The Curse of Skeleton Munroe

Category: murderer

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 485: THE CONDOR

    (Big 3 005-006, 1941)

    As far as super-villains go, the Condor is a simple concept: the modern pirate. But the modern pirate is a classic character type! Murder on the high seas! Sneering braggadocio! Calling people swabs!

    And the Condor himself fits the role to a T. It doesn’t hurt that he’s such a well-designed character: who knew that a guy in a black suit would look so good as a pirate with the simple addition of a cape and tricorn hat? I couldn’t find a good picture of his face in profile but it is similarly well-designed, with a combination of intense eyes, beaklike nose and slight overbite really giving the predatory bird vibe.

    It’s not quite as on-theme, but the Condor’s plan to loot NYC York City is suitably villainous. Plus:

    … he has crooked politicians on his side! Including the mayor! (and here we must indulge in a brief aside: the Blue Beetle, like many super-heroes, operates out of a nonspecific urban landscape strongly influenced by New York City. It gets referred to as York City once or twice early on but for the most part goes nameless. But the thing is, it’s near a lot of places like Westchester and New Jersey that place it in the NYC neighbourhood, so I’ve been saying that it’s New York for a while now. Mayor Dorth here is just one too many anomalous mayors for me to ignore – I’m forced to conclude that the Blue Beetle operates out of a metropolis that may or may not be called York City and like Golden Age Gotham City essentially occupies the same geography as New York without being New York)

    And while many criminal mayors in comics are merely corrupt, Mayor Dorth is a proper wrongun – not only does he cover up the murder of Councilman Hals here by framing Joan Mason but he both helps set up the Condor’s raid on the city and attempts to betray him and make off with the loot himself. This of course only gets him killed but you have to appreciate the dynamism.

    The Condor is seemingly drowned by the Blue Beetle at the end of his first appearance but pops right back up again in the next issue to attack Dr Lane of the city museum. It’s a bit low-stakes after looting the entire city but the Condor still gives it his all.

    It’s all rather tawdry at the end: Dr Lane and the Condor have been smuggling uncut diamonds and Lane is for some reason attempting to double-cross a notably murderous pirate. There’s a lot of running around and attempted murder before the Condor is once again seemingly killed by the Blue Beetle, this time via a sock to the kisser that sends him into a ship’s boiler.

    Like Countess Belladonna before him, the Condor has all the hallmarks of a villain who would continue to return to plague the Blue Beetle if only Fox Features hadn’t had that unfortunate financial trouble and lost control of the character for a couple of years. Alas, he was forgotten during the Beetle’s time at Holyoke.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 480: PORKY HOGG

    (Big 3 002, 1940)

    Obviously the most remarkable thing about Porky Hogg is that he looks like a pig-man but more than that he is a pig-man who has a real gift for motivation and teambuilding.

    These gangsters are worked into a dang frenzy over the prospect of killing the Blue Beetle – I’m pretty sure they killed that guy in the third panel! – if Porky Hogg had the real Beetle on hand during this little rally they might have taken him out with sheer enthusiasm.

    So, having correctly identified the Blue Beetle as the only thing standing between him and complete domination of New York City and having mentally conditioned an entire gang into some sort of Blue Beetle-hating cult, just what is the plan?

    Here’s where we start to get into Porky Hogg’s failings, because the plan is a bad one: kill a guy and frame the Blue Beetle for it by leaving a sticker on the body. I mean, it works, because the cops in Blue Beetle comics are dumb as hell, but it doesn’t actually do anything to remove the Blue Beetle from the city, because the cops are dumb as hell and the Blue Beetle can easily avoid them. In fact, the cops are always after the Blue Beetle. That’s the kind of super-hero he is, the kind that the cops are after!

    The rest of the story involves a lot of running around and attempted murder. Blue Beetle gal pal Joan Mason gets kidnapped as per usual and taken to Porky Hogg’s incredibly inconvenient mountaintop lair and then Porky Hogg gets knocked off of that same lair to his death. You know what they say: don’t live on a mountain if you’re not prepared to fall off of a mountain.

    Weirdly, Blue Beetle faces off against another guy named Porky Hog (with one g and not as piggy) the next year in Blue Beetle v1 008, and he also framed the Blue Beetle for murder because, as mentioned, the cops in Blue Beetle comics are dumb as hell.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 478: BORGO

    (Big 3 001, 1940)

    Here’s the thing about Borgo: they call him the Mirror Murderer in the opening blurb and then never do so again, even though he kills several people using mirrors. It’s a good name and I’m sad that I can’t justify using it so I’ll keep this short.

    Borgo’s got one goal in life and that’s to kill the five scientific James Brothers, seemingly because one of them fired him for stealing radium. Is it rational to kill five men for the entirely justified actions of one? No, but that’s where super-villains come from, isn’t it. 

    He also has one of the better deathtraps of all time: a big drum that he straps Blue Beetle gal pal Joan Mason to the top of, with the goal of vibrating her to death.

    And that’s a wrap on Borgo.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 478: BORGO

    (Big 3 001, 1940)

    Here’s the thing about Borgo: they call him the Mirror Murderer in the opening blurb and then never do so again, even though he kills several people using mirrors. It’s a good name and I’m sad that I can’t justify using it so I’ll keep this short.

    Borgo’s got one goal in life and that’s to kill the five scientific James Brothers, seemingly because one of them fired him for stealing radium. Is it rational to kill five men for the entirely justified actions of one? No, but that’s where super-villains come from, isn’t it. 

    He also has one of the better deathtraps of all time: a big drum that he straps Blue Beetle gal pal Joan Mason to the top of, with the goal of vibrating her to death.

    And that’s a wrap on Borgo.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 461: THE HOOD

    (Mystic Comics v1 003, 1940)

    The Hood is a dude in a sheet ghost costume who is seemingly the head of an extortion gang targeting bankers and ruthlessly killing any who defy him. And perhaps you’ve noted that “seemingly” and are wondering what it could mean. Well,

    This ruthless banker-murderer… is actually a banker! He’s Willard Thomas and his extortion scheme was a front for a murder scheme that would have left him, the last banker standing, holding the keys to some sort of joint banker bank account. This is an okay plan! I’m not sure what the dismount was going to be because Dynamic Man beat him up before he managed to kill all other local bankers but the Hood definitely put more thought into things than a lot of the jamokes one here.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 455: THE DEVIL OF THE DEEP

    MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 455: THE DEVIL OF THE DEEP

    (Mystic Comics v1 001, 1940)

    The Devil of the Deep AKA the Deep Sea Demon AKA the Water Ghost, like the Sea-Devil before him, is a fellow who dresses up in a modified diving suit in order to scare pearl divers away from a particular oyster bed.

    Unlike the Sea-Devil, the Devil of the Deep costume is quite elaborate and convincing – you can’t, for example, clearly see the breathing apparatus strapped to his back. He’s also gone for a mermaid-style swimming setup, a frankly bold choice given that he’s theoretically killing everyone who sees him – why not have use of your legs?

    Also unlike the Sea-Devil, the Devil of the Deep has a pretty indefensible reason for his actions, in that he’s trying to scare people away from the oyster bed because that’s where all the evidence that he murdered his cousin in order to inherit the family fortune is. His lack of forward planning is everyone elses’ problem, apparently.

    (this is a good skeleton)

    UPDATE May 2024: this story originally appeared in Centaur comic Funny Pages v2 001, 1937, with a less-fun colouring job. The monster suit was a very disappointing grey throughout.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 452: THE DEATH MASTER

    (Mystery Men Comics 029, 1941)

    Really very strong showing from the Death Master in the splash panel, with artist Louis Cazenueve (as Lester Raye) doing some great Kirby-esque monster-man work on the man himself.

    And the story version of the character almost measures up! The Death Master is head of a counterfeiting gang who completely buys into his own hype – he’s a sneering, gloating villain of the type I love.

    But why is the Death Master called that? Why, because he can kill a man with but a gesture! He’ll mess you up with magic death powers! Well okay – he’ll mess you up by shooting poison into your eye using a wrist-mounted poison shooter, which is still pretty hard to do. Plus you’re just as dead as if it was done with magic.

    The Death Master is in fact such a good over-the-top bombastic villain that it is for once somewhat surprising to learn that he is acting as a lieutenant for one Mr Hunter, a “famous criminologist” who accompanied the prosecutor to his doom in the panels above. It’s a pretty good scheme, though perhaps it would have been better to beg off helping to pursue the Death Master rather than bump off the pursuer.

    In any case, the Lynx figures out the scheme and brings in not only Mr Hunter but the Death Master via the simple method of shielding his eyes, which is where you want to have magic death powers I suppose. Also if you ever meet a foe with goggles or large glasses.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 452: THE DEATH MASTER

    (Mystery Men Comics 029, 1941)

    Really very strong showing from the Death Master in the splash panel, with artist Louis Cazenueve (as Lester Raye) doing some great Kirby-esque monster-man work on the man himself.

    And the story version of the character almost measures up! The Death Master is head of a counterfeiting gang who completely buys into his own hype – he’s a sneering, gloating villain of the type I love.

    But why is the Death Master called that? Why, because he can kill a man with but a gesture! He’ll mess you up with magic death powers! Well okay – he’ll mess you up by shooting poison into your eye using a wrist-mounted poison shooter, which is still pretty hard to do. Plus you’re just as dead as if it was done with magic.

    The Death Master is in fact such a good over-the-top bombastic villain that it is for once somewhat surprising to learn that he is acting as a lieutenant for one Mr Hunter, a “famous criminologist” who accompanied the prosecutor to his doom in the panels above. It’s a pretty good scheme, though perhaps it would have been better to beg off helping to pursue the Death Master rather than bump off the pursuer.

    In any case, the Lynx figures out the scheme and brings in not only Mr Hunter but the Death Master via the simple method of shielding his eyes, which is where you want to have magic death powers I suppose. Also if you ever meet a foe with goggles or large glasses.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 451: THE HOODED KILLER

    (Mystery Men Comics 029, 1941)

    The Hooded Killer AKA the Hooded Man AKA the Hooded Figure is your average lawyer personal secretary who has killed his client and is now attempting to kill his client’s heirs because once they’re all gone then he gets the money. Do you know that because of comic books ad police procedurals every time the subject of wills comes up this is the kid of thing that runs through my mind? Hopefully I never have enough money that one of my nieces is tempted to get a cloak and speed up the inheritance.

    This particular fellow gets caught by the Wraith, because the Wraith is a ghost with needs and the Hooded Killer is trying to stab his love interest. Plus justice must prevail, I suppose.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 451: THE HOODED KILLER

    (Mystery Men Comics 029, 1941)

    The Hooded Killer AKA the Hooded Man AKA the Hooded Figure is your average lawyer personal secretary who has killed his client and is now attempting to kill his client’s heirs because once they’re all gone then he gets the money. Do you know that because of comic books ad police procedurals every time the subject of wills comes up this is the kid of thing that runs through my mind? Hopefully I never have enough money that one of my nieces is tempted to get a cloak and speed up the inheritance.

    This particular fellow gets caught by the Wraith, because the Wraith is a ghost with needs and the Hooded Killer is trying to stab his love interest. Plus justice must prevail, I suppose.