The Curse of Skeleton Munroe

Category: Rio Kid

  • GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 025

    Buncha rude crude dudes for ya. 

    The Rio Kid is after another gang of masked bandits, and this time they’re in league with a crooked sheriff and led by a corrupt political boss aptly named the Boss. Nothing really remarkable here but I do dig the Boss’ hat. (Thrilling Comics 010, 1940)

    Jose Gonzales, star football player for Sornora University of Mexico, is visiting Carson University with two aims in mind: hit the ol’ gridiron and slap on a mask and steal a newly developed super-explosive for his father, a fascist politician back home. Star Carson U quarterback Dan Duffy foils his hopes on both counts. (Thrilling Comics 011, 1940)

    Sneaky, a “notorious” gangster with poor dentition, is featured in the teaser panel at the end of the Firefly story in Top-Notch Comics 009, with the implication that he is going to be a real thorn in the Firefly’s side in issue 010. How disappointing, then, to find that he is a mere flunky working for the murderous scientist Henry Falcon. (Top-Notch Comics 010, 1940)

    Though the “Danny Dash” feature only lasted two issues, it’s pretty clear that creator Erwin L Hess had a lot of medium-to-long-range plans for the story. In the first instalment, Danny and his pal Shamrock “Mac” McGlynn (!!) have a run-in with the the Grey Hordes from the Center of the Earth who have been bombing London for unclear reasons, while the second sets up Charon, an escaped handsome madman who has been roaming Paris murdering people in the belief that he is actually the ferryman of the Styx, ushering souls into the afterlife.

    Charon’s latest victim is the future brother-in-law of Dash’s friend Georges Barnett, and the never-seen third Danny Dash adventure would have involved them searching for Charon and, if I’m any judge of Golden Age plots, finding a connection between him and the Grey Horde. Alas, it’s just another thing we will likely never know. (War Comics 002, 1940)

  • GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 025

    Buncha rude crude dudes for ya. 

    The Rio Kid is after another gang of masked bandits, and this time they’re in league with a crooked sheriff and led by a corrupt political boss aptly named the Boss. Nothing really remarkable here but I do dig the Boss’ hat. (Thrilling Comics 010, 1940)

    Jose Gonzales, star football player for Sornora University of Mexico, is visiting Carson University with two aims in mind: hit the ol’ gridiron and slap on a mask and steal a newly developed super-explosive for his father, a fascist politician back home. Star Carson U quarterback Dan Duffy foils his hopes on both counts. (Thrilling Comics 011, 1940)

    Sneaky, a “notorious” gangster with poor dentition, is featured in the teaser panel at the end of the Firefly story in Top-Notch Comics 009, with the implication that he is going to be a real thorn in the Firefly’s side in issue 010. How disappointing, then, to find that he is a mere flunky working for the murderous scientist Henry Falcon. (Top-Notch Comics 010, 1940)

    Though the “Danny Dash” feature only lasted two issues, it’s pretty clear that creator Erwin L Hess had a lot of medium-to-long-range plans for the story. In the first instalment, Danny and his pal Shamrock “Mac” McGlynn (!!) have a run-in with the the Grey Hordes from the Center of the Earth who have been bombing London for unclear reasons, while the second sets up Charon, an escaped handsome madman who has been roaming Paris murdering people in the belief that he is actually the ferryman of the Styx, ushering souls into the afterlife.

    Charon’s latest victim is the future brother-in-law of Dash’s friend Georges Barnett, and the never-seen third Danny Dash adventure would have involved them searching for Charon and, if I’m any judge of Golden Age plots, finding a connection between him and the Grey Horde. Alas, it’s just another thing we will likely never know. (War Comics 002, 1940)

  • GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 024

    None of these guys are ever going to be in a movie. 

    It’s been a while since we’ve seen any masked cowboys, so here’s a particularly well-dressed bunch about to have a scrap with the Rio Kid. He doesn’t get the upper hand in this particular encounter, but by gum he eventually brings rancher John Wendel and his whole gang of rustlers to justice. (Thrilling Comics 002, 1940)

    Likewise, it’s been a while since we’ve seen a masked Nazi spy, and even though we only get one panel of X-5 aka Captain Clarke here, he fits the bill as he arranges to frame Tom Niles, the Undersea Raider, for espionage. (Thrilling Comics 006, 1940) 

    This completely unnamed masked killer is actually Violet Parsons, who has an especially poor reaction to being cut out of her father’s will: she murders her brothers Frank and Henry and tries to pin the killings on her insane brother Robert. She is ultimately undone by the fact that a person, even one who has had a nervous breakdown, won’t automatically turn into a ravening beast man if you lock them in a room until they grow a long beard. The Woman in Red triumphs once more. (Thrilling Comics 008, 1940)

    Someone has been murdering everyone who stays in the De Luxe Suite of the Hotel Metropolis, and the Woman in Red is on the case. The murderer turns out to be Mr Bascom, the hotel manager who used to be the hotel’s owner, who couldn’t stand to see the hotel’s new owner make a success out of a business he failed at. He only shows up in this mask for a few panels, but I would like to point out it’s unusual length, required so as to cover up Bascom’s mustache. (Thrilling Comics 009, 1940)

  • GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 024

    None of these guys are ever going to be in a movie. 

    It’s been a while since we’ve seen any masked cowboys, so here’s a particularly well-dressed bunch about to have a scrap with the Rio Kid. He doesn’t get the upper hand in this particular encounter, but by gum he eventually brings rancher John Wendel and his whole gang of rustlers to justice. (Thrilling Comics 002, 1940)

    Likewise, it’s been a while since we’ve seen a masked Nazi spy, and even though we only get one panel of X-5 aka Captain Clarke here, he fits the bill as he arranges to frame Tom Niles, the Undersea Raider, for espionage. (Thrilling Comics 006, 1940) 

    This completely unnamed masked killer is actually Violet Parsons, who has an especially poor reaction to being cut out of her father’s will: she murders her brothers Frank and Henry and tries to pin the killings on her insane brother Robert. She is ultimately undone by the fact that a person, even one who has had a nervous breakdown, won’t automatically turn into a ravening beast man if you lock them in a room until they grow a long beard. The Woman in Red triumphs once more. (Thrilling Comics 008, 1940)

    Someone has been murdering everyone who stays in the De Luxe Suite of the Hotel Metropolis, and the Woman in Red is on the case. The murderer turns out to be Mr Bascom, the hotel manager who used to be the hotel’s owner, who couldn’t stand to see the hotel’s new owner make a success out of a business he failed at. He only shows up in this mask for a few panels, but I would like to point out it’s unusual length, required so as to cover up Bascom’s mustache. (Thrilling Comics 009, 1940)