island it sits on, off the coast of Cuba. Secondly, he follows the rules of Mad Scientist Grooming, which state that they must either be impeccably groomed or, as with Dr Varoz here, look like they woke up in a compost heap.

    Varoz’ great discovery is a formula for artificial blood, which he uses to bring the dead back to life. Like aerial torpedoes (missiles) and airplane detectors (RADAR), artificial blood as something that both real-world and comic book people were trying to perfect in the 40s, but unlike the former we still haven’t quite gotten the handle on artificial blood, probably because it always seems to turn people into draculas or monsters or, as here, a bunch of skull-faced science revenants.

    And there’s a lot to like about these guys! They look great for one, they’re seemingly unstoppable for two, even though there’s nothing stopping them from being killed again – I guess they’re just too scary to stop.

    They’re also intelligent, which rules, and which is why they’re science revenants and not science zombies. They talk, fly planes, fire guns… Dr Varoz can stay forgotten as far as I’m concerned, but I would love to see his Corpse-Beings BRUNG BACK in some capacity.

    (I really like that the animated corpse is afraid of Electro)

    Dr Bruno Varoz’ other two claims to fame are this excellent two-headed monster and a pretty cold-blooded death via being thrown by Electro into the same acid pit pictured above; The monster, unaccounted for at the end of the story, would also be a welcome sight in a modern comic, if only in one of those crowd shots on Monster Island or in the Mole Man’s tunnels.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 266: DR BRUNO VAROZ

    (Marvel Mystery Comics v1 010, 1940) 

    I like this guy. This guy is the fun kind of mad scientist with a lot of fun details. First of all he lives in a castle roughly the same size as the island it sits on, off the coast of Cuba. Secondly, he follows the rules of Mad Scientist Grooming, which state that they must either be impeccably groomed or, as with Dr Varoz here, look like they woke up in a compost heap.

    Varoz’ great discovery is a formula for artificial blood, which he uses to bring the dead back to life. Like aerial torpedoes (missiles) and airplane detectors (RADAR), artificial blood as something that both real-world and comic book people were trying to perfect in the 40s, but unlike the former we still haven’t quite gotten the handle on artificial blood, probably because it always seems to turn people into draculas or monsters or, as here, a bunch of skull-faced science revenants.

    And there’s a lot to like about these guys! They look great for one, they’re seemingly unstoppable for two, even though there’s nothing stopping them from being killed again – I guess they’re just too scary to stop.

    They’re also intelligent, which rules, and which is why they’re science revenants and not science zombies. They talk, fly planes, fire guns… Dr Varoz can stay forgotten as far as I’m concerned, but I would love to see his Corpse-Beings BRUNG BACK in some capacity.

    (I really like that the animated corpse is afraid of Electro)

    Dr Bruno Varoz’ other two claims to fame are this excellent two-headed monster and a pretty cold-blooded death via being thrown by Electro into the same acid pit pictured above; The monster, unaccounted for at the end of the story, would also be a welcome sight in a modern comic, if only in one of those crowd shots on Monster Island or in the Mole Man’s tunnels.