The Curse of Skeleton Munroe

Category: alien

  • ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 023

    A fine batch of aliens for ye this day, sor! 

    Inferians: 

    The wandering planet Inferno threatens to destroy the Earth with its heat, and the magician Zambini (plus some lady and the mad astronomer Professor Stargaze) travel to its surface in an attempt to cool it down. There they find the Inferians, charmingly can-shaped aliens made out of heat-resistant glass.

    We learn more information than usual about this alien culture from a handy text box: the nearby Inferian city is called Cinderburg, and the tap-based language is called Clink. From an Inferian tranformed into a human we learn that the king of Inferno is known as the Great Glassblower, plus the fact that Inferians can be horny.

    The Great Glassblower is implied to have made the Inferians somehow, so I had expected him to be some other manner of being but instead he is just a slightly better-dressed Inferian with a hostile attitude and a bowl full of molten glass that he’s not afraid to throw at intruders. Zambini nonetheless manages to seal up the huge volcano that is the source of Inferno’s great heat (and hopefully not important for maintaining the lives of the Inferians somehow) and thus Earth is saved! (Zip Comics 002, 1940)

    Etherians and Rodongees: 

    After helping the Barrangees move back to the surface of their world and defeat the giant insect species that had driven them underground in the first place, Captain Tornado and his fellow Earthicans were probably ready for a bit of a break from inter-species combat. Well, tough luck, because upon closer inspection, some of the giant insects flying around the surface of Barrang were not insects at all but insect-shaped vehicles piloted by four-armed, blue-haired guys with fragile constitutions and a bad attitude, and Tornado, his friends and a whole bunch of Barrangees are rounded up and taken prisoner by them.

    Their jailers turn out to be called Etherians, and the Etherians turn out to be jerks who have already enslaved a race called the Rodongees and now propose to do the same to the Barrangees. Tornado and his party fall in with a group of freedom-fighting Rodongees and pledge to help them overthrow the Etherians once and for all… and that is the end of the “Captain Tornado” feature. I sure hope they managed to complete their mission without having any more alien trouble on Barrang! (Popular Comics 056, 1940)

    the Evil Gods: 

    Ted Hunt and Jane Martin, the Star Rovers, are making an exploratory stop on Venus when they are captured by a tribe of post-apocalyptic Venusians, but just what exactly was the apocalypse that made them so? They soon find out when they witness a Venusian hunter being chased down and seemingly eaten by a robot referred to as one of the “Evil Gods.”

    And just what are the Evil Gods? Once Ted beats up the Venusian king he gets the story of how his people found six of them deep underground in some sort of suspended animation and how once they were accidentally revived they enslaved the former Venusian civilization and reduced the few free members of the species to starving in isolated swamps. Ted, now king of the Venusians, vows to free the people from the tyranny of the Evil Gods.

    Ted and Jane set out to find food and are immediately captured and transported back to the Evil Gods’ seat of power, where they learn that the tyrant beings are not in fact robots but blobby green aliens that use the impervious robotic exoskeletons to protect their frail flesh. 

    Ted escapes to retrieve his spaceship and takes advantage of the Gods’ habit of sleeping outside of their shells to kill five of them. The sixth, on watch over the Venusian slaves, is lassoed and dragged into a cave where it is then sealed, hopefully for all time. The Venusians (and Jane) are free! (Exciting Comics 003, 1940)

    Fang Men: 

    The Fang Men of Jupiter (or Jupitor, as it appears here) might have a rich and beautiful society that values poetry and art and presumably good dentistry but alas that is not how we encounter them while reading the adventures of Cosmic Carson. 

    Instead, all of the Fang Men we meet are space pirates, and particularly jerky ones at that. We can only hope that this is not an accurate picture of Fang-Man society as a whole. (Science Comics 001, 1940)

  • ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 023

    A fine batch of aliens for ye this day, sor! 

    Inferians: 

    The wandering planet Inferno threatens to destroy the Earth with its heat, and the magician Zambini (plus some lady and the mad astronomer Professor Stargaze) travel to its surface in an attempt to cool it down. There they find the Inferians, charmingly can-shaped aliens made out of heat-resistant glass.

    We learn more information than usual about this alien culture from a handy text box: the nearby Inferian city is called Cinderburg, and the tap-based language is called Clink. From an Inferian tranformed into a human we learn that the king of Inferno is known as the Great Glassblower, plus the fact that Inferians can be horny.

    The Great Glassblower is implied to have made the Inferians somehow, so I had expected him to be some other manner of being but instead he is just a slightly better-dressed Inferian with a hostile attitude and a bowl full of molten glass that he’s not afraid to throw at intruders. Zambini nonetheless manages to seal up the huge volcano that is the source of Inferno’s great heat (and hopefully not important for maintaining the lives of the Inferians somehow) and thus Earth is saved! (Zip Comics 002, 1940)

    Etherians and Rodongees: 

    After helping the Barrangees move back to the surface of their world and defeat the giant insect species that had driven them underground in the first place, Captain Tornado and his fellow Earthicans were probably ready for a bit of a break from inter-species combat. Well, tough luck, because upon closer inspection, some of the giant insects flying around the surface of Barrang were not insects at all but insect-shaped vehicles piloted by four-armed, blue-haired guys with fragile constitutions and a bad attitude, and Tornado, his friends and a whole bunch of Barrangees are rounded up and taken prisoner by them.

    Their jailers turn out to be called Etherians, and the Etherians turn out to be jerks who have already enslaved a race called the Rodongees and now propose to do the same to the Barrangees. Tornado and his party fall in with a group of freedom-fighting Rodongees and pledge to help them overthrow the Etherians once and for all… and that is the end of the “Captain Tornado” feature. I sure hope they managed to complete their mission without having any more alien trouble on Barrang! (Popular Comics 056, 1940)

    the Evil Gods: 

    Ted Hunt and Jane Martin, the Star Rovers, are making an exploratory stop on Venus when they are captured by a tribe of post-apocalyptic Venusians, but just what exactly was the apocalypse that made them so? They soon find out when they witness a Venusian hunter being chased down and seemingly eaten by a robot referred to as one of the “Evil Gods.”

    And just what are the Evil Gods? Once Ted beats up the Venusian king he gets the story of how his people found six of them deep underground in some sort of suspended animation and how once they were accidentally revived they enslaved the former Venusian civilization and reduced the few free members of the species to starving in isolated swamps. Ted, now king of the Venusians, vows to free the people from the tyranny of the Evil Gods.

    Ted and Jane set out to find food and are immediately captured and transported back to the Evil Gods’ seat of power, where they learn that the tyrant beings are not in fact robots but blobby green aliens that use the impervious robotic exoskeletons to protect their frail flesh. 

    Ted escapes to retrieve his spaceship and takes advantage of the Gods’ habit of sleeping outside of their shells to kill five of them. The sixth, on watch over the Venusian slaves, is lassoed and dragged into a cave where it is then sealed, hopefully for all time. The Venusians (and Jane) are free! (Exciting Comics 003, 1940)

    Fang Men: 

    The Fang Men of Jupiter (or Jupitor, as it appears here) might have a rich and beautiful society that values poetry and art and presumably good dentistry but alas that is not how we encounter them while reading the adventures of Cosmic Carson. 

    Instead, all of the Fang Men we meet are space pirates, and particularly jerky ones at that. We can only hope that this is not an accurate picture of Fang-Man society as a whole. (Science Comics 001, 1940)

  • ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 022

    Top-quality aliens, fresh-baked! 

    Unnamed Species:

    This unnamed species has that most delightful and implausible of features, an organic wheel that they use to locomote around! Other than that they’re your typical underground dwelling species: they live far enough under the surface or have an extensive enough range that one can enter their kingdom in the Himalayas and exit in Iran; they have a captured surface woman named Rina as their queen but the real power lies with “He”, who is four or five times bigger than the rest of his species; and they are very sensitive to sound. Regular stuff. 

    Those wheels though! (Wonderworld Comics 011, 1940)

    Earth-Men: 

    The Earth-Men are the fellows who worship the ancestor-god Sakka, as detailed in a Divine Round-Up a couple of months back. They’re little bug-eyed guys with a high incidence of male-pattern baldness and a hostile attitude until adventurer Rocky Ryan kind of accidentally convinces them that he is the reincarnation of Sakka. 

    In the peaceful times that follow, Ryan’s companion Professor Ames is able to explore the Earth-Man city and make some frankly astounding discoveries, including the facts that 

    1: There used to be a land mass spanning the Pacific between South America and Asia 

    2. At the time, Earth had 2 moons, one of which then exploded

    3. The force of the exploding moon sank the Pacific continent

    4. The Earth-Men are the remnants of that Pacific civilization, and their shrunken stature and big ol’ eyes are a result of living in a dense jungle, somehow.

    It’s a real upending of everything that we thought we knew about the history of the Earth, plus now Ames has enough material for a book. Publish or perish, huzzah! (Big Shot Comics 014, 1941)

    Mercurians (Three Types):  

    Space Adventurer Flint Baker and his companion Mimi make their way to the planet Mercury, where he finds a city strewn with humanoid corpses. Eventually, they find a single survivor, who reveals that he is the last of the Western Hemisphere Mercurians, the rest having been wiped out by…

    … the Eastern Hemisphere Mercurians, a rowdy bunch of cave-man types who storm in and kidnap Mimi before Flint can do anything to prevent it. Through a series of battles, he recovers Mimi and seemingly wipes out the Eastern Mercurians in turn. Mercury is now an uninhabited planet.

    But not for long, because Flint then uses the atomic conversion pistol gifted to him by the last of the Western Mercurians to make a whole new batch of hot Mercurians out of some nearby flowers and install them in the now-deserted city. (Planet Comics 006, 1940)

    Erostians: 

    After space vigilante Cosmic Carson’s men shoot down a pirate ship over planetoid Eros, both they and the pirates’ victims come under attack by the green, caveman-like Erostians, who carry off as many women as they can get their grubby green mitts on (bonus entry: these women are all Venusians).

    Cosmic Carson himself sets out to rescue the captives and ends up a prisoner himself, wherein he learns that the Erostians are not simply a species of humanoid aliens, but the former dominant species of Earth, thrown down and banished to Eros by some ancient scientist. Plus, they eat people, with a preference for pretty women. It’s actually a bit of a roller coaster, as the standard alien lust for human (or humanoid) women is explained by the fact that the Erostians are also human or at least homo but then their desire turns out not to be lust but gluttony and thus back in the realm of the inexplicable.

    Anyway, Cosmic Carson blasts most of them to smithereens. (Science Comics 005, 1940)

  • ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 022

    Top-quality aliens, fresh-baked! 

    Unnamed Species:

    This unnamed species has that most delightful and implausible of features, an organic wheel that they use to locomote around! Other than that they’re your typical underground dwelling species: they live far enough under the surface or have an extensive enough range that one can enter their kingdom in the Himalayas and exit in Iran; they have a captured surface woman named Rina as their queen but the real power lies with “He”, who is four or five times bigger than the rest of his species; and they are very sensitive to sound. Regular stuff. 

    Those wheels though! (Wonderworld Comics 011, 1940)

    Earth-Men: 

    The Earth-Men are the fellows who worship the ancestor-god Sakka, as detailed in a Divine Round-Up a couple of months back. They’re little bug-eyed guys with a high incidence of male-pattern baldness and a hostile attitude until adventurer Rocky Ryan kind of accidentally convinces them that he is the reincarnation of Sakka. 

    In the peaceful times that follow, Ryan’s companion Professor Ames is able to explore the Earth-Man city and make some frankly astounding discoveries, including the facts that 

    1: There used to be a land mass spanning the Pacific between South America and Asia 

    2. At the time, Earth had 2 moons, one of which then exploded

    3. The force of the exploding moon sank the Pacific continent

    4. The Earth-Men are the remnants of that Pacific civilization, and their shrunken stature and big ol’ eyes are a result of living in a dense jungle, somehow.

    It’s a real upending of everything that we thought we knew about the history of the Earth, plus now Ames has enough material for a book. Publish or perish, huzzah! (Big Shot Comics 014, 1941)

    Mercurians (Three Types):  

    Space Adventurer Flint Baker and his companion Mimi make their way to the planet Mercury, where he finds a city strewn with humanoid corpses. Eventually, they find a single survivor, who reveals that he is the last of the Western Hemisphere Mercurians, the rest having been wiped out by…

    … the Eastern Hemisphere Mercurians, a rowdy bunch of cave-man types who storm in and kidnap Mimi before Flint can do anything to prevent it. Through a series of battles, he recovers Mimi and seemingly wipes out the Eastern Mercurians in turn. Mercury is now an uninhabited planet.

    But not for long, because Flint then uses the atomic conversion pistol gifted to him by the last of the Western Mercurians to make a whole new batch of hot Mercurians out of some nearby flowers and install them in the now-deserted city. (Planet Comics 006, 1940)

    Erostians: 

    After space vigilante Cosmic Carson’s men shoot down a pirate ship over planetoid Eros, both they and the pirates’ victims come under attack by the green, caveman-like Erostians, who carry off as many women as they can get their grubby green mitts on (bonus entry: these women are all Venusians).

    Cosmic Carson himself sets out to rescue the captives and ends up a prisoner himself, wherein he learns that the Erostians are not simply a species of humanoid aliens, but the former dominant species of Earth, thrown down and banished to Eros by some ancient scientist. Plus, they eat people, with a preference for pretty women. It’s actually a bit of a roller coaster, as the standard alien lust for human (or humanoid) women is explained by the fact that the Erostians are also human or at least homo but then their desire turns out not to be lust but gluttony and thus back in the realm of the inexplicable.

    Anyway, Cosmic Carson blasts most of them to smithereens. (Science Comics 005, 1940)

  • ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 021

    A motley crew of mostly cavemen await ye. 

    Pleistocene Men: 

    When rich jerk Rodney Stark wants to take over the world, he know just where to go: the Arctic, where he can use his heat ray to thaw out a frozen tribe of prehistoric men to act as his personal army. Did he already know that they were there or was he just assuming that he could dig up a few guys just by sinking a hole any old place? Unclear.

    In what must have been an unexpected boon for Stark, the Pleistocene Men turn out to have been altered both physically and mentally by their long stay in the ice. Not only are they now super strong and invulnerable to harm, but they are also super smart for some reason? Stark just handwaves it by saying that the cold sharpened their intelligence, but in practical terms it means that they learn to speak English and fly planes super fast.

    Captain Marvel ends up dropping Stark and his entire caveman air force back down the hole he originally dug them out of, where presumably they froze solid again. Who knows how powerful they will become before next they are thawed? (Whiz Comics 007, 1940)

    Ape-Men:

    A simpler type of prehistoric remnant, these Ape-Men are encountered by boxer/adventurer Socko Strong on an isolated Atlantic island full of dinosaurs before the entire place blows up courtesy of a local volcano. (Adventure Comics 042, 1939)

    Bat Men of Venus: 

    These Bat Men have come from Venus to Earth c.50 030 CE to engage in some friendly diplomatic relations. Unfortunately for them, this is not long after a global catastrophe has not only drastically reduced the human population but unleashed the hostile Crust Dwellers onto the surface of the planet, and they are almost fatally menaced before being rescued by heroic Earthling survivor Blaze Barton. 

    Really appreciate a) bat people designs that really commit to the weirdness of bat faces b) gliding bat people c) seeing some different Venusian designs before the Venus = aquatic paradigm really sets in in the 1950s. (Hit Comics 002, 1940)

    Beast Men of Boota: 

    The Beast Men of Boota are just what it says on the tin: beast men (or at least hairy guys) who are from Boota, which I assume is what this forest village is called. They live in one of the innumerable lands beneath the Antarctic that are traversed by Cotton Carver, and briefly worship him as the Tunder Man, thanks to his surface world guns. (Adventure Comics 054, 1940)

  • ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 020

    ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 020

    You won’t believe the aliens and alien-adjacent societies we got in here. 

    Scorpians and Subterrines: 

    When crack reporter Scoop Smith and his photographer pal Blimp Black fly to Mexico to investigate reports of an “invisible revolutionary army” they get the story in a very direct way when they are shot down and taken captive by the Scorpians, who dwell in the underground kingdom of Scorpia and are extremely on-theme about the scorpion thing at all times, as can be seen in in the throne room of Scorpian King Cortes and its five distinct bits of scorpion decor.

     

    Scoop and Blimp are escorted to the Horror Chamber to be eaten by giant scorpions, because even the Scorpian methods of execution are on brand. They escape thanks to a thrown rock and a handy earthquake and discover the Subterrines, a second underground civilization that is also seeking to overthrow the Mexican government.  

    While the Scorpians under King Cortes kind of vaguely evoke the conquistadors of old, the Subterrines are pretty explicitly the descendants of native Mexican peoples who fled underground and now seek to reclaim their lands (and may I say that “everyone has long white beards now” is about the most benign version of becoming troglodytic cave-dwellers). The two groups of course hate one another and set to battling to the death for the honour of conquering Mexico, only to be annihilated together by the Mexican army. (Whiz Comics 005, 1940)

    Ape Men:

    If you’ve ever wondered if there was a version of the Paul Bunyan story in which he had an ape man for a companion, well wonder no more, because it happened in National Comics, when King, the ape man in question, wanders out of the woods and starts attacking lumberjacks, only to find himself on the receiving end of a beatdown from Paul Bunyan himself. After this, the impressionable King adopts the lumberjack way of life and joins Paul’s supporting cast. (National Comics 006, 1940)

    Joins Paul’s supporting cast for one issue, that is, because in National Comics 007 a scientist shows up at camp with a lead on where King might hail from, prompting Paul and the lads to set out to return him to his people, and if you’ve ever wondered if there was a version of the Paul Bunyan story in which he traveled through India to the Himalayas, well, you are in luck. Paul and the lads find King’s tribe and for the second time in as many issues, Paul Bunyan has to fist fight a Himalayan Ape Man in order to make peace.

    Bat-Men:

    Though the Bat-Men are very, very vampire-like – bat-winged humanoids who capture humans and drink their blood and can make humans into Bat-Men and are destroyed by sunlight – the keen senses of jungle-man Samar tell him that they are not, though he never really clarifies what they actually are. 

    The Bat-Men and their underground city are destroyed when they force Samar to battle a tyrannosaur in their gladiatorial arena and he inadvertently collapses the cave roof while killing the beast with a catapult. (Feature Comics 038, 1940)

    the Bat-Men of Mephis: 

    One of the many intelligent races to inhabit the planet Mephistos in the year 2500 CE, the Bat-Men of Mephis as their name suggests live in the tunnels beneath the city of Mephis, posing as statuary until it is time to attack. It’s a very urban adaptation, which is fun. I also appreciate their little ears. (Flash Comics v1 002, 1940)

  • ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 020

    You won’t believe the aliens and alien-adjacent societies we got in here. 

    Scorpians and Subterrines: 

    When crack reporter Scoop Smith and his photographer pal Blimp Black fly to Mexico to investigate reports of an “invisible revolutionary army” they get the story in a very direct way when they are shot down and taken captive by the Scorpians, who dwell in the underground kingdom of Scorpia and are extremely on-theme about the scorpion thing at all times, as can be seen in in the throne room of Scorpian King Cortes and its five distinct bits of scorpion decor.

     

    Scoop and Blimp are escorted to the Horror Chamber to be eaten by giant scorpions, because even the Scorpian methods of execution are on brand. They escape thanks to a thrown rock and a handy earthquake and discover the Subterrines, a second underground civilization that is also seeking to overthrow the Mexican government.  

    While the Scorpians under King Cortes kind of vaguely evoke the conquistadors of old, the Subterrines are pretty explicitly the descendants of native Mexican peoples who fled underground and now seek to reclaim their lands (and may I say that “everyone has long white beards now” is about the most benign version of becoming troglodytic cave-dwellers). The two groups of course hate one another and set to battling to the death for the honour of conquering Mexico, only to be annihilated together by the Mexican army. (Whiz Comics 005, 1940)

    Ape Men:

    If you’ve ever wondered if there was a version of the Paul Bunyan story in which he had an ape man for a companion, well wonder no more, because it happened in National Comics, when King, the ape man in question, wanders out of the woods and starts attacking lumberjacks, only to find himself on the receiving end of a beatdown from Paul Bunyan himself. After this, the impressionable King adopts the lumberjack way of life and joins Paul’s supporting cast. (National Comics 006, 1940)

    Joins Paul’s supporting cast for one issue, that is, because in National Comics 007 a scientist shows up at camp with a lead on where King might hail from, prompting Paul and the lads to set out to return him to his people, and if you’ve ever wondered if there was a version of the Paul Bunyan story in which he traveled through India to the Himalayas, well, you are in luck. Paul and the lads find King’s tribe and for the second time in as many issues, Paul Bunyan has to fist fight a Himalayan Ape Man in order to make peace.

    Bat-Men:

    Though the Bat-Men are very, very vampire-like – bat-winged humanoids who capture humans and drink their blood and can make humans into Bat-Men and are destroyed by sunlight – the keen senses of jungle-man Samar tell him that they are not, though he never really clarifies what they actually are. 

    The Bat-Men and their underground city are destroyed when they force Samar to battle a tyrannosaur in their gladiatorial arena and he inadvertently collapses the cave roof while killing the beast with a catapult. (Feature Comics 038, 1940)

    the Bat-Men of Mephis: 

    One of the many intelligent races to inhabit the planet Mephistos in the year 2500 CE, the Bat-Men of Mephis as their name suggests live in the tunnels beneath the city of Mephis, posing as statuary until it is time to attack. It’s a very urban adaptation, which is fun. I also appreciate their little ears. (Flash Comics v1 002, 1940)

  • ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 019

    ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 019

    Today we have, per usual, something from the comic I’m currently reading followed by some stuff from the archives. It’s a good system!

    Glompers: 

    We first meet the Glompers on the planet Venus after Dr Sivana has tricked Billy Batson and by extension Captain Marvel into joining him on an experimental rocket trip, with the intention of killing and/or stranding him there. They are immediately the most charming aliens I have ever seen, despite or perhaps because of the fact that they are just large frogs wearing trunks and little conical hats.

    The Glompers are ruled over by Beautia, Empress of Venus (later revealed to be Sivana’s daughter), and again I must emphasize just how friggin’ charming they are. Just look at his little spear! (Whiz Comics 003b, 1940)

    Sadly, as far as I can tell the Glompers only reappear one other time, as part of a plan by Dr Sivana to unleash them on Earth (Whiz Comics 015, 1941). The reformed-except-for-occasional-bursts-of-filial-duty Beautia expounds on the Glompers somewhat, revealing that they, like terrestrial frogs, are rapacious carnivores. Still charming! 

    In conclusion, since as far as I know the current DC Universe does not have a canonical native species on Venus and I have to say that I think that the Glompers should fill that roll. Make ’em big ol’ acid-spewing frog men!

    Alligator Men/Mermaids: 

    Rod Rian is an officer of Earth’s Sky Police in the year 2500 CE who finds himself on the planet Mephistos, having adventures among the various intelligent species that reside there. Perhaps the least explored of these are the friendly Alligator Men, who either coexist with a species of Mephistan mermaids or are yet another species with extreme sexual dimorphism. Either way: love a reptile man. (Flash Comics v1 011, 1940)

    Amazons of the Winged Death: 

    Don Drake, like Rod Rian, is an Earth man who finds himself on an alien world populated with all kinds of different species of intelligent life, in his case the planet Saro. Unlike Rod, Don’s adventures take place in the then-present day of 1935.

    The Amazons of the Winged Death are, as the name suggests, statuesque humanoid females. They ride horrible insects (the Winged Death of the name, natch) and are generally hostile, though Don does manage to ally with at least a few of them. (New Fun Comics 004, 1935)

    the Ape Men: 

    Brad Hardy, like Rod and Don, is an adventurer who finds himself in a world full of strange and often hostile creatures. Like Don, he is contemporary to the comic that he appears in, but unlike both of them, the world he finds himself in exists on Earth, in a cavernous realm below Mongolia. 

    The Ape Men (also Ape-Men and Apemen) are pretty typical: monkey faced humanoids with tails and a bad attitude. I do enjoy their Living Ape-God, who seems to just be the largest Ape Man. (More Fun Comics 009, 1936)

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 861: EMPEROR CORON

    (Whirlwind Comics 003, 1940)

    Earth in the far-off future of 1980 CE simply can’t catch a break! This time they’re being pelted with comets from somewhere in the vicinity of Jupiter and as per usual scientist-adventurer Bruce Barlow is on the case. And he’s a good choice, as evidenced by the fact that even when he has a rocket mishap and ends up going entirely the wrong way, crashing on Venus…

    … he still finds the source of the comets! This is Emperor Coron, ruler of Venus, who is attacking Earth for no stated reason. As  Barlow learns when he is thrown in jail, Coron has usurped the throne from his new cellmate Gola and not only has he had Gola’s daughter Venus’ tongue torn out (fuckin’ yikes) but he intends to marry her to cement his claim to the throne. A true creep of the first water.

    Luckily for both Gola and Venus, there is not a prison that Bruce Barlow cannot escape or a wedding that he cannot ruin. He and Gola crash the affair in a quite literal fashion by upsetting the idol to whatever god the Venusians worship onto at least one – hopefully evil – guest.

    Once the people of Venus get word that their beloved Gola is alive, Coron’s days are numbered. Mob justice wins again! Everyone wins but Coron! And of course poor tongueless Venus.

    (I think I’ve mentioned before that the creator of the Bruce Barlow strip is unknown, but whoever they were I think we can safely say that they were fans of Jack Kirby. Just compare these Venusians to Iako for instance. I don’t think it was Kirby himself, because his art was a lot more composed than this, but there’s definitely some inspiration going on)

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 861: EMPEROR CORON

    MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 861: EMPEROR CORON

    (Whirlwind Comics 003, 1940)

    Earth in the far-off future of 1980 CE simply can’t catch a break! This time they’re being pelted with comets from somewhere in the vicinity of Jupiter and as per usual scientist-adventurer Bruce Barlow is on the case. And he’s a good choice, as evidenced by the fact that even when he has a rocket mishap and ends up going entirely the wrong way, crashing on Venus…

    … he still finds the source of the comets! This is Emperor Coron, ruler of Venus, who is attacking Earth for no stated reason. As  Barlow learns when he is thrown in jail, Coron has usurped the throne from his new cellmate Gola and not only has he had Gola’s daughter Venus’ tongue torn out (fuckin’ yikes) but he intends to marry her to cement his claim to the throne. A true creep of the first water.

    Luckily for both Gola and Venus, there is not a prison that Bruce Barlow cannot escape or a wedding that he cannot ruin. He and Gola crash the affair in a quite literal fashion by upsetting the idol to whatever god the Venusians worship onto at least one – hopefully evil – guest.

    Once the people of Venus get word that their beloved Gola is alive, Coron’s days are numbered. Mob justice wins again! Everyone wins but Coron! And of course poor tongueless Venus.

    (I think I’ve mentioned before that the creator of the Bruce Barlow strip is unknown, but whoever they were I think we can safely say that they were fans of Jack Kirby. Just compare these Venusians to Iako for instance. I don’t think it was Kirby himself, because his art was a lot more composed than this, but there’s definitely some inspiration going on)