The Curse of Skeleton Munroe

Category: saboteur

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 921: THE SCALY DRAGON

    (Champ Comics 014, 1941)

    The Scaly Dragon is what I would consider to be a very by-the-book fascist saboteur with a better-than-average name. He does have a couple of noteworthy things about him though, including 1. the fact that he is a pseudo-Imperial Japanese spy rather than the much more common pseudo-Nazis that we usually see.

    2. Though the Scaly Dragon’s first couple of efforts were aimed at sabotaging the water supply of New York City (which is where the Human Meteor gets on his tail), his home base appears to be in Cincinnati, an oft-ignored city in comics.  

    3. After he is rounded up by the Human Meteor, we get a rare scene of the Scaly Dragon getting booked. Most of the time these guys end up dead or just dropped off directly at a prison courtyard, so this is a real treat – I suppose the next milestone we must look forward to is a super-villain mug shot.

    Categorized in: Animals (Dragons), Espionage (Saboteurs), Locations (Cincinnati)

  • FASCIST GOON CLEARING HOUSE 012

    I know we’re all tired of fascist, but these are fake, historical fascists who get beat up, so it’s cathartic at least. 

    the Blitzys:


    The Blitzys, aka the Yellowshirts, have a never-clearly-articulated plan to divide American society by beating people up for not joining the Army. I assume that there must be more to it than that but the focus of the adventure is not on Spy Smasher beating up these particular fascists (though beat them he does) but in avoiding them long enough to get to Washington and warn the President about this fifth column activity. (Whiz Comics 020, 1941)

    The Blitzys, armed with a completely silent bomber plane, continue to vex Spy Smasher and America on behalf of their boss the War Lord through to Whiz Comics 022, when their leader Kurt Bund is finally run to ground in his base underneath a local cemetery and properly walloped.

    Categorized in: Crime as Theme (Naziism), Objects (Shirts)

    the Ring:

    A gang of airplane saboteurs with so little assigned motivation that they might as well be in it for the love of the game, the Ring is undone by FBI agent Dick Star and his aide, the unusually-named Pinky Dink. (Bang-Up Comics 001, 1941)

    Categorized in: Generica (Rings), Ideologies (Crypto-Fascists)

    Unnamed Giant Robot Unit: 

    Eventually the comic timeline that I’m working on is going to get to the point that the US is World War II, and the flow of vague Nazi-adjacent antagonist groups is going to dry up and be replaced mainly with overt Nazi and Japanese super-villains. Does this mean the end of the Fascict Goon Round-Up? surely not, because there needs to be a place to document the weird over-the-top schemes that the comic book version of the Axis powers get up to.

    Take this one: two enormous robots rise out of the depth of New York Harbor and destroy a patrol boat before stomping into the city proper. 

    Then, after making their way downtown, they disgorge a bunch of Nazi soldiers to… do something. Honestly it’s unclear what these guys are up to and more to the point just what havoc they could raise that a giant Robot couldn’t. In any case they don’t have long on the ground before they are beaten up by the Flag-Man and Rusty. 

    All this action in the city is especially baffling as the actual plan is to blow up a chunk of the US fleet with a minefield. Maaaybe the idea is to draw them in with the giant robot attack? In any case, the Flag-Man steers one of the robots into the minefield and takes care of the entire problem with one huge explosion. (Captain Aero Comics 001, 1941)

    Categorized in: Accessories (Mecha)

    the Swastika Council:

    It’s not entirely clear just what kind of fascist group the Swastika Council is, thanks to the fact that their sole appearance concerns the fact that David Merrywether, aka the Cat-Man, is about to expose their membership to the papers and their efforts to prevent him from doing that. My money’s on them being some sort of fifth columnists. (Cat-Man Comics 004, 1941)

    Categorized in: Crime as Theme (Naziism), Generica (Councils)

  • FASCIST GOON CLEARING HOUSE 012

    I know we’re all tired of fascist, but these are fake, historical fascists who get beat up, so it’s cathartic at least. 

    the Blitzys:


    The Blitzys, aka the Yellowshirts, have a never-clearly-articulated plan to divide American society by beating people up for not joining the Army. I assume that there must be more to it than that but the focus of the adventure is not on Spy Smasher beating up these particular fascists (though beat them he does) but in avoiding them long enough to get to Washington and warn the President about this fifth column activity. (Whiz Comics 020, 1941)

    The Blitzys, armed with a completely silent bomber plane, continue to vex Spy Smasher and America on behalf of their boss the War Lord through to Whiz Comics 022, when their leader Kurt Bund is finally run to ground in his base underneath a local cemetery and properly walloped.

    Categorized in: Crime as Theme (Naziism), Objects (Shirts)

    the Ring:

    A gang of airplane saboteurs with so little assigned motivation that they might as well be in it for the love of the game, the Ring is undone by FBI agent Dick Star and his aide, the unusually-named Pinky Dink. (Bang-Up Comics 001, 1941)

    Categorized in: Generica (Rings), Ideologies (Crypto-Fascists)

    Unnamed Giant Robot Unit: 

    Eventually the comic timeline that I’m working on is going to get to the point that the US is World War II, and the flow of vague Nazi-adjacent antagonist groups is going to dry up and be replaced mainly with overt Nazi and Japanese super-villains. Does this mean the end of the Fascict Goon Round-Up? surely not, because there needs to be a place to document the weird over-the-top schemes that the comic book version of the Axis powers get up to.

    Take this one: two enormous robots rise out of the depth of New York Harbor and destroy a patrol boat before stomping into the city proper. 

    Then, after making their way downtown, they disgorge a bunch of Nazi soldiers to… do something. Honestly it’s unclear what these guys are up to and more to the point just what havoc they could raise that a giant Robot couldn’t. In any case they don’t have long on the ground before they are beaten up by the Flag-Man and Rusty. 

    All this action in the city is especially baffling as the actual plan is to blow up a chunk of the US fleet with a minefield. Maaaybe the idea is to draw them in with the giant robot attack? In any case, the Flag-Man steers one of the robots into the minefield and takes care of the entire problem with one huge explosion. (Captain Aero Comics 001, 1941)

    Categorized in: Accessories (Mecha)

    the Swastika Council:

    It’s not entirely clear just what kind of fascist group the Swastika Council is, thanks to the fact that their sole appearance concerns the fact that David Merrywether, aka the Cat-Man, is about to expose their membership to the papers and their efforts to prevent him from doing that. My money’s on them being some sort of fifth columnists. (Cat-Man Comics 004, 1941)

    Categorized in: Crime as Theme (Naziism), Generica (Councils)

  • GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 036

    Every one of them a disappointment to their parents. 

    Mr Axis: 

    He may just be a regular Nazi spy* lurking around Washington DC and disrupting trade deals between the US and the rubber-rich nation of Rumbia, but his name is Mr Axis! Such a perfect name for a fascist super-villain and yet one that seemingly was only used once**. Patriotic super-hero Miss Victory really puts the boots to him in her debut adventure. (Captain Fearless Comics 001, 1941)

    * Technically by my usual metrics I’d call this guy a crypto-fascist of no clear national origin but c’mon: his name is Mr Axis.

    **Except that he does reappear in Captain Aero Comics 011, in which this story is retold unchanged but with different art. Weird stuff.

    Categorized Under: Crime as Theme (Fascism), Generica (Misters)

    the Arson Ring:

    Considering the fact that his feature is called “Blaze Baylor and the Arson Ring” I really expected super arson investigator Blaze Baylor to be contending with the same group of arsonists – a ring, if you will – throughout his adventures. This is not in fact the case, or at least it is not supported in the text. Blaze does battle the Arson Ring in his first outing and they are heavily implied to be the ones who killed his dad Smoky Baylor, so that’s something. (Cat-Man Comics 001 1941)

    Categorized under: Crime as Theme (Arson), Generica (Rings), Narrative Footballs (Origin Guys)

    Igor and his Mother:

    This unnamed woman and her son Igor live in poverty on the outskirts of an unnamed city and come into conflict with the Black Widow after turning their inborn talents (Igor being very strong and his mother so ugly that she can stop a man’s heart) to crime. Igor ends up being shot by the Black Widow, while his mother dies in an attempt to burn their hovel down and kill the hero. (Cat-Man Comics 001 1941)

    Karl von Keilman: 

    Though you might think that Karl von Keilman is a mad or criminal scientist from the way he dresses, this is in fact stolen valour as it is Karl’s brother Abner who is the scientific mind of the family. Abner is the one responsible for creating the Dolls of Death, self-propelled and self-guided bombs that he had intended to turn over to the War Department before Karl showed up, killed him and started using them to blow up defense factories.

    Karl didn’t reckon, however, on the fact that his brother was friends with the Deacon and so a super-heroic nose would be poked into his business. He also never learned not to get into an indoor fight when your weapon of choice is exploding dolls. (Cat-Man Comics 002, 1941)

    Categorized under: Accessories (Little Robots), Murder (Fratricides)

  • GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 036

    Every one of them a disappointment to their parents. 

    Mr Axis: 

    He may just be a regular Nazi spy* lurking around Washington DC and disrupting trade deals between the US and the rubber-rich nation of Rumbia, but his name is Mr Axis! Such a perfect name for a fascist super-villain and yet one that seemingly was only used once**. Patriotic super-hero Miss Victory really puts the boots to him in her debut adventure. (Captain Fearless Comics 001, 1941)

    * Technically by my usual metrics I’d call this guy a crypto-fascist of no clear national origin but c’mon: his name is Mr Axis.

    **Except that he does reappear in Captain Aero Comics 011, in which this story is retold unchanged but with different art. Weird stuff.

    Categorized Under: Crime as Theme (Fascism), Generica (Misters)

    the Arson Ring:

    Considering the fact that his feature is called “Blaze Baylor and the Arson Ring” I really expected super arson investigator Blaze Baylor to be contending with the same group of arsonists – a ring, if you will – throughout his adventures. This is not in fact the case, or at least it is not supported in the text. Blaze does battle the Arson Ring in his first outing and they are heavily implied to be the ones who killed his dad Smoky Baylor, so that’s something. (Cat-Man Comics 001 1941)

    Categorized under: Crime as Theme (Arson), Generica (Rings), Narrative Footballs (Origin Guys)

    Igor and his Mother:

    This unnamed woman and her son Igor live in poverty on the outskirts of an unnamed city and come into conflict with the Black Widow after turning their inborn talents (Igor being very strong and his mother so ugly that she can stop a man’s heart) to crime. Igor ends up being shot by the Black Widow, while his mother dies in an attempt to burn their hovel down and kill the hero. (Cat-Man Comics 001 1941)

    Karl von Keilman: 

    Though you might think that Karl von Keilman is a mad or criminal scientist from the way he dresses, this is in fact stolen valour as it is Karl’s brother Abner who is the scientific mind of the family. Abner is the one responsible for creating the Dolls of Death, self-propelled and self-guided bombs that he had intended to turn over to the War Department before Karl showed up, killed him and started using them to blow up defense factories.

    Karl didn’t reckon, however, on the fact that his brother was friends with the Deacon and so a super-heroic nose would be poked into his business. He also never learned not to get into an indoor fight when your weapon of choice is exploding dolls. (Cat-Man Comics 002, 1941)

    Categorized under: Accessories (Little Robots), Murder (Fratricides)

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 914: THE BRIDGE-DESTROYERS

    (Cat-Man Comics 001, 1941)

    Some villains are puzzles, high-concept enigmas whose motivations and goals are a mystery that must be solved to understand them. The Bridge-Destroyers are not that. They are exactly what their name declares them to be: a couple of guys in a tower who destroy bridges using a long-range heat-ray cannon.

    But why the Bridge-Destroyers destroy bridges, that must be a mystery, yes? Perhaps it is, but the authorities are pretty certain that they are working for “some foreign power” to disrupt America’s ability to move troops and war materiel from place to place. Despite this, the official response to the group seems to be resigned acceptance as their defenses are so good that it is considered foolhardy to even try to stop them.

    Despite their fearsome reputation, Cat-Man is determined to face the Bridge-Destroyers head-on, which means that he meets their fist line of defense: a bunch of guys who live in a hole just outside the tower and suck up intruders using a giant vacuum. This might be enough to stop your every-day lawman, but the Cat-Man has all the powers of a cat, man. He simply avoids being battered to death by the whirling storm of debris and beats up the hole-dwellers when they come to retrieve his corpse.

    To their credit, the Bridge-Destroyers do manage to kill Cat-Man with a blast from their heat-ray as he makes his second approach to the tower but then they are treated to a lesson about how the “nine lives” part of his super-powers works. Stripped of their ray, their tower and their hole full of men, the masterminds between the war on America’s infrastructure are swiftly subdued.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 914: THE BRIDGE-DESTROYERS

    (Cat-Man Comics 001, 1941)

    Some villains are puzzles, high-concept enigmas whose motivations and goals are a mystery that must be solved to understand them. The Bridge-Destroyers are not that. They are exactly what their name declares them to be: a couple of guys in a tower who destroy bridges using a long-range heat-ray cannon.

    But why the Bridge-Destroyers destroy bridges, that must be a mystery, yes? Perhaps it is, but the authorities are pretty certain that they are working for “some foreign power” to disrupt America’s ability to move troops and war materiel from place to place. Despite this, the official response to the group seems to be resigned acceptance as their defenses are so good that it is considered foolhardy to even try to stop them.

    Despite their fearsome reputation, Cat-Man is determined to face the Bridge-Destroyers head-on, which means that he meets their fist line of defense: a bunch of guys who live in a hole just outside the tower and suck up intruders using a giant vacuum. This might be enough to stop your every-day lawman, but the Cat-Man has all the powers of a cat, man. He simply avoids being battered to death by the whirling storm of debris and beats up the hole-dwellers when they come to retrieve his corpse.

    To their credit, the Bridge-Destroyers do manage to kill Cat-Man with a blast from their heat-ray as he makes his second approach to the tower but then they are treated to a lesson about how the “nine lives” part of his super-powers works. Stripped of their ray, their tower and their hole full of men, the masterminds between the war on America’s infrastructure are swiftly subdued.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 913: CAPTAIN HOOD

    (Captain Aero Comics 001, 1941) 

    Captain Hood is your classic fascist of indeterminate allegiance, who has been holed up with a crew of pseudo-Nazis and pseudo-Imperial Japanese agents in a cave underneath Easter Island for four long years working on an “undersea tractor” designed to haul a cargo of explosives to the Panama Canal and then blow it up. Just why he requires a mask in order to oversee this operation is an exercise left for the reader – I prefer to imagine that he got into cosplay as a way to while away the long hours.

    Captain Hood makes two glaring errors over the course of this issue, the biggest of which is the fact that he is so punchy as the culmination of his plan approaches that he has his men open fire on the tramp steamer Suzy Q for merely approaching the island, with no indication that they are going to land. This of course enrages the ship’s captain and only survivor, adventurer Grit Grady. 

    The fact that Grady takes his revenge on Captain Hood by storming the cave and ultimately blowing the entire place, undersea tractor and all, to high heaven means that Hood never has to face up to his other, much larger error: choosing to set up shop on Easter Island.

    I feel like I’m going to be talking about this a lot, because Easter Island is a beloved exotic setting in comic books, but it is so far away from everything else. Once that undersea tractor was completed, the next step was going to be to drive it five thousand kilometres across the bottom of an ocean that was virtually unmapped at the time but speaking as someone with an Internet connection and thus a collection of maps at my disposal: it’s not a smooth path. I, personally, would not place a bet on Captain Hood making it there with his twenty thousand tons of explosives in one piece, no matter how good his tractor is.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 913: CAPTAIN HOOD

    (Captain Aero Comics 001, 1941) 

    Captain Hood is your classic fascist of indeterminate allegiance, who has been holed up with a crew of pseudo-Nazis and pseudo-Imperial Japanese agents in a cave underneath Easter Island for four long years working on an “undersea tractor” designed to haul a cargo of explosives to the Panama Canal and then blow it up. Just why he requires a mask in order to oversee this operation is an exercise left for the reader – I prefer to imagine that he got into cosplay as a way to while away the long hours.

    Captain Hood makes two glaring errors over the course of this issue, the biggest of which is the fact that he is so punchy as the culmination of his plan approaches that he has his men open fire on the tramp steamer Suzy Q for merely approaching the island, with no indication that they are going to land. This of course enrages the ship’s captain and only survivor, adventurer Grit Grady. 

    The fact that Grady takes his revenge on Captain Hood by storming the cave and ultimately blowing the entire place, undersea tractor and all, to high heaven means that Hood never has to face up to his other, much larger error: choosing to set up shop on Easter Island.

    I feel like I’m going to be talking about this a lot, because Easter Island is a beloved exotic setting in comic books, but it is so far away from everything else. Once that undersea tractor was completed, the next step was going to be to drive it five thousand kilometres across the bottom of an ocean that was virtually unmapped at the time but speaking as someone with an Internet connection and thus a collection of maps at my disposal: it’s not a smooth path. I, personally, would not place a bet on Captain Hood making it there with his twenty thousand tons of explosives in one piece, no matter how good his tractor is.

  • SUPER-VILLAIN 002 UPDATE: CAPTAIN NAZI (1941)

    Our second full-fledged super-villain is the odious Captain Nazi, and he had a short but busy run in 1941:

    After being deployed by Adolf Hitler himself as a foil to the threat of the American super-hero, Captain Nazi makes a very public appearance in Times Square in order to issue a challenge to Bulletman. This also attracts the attention of Captain Marvel, leading to the second Fawcett Comics character meetup of 1941 as they decide to team up and kick his ass together.

    In contrast to the bluster of his challenge, Captain Nazis’ activities in NYC are more sneaky sabotage than high-stakes public super-combat. Specifically, an attempt to derail a subway car is foiled by Captain Marvel, while an attempted Ferris Wheel disaster is effectively countered by Bulletman.

    Loathe as I am to praise Captain Nazi  I must admit that he is an effectively ruthless villain – if he didn’t have the misfortune of being pitted against two of the more powerful superhumans available he would be riding roughshod over US infrastructure instead of taking child-hostages and escaping into the shadows.

    After attempt to blow up the Brooklyn Naval Yards – foiled by Captain Marvel, natch – Captain Nazi demonstrates the trademark Fawcett character semi-awareness that he is in a comic book and leaves a note declaring his intent to come over to Whiz Comics to make life difficult there. (Master Comics 021, 1941)

    Sure enough, Captain Nazi returns as promised and continues his campaign of sabotage against a dam and an experimental aircraft.

    After being hurled into the ocean by Captain Marvel, Captain Nazi commits the act that he is most well known for as he repays the kindness of young Freddy Freeman’s grandfather by murdering him and making off with his boat, leaving Freddy himself for dead. This of course is the origin of Captain Marvel Junior, as the only way that Freddy survives is by being imbued with a fraction of Captain Marvel’s own power.

    Thus, the villain once again creates his own nemesis.

    (Whiz Comics 025, 1941)

    BODY COUNT: 3+

    END-OF-YEAR STATUS: At Large