The Curse of Skeleton Munroe

Category: Reef Kinkaid

  • MONSTER, CRITTER AND CREATURE ROUND-UP 001

    I’ve threatened to do it for long enough, it’s time for the creatures to have their day.

    Alligator Men:

    Our very first creatures are also our first tough call. Steel Sterling fights these Alligator Men in Brazonia, South America while on the trail of Dr Yar (aka the Black Knight), and with any group of intelligent humanoids there is the question: did our villain make them using the power of mad science, or did he find them in the jungle and convince them to follow him?

    The thing that sways my opinion on the Alligator Men is the fact that Dr Yar also has this swarm of giant mosquitoes at his command. If someone is going to the trouble of overcoming the square cube law to create a not-very-successful trap for his arch enemy then bioengineering a batch of alligator-headed goons has got to be a walk in the park, comparatively. (Zip Comics 003, 1940)

    Alligoscerous:

    This alligoscerous, a lake monster native to the hidden Diamond Empire in Asia and burdened with a most unlovely name, makes an attempt to dine on the Rocket and his allies and pays for it with its eyes. (Pep Comics 004, 1940)

    Allosaurus:

    Abdallah is a minor Centaur Publications character who has fantastical adventures in 10th Century Arabia, such as in this instance, when a caravan he is leading is attacked by a pack of allosaurus. It’s honestly giving me a warm flashback to AD&D adventure modules.

    Continuing in the tabletop RPG theme, later in that same story Abdallah must travel through an underground dungeon of sorts to save his father’s life, and does battle with this very heraldic griffin. (Funny Pages v3 008, 1939)

    Amphisaur:

    The amphisaur, an ancient dinosaur hibernating below the sea floor, is awakened by Naval manoeuvres and immediately begins laying waste to the works of mankind. It’s very Gozilla-before-Godzilla, though without the poignancy of the nuclear war metaphor.

    Though the beast’s hide is proof against all conventional weaponry and it is even immune to mummy-turned-super-hero Mystico’s arcane power for the slightly contrived reason that it dates from before magic was invented, it is ultimately undone when an entire skyscraper is repurposed into a jumbo-sized spear to impale it. (Startling Comics 004, 1940)

    the Sea Dragon:

    The Sea Dragon, which pops up to vex and befuddle the US Navy in Hawaii, is in reality a classic (and astonishingly huge) submarine disguised as a monster and operated by an unnamed, not-quite-Japanese, Navy. (Captain America Comics 005, 1941)

    Tangako:

    Adventurer Reef Kinkaid and his companions, stranded in a lost valley filled with prehistoric life in the Amazon jungle, must confront a variety of monsters, including the horned cave-ape tangako, which Reef grapples to death…

    … the cave-dwelling alagasaurus, which he grapples and beats to death…

    … and the annoyingly-spelled pterodactl, which he grapples to death. (Amazing-Man Comics 016, 1940)

    Bonus Dinosaurs!

     

    These random dinosaurs and prehistoric mammals are encountered by the Black Hood during a confusing trip through time. (Jackpot Comics 003, 1941)

  • ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 005

    We got your aliens, plus some so forth. 

    Moon Men: 

    The Moon Men of 2050 CE seem to be just another part of the future Solar System society until they enter an alliance with magic super-crook Sarku so that their Moon King Tan Tan can meet his historical crush Elena. This of course brings them into conflict with Mr Mystic, as Elena is his fiance and he’s just not that into her being kidnapped into the future. 

    The Moon Men also have very upsetting feet. (The Spirit Section, 1 September, 1940)

    the Alligator-Men: 

    A lot of the Earth-based entries on the big list of aliens and such that I refer back to to while make these could best be described as “human offshoots,” little pockets of humanity that have developed in isolation until they are something other than regular. I had a little debate about whether to include the Alligator-Men because they didn’t seem other enough, but then I came to my senses. A whole society of guys who live in a cave somewhere in Brazil and dress in what must be wildly smelly lizard man costumes 24/7? Even if in-story they turned out to be a bunch of cosplaying accountants (spoiler: they didn’t) that’s worthy of comment. (Amazing-Man Comics 017, 1940)

    Ape Men: 

    And speaking of isolated populations of weirdos, ape men/ape-men/apemen and other missing link-style hominids are some of the most common. This particular group are from Malaysia and seem to be reasonably chill until Dr Fung and his pal Dan show up while following rumours pointing to the location of a lost heiress. Things get a bit too macho (and the old question of just what “white” means in 40s comics rears its ugly head once more) and Dr Fung and Dan have to shoot their way out. It’s all very rude, frankly. (Wonderworld Comics 005, 1939)

    Ape-Men & Lizard-Men: 

    The Diamond Empire is a hidden civilization probably somewhere in Asia, located in an improbably large inaccessible region hemmed in by mountains – there’s a reason that so many hidden kingdoms are underground, after all. It’s a bit more plausible to have an implausibly large area underground and hidden than as a conspicuous blank spot on a map.

    In any case, the lands around the Diamond Empire are like most other terrae incognitae in genre fiction, in that they are populated with a variety of humanoid civilizations, including Hawkmen, Batmen, and today’s focus, warring nations of Lizard-Men and Ape-Men. The Lizard-Men sadly get the short end of the stick characterization-wise, being sneaking, cowardly ambushers with a uncomfortably horny king, but at least they have very cool faces – just love a black eye with a white pupil. 

    The Lizard-Men get beaten up and pushed in a river by their ancient foes the much less cool Ape-Men who then themselves capture the the Rocket and the Queen of Diamonds. These Ape-Men are just what they are billed as: apelike humans, though the yellow heads and weird dents on top of their skulls set them apart slightly, even if they look dumb. 

    There’s a lot of malarkey involving the Rocket taking on an Ape-Man named Ungar for the role of tribal chief, and we get a glimpse of the Ape-Men’s idea of how a trial by ordeal should work as the Rocket is made to enter the Cave of Horrors to prove his mettle, but eventually the majority of the Ape-Men just end up dumped into a chasm to their dooms. I assume that the Lizard-Men, merely damp, were very smug about this. (Pep Comics 004-005, 1940)

  • 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)