The Curse of Skeleton Munroe

Category: More Fun Comics

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 057: THE MASTERMIND

    (More Fun Comics 049-050, 1939)

    Masked spy chief. After his first appearance is foiled by adventurer Biff Bronson he pulls one of the more major pivots in supercrime by opening one of those wax museums that doubles as a murder palace, where he himself is killed in a second encounter with Biff.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 057: THE MASTERMIND

    (More Fun Comics 049-050, 1939)

    Masked spy chief. After his first appearance is foiled by adventurer Biff Bronson he pulls one of the more major pivots in supercrime by opening one of those wax museums that doubles as a murder palace, where he himself is killed in a second encounter with Biff.

  • MINOR SUPER-HERO 003: THE FLYING FOX

    (More Fun Comics 037-051, 1938-1940)

    Rex Darrell! The Flying Fox! One of the most dull Golden Age aviator heroes, but as with so many of them, he has a cool name so here he is.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 056: MR A-X

    (More Fun Comics 046, 1939)

    Air pirate who bedeviled minor aviation hero the Flying Fox on multiple occasions.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 043: THE PHANTOM OF THE PYRAMIDS

    (More Fun 049, 1939)

    An archaeological dabbler who loots digs in the Valley of the Kings until he is put paid by short-lived detective character Bulldog Martin. Really really enjoy his gold mask/ pharaonic headpiece/ dark red robe combo.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 042: THE GORILLA

    (More Fun 048, 1939)

    A man has a mental health crisis and starts living in a swamp, emerging only to mug strangers. That’s a sad story!

    Put a gorilla costume on him though… a compelling villain!

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 042: THE GORILLA

    (More Fun 048, 1939)

    A man has a mental health crisis and starts living in a swamp, emerging only to mug strangers. That’s a sad story!

    Put a gorilla costume on him though… a compelling villain!

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 041: THE SPEAKING FROG

    (More Fun 045, 1939)

    The Speaking Frog is possibly the most obscure villain in the DC Universe, and that’s including Fawcett, Quality and Charlton characters in the mix. This is a shame because simply based on their name and appearance they are the strongest BRING THEM BACK candidate I have ever encountered. 

    Some backstory: in 1938 a strip called “Marg’ry Daw” began in More Fun Comics, running for just a few issues. A Little Orphan Annie knockoff, it featured the titular little girl and her dog having adventures with evil scientists and the like while being left alone by her wealthy but distracted father. Or it would have, but someone wasn’t feeling it and it was wrapped up in about four issues.

    Flash forward a year and “Marg’ry Daw” is back. This time it involves a more attentive Luther Daw taking his daughter on a train trip across the country. Over the course of five installments the following happens:

    -They befriend a Hindu mystic on the train. He has a vision of impending calamity and convinces them to disembark with him in Idaho. The train subsequently crashes.

    -They accompany Ahm, the mystic, to his friend’s secluded mansion. There they meet Stephen Dean, a wealthy vegetarian technophile who collects mummies and Indian artifacts, wears a robe and chortles constantly. A wide array of other eccentric servants and houseguests are alluded to.

    -Dean shows off his various gadgets to his new guests, including a voice-activated vault door and the Speaking Frog, a metal statue that talks if a specific object is placed in its mouth.

    -A guest is shot in the gardens. Ahm goes for help. Dean disappears. Someone wearing the Frog as a headpiece threatens Luther Daw’s life. He knocks them out and looks under the mask but the person’s identity is not revealed on-panel. Subsequently Dean’s adopted daughter indicates that there may be multiple people in Speaking Frog outfits and tells Daw to kill the real one. (his easy willingness to do so, plus some talk of the Frog not being a man plus Dean being a tech nerd leads to my private theory that the Speaking Frog is meant to be a robot) 

    AND THAT’S IT. The feature ends with Daw firing at a Speaking Frog and could have been intended either to wrap up immediately or go on for a dozen more episodes – if there’s a person alive who has any idea what was intended then I for one will be as shocked as any person has ever been.

    That’s about it: all setup, no payoff. The perfect candidate for revival, as they could be anyone! The greatest costume of all time! The most obscure villain of the DCU is ready to walk again! 

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 041: THE SPEAKING FROG

    (More Fun 045, 1939)

    The Speaking Frog is possibly the most obscure villain in the DC Universe, and that’s including Fawcett, Quality and Charlton characters in the mix. This is a shame because simply based on their name and appearance they are the strongest BRING THEM BACK candidate I have ever encountered. 

    Some backstory: in 1938 a strip called “Marg’ry Daw” began in More Fun Comics, running for just a few issues. A Little Orphan Annie knockoff, it featured the titular little girl and her dog having adventures with evil scientists and the like while being left alone by her wealthy but distracted father. Or it would have, but someone wasn’t feeling it and it was wrapped up in about four issues.

    Flash forward a year and “Marg’ry Daw” is back. This time it involves a more attentive Luther Daw taking his daughter on a train trip across the country. Over the course of five installments the following happens:

    -They befriend a Hindu mystic on the train. He has a vision of impending calamity and convinces them to disembark with him in Idaho. The train subsequently crashes.

    -They accompany Ahm, the mystic, to his friend’s secluded mansion. There they meet Stephen Dean, a wealthy vegetarian technophile who collects mummies and Indian artifacts, wears a robe and chortles constantly. A wide array of other eccentric servants and houseguests are alluded to.

    -Dean shows off his various gadgets to his new guests, including a voice-activated vault door and the Speaking Frog, a metal statue that talks if a specific object is placed in its mouth.

    -A guest is shot in the gardens. Ahm goes for help. Dean disappears. Someone wearing the Frog as a headpiece threatens Luther Daw’s life. He knocks them out and looks under the mask but the person’s identity is not revealed on-panel. Subsequently Dean’s adopted daughter indicates that there may be multiple people in Speaking Frog outfits and tells Daw to kill the real one. (his easy willingness to do so, plus some talk of the Frog not being a man plus Dean being a tech nerd leads to my private theory that the Speaking Frog is meant to be a robot) 

    AND THAT’S IT. The feature ends with Daw firing at a Speaking Frog and could have been intended either to wrap up immediately or go on for a dozen more episodes – if there’s a person alive who has any idea what was intended then I for one will be as shocked as any person has ever been.

    That’s about it: all setup, no payoff. The perfect candidate for revival, as they could be anyone! The greatest costume of all time! The most obscure villain of the DCU is ready to walk again! 

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 040: THE INVISIBLE TERROR

    (More Fun 044, 1939)

    Not much to this fellow, just a scientist who turns himself invisible and immediately starts criming it up. He is our first invisible guy though, and he’s yet another collar by the Radio Squad. Well, almost – he hurls himself out a window rather than go to jail.