The Curse of Skeleton Munroe

Category: fake undead – ghost

  • GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 009

    GENERIC! COSTUMED! VILLAINS!

    It’s not much of a costume but this dude named Marmi does manage to use a trained cobra to steal a huge ruby before the Radio Squad gets him, which is a feat. (More Fun Comics 072, 1941)

    It’s possible that this fellow was meant to have a name but he never managed to say it over the Green Mask’s relentless mocking of his costume. He’s munitions magnate August Mincer, who has no obvious ties to Nazism despite his gruesome swastika-themed deathtrap. His plans to take over the US munitions market and possibly the world are stopped by a boomerang to the head from Green Mask sidekick Domino the Miracle Boy (Mystery Men Comics 018, 1941)

    A bunch of fake ghosts set to scare off Zara of the Jungle and her guy-pal Jeff Graves from a slavery operation, these guys not only have a great look but an unshakable faith in their armoured skull headpieces – not only that they will protect them from all incoming attacks but that their foes will only go for headshots. All of these guys must have so many concussions. (Mystic Comics v1 003, 1940)

    This here bunch of handsome lads are the Communist-esque henchmen of spy Kursk. They capture weirdo hero Dr Hypno but don’t manage to get what they want out of him before he projects his mind into a little cat and escapes. (Amazing-Man Comics 018, 1940)

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 448: THE GHOST

    (Mystery Men Comics 027, 1941)

    As is so frequently the case, this here ghost is in fact an elaborate hoax carried out to keep people away from a particular location. This time it’s a gang of smugglers operating out of an old abandoned inn evocatively named “the Tombstones” by the locals. The Green Mask makes short work of these rascals despite the extra effort they put in, including wholesale grave robbing in order to keep themselves stocked up with enough spooky skeletons to scare off the rubes.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 448: THE GHOST

    (Mystery Men Comics 027, 1941)

    As is so frequently the case, this here ghost is in fact an elaborate hoax carried out to keep people away from a particular location. This time it’s a gang of smugglers operating out of an old abandoned inn evocatively named “the Tombstones” by the locals. The Green Mask makes short work of these rascals despite the extra effort they put in, including wholesale grave robbing in order to keep themselves stocked up with enough spooky skeletons to scare off the rubes.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 308: THE BLACK WITCH

    (Captain America Comics 008, 1941)

    So: the Black Witch is a witch’s ghost that supposedly haunts Hagmoor Castle, one of the many castles that dot the landscape around Camp Lehigh (and don’t imagine that it’s the same on from the Hunchback of Hollywood case, because that was called Ebony Castle). Hagmoor Castle, coincidentally, is the subject of an eccentric will that sees one Karin Lee having to spend three nights there alone in order to  inherit her uncle Jonathan’s estate. Perhaps you see where this is going.

    Predictably, the castle is crawling wit spooks, spectres, walking suits of armour and garden-variety thugs. Karin’s chances of getting her inheritance would be slim indeed without the intervention of Cap and Bucky. What’s worse, Uncle Jonathan’s will not only stipulated that she would lose out if she didn’t stay three nights in the castle but also laid out a contingency for what would happen if she died before inheriting. The only thin missing in the trifecta of Plot-Inspiring Will Shenanigans is the one about her having to be married by a certain age. 

    As is often the case in these will-related tales, the lawyer done it. Yes, Mr Feritt, Karin’s lawyer and the only other named character in the story, was the Black Witch all along. Why? Because the land Hagmoor Castle sits on is chock full of oil, of course. More than enough reason for an elaborate charade that ultimately leads to your own death!

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 308: THE BLACK WITCH

    (Captain America Comics 008, 1941)

    So: the Black Witch is a witch’s ghost that supposedly haunts Hagmoor Castle, one of the many castles that dot the landscape around Camp Lehigh (and don’t imagine that it’s the same on from the Hunchback of Hollywood case, because that was called Ebony Castle). Hagmoor Castle, coincidentally, is the subject of an eccentric will that sees one Karin Lee having to spend three nights there alone in order to  inherit her uncle Jonathan’s estate. Perhaps you see where this is going.

    Predictably, the castle is crawling wit spooks, spectres, walking suits of armour and garden-variety thugs. Karin’s chances of getting her inheritance would be slim indeed without the intervention of Cap and Bucky. What’s worse, Uncle Jonathan’s will not only stipulated that she would lose out if she didn’t stay three nights in the castle but also laid out a contingency for what would happen if she died before inheriting. The only thin missing in the trifecta of Plot-Inspiring Will Shenanigans is the one about her having to be married by a certain age. 

    As is often the case in these will-related tales, the lawyer done it. Yes, Mr Feritt, Karin’s lawyer and the only other named character in the story, was the Black Witch all along. Why? Because the land Hagmoor Castle sits on is chock full of oil, of course. More than enough reason for an elaborate charade that ultimately leads to your own death!

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 281: THE WEIRD GHOST OF AMBER SWAMPS

    (Marvel Mystery Comics v1 021, 1941)

    I got lazy here and clipped the setup, sorry. In brief, the story takes place at Chellcroft, the swampland mansion of wealthy Georgian C.J. Miller (just one letter off from being quite funny), formerly a centre of art and society but now fallen into disrepair.

    To make things worse, the Weird Ghost of Amber Swamps has started haunting the property and killing people, including Norton, the poor butler pictured fleeing the house in the above image.

    You can’t have a murderous ghost, even a weird one, in a super-hero universe without someone showing up to check it out, and in this case it’s the Angel who turns up to pretty quickly discover that the Weird Ghost of Amber Swamps is in fact a Weird Living Man of Amber Swamps, albeit a huge one.

    More specifically, it’s the owner of the house, C.J. Miller, armed with a rubberoid mask and a wild razor blade/ fishing rod weapon that allowed him to kill at a distance. The fact that C.J. Miller was a celebrated angler (and built like a brick shithouse, let’s not forget) makes for a quicker unmasking than usual – a bit of a flaw in the old ghost routine.

    Turns out that Miller is broke and that committing a series of gruesome murders and then killing himself and pinning it all on the ghost is preferable to anybody finding out that he’s broke. Real rich guy shit that us poors wouldn’t understand. Sadly, he does not get his wish, as not only does he trip and kill himself with his own gimmicked fishing rod like a clown but he does so in front of a reporter. Haw haw haw, says I.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 281: THE WEIRD GHOST OF AMBER SWAMPS

    (Marvel Mystery Comics v1 021, 1941)

    I got lazy here and clipped the setup, sorry. In brief, the story takes place at Chellcroft, the swampland mansion of wealthy Georgian C.J. Miller (just one letter off from being quite funny), formerly a centre of art and society but now fallen into disrepair.

    To make things worse, the Weird Ghost of Amber Swamps has started haunting the property and killing people, including Norton, the poor butler pictured fleeing the house in the above image.

    You can’t have a murderous ghost, even a weird one, in a super-hero universe without someone showing up to check it out, and in this case it’s the Angel who turns up to pretty quickly discover that the Weird Ghost of Amber Swamps is in fact a Weird Living Man of Amber Swamps, albeit a huge one.

    More specifically, it’s the owner of the house, C.J. Miller, armed with a rubberoid mask and a wild razor blade/ fishing rod weapon that allowed him to kill at a distance. The fact that C.J. Miller was a celebrated angler (and built like a brick shithouse, let’s not forget) makes for a quicker unmasking than usual – a bit of a flaw in the old ghost routine.

    Turns out that Miller is broke and that committing a series of gruesome murders and then killing himself and pinning it all on the ghost is preferable to anybody finding out that he’s broke. Real rich guy shit that us poors wouldn’t understand. Sadly, he does not get his wish, as not only does he trip and kill himself with his own gimmicked fishing rod like a clown but he does so in front of a reporter. Haw haw haw, says I.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 222: THE PHANTOM DUELIST

    (Doll Man 001, 1941)

    The Phantom Duelist is and example of a couple of my favourite comic book story setups: 1. the eerie local legend used as a basis for crime and 2. the murder mystery with a whole passel of suspects. Plus there’s a dose of “aren’t Hollywood people weird!” for flavour.

    So: movie producer Reynolds decides to drum up a bit of publicity by buying a haunted castle and importing it to Hollywood. The only problem: Reynolds is a bit of a shitheel and so is promptly murdered by someone posing as the castle’s resident ghost, the Phantom Duelist.

    The suspects: 

    -Rocky Perrone, gangster who Reynolds refuses to pay off a gambling debt to

    -Pierce, Reynolds’ leading man who he antagonized and threatened to blacklist

    -Marrow, who wants to marry Reynolds’ leading lady but is unable to because of her contract

    The murder happens at a costume party and Pierce is almost a self-frame due to showing up as the Phantom Duelist. In the end though, the murderer is revealed to be… a fourth guy! Steve Morton the publicity agent who Reynolds has apparently been blackmailing for the past 25 years!

    So a couple of points off for presenting an unfair mystery (and another couple for so many of the characters not having first names) but over all top notch comic book tomfoolery.

    Number of Episodes of the “Super-Villains of Hollywood” podcast: One episode only. SOme prurient attention paid to Reynolds’ shitty doings.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 222: THE PHANTOM DUELIST

    (Doll Man 001, 1941)

    The Phantom Duelist is and example of a couple of my favourite comic book story setups: 1. the eerie local legend used as a basis for crime and 2. the murder mystery with a whole passel of suspects. Plus there’s a dose of “aren’t Hollywood people weird!” for flavour.

    So: movie producer Reynolds decides to drum up a bit of publicity by buying a haunted castle and importing it to Hollywood. The only problem: Reynolds is a bit of a shitheel and so is promptly murdered by someone posing as the castle’s resident ghost, the Phantom Duelist.

    The suspects: 

    -Rocky Perrone, gangster who Reynolds refuses to pay off a gambling debt to

    -Pierce, Reynolds’ leading man who he antagonized and threatened to blacklist

    -Marrow, who wants to marry Reynolds’ leading lady but is unable to because of her contract

    The murder happens at a costume party and Pierce is almost a self-frame due to showing up as the Phantom Duelist. In the end though, the murderer is revealed to be… a fourth guy! Steve Morton the publicity agent who Reynolds has apparently been blackmailing for the past 25 years!

    So a couple of points off for presenting an unfair mystery (and another couple for so many of the characters not having first names) but over all top notch comic book tomfoolery.

    Number of Episodes of the “Super-Villains of Hollywood” podcast: One episode only. SOme prurient attention paid to Reynolds’ shitty doings.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 021: THE GHOST

    (Action v1 002, 1938)

    Love a fake undead villain – it’s a tossup between sheet ghosts and fake mummies for my absolute Number One, with fake skeletons and Flying Dutchmans and Headless Horsemen crowding onto the Bronze pedestal together – so much, in fact that I might be rounding this guy trying to haunt some folks off of some oil land up to super-villain undeservedly. But WHO’S GOING TO STOP ME IF I AM?