The Curse of Skeleton Munroe

Category: DC Comics

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 105: THE SKULL

    (More Fun Comics 056, 1940)

    It’s somewhat weird, but this is the second guy named the Skull to operate out of the Belgian Congo in 1940. I say somewhat because it’s one of a handful of places that name-checked in comics set in Africa at the time. Once you get past Belgian Congo, Egypt, Libya, Algeria or South Africa it’s pretty much Jungle or Desert as locations, and half of those countries made the list because there were a bunch of comics about the French Foreign Legion early on.

    Anyway, the Skull. He’s the first foe of Congo Bill and he wears a little skullcap-cum-helmet, which I like. I also like the weird yellow pee-stain they keep putting around his mouth. I don’t know why it’s there but it makes him very distinctive.

    SKULL SCORE: 2/5 The lipless mouth and barely-there nose evoke a skull, sure, but if I was in charge of giving him a nickname would I call him Skull? Or would it be Chompers?

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 104: THE WOLF MAN

    (More Fun Comics 055, 1940) 

    The Wolf Man:

    – has a bunch of trained wolves

    – wears a wolfskin outfit complete with wolf head cowl

    – constantly refers to himself as the Wolf Man

    – exclusively robs prospectors in the Canadian wilderness.

    The Wolf Man puts in too much effort, in other words.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 104: THE WOLF MAN

    (More Fun Comics 055, 1940) 

    The Wolf Man:

    – has a bunch of trained wolves

    – wears a wolfskin outfit complete with wolf head cowl

    – constantly refers to himself as the Wolf Man

    – exclusively robs prospectors in the Canadian wilderness.

    The Wolf Man puts in too much effort, in other words.

  • MINOR SUPER -VILLAIN 103: THE BAT

    (More Fun Comics 055, 1940)

    An economics professor who dresses in a bat-winged robe and injects college students with experimental “artificial blood” while they sleep, the Bat is probably more the story of a man’s mental breakdown than a super-villain.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 102: ZOR

    (More Fun Comics 055, 1940)

    Zor is from pretty early in the Spectre’s run, back when his concept was “resurrected dead guy” rather than “literal embodiment of the Wrath of God”. More specifically but also vaguely, he was an “earth-bound ghost” which was never really defined but was a pretty powerful thing to be.

    Zor was also an earth-bound ghost, only he was older and thus more powerful than the Spectre, and also evil:

    Zor makes a couple of Golden Age appearances to vex the Spectre before being set adrift in inter-cosmic space. Many years later, he was brought back in Seven Soldiers by Grant Morrison, now serving as an evil equivalent of Zatara (and given the first name Zachary) and foe to Zatanna. Given the cosmic nature of the story, this works for me: Zor is whatever he needs to be to oppose his foe of the moment. Honestly, I can think of no better person to bring back a character like Zor. Not many creators would read a story in which a villain shoots bullets out of his eyes:


    And make it canon:

    10/10, top marks. I know Zor is technically Solomon Grundy now but bring him back again anyway.


  • NOTES: AUGUST 2022

    Names: (Batman Comics 008, 1941) It was on brand for the Joker to use the aliases “A. Rekoj” and “I. Rekoj” in the last year but I am pretty upset that Batman just used “I. Namtab” and that the Joker fell for it.

    (Blue Beetle Comics 008, 1941) In the Dynamo story he goes up against a guy who calls himself the Crime Dealer, a good name for a bland guy.

    Riddles: (Batman Comics 007, 1941) “When is a Duke not a Duke?” Answer: the Joker is impersonating a Duke.

    One of the more brutal on-panel deaths I have seen:

    (Blue Beetle v1 006, 1941)

    Two gun-wielding boys I encountered in a short period of time:

    (Action Comics v1 033, 1941)

    (Bulletman 002, 1941)

  • NOTES: AUGUST 2022

    Names: (Batman Comics 008, 1941) It was on brand for the Joker to use the aliases “A. Rekoj” and “I. Rekoj” in the last year but I am pretty upset that Batman just used “I. Namtab” and that the Joker fell for it.

    (Blue Beetle Comics 008, 1941) In the Dynamo story he goes up against a guy who calls himself the Crime Dealer, a good name for a bland guy.

    Riddles: (Batman Comics 007, 1941) “When is a Duke not a Duke?” Answer: the Joker is impersonating a Duke.

    One of the more brutal on-panel deaths I have seen:

    (Blue Beetle v1 006, 1941)

    Two gun-wielding boys I encountered in a short period of time:

    (Action Comics v1 033, 1941)

    (Bulletman 002, 1941)

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 101: THE CLOAK

    (More Fun Comics 054, 1940)

    If a crooked importer named Crandall hatches a scheme to kill off his business rivals and then makes up a villain named the Cloak to blame the crimes on, is he in fact that villain? This correspondent says yes. 

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 098: THE INVISIBLE MAN

    (Detective Comics 041, 1940)

    What makes them a super-villain? He’s an espionage guy with an invisibility formula.

    What is interesting about them? Invisible guys are often pretty dull comic book villains, but I will give the Invisible Man/ Dr Ellis this: his cover identity is as a scientist in the team that is trying to catch him, and he’s evidently arrogant enough that he actually developed a formula for a gas that would render him visible again but assumed that investigator Cliff Crosby would not have the chemical knowhow to synthesize it. He was wrong!

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 098: THE INVISIBLE MAN

    (Detective Comics 041, 1940)

    What makes them a super-villain? He’s an espionage guy with an invisibility formula.

    What is interesting about them? Invisible guys are often pretty dull comic book villains, but I will give the Invisible Man/ Dr Ellis this: his cover identity is as a scientist in the team that is trying to catch him, and he’s evidently arrogant enough that he actually developed a formula for a gas that would render him visible again but assumed that investigator Cliff Crosby would not have the chemical knowhow to synthesize it. He was wrong!