The Curse of Skeleton Munroe

Category: Kaänga

  • MONSTER, CRITTER AND CREATURE ROUND-UP 003

    I hope everyone likes monsters as much as I do because there are a whole lot of them to cover.

    Beaked Tyros:

    When polar explorer Anthony Conrad gets lost in an Arctic storm and falls through a hole in the pack ice, he reasonably expects to meet his demise. Instead, he falls into the subterranean kingdom of Artica and is chosen by the elderly Artican king – also a stranded former surface explorer – as his successor. 

    As part of the coronation process, Anthony must prove his mettle to his prospective subjects, and step two of that process is Thrilling Arena Combat with the horrible beaked tyros “Lord of Artica’s Jungles,” and I love this thing. Though it looks like just another low-rent carnosaur at first glance, upon closer examination it has many bizarre features, including weird bird legs, thin, unpleasant-looking teeth, radially-symmetrical hands that are possibly equipped with suckers on the palms, and skin that is described as “hairy” in the caption box. Truly this is a strange and wonderful beast that sadly must be chopped up in service to the story. (Cyclone Comics 001, 1940)

    the Beast:

    When asked to prove his worthiness to wed the Princess Ahloo, our hero Abdallah knows exactly what to do: ride directly to a nearby valley full of dinosauroids and slay one of them. Though one of the pteranodon-adjacent flying reptiles that confront him when he enters the valley would probably be sufficient to satisfy Ahloo’s father, Abdallah instead opts to battle a creature referred to only as the Beast, a possibly-fire-breathing, possibly-carnivorous sauropodoid that give him a truly heroic-level challenge. And it works! He gets the girl! (Funny Pages v2 003, 1937)

    the Birds:

    These vulture-monsters come very close to destroying the Blue Bolt on his very first adventure. They are only prevented from doing so, in fact, because they work for the Green Sorceress and she has become infatuated with Our Hero here on sight.

    I’m always a big fan of these kinds of monster birds that up the ante on deadliness by throwing most of the birdliness of the creature out the window and instead give them the body plan of a griffin. Really great stuff and my only note is that some of the tails are very unpleasant to look at. (Blue Bolt v1 001, 1940)

    Bolu:

    Meg and Mickey are two children who have access to a magical time-travel stone and use it to just kind of blunder around throughout history. In this particular instance they have ended up in the Stone Age and are only saved from being eaten by some uncharitable portrayals of our collective ancestors by the appearance of a dinosaur, called Bolu by the cavemen and of course far, far more out of place than two 20th Century kids could ever hope to be. There is some indication that the bolu was summoned by the Spirit of the Stone to save the two from becoming dinner, but if that’s the case then why do the cavemen already know about it? (The Comics 007, 1938)

    Carnicantileia:

    The swamp-dwelling carnicantileia briefly menaces Flip Falcon and his associates during one of his early adventures when he mostly uses his fantastic time-and-space machine to go to Mars. It’s a pretty impressive snake-style beast, and as such it’s a real shame that it is killed in such a goofy way, by having a big rock thrown down its gullet. (Fantastic Comics 003, 1940)

    Carnivoplant:

    The carnivoplant is a classic man-eating plant, subtype seaweed, that almost kills adventurer Kinks Mason before it in turn is preyed upon by a swarm of phosphomites. And just what are phosphomites, you may ask? Contextually, they are small glowing creatures that eat carnivoplants, and that is all the information we get. (Fight Comics 001, 1940)

    Cave Monster:

    Modern day cowboy hero Bull’s-Eye Bill and his companions meet this cave reptile while pursuing an outlaw, and as I previously observed, it was clearly meant to set up an adventure into a prehistoric underground world that subsequent creators chose not to take advantage of. 

    As for the one beast that we do get to see fight some cowboys, I really appreciate how lizardy it looks, as well as how it seems to be posing for maximum dramatic effect in every panel, even when killing a guy or writhing around in its death throes. (Target Comics v1 007, 1940)

    the Ozix:

    Someday
    when I post a picture of a creature that is just a big cat with some extra stuff stapled onto it in one of these round-ups I will be able to refer to it
    as a standard type of creature, but I simply haven’t done the work yet.
    The ozix, then, is a beast with the body of a leopard and the head of a
    crocodile – how novel a concept! Adventurer Congo Jack must slay this
    one during his adventures under the earth. (Lightning Comics v2 002,
    1941) 

    Dakk:

    Returning to the adventures of King Anthony in the sub-Arctic world of Artica, here we see him as he is about to tour his kingdom on the back of a domesticated dakk, and I must say that I like the very beast-of-burden look that they have given to this creature’s head. Sadly, this particular dakk has been poisoned as part of an attempt to assassinate the new king.

    This assassination attempt is only partially successful, as Anthony survives the fall into the jungles of Artica but is then placed in further peril at the claws of the various creatures that live there, such as this amazing giraffe-patterned water lizard.

    Though he escapes the lizard, Anthony is almost immediately attacked by a great horned tigrid, which is is of course a regular tiger with two little horns on its head, and another example of what I was talking about in the ozix entry.

    Finally, after stumbling upon the roots of the conspiracy against him and dealing with them violently, King Anthony makes his way home on a humble unicorn. (Cyclone Comics 003, 1940) 

    the Storm Monster:

    A giant reptilian beast that plagues an African village on a yearly basis (during a huge storm, natch), the Storm Monster meets its end after swallowing Kaänga whole, upon which he carves his way free of its guts with his trusty knife. (Jungle Comics 021, 1941)

  • MONSTER, CRITTER AND CREATURE ROUND-UP 002

    It’s time for more monsters! And also critters and creatures!

    Prehistoric Gorilla:

    This carnivorous cave-dwelling ape lives in a hidden valley in Africa and has a pretty sweet deal going with the local pterodactyls, whereby they bring him things to eat and he seemingly doesn’t have to do anything. This arrangement does eventually backfire after the pterodactyls grab Kaänga’s mate Ann and the justifiably miffed jungle lord follows them and slays the gorilla. (Jungle Comics 017, 1941)

    A few bonus dinosaurs from the hidden valley: some generic carnosaurs, the aforementioned pterodactyls, and a mean aquatic sauropod.

    Creatures of Argus:

    When the wicked Sklar, tyrant of the planet Argus, attempts to invade the Earth of the far-off Year 1982, he sends these fairly cool flame-spewing robots to do his dirty work for him. While I always appreciate a good killer robot, these ones are especially satisfying because they conform to the proportions of the people of Argus and it’s always nice to see non-humans adhering to their own aesthetics rather than defaulting to ours. 

    Though the robots are smashed up by champion of the people Power Nelson in short order the risk of invasion remains, so he and his love interest/companion Zora head to Argus to settle things once and for all. During their time there, they are forced to take a detour that leads them through the through the Cave of Terror, a monster-haunted locale containing such beasts as…

    … the beefy, fire-breathing Dreaded Cave Monster! (smashed against a wall)

    The cephalopoid Creatures of the Quicksand! (deprived of their meal but otherwise unharmed)

    The extremely compelling giant rodentoid Saber Tooth Crawler! (punched out) (Prize Comics 006, 1940)

    Morg:

    Adventurer Planet Payson encounters this morg while investigating malfeasance on Mars, and manages to escape its clutches by merely making it sleepy rather than killing it. A true win for xeno-conservation! (Planet Comics 006, 1940)

    Pteridons:

    Analogous to our own woolly mammoths, these pteridons were once native to Pluto but now lie frozen beneath a layer of ice. Though a gang of crooks attempt to exploit these curiously adorable beasts by thawing them out and deploying them as rampaging engines of destruction, they are stopped by Buzz Crandall before things get too out of hand. (Planet Comics 006, 1940)

    Aqua-Scorpio:

    Despite the fact that people in the 40s thought that octopuses were inherently gross, menacing and deadly,  sometimes the comic book people felt the need to up the ante a bit and so we get things like the aqua-scorpio her, as encountered by oceanic adventurer Captain Gallant. I really like this guy’s head, especially the combination of the compound eyes and chinless beak, but the hooked tentacles might be overkill. (Super-Mystery Comics v1 005, 1940)

    Arena Monsters:

    The wicked ‘bdula Khan pits these three beasts against the Golden Knight seemingly purely for the love of being evil. Only one of them, the bat wing monster, gets anything approaching a name, but that doesn’t prevent it from being slain as easily as its companions generic dragon and land kelpie. (Fantastic Comics 006 1940)

    Bat-Serpent:

    The Rocket is confronted with and slays this bat-serpent while he is the captive of a group of Ape-Men, and it’s a good thing that he does so because it moves him out of the category of “prisoner” and into that of “potential leader.” I do feel a little bad for the bat-serpent here, though. Sure, the caption box says that it is a “blood seeking enemy of all animal and human life” but that face says “adorable puppy-cow” and that holds a lot of weight with me.

    As part of his ascent to chiefdom, the Rocket must venture into the Cave of Horrors and face the various horrors therein. He only gets to one of them before being interrupted, but it’s a good one, the fire-breathing, flashlight-headed rayoceros, which look like the kind of creature you’d find in an early Sixties comic set on Krypton. (Pep Comics 005, 1940)

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 996: THE BIRD KING

    (Jungle Comics 022, 1941)

    Zuko, aka the Bird King, is in a lot of ways a very classic minor super-villain. He has an obsession with birds and has both a flock of trained vultures and a set of working bird wings for personal flight that he uses in the pursuit of crime. He also has an obsession with diamonds that makes him jealously guard the ones that he has collected, and stop at nothing, including kidnapping and murder, to acquire more.

    The really unusual thing about Zuko is the fact that all of this villainous potential exists in a guy who lives in a treehouse in the middle of a crocodile-infested swamp in the middle of a jungle in an unspecified part of Central Africa. He only learns that there are people nearby with diamonds that he might be able to steal when one of them accidentally wanders into his front yard. In the next issue of Jungle Comics some crooks come looking for Zuko’s treasure so it’s possible that he was a super thief somewhere else before moving to the jungle to hide but as presented in his own story it’s kind of like if Dr Doom had just forged his mask and then stayed on the mountain with those monks.

    The Bird Man makes a spirited attempt to steal the diamonds from Kaänga’s adopted people but is unable to contend with jungle-man resistance. This all ends with him learning the ultimate lesson for people who choose the life of the wingsuit, all the way back to Icarus himself: they don’t work very well if they are on fire.

    Categorized in: Accessories (Wingsuits), Animals (Birds), Theft (Jewel Thieves) 

  • CATALOGUE OF WOUNDS 013

    If I see a wound, I catalogue it.

    Camilla, Queen of the Lost Empire:

    Shot in the back with an arrow. (Jungle Comics 019, 1941)

    Captain Flag:

    Nearly dies of the Black Hand’s horrible hand disease. (Blue Ribbon Comics 016, 1941)

    the Cat-Man:

    Stabbed in the chest, to death (he gets better). (Crash Comics Adventures 004, 1940)

    Killed by a blood-freezing ray. He gets better again. (Crash Comics Adventures 005, 1940)

    Dynamo:

    Dynamo gets his skull creased by a bullet in the classic fashion. (Science Comics 005, 1940)

    the Green Mask:

    Michael Shelby is shot in the chest, prompting pal Professor Lascomb to stick him in the machine that turns him into the Green Mask. (Green Mask v1 001 1940)

    Domino the Miracle Boy:

    Later in the same issue, the boy known only as Don gets seriously exploded and must also be placed in the machine. (Green Mask v1 001, 1940)

    Kaänga: 

    Not even being an off-brand Tarzan can save you from being shot in the left shoulder,, as Kaänga learns here. (Jungle Comics 010, 1940)

    the Mask:

    District Attorney Colby is blinded by acid as part of his journey to becoming the Mask. (Exciting Comics 001, 1940)

    Tabu, Wizard of the Jungle:

    Tabu is shot in the right shoulder by this jerk. (Jungle Comics 019, 1941)

    Just one issue later, Tabu is speared in the right arm by a different jerk. (Jungle Comics 020, 1941)

  • GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 045

    GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 045

    It’s hard out there for the little guys.

    Unnamed Spy Chief:

    I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a comic book villain with such a distinctive look and clear devotion to a visual theme but absolutely nothing else. Her “decadent Egyptian Queen” bit doesn’t spill into her plans, it doesn’t inform how her minions dress… she doesn’t even have a name. Baffling! 

    On top of everything else, her plans are foiled and she is captured by the oafish Navy man Spark Stevens.(Green Mask v1 004, 1941)

    John Dale:

    When John Dale decides to murder his elderly cousin Ludwig in order to speed up the inheritance process, he disguises himself by grabbing this lizard-goblin mask that seems to be part of the decor, and then again when he decides that further murders will help him to cover up the first one. Thankfully for intrepid reporter Dell and her companion, the Night Bird is there to prevent this second (and third) murder.

    Dale’s plan is flimsy at best, and includes multiple key factors that would fall apart under the lightest of scrutiny (no autopsy because he, the main beneficiary with power of attorney, said that they didn’t need it, fake will, etc). The best of these is this secret room setup, where the open window in the library is covered in an enlarged photo of the view from the secret room in order to obfuscate its presence to those in the library. Would having the will reading in a room other than the library make it even easier to conceal the secret? Certainly, but it wouldn’t be as clever. (Green Mask v1 007, 1941)

    the Corpse:

    In Green Mask v1 007, the titular Green Masks solves the murder of a man named Brown over an engraved box that turns out to contain a map to lost pirate treasure. The murderer, a con artist and fake medium called Swami Zodia, is captured, and Michael “the Green Mask” Shelby and his pals take possession of the map in what I would call morally questionable circumstances. Hope Mr Brown didn’t have any heirs!

    The voyage to the treasure-bearing island is fraught with death and danger courtesy of a treacherous ship’s captain and his ally the Corpse, supposedly the walking cadaver of the pirate who drew the map in the first place. This is of course hogwash, and despite putting in a surprisingly strong showing against the Green Mask and Domino the Corpse is eventually unmasked to reveal that he is… Swami Zodia again! Yes, having committed murder for it, Zodia isn’t yet ready to give up on the treasure and has pulled out the comic book con artist’s ultimate weapon: the fake ghost. Alas, it does not work. (Green Mask v1 008, 1941)

    Simia:

    Simia is, simply put, an evil ape (species up for debate. Chimpanzee? Gorilla?). He was found as an orphaned baby and raised by a man named Jim Keane – does his evil nature stem from being brought up in a household where using utensils was prioritized and acting like an ape meant that you get locked up in a cage, seemingly indefinitely? Possibly.

    Simia is set free by some evil men who are after Keane, and immediately organizes an ape gang to terrorize the local jungle, which includes kidnapping Kaänga’s mate Ann (he also inadvertently helps his foster father by killing his enemies).

    Kaänga is not a guy whose home life you want to mess with, as Simia learns just before getting his head bashed in on a boulder. (Jungle Comics 014, 1941)

  • MAD AND CRIMINAL SCIENTIST ROUND-UP 026

    If we criminalize mad science then only criminal scientists will be mad.

    Mauser:

    Mauser is the second of two foes battled by two-fisted chemist Guy Gorham and also the second rogue biologist. Was this comic setting up some sort of biologist/chemist beef that never got a chance to pay off? Mauser’s plans are never really spelled out, but he’s got a colony of vampire bats that he seems to be training to attack human targets, which isn’t great but which spells his undoing when he steals Gorham’s food concentrate formula for use as vampire feed – presumably for when human blood is in short supply. 

    A couple of other things about Mauser: he has a pretty decent uniform which he shares with his underlings, and despite his name (and the name of his henchman Herr Klotz) he does not appear to be a fascist. (Great Comics 002, 1941)

    Dr Berchtoldt:

    All Dr Berchtoldt wants to do is peacefully develop his robot army (and then take over the world). They won’t let him do it on land, so he moves under the sea, where he still gets hassled by the Man, in the form of Navy Jones. And all he did was kidnap Princess Coral and threaten to marry her against her will: is that any justification for hounding a man from his undersea fortress and then blowing up him and his super submarine alike? (Green Mask v1 006, 1941)

    de Moire:

    De Moire and his pal the Skipper have come to the part of Africa that Kaänga hangs out in to do unethical human experiments on what they assume are expendable people. After transforming one guy into a huge green killing machine, de Moire becomes obsessed with doing the same to Kaänga to make an even more beefy creature. This obsession leads him to neglect his original creation, and it wanders off and gets a look at itself in a pool of water and realizes that it is now ugly, which in turn leads it to slay de Moire. The Skipper is likewise killed, leaving Kaänga to battle the monster to the death. (Jungle Comics 013, 1941)

    Zalov Varno:

    Zalov Varno has been sending teams of men out to attack the oil fields of Debra-Tabuk, prompting Tabu, Wizard of the Jungle to pay him a visit and see just what his deal is. Though he captures Tabu with surprising ease given the latter’s vast magical power, Varno never actually explains just what he wants the oil for, which is in my opinion one of the greatest of villainous sins. I don’t even feel bad for him when he gets killed with his own Devitalizer Beam.

    The most interesting thing about Varno is what exactly is going on with his right eye. As far as I can tell, he wears some sort of semi-spherical black monocle, but just why he might care to do so is left as an exercise for the reader. (Jungle Comics 013, 1941)

  • MAD AND CRIMINAL SCIENTIST ROUND-UP 026

    If we criminalize mad science then only criminal scientists will be mad.

    Mauser:

    Mauser is the second of two foes battled by two-fisted chemist Guy Gorham and also the second rogue biologist. Was this comic setting up some sort of biologist/chemist beef that never got a chance to pay off? Mauser’s plans are never really spelled out, but he’s got a colony of vampire bats that he seems to be training to attack human targets, which isn’t great but which spells his undoing when he steals Gorham’s food concentrate formula for use as vampire feed – presumably for when human blood is in short supply. 

    A couple of other things about Mauser: he has a pretty decent uniform which he shares with his underlings, and despite his name (and the name of his henchman Herr Klotz) he does not appear to be a fascist. (Great Comics 002, 1941)

    Dr Berchtoldt:

    All Dr Berchtoldt wants to do is peacefully develop his robot army (and then take over the world). They won’t let him do it on land, so he moves under the sea, where he still gets hassled by the Man, in the form of Navy Jones. And all he did was kidnap Princess Coral and threaten to marry her against her will: is that any justification for hounding a man from his undersea fortress and then blowing up him and his super submarine alike? (Green Mask v1 006, 1941)

    de Moire:

    De Moire and his pal the Skipper have come to the part of Africa that Kaänga hangs out in to do unethical human experiments on what they assume are expendable people. After transforming one guy into a huge green killing machine, de Moire becomes obsessed with doing the same to Kaänga to make an even more beefy creature. This obsession leads him to neglect his original creation, and it wanders off and gets a look at itself in a pool of water and realizes that it is now ugly, which in turn leads it to slay de Moire. The Skipper is likewise killed, leaving Kaänga to battle the monster to the death. (Jungle Comics 013, 1941)

    Zalov Varno:

    Zalov Varno has been sending teams of men out to attack the oil fields of Debra-Tabuk, prompting Tabu, Wizard of the Jungle to pay him a visit and see just what his deal is. Though he captures Tabu with surprising ease given the latter’s vast magical power, Varno never actually explains just what he wants the oil for, which is in my opinion one of the greatest of villainous sins. I don’t even feel bad for him when he gets killed with his own Devitalizer Beam.

    The most interesting thing about Varno is what exactly is going on with his right eye. As far as I can tell, he wears some sort of semi-spherical black monocle, but just why he might care to do so is left as an exercise for the reader. (Jungle Comics 013, 1941)

  • ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 042

    ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 042

    I hope you like aliens, because I just can’t stop finding new ones. 

    Kobolians:

    The Kobolians are from the underwater city of Kobol in the year 10 000 CE, and while we don’t learn too much about how their society functions we can intuit a certain amount of civic pride, given that their leader is named Lobok – did he rise to power on the strength of that name? Did he adopt it? Is the city named after him? Whichever it is, Lobok commands enough loyalty that the Kobolians go along with him when he decides to acquire a human wife via extortion. And not just any human either, but the daughter of Biran, leader of the Army of New America!

    Though the Kobolians live in an underwater city, it is not flooded, indicating that they are amphibious rather than fully water-breathing. They might even be that most rare of things: the underwater species that is fully air-breathing!

    Anyway, Sub Saunders blows the place up after rescuing Ms Nirab. (Fantastic Comics 014, 1941)

    Magyans:

    Space adventurer Iron Munro (born on Jupiter in the 22nd Century and thus very physically mighty. If his name seems familiar it’s because it was swiped by Roy Thomas and used as the name of the post-Crisis Superman replacement) and his companions, after being blasted into a “new universe” (contextually, a new solar system) by a rogue asteroid, find themselves in the middle of a conflict between two groups called the Magyans and the Tefflans. 

    As explained by the Magyan leader, the roots of this conflict stem from a war between their ancestors and the underground-dwelling Tefflans on another planet, tens of thousands of years earlier, a conflict that resulted in the destruction of their mutual home continent as the remnants of both populations fled into outer space. Iron Munro takes an immediate wild swing and identifies this continent as Mu (why no Atlantis? Is Iron Munro a hipster?). 

    If the Magyans are the lost inhabitants of Mu, then what does that make the Tefflans? Why, they are weird evil goat-men, and thus the basis for all of humanity’s legends about demons and devils!

    Munro and his pals side with the humans, of course, and over the next six issues there is an escalating back-and-forth war between the Magyans and the more technologically-advanced Tefflans that culminates in a devastating final attack in which the Magyans launch their twin moons Ma-Ran and Ma-Kanee at the Tefflan planet of Teff-El. It’s a horrifying way to end a war! (Shadow Comics v1 002, 1940)

    Man-Apes:

    These Man-Apes serve megacreep Dr Wratt as muscle. They hold the particular distinction of being the least apelike ape-men that I have ever seen. (Jungle Comics 002, 1940)

  • CATALOGUE OF WOUNDS 007

    CATALOGUE OF WOUNDS 007

    The right shoulder: unsung victim of the comics pages. 

    Captain Battle: 

    Captain Battle gets a fashionable bullet-creased skull on the docks of San Francisco. (Captain Battle Comics 001, 1941) 

    the Cloak:

    Being shot in the left shoulder is the inciting incident that leads Jeff Cardiff to adopt the Cloak identity in the first place. (Big Shot Comics 015, 1941)

    the Face:

    Shot in the right shoulder (Big Shot Comics 011, 1941)

    Shot in the right shoulder again. (Big Shot Comics 018, 1941)

    Shot in the left shoulder, which must have come as a relief. (Big Shot Comics 019, 1941)

    the Fox:

    Shot in the right shoulder. (Blue Ribbon Comics 012, 1941)

    Kaänga: 

    Shot in the right shoulder. (Jungle Comics 003, 1940)

    Marvelo, Monarch of Magicians:

    Shot in the right arm. (Big Shot Comics 012, 1941)

    In what is probably the most sever non-fatal injury we have seen thus far, Marvelo takes an ape-powered throwing knife to the chest and is just barely alive for the remainder of the comic. (Big Shot Comics 016, 1941)

    Skyman:

    Skyman is shot in the ever-popular right shoulder, and no wonder: it’s a big ol’ target. (Big Shot Comics 002, 1940)

  • ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 014

    We’ve hit a rich seam of aliums this month.

    Mermaid/ Reptile-Men:

    This city of Reptile-Men is ruled over by a Mermaid queen, and I am forced to contemplate, and not for the first time, whether this is an instance of a member or group of one species ruling over another or if it’s one of extreme sexual dimorphism. Whichever one it is, I do appreciate that the Reptile-Men have that really goofy wide stance going on with their lizard legs. (Weird Comics 003, 1940)

    Monkey Men: 

    Also known as the Cannibalistic Monkey Men, these beefy lads vex one of those hidden Ancient Roman colonies that are all over Africa and the Middle East by demanding tribute of human flesh. They eventually meet their match and are seemingly wiped out entirely when they try to eat Kaänga and his new pal “Red” Longjohn. (Jungle Comics 007, 1940)

    Capris-Men:

    Earth is in need of radium, the only cure to a deadly plague that is ravaging the population, and so an expedition headed by Rex Dexter of Mars sets out to get some from the nearly 100% pitchblende planet Capris (okay, so it’s called a planet throughout the story but it’s got to be a dwarf planet or an asteroid or something based on travel timelines alone). The fantastic-looking native Capris-Men, aka the Capris Monsters, don’t take to kindly to this and mount an attack on the expedition, which leads the expedition to leave early, meaning that they don’t get enough radium to treat everyone.

    The obvious solution to this problem is, of course, to tow the entire planet(oid) into orbit around Earth, so that the healing power of ionizing radiation can eternally shine down on its inhabitants and make them the healthiest people in the universe. No word on what the Capris-Men thought about this development. (Mystery-Men Comics 002, 1939)

    the Cave Men and the Lizard Men:

    The Cave Men are basically just some extra hairy guys who live in a cave system called the Underground Empire beneath Rhodesia/modern day Zimbabwe. They are possibly immortal and are ruled by a white lady named Aldia, who is – the question is whether she bothered to share the secret of the Immortal Flame with her subjects.

    The thing that really sets the Cave Men apart is the quality of their enemies, the Lizard Men. Sure, they’re just a mindless horde of inhuman monsters who exist only to be righteously slaughtered by the heroic Lance Hale, but just look at their majestic fins! (Silver Streak Comics 004, 1940)