The Curse of Skeleton Munroe

Category: Tuk

  • ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 049

    Yesterday we met Tuk, caveboy of the year 50 000 BCE. Today we meet all the various humanoids and hominids that populate his world.

    Shaggy Ones:

    The Shaggy Ones are a kind of Missing Link-style ape man species that we don’t really get too much of a sense of because Tuk’s foster father Ak is the very last one. If we extrapolate the whole species out from him, Star Wars-style, they were a fairly altruistic species, if a bit given to mysticism. (Captain America Comics 001, 1941)

    Hairless Ones:

    “Hairless Ones” is not exactly a species, but a catch-all category for human-style hominids used by ape-style hominids like Ak, and therefore by Tuk. The first Hairless Ones we meet are Tuk’s parents Phadion and Rhaya, exiles from the fabulous city of Attilan and therefore retroactively Inhumans. For our purposes today we will count them as Hairless Ones, however.

    Phadion is almost immediately skewered while defending his family from a woolly rhinoceros. Ak takes Rhaya and Tuk back to his home and worships Rhaya as a goddess for several years until she is killed by a lion.

    Hairless Ones also encompasses other hominids such as Tuk’s Cro-Magnon companion Tanir. (Captain America Comics 001, 1941)

    Goreks:

    The Goreks, who “worship stone and eat brains” are somewhere between Shaggy and Hairless, I suppose. They serve as low-level antagonists for Tuk to overcome with the help of his new friend Tanir. I really dig their Caveman Viking aesthetic – sadly they only show up the once. (Captain America Comics 001, 1941)

    the Hairy Ones:

    A different kind of man-ape than the Shaggy Ones, the Hairy Ones very briefly menace King Amir and his subjects (yet another population of Hairless Ones, natch) in the landlocked city of Crete (!!!) before being routed by Tuk and Tanir. (Captain America Comics 002, 1941)

    the Witches of Endor:

    Yet another group of Hairless Ones, the Witches of Endor live in a valley that is naturally filled with soporific vapours and add to their numbers by scarring captives’ faces with acid. As with the city of Crete, this is another interesting example of a thing from moderate antiquity (the Biblical Witch of Endor is historically tied to c.1100 BCE from what I can gather) transposed into comic set in 50 000 BCE. 

    Given my experience with Jack Kirby’s later work, I imagine that this is intended to be a kind of pre-legendary ancestral origin story for these things rather than a flattening of history in which everything sufficiently old existed at once, but filtered through the limits of Golden Age comic storytelling and Kirby’s own inexperience. (Captain America Comics 002, 1941)

    Atlanteans:

    Speaking of which: after escaping from the Witches of Endor, Tuk and Tanir escort their fellow former captive Princess Eve back to her home, the City of Atlantis. The first time I read this I thought that it might have been the place that Tuk’s parents came from, but no, just like the contemporary Marvel Universe, both Atlantis and Attilan are extant.

    The Atlantean people are yet another group of Hairless Ones. They’re running around in at least the Bronze Age while the rest of the world is just coming to grips with stone. They are also an absolute monarchy, which Tuk and Tanir have to help Princess Eve wrest back from her evil uncle. (Captain America Comics 002, 1941)

    Cave People:

    Finally, we have some traditional, full-on cavemen. These guys are oppressed by the wicked Bonzo the Brute until Tuk and Tanir take a hand and slay him. (Captain America Comics 004, 1941)

  • ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 049

    Yesterday we met Tuk, caveboy of the year 50 000 BCE. Today we meet all the various humanoids and hominids that populate his world.

    Shaggy Ones:

    The Shaggy Ones are a kind of Missing Link-style ape man species that we don’t really get too much of a sense of because Tuk’s foster father Ak is the very last one. If we extrapolate the whole species out from him, Star Wars-style, they were a fairly altruistic species, if a bit given to mysticism. (Captain America Comics 001, 1941)

    Hairless Ones:

    “Hairless Ones” is not exactly a species, but a catch-all category for human-style hominids used by ape-style hominids like Ak, and therefore by Tuk. The first Hairless Ones we meet are Tuk’s parents Phadion and Rhaya, exiles from the fabulous city of Attilan and therefore retroactively Inhumans. For our purposes today we will count them as Hairless Ones, however.

    Phadion is almost immediately skewered while defending his family from a woolly rhinoceros. Ak takes Rhaya and Tuk back to his home and worships Rhaya as a goddess for several years until she is killed by a lion.

    Hairless Ones also encompasses other hominids such as Tuk’s Cro-Magnon companion Tanir. (Captain America Comics 001, 1941)

    Goreks:

    The Goreks, who “worship stone and eat brains” are somewhere between Shaggy and Hairless, I suppose. They serve as low-level antagonists for Tuk to overcome with the help of his new friend Tanir. I really dig their Caveman Viking aesthetic – sadly they only show up the once. (Captain America Comics 001, 1941)

    the Hairy Ones:

    A different kind of man-ape than the Shaggy Ones, the Hairy Ones very briefly menace King Amir and his subjects (yet another population of Hairless Ones, natch) in the landlocked city of Crete (!!!) before being routed by Tuk and Tanir. (Captain America Comics 002, 1941)

    the Witches of Endor:

    Yet another group of Hairless Ones, the Witches of Endor live in a valley that is naturally filled with soporific vapours and add to their numbers by scarring captives’ faces with acid. As with the city of Crete, this is another interesting example of a thing from moderate antiquity (the Biblical Witch of Endor is historically tied to c.1100 BCE from what I can gather) transposed into comic set in 50 000 BCE. 

    Given my experience with Jack Kirby’s later work, I imagine that this is intended to be a kind of pre-legendary ancestral origin story for these things rather than a flattening of history in which everything sufficiently old existed at once, but filtered through the limits of Golden Age comic storytelling and Kirby’s own inexperience. (Captain America Comics 002, 1941)

    Atlanteans:

    Speaking of which: after escaping from the Witches of Endor, Tuk and Tanir escort their fellow former captive Princess Eve back to her home, the City of Atlantis. The first time I read this I thought that it might have been the place that Tuk’s parents came from, but no, just like the contemporary Marvel Universe, both Atlantis and Attilan are extant.

    The Atlantean people are yet another group of Hairless Ones. They’re running around in at least the Bronze Age while the rest of the world is just coming to grips with stone. They are also an absolute monarchy, which Tuk and Tanir have to help Princess Eve wrest back from her evil uncle. (Captain America Comics 002, 1941)

    Cave People:

    Finally, we have some traditional, full-on cavemen. These guys are oppressed by the wicked Bonzo the Brute until Tuk and Tanir take a hand and slay him. (Captain America Comics 004, 1941)

  • MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 095

    There really are a lot of these guys, aren’t there?

    Hurricane:

    As presented, Hurricane is a real mythological mash-em-up: “son of Thor” but also “last descendant of the Ancient Greek immortals,” and arch-enemy to the Roman god Pluto. Pantheism, baybee!

    Hurricane’s whole deal is in being super fast, like mythically fast. The fact that he has a divine opponent is quite nice, in that it offsets some of the tendency of speedster characters to walk all over their opponents as can be seen above.

    As befits a divine being with such a diverse background, Hurricane also has a Swiss Army Knife of as-needed powers, including weather control, flight, invisibility and changing into his super-suit in a flash of radiance. His signature (non-speed-related) power is the ability to stick a couple of little wings onto an object or person to give them the power of super-fast flight while looking cute.

    Hurricane is one of several older characters to eventually be retconned as former identities of Makkari of the Eternals, but we will deal with that if we ever get to the mid-70s. (Captain America Comics 001, 1940)

    Categorized in: Origin (Deities), Powers (Super Speed, Various), Weather (Hurricanes)

    Tuk:

    Speaking of retcons, here we have Tuk, Caveboy, hero of the year 50 000 BCE! Orphaned as a baby and raised by Ak, last of the Shaggy Ones, Tuk (referred to throughout as one of the Hairless Ones, natch) is the child of two mysterious figures who Ak believed to be some sort of divine being, but who refer to themselves as exiles from a place called “Attilan.” 

    The real-world explanation for this is surely that Jack Kirby liked the idea of an ancient and mysterious super-kingdom with a name that could have eventually mutated into “Atlantis” over time and used it more than once. The rise of continuity perverts and the fact that Kirby also used Attilan as the name of the Inhumans’ home city means that Tuk has now been given the status of first generation Inhuman offspring, and his eventual interbreeding with early humanity is part of the reason that they are so genetically flexible and keep developing super powers all over the place.

    Tuk is joined on his travels by Tanir, a Cro-Magnon man and the very first archery-based super-adventurer, at least chronologically. While Tuk has been minorly enshrined in Marvel Comics history, Tanir has largely been ignored, and that’s a shame. (Captain America Comics 001, 1940)

    Categorized in: Origin (Heroes of the Past, Human Offshoots), Power (Weapons Masters (Bow))

    Father Time:

    It’s Father Time! Possibly my favourite under-used Golden Age Marvel super-hero!

    Father Time is really Larry Scott, a man whose father John is found guilty of murder and fast-tracked for execution, quite possibly because he keeps saying that he is innocent. In a series of events that hopefully ends up haunting that judge for the rest of his days, Larry manages to acquire the evidence to prove that his father is innocent, only to arrive mere moments too late to save him.

    Larry’s takeaway from all this is that time is always on the side of crooks rather than the law, and so he sets out to re-balance things by adopting the costumed persona of Father Time and beating criminal ass. It’s a simple but effective origin, if much more pro-legal system than one might otherwise expect. 

    Some notable Father Time innovations: the use of a scythe as both a throwing weapon and urban traversal aid, an extremely unique mask design (eyebrow to upper lip with a full nose cutout!) complimenting a decent over-all look, and the use of a calling card in the form of a clock face with an attached skull and crossbones. (Captain America Comics 006, 1941)

    Categorized in: Abstract Concepts (Time), Famous Figures (Father Time), Origin (Motivated by Loss)

    Spy Fighter **UPDATE**:

    Despite the fact that I am a spreadsheet-keeping, blog-writing, categorization fan, I do in fact think that a slavish dedication to continuity can stifle creativity. So what if the details of a character’s backstory are inconsistent across appearances as long as it’s all fun, right? That said… this “Spy Fighter” episode is set in 2041 CE, while the first one is set in 1997 CE, meaning that poor Saber here has been battling the enemies of Greater America for 44 long years. He still looks great, though. (Fight Comics 012, 1941)

    While Fight Comics 013 continues this trend with a story set in 2042 (45 years!), the final three Spy Fighter stories abandon the science fiction and super-hero aspects of the character altogether. The Spy Fighter in Fight Comics 014 through 016 is effectively a separate character who is a non-powered espionage agent supporting the Allied forces in Egypt and the surrounding region – a true fall from grace for an interestingly weird character.