The Curse of Skeleton Munroe

Category: Captain Courageous

  • REAL PERSON ROUND-UP 026

    Once again we point and go “Hey. It’s that guy.”

    Adolf Hitler:

    Captain Courageous has to deal with a few pseudo-Nazis working for Hitler-alike Hinkler. (Banner Comics 003, 1941) 

    Real Hitler takes a scheme-foiling by Vulcan pretty hard. (Four Favorites 001, 1941)

    Devil’s Island:

    Captain America and Bucky infiltrate Devil’s Island to free a prisoner who is not only a victim of carceral justice taken to unjust extremes but also as an arm of the Nazi government in France. (Captain America Comics 005, 1941)

    the Duke and Duchess of Windsor:

    The Duke of Windsor, aka the former King Edward VIII of England and his wife Wallis, Duchess of Windsor, welcome Speed Martin to the Bahamas in the Duke’s wartime role as the Governor General of that territory. (The Funnies 051, 1941)

    FDR:

    Super-American rescues the most obscured-by-shadow (and completely silent!) FDR we have yet seen from the evil Tyrannus. The usual shadowed-features treatment that he usually gets is so over the top in that it looks like the President is going to be dramatically revealed to be some sort of frog monster in the next panel. (Fight Comics 015, 1941)

    By contrast, here’s a very recognizable FDR congratulating newsreel cameraman Speed Martin on returning from Europe with some vital intel on the Axis war machine. (The Funnies 051, 1941)

    And by contrast with that, here’s “Mr Jones,” the mysterious government official who recruits Captain Midnight into his country’s service and who is heavily implied to be a disguised FDR, even though he lacks the President’s famously large head. (The Funnies 057, 1941)

    (don’t worry: someone thought about the big head issue and inflated it by The Funnies 058)

    the German-American Bund:

    Very rare appearance of the German-American Bund under it’s own name, even if the actual group was already in severe decline at the point this book was published. (Captain America Comics 005, 1941)

    Harold R. Stark:

    He’s not named, but the Chief of Naval Operations seen here sure looks like the man who held the position at the time, Harold R. Stark. Did they do a photo reference this one time? (The Funnies 055, 1941)

    Joe Dimaggio:

    “Joey Diraggio,” star player for the Brooklyn Badgers and victim of the Black Toad. (Captain America Comics 007, 1941)

    the Venus de Milo:

    The Venus de Milo is stolen by Zeus and brought back to Ancient Greece so that he can turn it into a human woman to be his wife. Zanzibar the Magician rescues the statue woman and brings her back to the present with him, but the question is never resolved: does he chop off her arms and turn her into a statue again? Is the Fox Features Universe minus one statue and plus one blonde lady? (Mystery Men Comics 002, 1939)

    Winston Churchill:

    Personally thanks Vulcan for escorting a convoy to England. (Four Favourites 001, 1941) 

  • MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 003

    King of Darkness: 

    Radio engineer Bruce King develops the amazingly-named Black Zero Transmitter that selectively allows him to negate light and/or heat in its range of operation, plus an insulated costume and night-vision goggles so that he is immune to its effects. He ends up dealing with nosy reporters and spies inadvertently egged on by said nosy reporters and so adopts the alias of the King of Darkness. Probably the best thing about him is the fact that he will just drive around with the Black Zero Transmitter in his car (or boat! or plane!), with a column of darkness travelling at highway speeds and presumably giving people religious experiences. (Amazing-Man Comics 024, 1941)

    The Blue Lady:

    The Blue Lady is Lucille Martin, who gets mixed up in an attempt to smuggle gold out of China to aid the war effort and ends up gaining super strength from a weird gas released from inside an ancient ring. And since the ring had a bird on it, she has a bird on her hat! Delightful! Unfortunately, this comic came out in 1941 and involved Chinese people, so while it doesn’t indulge in every racist Yellow Peril storytelling trope it does hit a lot of them, including multiple instances of yellowface by the Blue Lady herself. Far less delightful! (Amazing-Man Comics 024, 1941)

    Nightshade:

    Howard Hall is Nightshade, who has the power to control, see, speak etc via his own shadow, with his strength increasing proportional to the shadow’s size. This is, frankly, much cooler than most shadow powers in comics. He’s got little ankle-mounted spotlights to throw shadows with! (Amazing-Man Comics 024, 1941)

    Captain Courageous:

    It’s not especially clear from the couple of appearances I have access to but Captain Courageous seems to be the Uncle Sam kind of patriotic hero – a guy made up of free-floating patriotism. He has the standard array of superpowers – flight, enhanced strength, invulnerability to small arms fire – and I would classify him as a medium-level annoying patriot. He also has a mask that looks very annoying to wear. (Banner Comics 003, 1941)

  • MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 003

    King of Darkness: 

    Radio engineer Bruce King develops the amazingly-named Black Zero Transmitter that selectively allows him to negate light and/or heat in its range of operation, plus an insulated costume and night-vision goggles so that he is immune to its effects. He ends up dealing with nosy reporters and spies inadvertently egged on by said nosy reporters and so adopts the alias of the King of Darkness. Probably the best thing about him is the fact that he will just drive around with the Black Zero Transmitter in his car (or boat! or plane!), with a column of darkness travelling at highway speeds and presumably giving people religious experiences. (Amazing-Man Comics 024, 1941)

    The Blue Lady:

    The Blue Lady is Lucille Martin, who gets mixed up in an attempt to smuggle gold out of China to aid the war effort and ends up gaining super strength from a weird gas released from inside an ancient ring. And since the ring had a bird on it, she has a bird on her hat! Delightful! Unfortunately, this comic came out in 1941 and involved Chinese people, so while it doesn’t indulge in every racist Yellow Peril storytelling trope it does hit a lot of them, including multiple instances of yellowface by the Blue Lady herself. Far less delightful! (Amazing-Man Comics 024, 1941)

    Nightshade:

    Howard Hall is Nightshade, who has the power to control, see, speak etc via his own shadow, with his strength increasing proportional to the shadow’s size. This is, frankly, much cooler than most shadow powers in comics. He’s got little ankle-mounted spotlights to throw shadows with! (Amazing-Man Comics 024, 1941)

    Captain Courageous:

    It’s not especially clear from the couple of appearances I have access to but Captain Courageous seems to be the Uncle Sam kind of patriotic hero – a guy made up of free-floating patriotism. He has the standard array of superpowers – flight, enhanced strength, invulnerability to small arms fire – and I would classify him as a medium-level annoying patriot. He also has a mask that looks very annoying to wear. (Banner Comics 003, 1941)

  • NOTES – FEBRUARY 2024

    Good reactions by the people in this crowd to Amazing-Man passing through in his Green Mist form – people usually treat it as if he’s invisible but this is much more satisfying. (Amazing-Man Comics 014, 1940) 

    Origins:

    The Shark is not just the son of Father Neptune, he’s part of a long line of father/ son Neptunes and Sharks! I was right in my belief that the Shark was more interesting than most ocean dwelling super-heroes! (Amazing-Man Comics 014, 1940)

    I Don’t Get It Dept:

    The names on this poster are either character in the story (Dr Hypno, Lana the lion tamer) or jokes (Governor Graft, Senator Filchit, Mayor M.I. Blue), but Ivan Coe is not the former and I can’t figure out any way he’s the latter. It’s a puzzle! (Amazing-Man Comics 019, 1941)

    Attacking Hitler:

    Amazing-Man participates in the grand old tradition of political commentary in comics (Amazing-Man Comics 022, 1941)

    Fate of Atlantis:

    Adventurer Reef Kinkaid encounters a fairly standard version of Atlantis (or Atlantia) stuck in a little bubble under an island and still somehow managing to thrive for 9000+ years. (Amazing-Man Comics 022, 1941)

    Gruesome:

    Real gruesome death perpetrated by one-off hero the Marksman (Amazing-Man Comics 023, 1941)

    Famous Names:

    Hobo Harper encounters this evil guy who loves “fancy murders” and is trying to gain control of a travelling carnival – Tony Blair (Amazing-Man Comics 025, 1941)

    Giant guy on the right lives in the Tennessee woods eating wild boar and ends up falling off a mountain while tussling with DA Tom Kerry. Jim Davis is the name. (Big Shot Comics 002, 1940)

    Cops Shoot:

    Captain Courageous is accused of being a spy (literally by one guy yelling “he’s a spy!”) and these cops attempt to execute him. Twice! (Banner Comics 003, 1941)

    Now, the Blue Beetle did just rob a restaurant in order to get in good with a gang, but that’s still not a good reason for this cop to attempt to murder him. (Big 3 006, 1941)

    Canada:

    Always have to note when a comic makes a stop in a specific rather than generic location in Canada, even when it’s not actually Canadian for another eight years or so. This time it’s Captain Courageous showing up to help these wacky pacifist fishermen drive off a Nazi invasion. (Banner Comics 004, 1941)