The Curse of Skeleton Munroe

Category: murderer

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 314: THE RED TERROR

    (Tough Kid Squad 001, 1942)

    A fairly undistinguished costumed gang boss, the Red Terror has three things going for him:

    1. he gets around in a very cool rocket-powered dirigible

    2. he is the only super-villain to face Golden Age underachiever the Human Top

    3. he really goes above and beyond in his attempt to rid himself of the Top, hitting him with, in quick succession: mountain lions, flame throwers, an avalanche and a bursting dam. That’s the kind of thoroughness that more villains should aspire to, although of course if it’s not enough to do the job you risk getting thrown from your own rocket-zep in retaliation.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 314: THE RED TERROR

    (Tough Kid Squad 001, 1942)

    A fairly undistinguished costumed gang boss, the Red Terror has three things going for him:

    1. he gets around in a very cool rocket-powered dirigible

    2. he is the only super-villain to face Golden Age underachiever the Human Top

    3. he really goes above and beyond in his attempt to rid himself of the Top, hitting him with, in quick succession: mountain lions, flame throwers, an avalanche and a bursting dam. That’s the kind of thoroughness that more villains should aspire to, although of course if it’s not enough to do the job you risk getting thrown from your own rocket-zep in retaliation.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 310: ZARPO

    (Captain America Comics 009, 1941)

    Zarpo is a classic example of why if you are a government or large business, etc,  you should have a process for vetting wild crackpot claims from scientists who come to your door. When a man says to you, for example, “my name is Zarpo and I have invented a bomb that blows up after spending a certain amount of time near a human being,” perhaps consider not calling him a crackpot and throuwing him out of your office. Because: what if he’s telling the truth? You just might get blowed up is what.

    Zarpo is himself blowed up in a confrontation with very minor scythe-throwing Marvel character Father Time, shown here sporting the rare nose-forward style of super-hero mask. Love that nose!

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 309: THE WHITE DEATH

    (Captain America Comics 009, 1941)

    Like the Black Witch before him, the White Death is inspired to murder by a kooky clause in a recently-deceased’s will, and it’s one I forgot to mention then: if any of the heirs dies before the money is divvied up then their portion is divided among the rest. This clause! More fictional bloodshed has resulted from it than can be counted.

    This time, the culprit is one of the heirs rather than the lawyer, but the lawyer is crooked as well. And yes, we are in the age of costume design where a KKK-adjacent look can be used without comment by anyone in the story.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 307: RA THE AVENGER

    MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 307: RA THE AVENGER

    (Captain America Comics 008, 1941) 

    Ra the Avenger is actually Henry Sanders, an explorer who discovered and eventually sold the fabulous Egyptian Ruby of the Nile, then dressed up in faux Ancient Egyptian gear to murder all who stood in his way on a quest to steal it back again.

    That is, unfortunately, about all we can say about this guy because he’s one of those fellas who gets punched out and hauled off to jail without really spelling out the Why of their turn to costumed villainy.  An educated guesser might suppose that he sold the gem unwillingly due to some critical need and was determined to get it back. Or maybe the gem holds some sort of  curse that drives him to recover and return it? That’s fun, let’s go with that! It even clears up some of the fuzziness about the distinction between Ra  the god and the pharaoh who was buried with the gem: they must be the same, a magician powerful enough to be conflated with a god and to impose his will on a tomb robber thousands of years in the future. What a cool story I’ve read into this (though a bit of a bleak future for Sanders, possessed and locked up in a US prison)!

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 307: RA THE AVENGER

    (Captain America Comics 008, 1941) 

    Ra the Avenger is actually Henry Sanders, an explorer who discovered and eventually sold the fabulous Egyptian Ruby of the Nile, then dressed up in faux Ancient Egyptian gear to murder all who stood in his way on a quest to steal it back again.

    That is, unfortunately, about all we can say about this guy because he’s one of those fellas who gets punched out and hauled off to jail without really spelling out the Why of their turn to costumed villainy.  An educated guesser might suppose that he sold the gem unwillingly due to some critical need and was determined to get it back. Or maybe the gem holds some sort of  curse that drives him to recover and return it? That’s fun, let’s go with that! It even clears up some of the fuzziness about the distinction between Ra  the god and the pharaoh who was buried with the gem: they must be the same, a magician powerful enough to be conflated with a god and to impose his will on a tomb robber thousands of years in the future. What a cool story I’ve read into this (though a bit of a bleak future for Sanders, possessed and locked up in a US prison)!

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 305: THE BLACK TOAD

    (Captain America Comics 007, 1941) 

    Here’s the problem with the Black Toad: he looks great. A really top-notch costume, like something Batman would have worn in a stage production in the 30s. No notes. And that’s the only interesting thing about him. He’s a baseball manager who wants to buy into the team and is killing players in order to drive the price down. HO HUM.

    (I guess he does use a bomb hidden inside a baseball at one point. That’s a bit interesting, I suppose)

  • SUPER-VILLAIN YEARBOOK: RED SKULL 1941

    (Captain America Comics 007, 1941)

    What was the Red Skull up to in 1941?

    As mentioned in the Red Skull II entry, this here is the real deal bad guy we all know and love to hate, still running around being a total stinker to this day. In-comic there is of course no indication of this, as the decision to differentiate the two was made years later when someone figured that the top Nazi villain worked better as a German guy than an American fascist. Consequently this is a pretty scant Yearbook entry, as most of the Red Skulling for the year was done by another guy.

    Intended or not, this Red Skull has it a bit more together than his semi-predecessor: for one, he has a much creepier mask and has supplemented the red skull calling card with an audible element: Chopin’s Funeral March. AND! He engages with that finest of comic book traditions by wearing a rubberoid mask over his regular mask! Batman eat your heart out.

    As far as actual crimes go… he kills a couple of guys and briefly frames Captain America for kidnapping a General. Mediocre.

    SKULL SCORE: 3/5, just like the other guy. It ain’t gonna change until he melts his face off in… I want to say the early 80s?

    RED SKULL 1941

    BODY COUNT: 2

    END-OF-YEAR STATUS: Presumed dead

  • SUPER-VILLAIN YEARBOOK: RED SKULL 1941

    (Captain America Comics 007, 1941)

    What was the Red Skull up to in 1941?

    As mentioned in the Red Skull II entry, this here is the real deal bad guy we all know and love to hate, still running around being a total stinker to this day. In-comic there is of course no indication of this, as the decision to differentiate the two was made years later when someone figured that the top Nazi villain worked better as a German guy than an American fascist. Consequently this is a pretty scant Yearbook entry, as most of the Red Skulling for the year was done by another guy.

    Intended or not, this Red Skull has it a bit more together than his semi-predecessor: for one, he has a much creepier mask and has supplemented the red skull calling card with an audible element: Chopin’s Funeral March. AND! He engages with that finest of comic book traditions by wearing a rubberoid mask over his regular mask! Batman eat your heart out.

    As far as actual crimes go… he kills a couple of guys and briefly frames Captain America for kidnapping a General. Mediocre.

    SKULL SCORE: 3/5, just like the other guy. It ain’t gonna change until he melts his face off in… I want to say the early 80s?

    RED SKULL 1941

    BODY COUNT: 2

    END-OF-YEAR STATUS: Presumed dead

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 304: THE MENACE

    (Captain America Comics 006, 1941)

    The Menace is a dude who uses secret tunnels and the power of fear to advance his fairly low-stakes plot to steal $50 000 worth of bonds from his elderly sister. Some might argue that that is far too little money to put murder on the table for but those people aren’t super-villain material.

    Unfortunately for the Menace, he happens to catch the attention of Hurricane (later retconned as Makkari, one of the Eternals), so his reign of terror is short indeed. And since his crimes all took place inside a single boarding house he might just be the villain least likely to ever make a second appearance.