The Curse of Skeleton Munroe

Category: honours – minor super-hero

  • NOTES – OCTOBER 2025

    Cops Shooting Fleeing Suspects in the Back: 

    I’ll grant these cops this: Steel Sterling did just steal one of their motorcycles. I still don’t think that that warrants a  “SHOOT TO KILL!” and three bullets in the back. (Zip Comics 001, 1940)

    Even less of a reason to shoot someone in the back: because you heard a different person shooting at them and assumed that they were a thief. Both because you are wrong and the person you are shooting at is actually super-hero Mr Satan and because theft is not punishable by death. (Zip Comics 007, 1940) 

    Not only do the cops try to blow the Scarlet Avenger away here, but they also allow real culprit Mr Nimbus to make a getaway. (Zip Comics 009, 1940) 

    Honours: 

    Rambunctious pilots Tim and Tom Shane, aka the Devils Twins, are decorated for valour. (Zip Comics 001, 1940)

    Super-Heroes Going to Costume Parties as Themselves: 

    Dudley Bradshaw, aka Mr Satan, attends a very costume-heavy Mardi Gras parade in costume as himself. (Zip Comics 005, 1940)

    Both Mr Scarlet and his enemy Bluebeard attend the same costume party in character. (Wow Comics 004, 1941)

    (Pinky is there too, of course) 

    Vigilante also attended a costume party as himself in 1941 and I completely neglected to note it before now. (Action Comics v1 042, 1941) 

  • NOTES – OCTOBER 2025

    Cops Shooting Fleeing Suspects in the Back: 

    I’ll grant these cops this: Steel Sterling did just steal one of their motorcycles. I still don’t think that that warrants a  “SHOOT TO KILL!” and three bullets in the back. (Zip Comics 001, 1940)

    Even less of a reason to shoot someone in the back: because you heard a different person shooting at them and assumed that they were a thief. Both because you are wrong and the person you are shooting at is actually super-hero Mr Satan and because theft is not punishable by death. (Zip Comics 007, 1940) 

    Not only do the cops try to blow the Scarlet Avenger away here, but they also allow real culprit Mr Nimbus to make a getaway. (Zip Comics 009, 1940) 

    Honours: 

    Rambunctious pilots Tim and Tom Shane, aka the Devils Twins, are decorated for valour. (Zip Comics 001, 1940)

    Super-Heroes Going to Costume Parties as Themselves: 

    Dudley Bradshaw, aka Mr Satan, attends a very costume-heavy Mardi Gras parade in costume as himself. (Zip Comics 005, 1940)

    Both Mr Scarlet and his enemy Bluebeard attend the same costume party in character. (Wow Comics 004, 1941)

    (Pinky is there too, of course) 

    Vigilante also attended a costume party as himself in 1941 and I completely neglected to note it before now. (Action Comics v1 042, 1941) 

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 860: MUSKOG

    (Whirlwind Comics 002, 1940)

    This is Muskog, ruler of the Earth’s core in the far-future year of 1980 CE and total dick. Muskog has been blasting the surface of the planet with a static electricity ray for seemingly no reason whatsoever, or at least no reason that he cares to state. This of course attracts the attention of crack science adventurer Bruce Barlow, who ventures into the molten depths on behalf of his people to ask “how come?”

    There are precisely three things I want to note about Muskog’s sole appearance. The first is simply to note that his name is infuriatingly close to muskeg, the Arctic/subarctic bog biome. Is this a coincidence, or did Bruce Barlow’s unknown creator(s) know and love the word as much as I do?

    Secondly, we must mention Barlow’s method of getting to the centre of the Earth: via a capsule that is shot out of a big gun into a volcanic crater. Never has any idea so neatly conveyed how simultaneously wonderful and dumb comic books can be. And how is he going to get back, you ask? Why by means of an “upward space helmet” that will simply float him back through the fiery mantle.

    Finally, as always, I must take note of any time that an alien or otherwise nonhuman species crops up in which the males are, e.g., bug-eyed green weirdos but the females are conventionally attractive human women, as seen here in the person of Muskog’s rebellious daughter Eda. Ah, the wonders of evolution.

    Eda frees Barlow, allowing him to destroy the irreplaceable explosion machines,  but unfortunately is unable to join him on his voyage through thousands of kilometres of molten rock because she is wounded. Barlow promises to return and is later seen trying to spin this return voyage not as a sex thing but as being in the interests of science, heh heh.

    Bruce Barlow is of course honoured by the surface world for his efforts, and this gives us the opportunity to see that the US flag of 1980 has only 28 stars – what great calamity has caused 20 whole states to succeed/ be kicked out/ other? Worldbuilding!

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 860: MUSKOG

    (Whirlwind Comics 002, 1940)

    This is Muskog, ruler of the Earth’s core in the far-future year of 1980 CE and total dick. Muskog has been blasting the surface of the planet with a static electricity ray for seemingly no reason whatsoever, or at least no reason that he cares to state. This of course attracts the attention of crack science adventurer Bruce Barlow, who ventures into the molten depths on behalf of his people to ask “how come?”

    There are precisely three things I want to note about Muskog’s sole appearance. The first is simply to note that his name is infuriatingly close to muskeg, the Arctic/subarctic bog biome. Is this a coincidence, or did Bruce Barlow’s unknown creator(s) know and love the word as much as I do?

    Secondly, we must mention Barlow’s method of getting to the centre of the Earth: via a capsule that is shot out of a big gun into a volcanic crater. Never has any idea so neatly conveyed how simultaneously wonderful and dumb comic books can be. And how is he going to get back, you ask? Why by means of an “upward space helmet” that will simply float him back through the fiery mantle.

    Finally, as always, I must take note of any time that an alien or otherwise nonhuman species crops up in which the males are, e.g., bug-eyed green weirdos but the females are conventionally attractive human women, as seen here in the person of Muskog’s rebellious daughter Eda. Ah, the wonders of evolution.

    Eda frees Barlow, allowing him to destroy the irreplaceable explosion machines,  but unfortunately is unable to join him on his voyage through thousands of kilometres of molten rock because she is wounded. Barlow promises to return and is later seen trying to spin this return voyage not as a sex thing but as being in the interests of science, heh heh.

    Bruce Barlow is of course honoured by the surface world for his efforts, and this gives us the opportunity to see that the US flag of 1980 has only 28 stars – what great calamity has caused 20 whole states to succeed/ be kicked out/ other? Worldbuilding!

  • NOTES – AUGUST 2025

     

    Big Head Futurites:

    Just a fun illustration of the concept of future humans being big-headed weirdos, from the “Brick Bradford” Sunday strip for 5 December, 1937 

    Honours – Thor, God of Thunder: 

    Grant Farrel, aka Thor, God of Thunder, gets a medal in his role in defending the US from invasion by fascist Gratnia. Note that it is Grant and not Thor who gets the medal, because Grant does a lousy job of protecting his secret identity. (Weird Comics 003, 1940)

    Honours – Typhon: 

    Honoured at the Inter-Ocean Congress for stopping the dastardly Menar. (Weird Comics 006, 1940)

    Panel Fun: 

    Just good clean fun with bad spelling as Thor heads to Tibet to warn the Grand Llama about an impending bandit attack. (Weird Comics 004, 1940)

  • NOTES: JULY 2025

    The Fates of Various Nazi Warships: 

    Given the penchant for featuring even quite famous and obvious things under false names in comics, I always end up noticing when something or someone shows up under their own moniker, which is why I was very surprised when Royal Navy submarine captain Tom Niles, aka the Undersea Raider, is responsible for sinking several real Nazi warships in this 1940 comic. The casualties include the cruiser Admiral Scheer (sunk in 1945 in our world) and the battleships Bismarck (scuttled in 1941), and Scharnhorst (sunk in 1943). I had thought that the Admiral Graf Spee was another of these anachronistically early kills, but this depiction of it’s scuttling off of Montevideo, Uruguay is broadly accurate, except that it happened in 1939. A wild time for naval combat. (Thrilling Comics 004, 1940)

    The Fate of Rome:

    Specifically, the fate of Rome during the Great Fire of 64 CE. There are a lot of theories about how and why the fire was started, but very few of them revolve around it accidentally being started by magician/adventurer the Ghost and his companions while attempting to escape Emperor Nero’s soldiers with the help of an electric ray projector. (Thrilling Comics 008, 1940) 

    Honours – Doc Strange: 

    Doc Strange is given an unspecified medal by FDR for foiling a plot to bomb Washington DC. (Thrilling Comics 010, 1940) 

    The next issue, Doc gets a parade for saving NYC from being bombed into dust. (Thrilling Comics 011, 1940) 

    Honours – the Firefly: 

    Harley “the Firefly” Hudson was Intercollegiate Pole Vault Champion during his time at NYU – plus he went to NYU! Very exciting to know exactly where a super-hero got his education. (Top-Notch Comics 009, 1940) 

    Honours – Fran Frazer: 

    Magazine photographer Fran Frazer receives a medal from the country of Murania for preventing a Nazi invasion. (Top-Notch Comics 010, 1940) 

    Alternate Identity: 

    Doc Strange, while suffering from amnesia, boxes world heavyweight champion Bull Gallagher under the identity of the Unknown. (Thrilling Comics 001, 1940) 

  • NOTES – JUNE 2025

    NOTES – JUNE 2025

    Letters to the Editor: 

    I rag on Novelty Press and their horrible and possibly fictional readership every chance I get, but I think I need to start presenting the letters they print in their comics so that I have some evidence to back up my grumbling. Here’s Clarence Pool of Seattle Washington advocating for the nice sensible adventures of an Army Air Force cadet who manages to foil a Fifth Column plot ever week over the exploits of a magic robot. (Target Comics v1 011, 1940)

    Skeletons with Jobs: 

    Driver is a job, certainly. Onto the pile! (The Funnies 047, 1940) 

    Honours: 

    Mickey Kelly, sidekick to swashbuckling newsreel cameraman Speed Martin, gets a medal from the French Army for foiling a spy. (The Funnies 048, 1940)

    Two issues later Mickey Riley (they forgot that he already had a last name, it seems) is decorated by the British for saving Gibraltar from the Axis. (The Funnies 050, 1940)

    Heroes Going to Costume Parties as Themselves: 

    Brenda Banks attends the Grand Costume Ball as Lady Luck, in an attempt to save a life. (The Spirit Section, “The Cinderella Murder Case”, 28 July, 1940)

    Mr Mystic also attends a costume party as himself in 1940, and a guy with no secret identity doing this might just be the most baffling thing I’ve read today, and this is the episode in which Mystic’s fiance is seduced by Death. (The Spirit Section, 22 December, 1940)

    Cops Shooting at Fleeing Suspects: 

    Sure, the Spirit has just confessed to a murder he did not commit for complicated reasons, but forgive me if I don’t agree with Mayor Aldrich here that that means that Commissioner Dolan has free license to shoot him in the back. (The Spirit “Eldas Thayer”, 21 July, 1940) 

    Interior Decoration: 

    This child’s ducky bed is just barely charming and not eerie. (The Spirit Section, 1 December, 1940) 

  • NOTES – JUNE 2025

    NOTES – JUNE 2025

    Letters to the Editor: 

    I rag on Novelty Press and their horrible and possibly fictional readership every chance I get, but I think I need to start presenting the letters they print in their comics so that I have some evidence to back up my grumbling. Here’s Clarence Pool of Seattle Washington advocating for the nice sensible adventures of an Army Air Force cadet who manages to foil a Fifth Column plot ever week over the exploits of a magic robot. (Target Comics v1 011, 1940)

    Skeletons with Jobs: 

    Driver is a job, certainly. Onto the pile! (The Funnies 047, 1940) 

    Honours: 

    Mickey Kelly, sidekick to swashbuckling newsreel cameraman Speed Martin, gets a medal from the French Army for foiling a spy. (The Funnies 048, 1940)

    Two issues later Mickey Riley (they forgot that he already had a last name, it seems) is decorated by the British for saving Gibraltar from the Axis. (The Funnies 050, 1940)

    Heroes Going to Costume Parties as Themselves: 

    Brenda Banks attends the Grand Costume Ball as Lady Luck, in an attempt to save a life. (The Spirit Section, “The Cinderella Murder Case”, 28 July, 1940)

    Mr Mystic also attends a costume party as himself in 1940, and a guy with no secret identity doing this might just be the most baffling thing I’ve read today, and this is the episode in which Mystic’s fiance is seduced by Death. (The Spirit Section, 22 December, 1940)

    Cops Shooting at Fleeing Suspects: 

    Sure, the Spirit has just confessed to a murder he did not commit for complicated reasons, but forgive me if I don’t agree with Mayor Aldrich here that that means that Commissioner Dolan has free license to shoot him in the back. (The Spirit “Eldas Thayer”, 21 July, 1940) 

    Interior Decoration: 

    This child’s ducky bed is just barely charming and not eerie. (The Spirit Section, 1 December, 1940) 

  • NOTES – APRIL 2025

    NOTES – APRIL 2025

    Aliens:

    The adventures of Mars Mason, interplanetary mailman, are rife with amazing alien designs thanks to creator Munson Paddock, but the Tough-Tails of Planet Greentrees and their allies the top-hatted Spear-Men are possibly my favourite aliens that I’ve seen in a couple of years. (Speed Comics 009, 1940) 

    The Speed Comics 010 Mars Mason adventure again features some more top-notch alien designs, including both the Mercurian leader with his enormous ears and his subjects with their amazing hats. The Uranian Monster-Men are okay, but the real star of that second set of panels is Mars Mason’s amazing radiator suit that seems to help him weather both the cold of Uranus and the heat of Mercury with equal aplomb.

    Drawn Without Reference:

    A nice fuzzy spider created to menace Shock Gibson. (Speed Comics 010, 1940) 

    Good Henchmen:

    It’s not really germane to the story, but I would like to highlight the emotional journey that this henchman goes through over the course of a scheme by upcoming Minor Super-Villain Comrade Ratski. midway through a scheme to release giant arthropods on an unsuspecting populace is a heckuva time to confront your dislike of bugs. (Speed Comics 010, 1940)

    Honours:

    Ted Parrish, aka the mystery man known as the Man With 1000 Faces, wins the Academy Award for his performance in a film called Thundering Hoofs. We must make some assumptions – that Thundering Hoofs was completed and released in 1940, for example – but I think that Parrish might just have gotten his Oscar at the expense of Jimmy Stewart’s win for The Philadelphia Story. (Speed Comics 010, 1940)

    Mars Mason, Interplanetary Mailman, has his likeness on the Mercury Mail five-something stamp. (Speed Comics 011, 1940)

  • NOTES: FEBRUARY 2025

    Secret Knowledge: 

    This is mostly me not wanting to sign up for a Fandom account but confidential to the Dickie Dean page on the Public Domain Super Heroes wiki:

    -Dickie Dean is said to be 14 in the splash blurb of his first appearance in Silver Streak Comics 003

    -in the same story he receives a telegram from J Edgar Hoover in which he is addressed as Richard 

    -in Silver Streak Comics 006 he is addressed as “Richard Bruce Dean”

    Memes of Yore – Hamburgers: 

    Can’t have a hamburger without onions. (Feature Funnies 048, 1948)

    Honours:

    Swashbucking reporter Chic Carter receives the Moravian Military Cross for his role in fighting off an invasion force. (Smash Comics 006, 1940)