The Curse of Skeleton Munroe

Category: Blue Beetle

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 168: DR KRUG

    (Blue Beetle Comics 008, 1941)

    Dr Krug! I cannot tell you his motives, because he never goes into them! Dr Krug! He wants to destroy NYC York City , and he’s going to do it with gorillas! Dr Krug! Specifically, explosive gorillas! Dr Krug!

    That’s really all there is to the guy. He somehow figured out how to make time-bombs out of gorillas and went from there. As far as I can tell from the action of the story his plan is to have the gorillas get arrested and then blow up the police stations they are taken to. This is simultaneously one of the weirdest and least cost-effective ways of destroying a city that I have ever encountered – I think he may have started with about eight gorillas, to boot. If he hadn’t fallen in the gorilla pit and exploded he would have been having a long hard talk with his gorilla supplier before long.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 168: DR KRUG

    (Blue Beetle Comics 008, 1941)

    Dr Krug! I cannot tell you his motives, because he never goes into them! Dr Krug! He wants to destroy NYC York City , and he’s going to do it with gorillas! Dr Krug! Specifically, explosive gorillas! Dr Krug!

    That’s really all there is to the guy. He somehow figured out how to make time-bombs out of gorillas and went from there. As far as I can tell from the action of the story his plan is to have the gorillas get arrested and then blow up the police stations they are taken to. This is simultaneously one of the weirdest and least cost-effective ways of destroying a city that I have ever encountered – I think he may have started with about eight gorillas, to boot. If he hadn’t fallen in the gorilla pit and exploded he would have been having a long hard talk with his gorilla supplier before long.

  • GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 001

    I feel a little bad about what I said in the Armo post. The generic masked guys are, after all, trying their best, even if they aren’t quite measuring up to my standards. So while I can’t quite bring myself to write an individual post about each one, there’s no harm in doing a roundup of them every now and again, starting with the guys that Blue Beetle fought in 1941:

    Ivor Nick: 

    This guy had a lieutenant named the Wart and a dirigible that he eventually fell off of! (Blue Beetle v1 006)

    Mason: 

    This guy sabotaged his own construction company for convoluted reasons! (Blue Beetle v1 007, 1941)

    Carveth Manners: 

    This guy killed his own father for not that much money, honestly! (Blue Beetle v1 007, 1941)

  • GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 001

    I feel a little bad about what I said in the Armo post. The generic masked guys are, after all, trying their best, even if they aren’t quite measuring up to my standards. So while I can’t quite bring myself to write an individual post about each one, there’s no harm in doing a roundup of them every now and again, starting with the guys that Blue Beetle fought in 1941:

    Ivor Nick: 

    This guy had a lieutenant named the Wart and a dirigible that he eventually fell off of! (Blue Beetle v1 006)

    Mason: 

    This guy sabotaged his own construction company for convoluted reasons! (Blue Beetle v1 007, 1941)

    Carveth Manners: 

    This guy killed his own father for not that much money, honestly! (Blue Beetle v1 007, 1941)

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 167: ARMO

    (Blue Beetle v1 007, 1941)

    What makes them a super-villain? It’s the helmet! That kind of welder’s mask-looking helm is the key to my super-villain-appreciating heart. Otherwise, Armo is a gang boss who robs armoured cars and ends up launching himself into the sea while trying to run down the Blue Beetle.

    Honestly, Blue Beetle antagonists in this era are almost all guys in suits wearing masks but otherwise acting like standard gang bosses. If I didn’t include the filter of having to be just a leetle bit interesting this blog would be a parade of unnamed guys with brown/ white/ blue masks for weeks. Just chumps for days.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 167: ARMO

    (Blue Beetle v1 007, 1941)

    What makes them a super-villain? It’s the helmet! That kind of welder’s mask-looking helm is the key to my super-villain-appreciating heart. Otherwise, Armo is a gang boss who robs armoured cars and ends up launching himself into the sea while trying to run down the Blue Beetle.

    Honestly, Blue Beetle antagonists in this era are almost all guys in suits wearing masks but otherwise acting like standard gang bosses. If I didn’t include the filter of having to be just a leetle bit interesting this blog would be a parade of unnamed guys with brown/ white/ blue masks for weeks. Just chumps for days.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 165: THE EEL

    (Blue Beetle v1 006, 1941)


    What makes them a super-villain? I’ll be honest. The Eel’s initial plot – take over     NYC York City ‘s shipping industry in order to starve and thereby ransom the city – was, while ambitious, a bit old hat and I was going to write him off as another jagoff gang boss with a decent moniker. But then! He reveals his Room of Horrors(!) where he pickles his enemies alive(!!), and, well, how could I not?

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 116: THE SKULL

    (Mystery Men Comics 014, 1940)

    Once more we meet a Skull, and this time he’s a supposed-to-be-a-Nazi-but-it’s-1940-so-we-won’t-actually-say-it who spends his time bombing bridges in the Blue Beetle’s eventually-just-going-to-be-New-York-City-but-we’re-still-pretending-it-isn’t-for-some-reason.

    SKULL SCORE: 2/5 Pretty skully for an actual human but this is comics we’re talking about. You’re going to have to shave off that glossy black hair if you want to get ahead in this game.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 116: THE SKULL

    (Mystery Men Comics 014, 1940)

    Once more we meet a Skull, and this time he’s a supposed-to-be-a-Nazi-but-it’s-1940-so-we-won’t-actually-say-it who spends his time bombing bridges in the Blue Beetle’s eventually-just-going-to-be-New-York-City-but-we’re-still-pretending-it-isn’t-for-some-reason.

    SKULL SCORE: 2/5 Pretty skully for an actual human but this is comics we’re talking about. You’re going to have to shave off that glossy black hair if you want to get ahead in this game.

  • NOTES: AUGUST 2022

    Names: (Batman Comics 008, 1941) It was on brand for the Joker to use the aliases “A. Rekoj” and “I. Rekoj” in the last year but I am pretty upset that Batman just used “I. Namtab” and that the Joker fell for it.

    (Blue Beetle Comics 008, 1941) In the Dynamo story he goes up against a guy who calls himself the Crime Dealer, a good name for a bland guy.

    Riddles: (Batman Comics 007, 1941) “When is a Duke not a Duke?” Answer: the Joker is impersonating a Duke.

    One of the more brutal on-panel deaths I have seen:

    (Blue Beetle v1 006, 1941)

    Two gun-wielding boys I encountered in a short period of time:

    (Action Comics v1 033, 1941)

    (Bulletman 002, 1941)