The Curse of Skeleton Munroe

Category: Phantom Ranger

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 717: THE MASKED TERROR

    MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 717: THE MASKED TERROR

    (Rocket Comics 003, 1940)

    The Phantom Ranger is just minding his business one day when he receives a sternly-worded letter via throwing knife, warning him to “steer clear of the red-headed girl.” This is of course your classic case of warning the hero off before he has a dang clue what’s going on.

    Everything is okay though, because the young woman who shortly rides up and requests the Ranger’s help has blonde hair. The “red-headed girl” must be seeking aid elsewhere. Or the colourist and the letterer had some sort of miscommunication. One of the two.

    The girl, whatever her hair colour, is named Lindy Davis, and the Masked Terror has kidnapped her father for ransom, a crime you don’t see as much in a lot of Western comics but I am certain is an authentic Old West crime.

    The Phantom Ranger accompanies Lindy to the handoff, where we learn that a) the Masked Terror is one homely cuss and eventually b) that he has already killed Mr Davis. The Phantom Ranger sets off in hot pursuit.

    And of course the Masked Terror turns out to be Ansom, the Davis’ neighbour and, crucially, the only one Lindy told about her plan to contact the Phantom Ranger. Plus I assume that he is the only nearby man ugly enough to be a suspect. The Terror chooses to go for his gun and meets a swift end.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 717: THE MASKED TERROR

    MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 717: THE MASKED TERROR

    (Rocket Comics 003, 1940)

    The Phantom Ranger is just minding his business one day when he receives a sternly-worded letter via throwing knife, warning him to “steer clear of the red-headed girl.” This is of course your classic case of warning the hero off before he has a dang clue what’s going on.

    Everything is okay though, because the young woman who shortly rides up and requests the Ranger’s help has blonde hair. The “red-headed girl” must be seeking aid elsewhere. Or the colourist and the letterer had some sort of miscommunication. One of the two.

    The girl, whatever her hair colour, is named Lindy Davis, and the Masked Terror has kidnapped her father for ransom, a crime you don’t see as much in a lot of Western comics but I am certain is an authentic Old West crime.

    The Phantom Ranger accompanies Lindy to the handoff, where we learn that a) the Masked Terror is one homely cuss and eventually b) that he has already killed Mr Davis. The Phantom Ranger sets off in hot pursuit.

    And of course the Masked Terror turns out to be Ansom, the Davis’ neighbour and, crucially, the only one Lindy told about her plan to contact the Phantom Ranger. Plus I assume that he is the only nearby man ugly enough to be a suspect. The Terror chooses to go for his gun and meets a swift end.

  • MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 037

    MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 037

    More cream rises from the milky depths of the Golden Age!

    Red Roberts, the Electro Man:

    It’s unclear what Red Roberts’ actual job is, but he is a guy who Knows Too Much about the corruption in the unnamed city he lives in and so he is framed for murder and fast-tracked to the electric chair.

    Luckily for Roberts, this is a comic book universe and being an innocent person sentenced to be executed via the electric chair means that you get sick-ass electricity powers instead of dying like everyone else. Red Roberts quickly parleys these powers into revenge on the city’s crooked mayor and his cronies and then cleans up crime around town for a couple of issues more for good measure. He doesn’t bother with a secret identity because at least half a dozen people were there to witness his origin, which must feel quite freeing. (Rocket Comics 001, 1940)

    the Phantom Ranger:

    There’s not much to distinguish the Phantom Ranger from his contemporaries in the ranks of Mysterious Cowboys Who Stick Around Just Long Enough to Help Out, but here goes: his horse is named Demon and he likes to ride around with his sleeves rolled up, which gives him a business casual look that I appreciate. (Rocket Comics 001, 1940)

    the Defender:

    Is the Defender (Robert Larson, who was scarred facially by criminals as a child and who now fights crime using a malleable rubberoid mask and two dedicated assistants) a take on pulp and comic character the Avenger (Richard Benson, whose face was rendered inhuman by the shock of losing his wife and child to criminals and who now fights crime using his own malleable face and 4-5 dedicated assistants)? I certainly think he is, but I don’t know if you could conclusively prove it. (Rocket Comics 002, 1940)

    Samson UPDATE:

    Samson being descended from the long-haired Biblical figure of the same name is not a new origin for the character, but once he had his own series it was time to explicitly lay it out in the form of his mother telling him in plain English that he is. Frankly, I’d much rather learn how he managed to get away with  having shoulder-length hair as a teenager in the early 1930s, but it’s just left as an exercise for the reader to figure out.

    No such luck for David, however. He remains an orphaned Boy Scout who Samson just found and adopted one day. David is not his actual name and we do not know his actual name. There is some early effort to play up his Boy Scout knowledge as valuable to the crimefighting enterprise but that soon falls by the wayside. (Samson 001, 1940)

  • MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 037

    MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 037

    More cream rises from the milky depths of the Golden Age!

    Red Roberts, the Electro Man:

    It’s unclear what Red Roberts’ actual job is, but he is a guy who Knows Too Much about the corruption in the unnamed city he lives in and so he is framed for murder and fast-tracked to the electric chair.

    Luckily for Roberts, this is a comic book universe and being an innocent person sentenced to be executed via the electric chair means that you get sick-ass electricity powers instead of dying like everyone else. Red Roberts quickly parleys these powers into revenge on the city’s crooked mayor and his cronies and then cleans up crime around town for a couple of issues more for good measure. He doesn’t bother with a secret identity because at least half a dozen people were there to witness his origin, which must feel quite freeing. (Rocket Comics 001, 1940)

    the Phantom Ranger:

    There’s not much to distinguish the Phantom Ranger from his contemporaries in the ranks of Mysterious Cowboys Who Stick Around Just Long Enough to Help Out, but here goes: his horse is named Demon and he likes to ride around with his sleeves rolled up, which gives him a business casual look that I appreciate. (Rocket Comics 001, 1940)

    the Defender:

    Is the Defender (Robert Larson, who was scarred facially by criminals as a child and who now fights crime using a malleable rubberoid mask and two dedicated assistants) a take on pulp and comic character the Avenger (Richard Benson, whose face was rendered inhuman by the shock of losing his wife and child to criminals and who now fights crime using his own malleable face and 4-5 dedicated assistants)? I certainly think he is, but I don’t know if you could conclusively prove it. (Rocket Comics 002, 1940)

    Samson UPDATE:

    Samson being descended from the long-haired Biblical figure of the same name is not a new origin for the character, but once he had his own series it was time to explicitly lay it out in the form of his mother telling him in plain English that he is. Frankly, I’d much rather learn how he managed to get away with  having shoulder-length hair as a teenager in the early 1930s, but it’s just left as an exercise for the reader to figure out.

    No such luck for David, however. He remains an orphaned Boy Scout who Samson just found and adopted one day. David is not his actual name and we do not know his actual name. There is some early effort to play up his Boy Scout knowledge as valuable to the crimefighting enterprise but that soon falls by the wayside. (Samson 001, 1940)