The Curse of Skeleton Munroe

Category: Spectre.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 404: THE AVENGER

    (More Fun Comics 074, 1941)

    Another day, another Avenger. This Avenger is a disgruntled scientist named Mortimer Crandall who is seeking revenge on his old bosses for firing him because of his wacky scientific theories that, you guessed it, turned out to be correct. He uses his working technology to kidnap the men responsible in preparation for their murders.

    This Avenger also demonstrates a flair for comic-book style hypnosis sufficient to place the Spectre himself under his power, which is impressive even in the Golden Age, before the whole “the Spectre is literally an angel” thing.

    The Avenger ultimately fails in his bid to exact revenge and instead is given that most rare of choices for a Spectre foe: the chance to reform (with a little help from the mystic radiations of the Nebula of Truth, of course). Is it because he had genuinely been wronged? Because he had not yet taken a life? Or is the Spectre just a capricious guy? Regardless, the Avenger will venge no more.

    This issue also marks the first appearance of Spectre sidekick Percival Popp, the Super Cop and I find myself in a familiar place: here is a charming oddball character that I like, being treated like an unbearable pain by all the other characters that I like. It’s one of the more annoying literary dynamics! Hope it doesn’t stick around!

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 398: THE DARK VAPOR

    (More Fun Comics 072, 1941)

    The Dark Vapor (one of my trademark Unofficial Names) is just that: a misty entity that emerges from an old jar of mysterious provenance and possesses simple farmer Hiram Spiezel.

    The Vapor-driven Hiram immediately heads for the big city of Cliffland NJ and starts wheeling and dealing, becoming a stock marked player and a real estate tycoon almost overnight. And soon after that, he starts evicting tenants, bilking people and falsifying records: capitalism to Mega-Capitalism, all in a few short days.

    All this unwholesome business draws the attention of the Spectre, who quickly discovers that a) he cannot influence “Hiram Spiezel” like he could a normal man, b) “Spiezel” can see him, c) “Hiram Spiezel” is actually a banished evil entity from an ancient civilization picking up a bid for world conquest where it left off and d) the Dark Vapor entity is much more powerful than the Spectre. 

    The entity swiftly runs off the Spectre and gets back to the business of enacting a hostile takeover on the world. As an aside: I really appreciate the adaptability of this being – I mean, I assume that whatever civilization it originated in was not organized along the same lines as 1940s US capitalist society and yet it is perfectly comfortable in its new role as business mogul rather than Thunder Warlord or Priest-King or Grand Art Critic. Good job, Dark Vapor!

    Too bad for the Vape that the Spectre has an unspecified, vaguely Christian entity on speed dial, a literal deus ex machina for just such occasions. It supplies him with a power-boosting red aura, with which he in short order evicts the Vapor from Hiram Spiezel, hunts it down and imprisons it at the bottom of the sea, presumably to someday bedevil a civilization of intelligent octopuses with its preternatural pebble-stacking prowess.

    AND SPEAKING OF OCTOPUSES! I enjoyed the Dark Vapor’s machinations but absolutely the greatest thing about their adventure is this illustration of them as a metaphorical octopus ensnaring the US in their horrible flesh-toned tentacles. Always a delight!

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 398: THE DARK VAPOR

    (More Fun Comics 072, 1941)

    The Dark Vapor (one of my trademark Unofficial Names) is just that: a misty entity that emerges from an old jar of mysterious provenance and possesses simple farmer Hiram Spiezel.

    The Vapor-driven Hiram immediately heads for the big city of Cliffland NJ and starts wheeling and dealing, becoming a stock marked player and a real estate tycoon almost overnight. And soon after that, he starts evicting tenants, bilking people and falsifying records: capitalism to Mega-Capitalism, all in a few short days.

    All this unwholesome business draws the attention of the Spectre, who quickly discovers that a) he cannot influence “Hiram Spiezel” like he could a normal man, b) “Spiezel” can see him, c) “Hiram Spiezel” is actually a banished evil entity from an ancient civilization picking up a bid for world conquest where it left off and d) the Dark Vapor entity is much more powerful than the Spectre. 

    The entity swiftly runs off the Spectre and gets back to the business of enacting a hostile takeover on the world. As an aside: I really appreciate the adaptability of this being – I mean, I assume that whatever civilization it originated in was not organized along the same lines as 1940s US capitalist society and yet it is perfectly comfortable in its new role as business mogul rather than Thunder Warlord or Priest-King or Grand Art Critic. Good job, Dark Vapor!

    Too bad for the Vape that the Spectre has an unspecified, vaguely Christian entity on speed dial, a literal deus ex machina for just such occasions. It supplies him with a power-boosting red aura, with which he in short order evicts the Vapor from Hiram Spiezel, hunts it down and imprisons it at the bottom of the sea, presumably to someday bedevil a civilization of intelligent octopuses with its preternatural pebble-stacking prowess.

    AND SPEAKING OF OCTOPUSES! I enjoyed the Dark Vapor’s machinations but absolutely the greatest thing about their adventure is this illustration of them as a metaphorical octopus ensnaring the US in their horrible flesh-toned tentacles. Always a delight!

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 394: BANDAR

    (More Fun Comics 070, 1941)

    I got some gripes about Bandar and they’re not really Bandar’s fault. But let’s start with who Bandar is: the source of a mysterious spectral figure that keeps bamboozling the Spectre and killing former members of the Crimson Circle Mystic Society.

    Jim Corrigan goes deep cover and joins the Society in order to get to the bottom of what the heck is going on and discovers that they’re just a bunch of dupes that society leader Bandar hypnotizes and makes steal for him. The former members are being killed – by Bandar’s astral form, it turns out – not to preserve some sort of mystic secret, etc., but to keep them from possibly remembering their actions and blabbing to the fuzz.

    The Spectre eventually solves the problem in his own inimitable way: by destroying Bandar’s human form so that his astral self is doomed to wander forever. Efficient!

    Now for the gripes: 

    1. While I appreciate the consistency of the “ghosts are chalk-white figures in a purple/grey hooded robe” design, it does get pretty samey after a while and there have been quite a lot of ghosts in 1941’s Spectre adventures.

    2. When I started reading this story I got pretty excited about the Crimson Circle Mystic Society (or the much cooler Order of the Crimson Circle, according to their signage) being the villain and Bandar is a bit of a step down from that.

    I acknowledge that those are unfair and subjective reasons to dislike a character so here are a couple of subjective things I liked about this tale to balance the scales:

    1. Bandar is an example of a trope that I don’t really know the name for – monster of the week? Basically, an antagonist who is able to enact a complete runaround on the very capable protagonist because they don’t know what the Deal is and thus can’t effectively counter the Deal. In this case, the Spectre can’t stop or catch Bandar until he figures out that he’s not actually a ghost but an astral projection. It’s just a fun way to make what would on paper be a mismatched foe work.

    2. This story marks at least the third time that Jim Corrigan is murdered while on a case, a fun recurring bit.

    So: Bandar!

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 393: THE TENTACLE

    (More Fun Comics 069, 1941)

    We don’t get a lot of backstory on the Tentacle. Presumably he’s a botanist or at least a gifted amateur horticulturalist, as he has developed a type of plant that strangles folks to death and can be triggered remotely (or on a timer, possibly). He uses this creation to blackmail rich men until he is tracked down by the Spectre and of course meets his end at the fronds of his own creation.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 392: THE GREEN MEN

    (More Fun Comics 068, 1941)

    The Green Men are little alien bigheads who rock up to our Solar System one day in their mobile planet and start siphoning life from the people of New Jersey in order to create a life-extension fluid. To this end, they depopulate at least three entire cities before being stopped, which is cool and dramatic as a bit of villainy and plays merry hell with the idea of a unified comics continuity: whither the monuments to the people of Lakehurst, Brent City and Memphis Beach? 

    (of course it’s hard to estimate exactly how many people that is, but as the low end of what can be called a city is generally agreed to be around 1500 we’re talking 4500 people at minimum)

    There’s a lot of running around and malarky by both the Green Men and the Spectre – the green ray guns and bighead mental powers that they use on him are able to disable but not kill him, while he spends a long time trying and failing to shoot their planet into a star – but ultimately the Spectre engages in a good old ironic punishment and traps them in a little ball for all eternity. How’s the extended lifespan now?

  • NOTES – DECEMBER 2023

    Weaknesses: 

    A very specific weakness for the Spectre: a once-in-a-hundred-million-year alignment of constellations that surely will never happen again. (More Fun Comics 071, 1941)

    Misc:

    This is my first encounter with Golden Age Johnny Quick so I’m not sure if the slow-down formula that he uses in the third panel above is a regular thing or a one-off but it sure has been left by the wayside. (More Fun Comics 071, 1941)

    EDIT: He does it again in More Fun Comics 072! 

    Memes of Yore – Keep ’em Flying!

    Johnny Quick (More Fun Comics 073, 1941)

    Green Arrow and Speedy (More Fun Comics 074, 1941)

    Drawn without reference:

    A wonderful 11-legged spider! (More Fun Comics 073, 1941)

    Origins:

    Poor ol’ Earth-Two Aquaman. Nobody even remembers that he exists half the time, plus he got eliminated in the Crisis. Anyway, here’s his origin: his dad found Atlantis and trained his son to breathe water (also a cheeky Fate of Atlantis – it sank and now Aquaman lives there). (More Fun Comics 073, 1941)

    Great Folk:

    I had completely forgotten about this story, but the old man who hoots and hollers and calls for detective Russell Granville until he’s on the case is the spectacular character find of 1939. Really, really great way to build up the detective before his appearance and I’m a bit sad that this is the only Russell Granville story because that old man needs more panel time. (Keen Detective Funnies v2 011, 1939)

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 384: DEEJA KATHOON

    (More Fun Comics 067, 1941)

    Deeja Kathoon is an occultist and necromancer who has the ability to summon and bind ghosts to his service and uses this power to unleash a ghostly crimewave on Cliffland, NJ. He has what turns out to be an Indian surname but there’s no indication in-story that he’s supposed to be Indian and so I must assume that it’s a coincidence and that my first guess was correct and his name was chosen by picking random syllables out of a hat.

    Ordinarily this would be the point at which I say “unfortunately, he chose to do his crimes in the Spectre’s home town,” but not this time, for you see the Spectre is a ghost. Kathoon binds him just like any other ghost and almost forces him to destroy the Cliffland City Hospital before the Ring of Life manages to deus ex machina him out of that particular jam.

    One thing that goes unexplored and unexplained in the story is the zippy little rocket ship that Kathoon tries to escape in once the Spectre is free. In the absence of any hint or eleventh hour reveal that he is an alien or magical time traveller I must assume that it is a magic rocket ship, which is great. More magic rocket ships are what we need, in my humble opinion.

    It’s just possible that being forced to do Kathoon’s bidding rattled the Spectre, or at least convinced him that the guy was a legitimate threat, because not only does he kill him via rocket ship explosion, he then hunts down and kills his ghost. This is, yes, a step more extreme than 1939 Batman gunning down the odd monster, but then again this is the Spectre. He has a reputation for brutality for a reason.

    In conclusion, this little cloud guy that Kathoon made to intimidate the Spectre is the sensational character find of 1941.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 384: DEEJA KATHOON

    (More Fun Comics 067, 1941)

    Deeja Kathoon is an occultist and necromancer who has the ability to summon and bind ghosts to his service and uses this power to unleash a ghostly crimewave on Cliffland, NJ. He has what turns out to be an Indian surname but there’s no indication in-story that he’s supposed to be Indian and so I must assume that it’s a coincidence and that my first guess was correct and his name was chosen by picking random syllables out of a hat.

    Ordinarily this would be the point at which I say “unfortunately, he chose to do his crimes in the Spectre’s home town,” but not this time, for you see the Spectre is a ghost. Kathoon binds him just like any other ghost and almost forces him to destroy the Cliffland City Hospital before the Ring of Life manages to deus ex machina him out of that particular jam.

    One thing that goes unexplored and unexplained in the story is the zippy little rocket ship that Kathoon tries to escape in once the Spectre is free. In the absence of any hint or eleventh hour reveal that he is an alien or magical time traveller I must assume that it is a magic rocket ship, which is great. More magic rocket ships are what we need, in my humble opinion.

    It’s just possible that being forced to do Kathoon’s bidding rattled the Spectre, or at least convinced him that the guy was a legitimate threat, because not only does he kill him via rocket ship explosion, he then hunts down and kills his ghost. This is, yes, a step more extreme than 1939 Batman gunning down the odd monster, but then again this is the Spectre. He has a reputation for brutality for a reason.

    In conclusion, this little cloud guy that Kathoon made to intimidate the Spectre is the sensational character find of 1941.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 382: THE MAN

    (More Fun Comics 066, 1941) 

    Out of nowhere one day, giant monsters attack Cliffland, New Jersey!

    After driving them off a couple of times, the Spectre manages to follow them back to their base of operations, a weird painting of unknown provenance hanging in a Cliffland museum. There he finds that the monsters reside in a metal city ruled over by a man referred to only as the Man.

    The Man is clearly modeled after the fascist dictators of the day and spends his time whipping his monstrous subjects into a frenzy prior to a wholesale invasion of the real world. While I don’t appreciate the attempted-destruction-of-humanity of it all I must admit that he has some wonderful turns of phrase. Maybe being a fictional entity allows you to tap into a poetical mindset more easily.

    The Man‘s schemes all come to nothing as the Spectre invades his world and decimates his forces, then overcomes the Man himself (despite the Man deploying not only a variety of magical powers but a surprise eleventh-hour monster transformation) and destroys both the painting and the world it contains.

    I have to say that despite not particularly loving the monster designs here I do love the idea of an outsider artist putting so much of themself into a work that it gains a life of its own. BRING BACK the Man, I say, whether in another work by the same artist or as a fictional parasite who appears in other paintings until he can find one that he can use as a portal to the real world. He would be a great addition to the ranks of the DCU’s magical weirdos.