The Curse of Skeleton Munroe

Category: cult leader

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 595: THE VOICE

    (Fantastic Comics 002, 1940)

    Captain Kidd and his pal Freddy land on the… Southeast Asian? island of Morgia, known to be rich in gold but critically not to ever export that gold. As the heroes of the piece, Kidd and Freddy are of course there to just look around and seeing the sights, not to scoop up a bunch of gold on the cheap. Certainly not.

    Instead of free gold tourist hotspots they find dozens of local people dead of that one torture where a bamboo plant grows through you. The one living guy they find takes them to an elaborate temple with a flooded tunnel entrance.

    Inside, the duo find a cloaked man referred to only as the Voice, who appears to be running a combination cult and scam where he gets gold in exchange for whiskey. He’s also responsible for the bamboo torture outside if his hilarious non-apology is anything to go on, though why he’s having people killed is never elaborated on. 

    The Voice’s entire scheme relies on the flooded entrance to keep firearms from entering the temple, a measure that Captain Kidd has defeated by putting his pistol in Freddy’s hat. Suddenly, all bets are off!

    The Voice makes his escape while Captain Kidd is dealing with his huge goon Twist but unfortunately for him this is a case of Chekhov’s Flooded Tunnel and he drowns during his escape attempt.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 583: THE SPACE EMPEROR

    (Exciting Comics 001, 1940) 

    The Space Emperor first makes himself known to the solar authorities of 3964 AC (and no, I do not know what the C stands for) by either sending or allowing to escape an intelligence agent named Sperling who was investigating trouble on Jupiter for the President of Earth. Sperling has been transformed into a beast-man so horrible to behold that the President’s assistant kills him on sight but not before he can get the word out. Clearly, this is a job for Major Mars.

    Major Mars beards the Space Emperor in his lair via the classic “pretend to be captured” gag but immediately loses him. It seems that this villain has a few tricks up his sleeve! Specifically, he has acquired “the Magic Belt of the Ancients,” an artifact of some long-vanished Jovian race which allows him to become invisible and/or intangible and is presumably also what allows him to turn humans into ape men.

    Per his name, the Space Emperor has big big plans for these powers. His first step toward universal domination is to take over Jupiter by both turning the Earth colonists into apes and forging a cult/revolutionary force out of the native Jovians (who absolutely should revolt, let’s be clear – the Earth colonists use them as mine labour and limit their rights in some very historically familiar ways). 

    While he seems on track to take over Jupiter, the Space Emperor absolutely suffers from a classic excess of ambition. With a movement based on personal appearances and frequent demonstrations of power (not to mention the Jovians’ preexisting devotion to the Ancients), he is going to have a heck of a time scaling up even to a conquest of the Solar System without some significant changes.

    The Space Emperor is ultimately defeated when Major Mars gets him with a surprise attack and manages to wrest the Belt of the Ancients from him (and this is why you don’t advertise the source of your power, folks). He of course turns out to be Vice-Governor Kells, the only extraneous named character in the story, and the day is saved!

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 563: SCORPIO

    MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 563: SCORPIO

    (Wonderworld Comics 008, 1939) 

    We open on Dr Fung and his pal Dan making the acquaintance of write Corey Crews on a transcontinental flight. Crews claims that he is about to expose “the biggest phony cult in Frisco” and then is promptly murdered. The telegram that he received just before said murder reads: “you have failed Scorpio… fate is in your hands”.

    Whether there actually is a cult or not is never resolved but seems dubious, as Scorpio turns out to be operating a wholesale blackmail scheme under cover of some generic mysticism. When confronted with… not evidence but the mere hint that he might be under suspicion, Scorpio demonstrates his most prominent character trait, that he has absolutely no chill. He pulls a gun and takes off, not only dumping his costume on the ground and thus demonstrating that he was wearing a costume (versus just being a hollow-eyed seven-foot tall weirdo) but leaving all of his  blackmail material to be destroyed by Dr Fung.

    Dr Fung arranges a challenge of mysticism between Scorpio and sinister stage magician Arno (there’s a plot point involving Mira, a woman who has psychic abilities while under hypnosis but honestly this is an unnecessary level of investigative rigour given Scorpio’s aforementioned lack of chill), during which Scorpio is immediately murdered with a mysterious arrow and just as immediately revealed to in fact be Scorpio’s manservant. 

    So who killed Scorpio/ who is Scorpio? Dr Fung’s assistant Dan? Reporter Ted Collins? Stagehand and brother of former victim Crews? Sinister and satanic magician Arno?

    Of course it’s Arno. Who else could it be? And because Arno is Scorpio, Arno has no chill and tries to kill Dr Fung in front of an audience of hundreds rather than be exposed.

    Questions left unanswered: was there ever an actual cult or was it just a cover for blackmail? Why did Arno/ Scorpio think that killing his servant would solve anything? Where did Arno get that cool arrow-shooting wand?

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 558: DOXOL

    (Wonderworld Comics 004, 1939)

    We (and the Flame) start in media res, as a young woman unsuccessfully attempts to flee a car full of hooded goons, is captured and brought back to an ominous manor in the woods. The Flame cottons on to this and follows them.

    Inside we find Doxol! Doxol is a wizened green fellow who is using mind control drugs (mystic ones!) to create his own little crime cult. This is where the slice-of-life nature of the story gets a bit frustrating from an analytical perspective: is Doxol still setting up or has this cult been a going concern for a while? Were the new recruits all kidnapped or recruited regular cult-style? Even Doxol’s appearance – magic mutation or dramatic disguise? It’s a mystery!

    The Flame has even less information about Doxol than we do because he was dropped into a pit with crushy walls as soon as he stepped through the door. Lucky for him/ unlucky for Doxol his induction ceremony involves a flaming brazier for the Flame to appear in like he does (also lucky for that lady because she doesn’t get shot full of grody mind control drugs).

    Doxol makes his escape while the hooded riffraff deal with the Flame, or so he thinks. Turns out that the Flame was fortuitously flying his plane when he stumbled into this mess. 

    You’d think that engaging a guy like the Flame in a dogfight would level the playing field for a fellow like Doxol but no, he just leans out the window and lights Doxol’s plane on fire.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 539: THE CLAW

    (Silver Streak Comics 001, 1939)

    The Claw is a character we will be returning to – he’s one of the most prominent Golden Age super-villains, after all – but this entry is concerned only with his first appearance in accordance with my new policy of approaching things as they come. And while the Claw who eventually battles super-heroes like the Ghost and Daredevil and massacres thousands in an attempt at world domination is a size-changing monster-man this first version reads more like an elaborate hoax.

    As the story opens, “chemist-adventurer” Jerry Morris and “America’s only female ambassador” Eloise Pearsall dock at the Pacific island of Ricca on their way to China with a shipload of gold to aid in the war with Japan. One hitch: Ricca is home to the Claw, a giant who holds the whole island in the grip of fear and incidentally also runs the submarine pirate operation that is looting ships in the region.

    The Claw maintains his grip on the island using his own fearsome looming presence, plus a “maddening hum” that also influences Eloise Pearsall to jump overboard and make her way to the castle because the Claw is also a creep who wants a “queen” and doesn’t care if he has to do a little mind control to get it.

    Jerry Morris of course goes after his travel companion and it’s a good thing that he’s a chemist-adventurer because he manages to whip up a useful serum in his stateroom/ laboratory, a radium-based solution that renders one immune to “any mental or physical attack”. Jerry infiltrates the Claw’s organization by feigning interest in signing up and discovers that the Claw ensures loyalty in his henchmen by giving them addictively pleasant dreams (and also punishes them with nightmares, natch). Eloise is in the first stages of the addiction treatment but lucky for her the radium serum covers that too and one shot later she is free.

    Thanks to his complete immunity to harm, Jerry goes on to foil a submarine raid on the gold shipment and returns with a load of sailors all hopped up on serum. They rout the Claw’s men only to find the villain’s throne empty and abandoned.

    (due to a flamethrower attack by the Claw’s defenders there is also an unusual amount of male nudity thanks to the invulnerable men not thinking to wear invulnerable clothing)

    Like I said, if I didn’t know that the next issue would feature the Claw walking around and demonstrating his power to grow to colossal sizes I would assume that he was a fake, engineered to keep the island people under the thumb of some schemer like the Purple Monster – the enthroned Claw actually a robotic shell, the towering Claw some sort of projection or inflatable. The mind control? Sonics and drugs. After all, why would such an enormous man flee from a handful of nudists, even if they are invulnerable?

    UPDATE 1940

    UPDATE 1941 Part 1 

    UPDATE 1941 Part 2 

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 539: THE CLAW

    (Silver Streak Comics 001, 1939)

    The Claw is a character we will be returning to – he’s one of the most prominent Golden Age super-villains, after all – but this entry is concerned only with his first appearance in accordance with my new policy of approaching things as they come. And while the Claw who eventually battles super-heroes like the Ghost and Daredevil and massacres thousands in an attempt at world domination is a size-changing monster-man this first version reads more like an elaborate hoax.

    As the story opens, “chemist-adventurer” Jerry Morris and “America’s only female ambassador” Eloise Pearsall dock at the Pacific island of Ricca on their way to China with a shipload of gold to aid in the war with Japan. One hitch: Ricca is home to the Claw, a giant who holds the whole island in the grip of fear and incidentally also runs the submarine pirate operation that is looting ships in the region.

    The Claw maintains his grip on the island using his own fearsome looming presence, plus a “maddening hum” that also influences Eloise Pearsall to jump overboard and make her way to the castle because the Claw is also a creep who wants a “queen” and doesn’t care if he has to do a little mind control to get it.

    Jerry Morris of course goes after his travel companion and it’s a good thing that he’s a chemist-adventurer because he manages to whip up a useful serum in his stateroom/ laboratory, a radium-based solution that renders one immune to “any mental or physical attack”. Jerry infiltrates the Claw’s organization by feigning interest in signing up and discovers that the Claw ensures loyalty in his henchmen by giving them addictively pleasant dreams (and also punishes them with nightmares, natch). Eloise is in the first stages of the addiction treatment but lucky for her the radium serum covers that too and one shot later she is free.

    Thanks to his complete immunity to harm, Jerry goes on to foil a submarine raid on the gold shipment and returns with a load of sailors all hopped up on serum. They rout the Claw’s men only to find the villain’s throne empty and abandoned.

    (due to a flamethrower attack by the Claw’s defenders there is also an unusual amount of male nudity thanks to the invulnerable men not thinking to wear invulnerable clothing)

    Like I said, if I didn’t know that the next issue would feature the Claw walking around and demonstrating his power to grow to colossal sizes I would assume that he was a fake, engineered to keep the island people under the thumb of some schemer like the Purple Monster – the enthroned Claw actually a robotic shell, the towering Claw some sort of projection or inflatable. The mind control? Sonics and drugs. After all, why would such an enormous man flee from a handful of nudists, even if they are invulnerable?

    UPDATE 1940

    UPDATE 1941 Part 1 

    UPDATE 1941 Part 2 

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 520: THE HIGH PRIEST OF THOR

    (Blue Bolt v2 006, 1941) 

    We open on an aircraft factory. Suddenly, a strange vibration fills the air. After an initial moment of surprise, the workers all file out the door and into a cave in a nearby hillside. Inside?

    THIS MAN!

    This man is the self-proclaimed High Priest of Thor and before we get into what he’s up to I’d like to commend his commitment to the costume. Your average religious-type villain is not going to these lengths to look ceremonial and in fact are more likely to be in the Robe and Cloth Mask club. I particularly like the helmet, which looks like it must be obstructing his vision and crushing his nose at the same time but which manages to combine wings and horns in a single Platonic Fake Viking Helmet. Also note the mustache, which flies off the first time he is punched and just reaffirms his commitment to the bit.

    Of course the High Priest of Thor ends up being some sort of pseudo-Nazi spy looking to sabotage the US defense program. It’s never explicitly laid out but his vibration machine seems to put its subjects into a mentally receptive hypnotic state and the Thor stuff is all a way of getting them to do what he wants: if Thor is real and they are fanatical Thor cultists like this guy says then why not blow up an airplane factory? Too bad for the High Priest of Thor that the Twister had to show up and ruin things but at least he got to look cool with a tommy gun before it was all over.

    Bonus: this Thor explainer written by someone who did not have the gumption to look up anything about Thor.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 483: THE WEB

    (Big 3 004, 1941)

    As a Blue Beetle villain, the Web of course wants nothing more than to take over NYC York City and is particularly ruthless in his pursuit of that goal. He attacks essential services like power and water in order to sow confusion, while also attacking targets such as orphanages to spread terror.

    The Web also has an… intense relationship with his underlings. They seem to be some sort of BDSM cult? For lack of better terminology?

    The Web is definitely getting off on this. I dunno about the rest of these guys – they might be brainwashed? They reflexively chant “I obey, Web!” and “the Web is great!” at every opportunity and have no substantive reaction to being beaten and abused – at the very least it constitutes henchman abuse.

    But having a crack team of submissives will only take you so far and in a final pitched battle with the Blue Beetle the Web does a header onto a bomb and subsequently explodes to death. Presumably his henchmen needed a lot of therapy afterward. Unless it was consensual, of course.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 483: THE WEB

    (Big 3 004, 1941)

    As a Blue Beetle villain, the Web of course wants nothing more than to take over NYC York City and is particularly ruthless in his pursuit of that goal. He attacks essential services like power and water in order to sow confusion, while also attacking targets such as orphanages to spread terror.

    The Web also has an… intense relationship with his underlings. They seem to be some sort of BDSM cult? For lack of better terminology?

    The Web is definitely getting off on this. I dunno about the rest of these guys – they might be brainwashed? They reflexively chant “I obey, Web!” and “the Web is great!” at every opportunity and have no substantive reaction to being beaten and abused – at the very least it constitutes henchman abuse.

    But having a crack team of submissives will only take you so far and in a final pitched battle with the Blue Beetle the Web does a header onto a bomb and subsequently explodes to death. Presumably his henchmen needed a lot of therapy afterward. Unless it was consensual, of course.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 432: THE CONQUEROR

    (Keen Detective Funnies 011, 1939)

    The Conqueror is the major recurring foe of Dean Denton, Scientific Adventurer, about whom we will briefly aside: Dean Denton was created by Harry Campbell, who was also responsible for such characters as Ace of Space, Bruce Blackburn and the wretched Scarlet Seal, but also Wizard Wells and John Law, Scientiective, who form a kind of thematic triad of scientific detectives with Dean Denton.

    Dean Denton is definitely the most entertaining of the three to read (with the unfortunate caveat that his are the adventures that are most riddled with racial stereotypes. The Golden Age, folks!) due partially to his former occupation as a well-known ventriloquist but mostly to his archfoe the Conqueror, who beats John Law’s Avenger and Wizard Wells’ collection of no-name goons hands down.

    The Conqueror is actually rich guy Bolton Gates and over the course of a couple of dozen appearances he has my favourite villainous character arc: the villain of means with vast resources is foiled several times by Our Hero and ends up scrabbling around doing comparatively petty crimes for chump change. 

    In his first few appearances the Conqueror has a lavish estate under which is a technologically advanced lair filled with brainwashed minions. After Dean Denton blows all that up it seems like the Conqueror is forever seeking to recreate it with schemes that place him in positions of high status: not only does he pose as divine figures to dupe tribal groups in both Central America and Africa but he founds somewhere between two to three cults:

    Somewhat surprisingly, the White Crusaders, over which the Conqueror presided as the Master Crusader/ the White Master, was not a racially problematic group.

    Meanwhile the Cult of Astra was mostly a way to flimflam flaky Hollywood types and blackmail their studios with the threat of religion-related work stoppages (a scheme that nets him a two-episode arc on the Villains of Old Hollywood podcast).

    The third example is somewhere between a cult and his old habit of minion recruitment through mind control: he takes advantage of the conflict between the countries of Namreg and Feltia (and in case “Namreg” was too subtle for you they clash near the “Tonigam Line”) to capture and brainwash both Namreg and Feltian forces. 

    Even though the Conqueror gets away as per usual at the end of this scheme, it’s his last appearance in comics (that I know of, natch). One can imagine his conflict with Dean Denton continuing indefinitely and why not. It’s more fun than most things that might logically happen to a lone civilian trapped in the midst of two armies that he recently made enemies of. after all.