The Curse of Skeleton Munroe

Category: capitalism

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 119: THE TENAMENT FIREBUG

    (Nickel Comics 003, 1940)

    Spoilers for the end of this writeup: the Tenement Firebug is that most common of comic book villains, the property owner who burns down their own buildings for the insurance money and/or redevelopment. Ordinarily such a foe would be a regular guy with some hirelings and maybe a mask, but since he was set up as a foil to magic guy Warlock the Wizard the Tenament Firebug has been beefed up slightly.

    First off is his pet lizard, which is a salamander. But! Not a real-world amphibian salamander, nor a modern fantasy style fire elemental – this one is the Medieval bestiary denizen that is immune to fire! A very exciting appearance of a discarded beast!

    Secondly, the Firebug is both able to do comic book super-hypnotism and is adept enough at disguise that he manages to frame Warlock for the arsons. Again but!

    He was wearing a rubberoid mask the whole time! Which means that he applied the Warlock disguise over his mask. Which is frankly much more responsible for my interest in and love of him as a villain than any old arson. Commitment to the bit is what I’d call it.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 093: THE SKULL

    (Detective Comics 043, 1940)

    A skull-faced propagandist operating out of the Belgian Congo, presumably Nazi but it’s pre-Pearl Harbor so he works for a “hostile power” or “the dictatorships” etc.

    The really intriguing thing about the Skull is his choice of themes – rather than go with an obvious skeleton motif like your average skull-faced goon would do, he instead opted for a Medieval theme, complete with sword-wielding henchmen and a jungle castle. I would praise him for making good and interesting choices but he’s probably a Nazi, so never mind.

    RETROACTIVE ADDENDUM: got a lot of guys named the Skull coming up so I’m going to start scoring them on how appropriate their nom de crime is. This guy is obviously SKULL SCORE: 5/5

    UNPRECIDENTED SECOND ADDENDUM: I messed up! this guy is pro war but he’s just a munitions profiteer! Sorry, skull-headed creep!

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 092: THE PAINTER OF DEATH

    MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 092: THE PAINTER OF DEATH

    (Detective Comics 042, 1940)

    The Painter of Death (never actually called that in-comic, sadly) engaged in a campaign against the subjects of paintings by up-and-coming portraitist Antal. He first attacked the painting of the person and then killed them in the same manner: via dart, arrow, gunshot etc. Eventually, Bruce “Batman” Wayne commissioned a painting from Antal and used it to set a trap which netted Wylie, an art collector who had invested heavily in Antal’s work and saw the murders as a way to raise the value of his investment via morbid publicity.

    Though Wylie bumped himself off at the end of the adventure, the bullet-riddled Antal portrait of Bruce Wayne sticks around to become one of the minor stock trophies in the Batcave. The Painter of Death or Prophetic Portraits Case is also mentioned a couple of times as Batman and Robin’s “first big case” and the reason for their fame. Does this reflect some attitude of the creators about the story itself or is it just a plot contrivance? I have no idea!

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 092: THE PAINTER OF DEATH

    (Detective Comics 042, 1940)

    The Painter of Death (never actually called that in-comic, sadly) engaged in a campaign against the subjects of paintings by up-and-coming portraitist Antal. He first attacked the painting of the person and then killed them in the same manner: via dart, arrow, gunshot etc. Eventually, Bruce “Batman” Wayne commissioned a painting from Antal and used it to set a trap which netted Wylie, an art collector who had invested heavily in Antal’s work and saw the murders as a way to raise the value of his investment via morbid publicity.

    Though Wylie bumped himself off at the end of the adventure, the bullet-riddled Antal portrait of Bruce Wayne sticks around to become one of the minor stock trophies in the Batcave. The Painter of Death or Prophetic Portraits Case is also mentioned a couple of times as Batman and Robin’s “first big case” and the reason for their fame. Does this reflect some attitude of the creators about the story itself or is it just a plot contrivance? I have no idea!