The Curse of Skeleton Munroe

Category: Sandman

  • MEDIA IN COMICS 008

    MEDIA IN COMICS 008

    We’re not out of the extremely crusty scan woods yet, but the media of comics must be recorded, folks. Hang in there.

    Books:

    When Diamond Jack defeats his early foe the Witch and transforms her book of magic into 1000 Ways to Cook Spinach, there is one big unanswered question: did this spinach cookbook already exist or did his ring magically compile 1000 recipes on its own? (Slam-Bang Comics 001, 1940)

    Early Batman foe the Wolf, meanwhile, got his start after suffering a head trauma and fixating on the crime thriller he was reading, titled The Crime Master. (Batman Comics v1 002, 1940)

    Human Knowledge, a book compiled by the sinister Professor Universe that contains “every fact known to man” is used by Slaughter Slade to imbue his assistant Dr Allirog with the mind of a human genius. (Special Edition Comics 001, 1940)

    Usually when you hear about a reclusive scholar writing a book about how “sinister persons or forces plan to deliberately stave off the return of national prosperity” you’re in for some paranoid fascist rantings, but in this case it’s the early 40s, so the sinister forces discussed in Prosperity’s Foe *are* the fascists. (Superman Comics 004, 1940)

    Wretched Marine character Strut Warren attempts to peddle a book called The Jolly Homemakers’ Manual around Bali in an attempt to win a prize, a typically tiresome adventure for the character. (Fight Comics 016, 1941)

    When a mysterious virus called the Purple Plague starts ravaging Metropolis, Clark Kent and his pal Professor Henry Travers his the library to research a historical instance of the same disease, in a book also called The Purple Plague. It turns out that the Ultra Humanite had also checked out the same book and that it had given him the idea to unleash the modern plague in imitation of the original. (Action Comics v1 019, 1939)

    Movies:

    Air Circus is a airplane stunt-heavy film that is plagued by accidents while filming until pilot Gary Hawkes gets involved and exposes the scheming director’s plot to scuttle the production and then turn a quick buck by buying up the incomplete footage. (More Fun Comics 039, 1939)

    Its the same old story: a film called The General’s Daughter shoots some scenes at the Army installation where Skip Schuyler works, there’s a series of incidents and then Skip has to save the day. Not too sure what the movie is supposed to be about. (Adventure Comics 043, 1939)

    It may be the crustiest and crunchiest lowest quality scan here, but Public Enemy #13 is a pretty fun name for a movie and I think that that makes up for it, at least a little. (More Fun Comics 040, 1939)

    Newspaper Columns:

    “Around the Avenue” is one of those old-school society gossip columns that they used to have in papers, and while Rennie McCavoy here is playing into Wesley Dodds’ hands by writing him up as a wild party dude/ potential victim for the story’s villain, it’s hard to respect the journalistic effort involved in seeing a guy being quietly drunk at a nightclub and pouncing on him like this. (Adventure Comics 044, 1939)

  • CATALOGUE OF WOUNDS 006

    Why of why do they keep on hurting our boys?

    Meteor:

    Silver Streak’s partner Meteor is shot in the back by a Nazi, but it’s okay: the bullet only “nicked” his back. (Silver Streak Comics 016, 1941)

    Electro:

    Professor Zog, the brains behind Electro, is shot in the left arm. (Marvel Mystery Comics 016, 1941)

    the Sandman:

    The Sandman has a very rough 1940, starting with a shot to the right shoulder… (Adventure Comics 047, 1940)

    … then a shot to the left shoulder… (Adventure Comics 050, 1940) 

    … a second shot to the right shoulder… (Adventure Comics 055, 1940)

    … and the for symmetry’s sake, a second wound to the left shoulder (All-Star Comics 001, 1940)

    To add insult to injury, he has to have gotten at least a little radiation poisoning during his repeated encounters with the Yellow-Faced Terror and his killer radium ball. (All-Star Comics 002, 1940)

    Sargon the Sorcerer:

    Sargon the Sorcerer, shot in the left shoulder while trying to do his damn job. (All-American Comics 032, 1941) 

    Zatara:

    Zatara is shot in the right arm while hanging around a lost city of ape-men. (Action Comics 027, 1940) 

    Then he is shot in the left shoulder by an uncommonly fast-on-the-draw crook. (Action Comics 038, 1941)

    Zatara shot in the left shoulder again thanks to the fact that he overlooks a crook when making himself hypnotically invisible. (Action Comics 040, 1941)

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 154: THE YELLOW-FACED TERROR

    (All-Star Comics 002, 1940)


    What makes them a super-villain? He’s a money-mad maniac who murdered his own brother to steal a radiation-orb called the Life-Taker, which he uses to rob by the simple act of lobbing it into an area and waiting until it has killed any resistance. He also has a pretty great look, achieved via a crust of a sulphur/lead compound which shields him from his own orb’s radiations. What he doesn’t really have is a name, so I snitched the one used in the above text box.

    What’s interesting about them? Well, it’s a bit debatable but the Sandman might have murdered him. He discovers Wesley Dodds’ secret in the course of the adventure and then in the final struggle… it kind of looks like the Sandman arranges for him to be shot through the head a bit more enthusiastically than needed. Maybe.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 154: THE YELLOW-FACED TERROR

    (All-Star Comics 002, 1940)


    What makes them a super-villain? He’s a money-mad maniac who murdered his own brother to steal a radiation-orb called the Life-Taker, which he uses to rob by the simple act of lobbing it into an area and waiting until it has killed any resistance. He also has a pretty great look, achieved via a crust of a sulphur/lead compound which shields him from his own orb’s radiations. What he doesn’t really have is a name, so I snitched the one used in the above text box.

    What’s interesting about them? Well, it’s a bit debatable but the Sandman might have murdered him. He discovers Wesley Dodds’ secret in the course of the adventure and then in the final struggle… it kind of looks like the Sandman arranges for him to be shot through the head a bit more enthusiastically than needed. Maybe.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 144: PROFESSOR DOOMBIE

     (Adventure 067, 1941)

    Sometimes you have to admit to yourself that your judgement is subjective enough that you’re going to count an ordinary “I invented a shrinking formula and shall now crime” scientist as a super-villain just because you like the name “Doombie”.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 141: THE UNSEEN MAN

     (Adventure 064, 1941)

    The Unseen Man, aside from his pretty great name, is fairly run-of-the-mill: an art supply owner or employee who somehow develops an invisibility paint, he subsequently turns to crime and is captured by the Sandman.

    The reason that the Unseen Man gets such short shrift is that a lot of story real estate is taken up with a subplot of Dian Belmont wanting to be in on the adventure and generally getting in the way, despite discovering at least one key clue. It’s all fairly depressing, especially as her earlier, hypercompetent self was still showing up only a few issues prior and she mostly gets pushed out by Sandy the Golden Boy going forward.

    Anyway, a shame that the Unseen Man didn’t get more to do.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 141: THE UNSEEN MAN

     (Adventure 064, 1941)

    The Unseen Man, aside from his pretty great name, is fairly run-of-the-mill: an art supply owner or employee who somehow develops an invisibility paint, he subsequently turns to crime and is captured by the Sandman.

    The reason that the Unseen Man gets such short shrift is that a lot of story real estate is taken up with a subplot of Dian Belmont wanting to be in on the adventure and generally getting in the way, despite discovering at least one key clue. It’s all fairly depressing, especially as her earlier, hypercompetent self was still showing up only a few issues prior and she mostly gets pushed out by Sandy the Golden Boy going forward.

    Anyway, a shame that the Unseen Man didn’t get more to do.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 139: IVAN BORLOFF

    MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 139: IVAN BORLOFF

     (Adventure 061, 1941)


    Ivan Borloff is a strange combination of things: a scientist with a super airship (the Cylindecraft) and a metal-destroying ray, he rains destruction down on New York City in pursuit of his goal of conquering the US (and by implication, the world), but also, it’s implied that he is affiliated with *foreign powers*, ie, fascists – possibly ones who didn’t quite know what they were getting into. 

    His name ringing more Russian might mean that he is a rare pre-Cold War Commie villain, but a more likely explanation is plain old lazy naming – German, Russian… it’s all basically the same, right?

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 139: IVAN BORLOFF

    MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 139: IVAN BORLOFF

     (Adventure 061, 1941)


    Ivan Borloff is a strange combination of things: a scientist with a super airship (the Cylindecraft) and a metal-destroying ray, he rains destruction down on New York City in pursuit of his goal of conquering the US (and by implication, the world), but also, it’s implied that he is affiliated with *foreign powers*, ie, fascists – possibly ones who didn’t quite know what they were getting into. 

    His name ringing more Russian might mean that he is a rare pre-Cold War Commie villain, but a more likely explanation is plain old lazy naming – German, Russian… it’s all basically the same, right?

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 075: “UNCLE”

    (Adventure Comics 057, 1940)

    As I’ve said before, sometimes a character is very clearly a super-villain but chooses no name for themself, in which case for administrative purposes I pick something that the text boxes or other characters refer to them as and go with that. Scientists are usually easy – they just go by their name. This fellow, on the other hand, is basically only ever referred to as “Uncle,” so Uncle I call him.

    And Uncle is a credible threat! He tries to ransom the world by threatening to destroy it by knocking it off of its orbit, then actually tries to do it in a fit of pique – it’s only the timely intervention of Sandman that saves the day.

    In the last entry, when I was talking about mad scientists as perfect characters to bring back as reformed? This is the kind of guy I had in mind. What a gift to a cast!