The Curse of Skeleton Munroe

Category: gang boss

  • 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 137: THE SHADE

     (Action v1 043, 1941)


    Vigilante’s first super-foe has the misfortune to share his name with a certain Flash villain beloved of James Robinson, so it’s just as well that he’s nothing more than a gang boss who uses stage illusions to conceal his real identity because he is never seeing the light of day again.

    He did manage to make a second appearance in the Golden Age, so at least there’s that.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 123: THE DRAGON

    (Slam-Bang Comics 004, 1940)

    What makes them a super-villain? Why, that snazzy outfit! Comics are full of people who run opium smuggling rings but very few look as good while doing it.

    What makes them interesting? It depends on your definition of interesting, but this is the first costumed criminal on our list whose disguise includes pretending to be another race – specifically, the Dragon is a white hardware store owner named Jones who passes himself off as a Chinese master criminal until Jim Dolan, heroic magazine editor gets involved.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 123: THE DRAGON

    (Slam-Bang Comics 004, 1940)

    What makes them a super-villain? Why, that snazzy outfit! Comics are full of people who run opium smuggling rings but very few look as good while doing it.

    What makes them interesting? It depends on your definition of interesting, but this is the first costumed criminal on our list whose disguise includes pretending to be another race – specifically, the Dragon is a white hardware store owner named Jones who passes himself off as a Chinese master criminal until Jim Dolan, heroic magazine editor gets involved.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 115: THE LIGHT

    (Mystery Men Comics 011, 1940)

    I just really appreciate the low-effort mystique that can be generated by sitting behind a bright light in a dark room. Of course, nothing prevents a foe from shooting into the light at roughly leg-height, as Lt Drake of Naval Intelligence demonstrates in this story, so perhaps the bright light shouldn’be your only line of defense should you choose to use it.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 100: THE BLACK MASK

    (Feature Comics 034, 1940)

    What is interesting about them? The Black Mask is about as basic as a mask-and-code-name guy can get, but he’s the only thing approaching a super-villain to fight the Voice, which gives me an excuse to talk about that very fun guy in the next entry.

    Also, 100 minor super-villains! Congratulations, Black Mask, it’s more honour than you deserve.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 100: THE BLACK MASK

    (Feature Comics 034, 1940)

    What is interesting about them? The Black Mask is about as basic as a mask-and-code-name guy can get, but he’s the only thing approaching a super-villain to fight the Voice, which gives me an excuse to talk about that very fun guy in the next entry.

    Also, 100 minor super-villains! Congratulations, Black Mask, it’s more honour than you deserve.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 099: THE REAPER

    (Feature Comics 029, 1940)

    What makes them a super-villain? The Reaper is another just-scraping-into-the-ranks gang boss. Between his cool name and a setup where he gives his gang orders through a closed-circuit TV and microphone, he makes that final leap, presumably into a slightly higher security prison cell.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 088: THE BLACK-ROBED MAN

    (Blue Beetle Comics 004, 1940)

    It’s fairly unsupported right now as the only other example of a crossdressing villain so far is the Coin, but trust me when I say that an older woman adopting a younger male identity for crime is a comparative rarity as compared to the opposite. I may find myself compelled to note all of the times that non-super gangster types do it, just to lend weight to my claims.

    Anyway, the Black-Robed Man. Runs a gang out of a house that is technically owned by her niece, which is how the Blue Beetle gets involved, helping the damsel who is being run out of her home by dastards.