The Curse of Skeleton Munroe

Category: cops shoot

  • NOTES: MARCH 2025

    Supercut Updates:

    Fresh new Skeletons With Jobs and Looming Spectres of Death await ye.

    Abandoned Ideas: 

    I came very close to assembling a supercut of Women Kissing the Protagonist in the Last Panel While Their Father Looks Coyly On, but it would be way too labour-intensive to assemble. Plus probably a bit creepy to see all in one place.

    Anti-Drug Propaganda:

    Chic Carter investigates a dangerous drug ring after a college kid goes nuts and kills his friend… ON WEED. (Smash Comics 009, 1940)

    Cops Shooting at Fleeing Suspects:

    Coupla crooks running from the police get fired upon. (Smash Comics 010, 1940)

    Dinosaurs:

    Shock Gibson discovers a lost plateau full of dinosaurs, including this, the grodiest pterodactyl I have ever seen. I love it. (Speed Comics 005, 1940)

  • NOTES: MARCH 2025

    Supercut Updates:

    Fresh new Skeletons With Jobs and Looming Spectres of Death await ye.

    Abandoned Ideas: 

    I came very close to assembling a supercut of Women Kissing the Protagonist in the Last Panel While Their Father Looks Coyly On, but it would be way too labour-intensive to assemble. Plus probably a bit creepy to see all in one place.

    Anti-Drug Propaganda:

    Chic Carter investigates a dangerous drug ring after a college kid goes nuts and kills his friend… ON WEED. (Smash Comics 009, 1940)

    Cops Shooting at Fleeing Suspects:

    Coupla crooks running from the police get fired upon. (Smash Comics 010, 1940)

    Dinosaurs:

    Shock Gibson discovers a lost plateau full of dinosaurs, including this, the grodiest pterodactyl I have ever seen. I love it. (Speed Comics 005, 1940)

  • NOTES – DECEMBER 2024

    Drawn Without Reference: 

    The Rocket and the Queen of Diamonds find themselves facing a very off-model spider in the lad of the Batmen. (Pep Comics 003, 1940)

    Cops Shooting at Fleeing Suspects:

    I was briefly tempted to give the cops of the MLJ universe a pass on shooting at the Comet because he did after all kill a bunch of them while mind controlled but then I remembered that a) that’s still no excuse to gun someone down in the street, and b) it’s still bad that they’re just blazing away at a flying man in the middle of a large city full of other people. (Pep Comics 004, 1940)

     And they do it again… (Pep Comics 005, 1940)

     And again… (Pep Comics 006, 1940)

    … and again (in a crowded state legislature building!) (Pep Comics 008, 1940)

    Louisiana cops try to blow away Naval Academy Midshipman Lee Samson for escaping jail and stealing a police car. (Pep Comics 006, 1940)

    Crossovers:

    Oft touted as the first super-hero crossover in comics, the Shield shares a total of four panels with the Wizard as they both set out to foil some dastardly Mosconian spies. (Pep Comics 004, 1940)

    Less frequently mentioned are the brief encounters between the Wizard and Lee Samson, aka the Midshipman and the Shield and Keith Kornell, aka the West Pointer, two very similar and very dull military academy students from different branches of the military-industrial complex. And they are less interesting, so that makes sense.

    The next issue features another appearance by the Wizard, this one less highly touted as it’s the second time it happened plus he just shows up to loan the Shield a plane. I personally think that that’s remarkable, as Golden Age crossovers tended more toward the one-off. (Pep Comics 005, 1940)

    Minutia: 

    The Shield briefly pitches pro baseball under the name the Masked Marvel, as part of an investigation into a protection racket targeting players. (Pep Comics 007, 1940)

  • NOTES – DECEMBER 2024

    Drawn Without Reference: 

    The Rocket and the Queen of Diamonds find themselves facing a very off-model spider in the lad of the Batmen. (Pep Comics 003, 1940)

    Cops Shooting at Fleeing Suspects:

    I was briefly tempted to give the cops of the MLJ universe a pass on shooting at the Comet because he did after all kill a bunch of them while mind controlled but then I remembered that a) that’s still no excuse to gun someone down in the street, and b) it’s still bad that they’re just blazing away at a flying man in the middle of a large city full of other people. (Pep Comics 004, 1940)

     And they do it again… (Pep Comics 005, 1940)

     And again… (Pep Comics 006, 1940)

    … and again (in a crowded state legislature building!) (Pep Comics 008, 1940)

    Louisiana cops try to blow away Naval Academy Midshipman Lee Samson for escaping jail and stealing a police car. (Pep Comics 006, 1940)

    Crossovers:

    Oft touted as the first super-hero crossover in comics, the Shield shares a total of four panels with the Wizard as they both set out to foil some dastardly Mosconian spies. (Pep Comics 004, 1940)

    Less frequently mentioned are the brief encounters between the Wizard and Lee Samson, aka the Midshipman and the Shield and Keith Kornell, aka the West Pointer, two very similar and very dull military academy students from different branches of the military-industrial complex. And they are less interesting, so that makes sense.

    The next issue features another appearance by the Wizard, this one less highly touted as it’s the second time it happened plus he just shows up to loan the Shield a plane. I personally think that that’s remarkable, as Golden Age crossovers tended more toward the one-off. (Pep Comics 005, 1940)

    Minutia: 

    The Shield briefly pitches pro baseball under the name the Masked Marvel, as part of an investigation into a protection racket targeting players. (Pep Comics 007, 1940)

  • NOTES – OCTOBER 2024

    Cops Shooting at Fleeing Suspects:

    The NYPD (or the cops in some other town. but probably the NYPD) attempt to murder the Green Mask and Domino the Miracle Boy because they were wearing masks near a crime and had the audacity to run away. (Green Mask v1 003, 1940)

    Vexing Conundrum:

    These panels are from a strip called Flyin’ Jenny, the details of which are not important, save for the fact that a character has cheated in an air race and is now travelling incognito only to be given away by her signature piece of jewelry: a little tag with her name on it worn on a chain or string around her thigh. But… is this a thing? Did anyone wear these c. 1940 or is it a weird affectation made up for the strip? It seems to be impossible to hunt up online! (Reg’lar Fellers Heroic Comics 003, 1940)

    Golden Age Policing:

    Just had to pull these panels as it’s the closest I’ve seen to cops actually torturing someone on-panel in a comic (usually it’s just heavily implied to be good and just and a great idea). (Hyper Mystery Comics 001 1940)

    Honours:

    Wambi the Jungle Boy is awarded a silver sword for helping to prevent a rebellion/ helping to perpetuate colonial rule in Africa. (Jungle Comics 001, 1940)

  • NOTES – AUGUST 2024

    Cops Shooting Fleeing Suspects: 

    The cops try to gun down the fleeing Sphinx. (Exciting Comics 004, 1940)

    Aliens:

    Can’t get over how much these alien bat-folk look like they’re Simpsons characters (Exciting Comics 005, 1940)

    It’s a shame that these Mercurians are weird misogynists, because I really dig their look. (Fantastic Comics 005, 1940) 

    A few issues later, Flip is back on Mercury and meets these giant insect-men and their queen, whose father (never seen) somehow made his way to Mercury and mated with a giant insect-man. Mated with a giant insect-woman, I suppose. It’s a heckuva thing to contemplate. (Fantastic Comics 007, 1940)

    Honours:

    Yank Wilson declared Public Hero No. 1 at an official banquet. (Fantastic Comics 002, 1940)

  • NOTES – JULY 2024

    Cops Shooting Fleeing Suspects: 

    The cops send a “shower of bullets” after the Fantom of the Fair as he swings over the densely-populated New York World’s Fair. (Amazing Adventure Funnies 001, 1940)

    Spider Drawn Without Reference:

    Tarantula: a perfect black sphere covered in root structures. (Champion Comics 006, 1940)

    Memes of Yore: COWARD!:

    The “cowardly and superstitious lot” line that Batman is quoted as saying was not a one-off thing but it was in fact a widely-promoted idea of the time, that criminals were inherent cowards (there was also a frequent emphasis on criminals’ gun use being a very cowardly attribute but that fell by the wayside at some point). Crime Does Not Pay was a message hammered into the public consciousness via the Hayes Code and later the Comics Code, and making criminals non-aspirational figures in every way possible was a part of that.

    The extrapolation of this into “the more criminal you are the more cowardly you are” in this story is extremely funny, as is the fact that a criminal supposedly meeting his death by electrocution with some stoicism made front page news. Don’t worry, it was the old “escape prison by using a death-simulating drug prior to your execution and then have people on the outside wake you up later” gag. Dr Miracle recaptures Nickie Norton in short order and his actual death was without dignity. (Champ Comics 011, 1940)

    Honours:

    The Flying Trio receive the Sylvanian Order of the Cross and Palms (Crash Comics Adventures 003, 1940)

  • NOTES – MAY 2024

    Cops Shooting: 

    I’ve been reading old Dick Tracy strips and while tracking all of the times that Tracy fires on a fleeing suspect would be a fool’s errand I would like to note that so far in the 1933 he has been responsible for the shooting deaths of two non-criminals.

    Nova Scotia:

    Speaking of Dick Tracy and filled with home-town pride: this July 1933 strip and the next week or so take place in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

    Honours:

    Black X declines a medal from the president. (Smash Comics 001, 1939)

    Names:

    Look kids, it’s Al Lirog, the racketeer! (Speed Comics 003, 1939)

  • NOTES – MAY 2024

    Cops Shooting: 

    I’ve been reading old Dick Tracy strips and while tracking all of the times that Tracy fires on a fleeing suspect would be a fool’s errand I would like to note that so far in the 1933 he has been responsible for the shooting deaths of two non-criminals.

    Nova Scotia:

    Speaking of Dick Tracy and filled with home-town pride: this July 1933 strip and the next week or so take place in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

    Honours:

    Black X declines a medal from the president. (Smash Comics 001, 1939)

    Names:

    Look kids, it’s Al Lirog, the racketeer! (Speed Comics 003, 1939)

  • NOTES – APRIL 2024 PART II

    NOTES – APRIL 2024 PART II

    Ran out of tags again.

    Cops Shoot: 

    The cops in whatever city Inferno lives in are trying to kill him because they think he did a robbery and is running away. (Blue Ribbon Comics 018, 1941)

    The cops try to kill Captain Flag twice in this issue! This time he’s breaking jail after being arrested for murder, but still. (Blue Ribbon Comics 019, 1941)

    Panel Fun:

    “Dixie Dugan” Comic, 1932