The Curse of Skeleton Munroe

Category: alien

  • ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 006

    Martians aplenty, plus more! 

    Martians: 

    Time traveller Scott Rand and his companions stumble into a Martian invasion of Earth during a jaunt to the far-distant future world of 2000 CE, and they immediately get in on the planet-defending action. Featuring a Viking vs Martian battle, for all those fans of classic 2010s mashup humour.

    These particular Martians aren’t anything special, but I must say that I appreciate their minimalist, doorstop-shaped spacecraft. (Top-Notch Comics 002, 1940)

    Martians: 

    Scott Rand soon makes his way to Mars proper, where he encounters this very human-looking Martian wearing an outfit that is as jam-packed with retro-futuristic fashion elements as it is possible to be. His particular style of Martians just so happened to have been under attack by the reason for Rand’s trip to Mars… (Top-Notch Comics 003, 1940) 

    Martians: 

    … Kruzzo, the Ice King of Mars, aka the “Master Pirate of Time,” leader of this considerably more goblinoid type of Martian, who he leads on raids from their hidden city at the Martian South Pole. Kruzzo has captured 2/3 of Rand’s companions, and has messed with the wrong time traveller and the wrong Viking and the wrong scientist and the wrong Ancient Egyptian princess this time, because their entire city ends up getting blown to kingdom come.

    I was initially going to lump these guys and the previous ones together, but there are some obvious phenotypical differences between the two groups. Are they and the Martians who tried to invade Earth all different subtypes of the same species, Basil Wolverton style or did three groups of Martian hominid all make the leap to full sentience around the same time? (Top-Notch Comics 003, 1940)

    Arurans: 

    Bob Steele’s whole thing is that he’s got a spaceship and he’s ready to head to another planet at a moment’s notice, to meet alien intelligences and either befriend or befoe them. Despite the chilly reception depicted above, Bob ultimately befriends the Arurans of planet Arura, a civilization with many enemies but no meaningful physiological distinction from any other bunch of white guys. (Funny Picture Stories v1 007, 1937)

  • ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 005

    We got your aliens, plus some so forth. 

    Moon Men: 

    The Moon Men of 2050 CE seem to be just another part of the future Solar System society until they enter an alliance with magic super-crook Sarku so that their Moon King Tan Tan can meet his historical crush Elena. This of course brings them into conflict with Mr Mystic, as Elena is his fiance and he’s just not that into her being kidnapped into the future. 

    The Moon Men also have very upsetting feet. (The Spirit Section, 1 September, 1940)

    the Alligator-Men: 

    A lot of the Earth-based entries on the big list of aliens and such that I refer back to to while make these could best be described as “human offshoots,” little pockets of humanity that have developed in isolation until they are something other than regular. I had a little debate about whether to include the Alligator-Men because they didn’t seem other enough, but then I came to my senses. A whole society of guys who live in a cave somewhere in Brazil and dress in what must be wildly smelly lizard man costumes 24/7? Even if in-story they turned out to be a bunch of cosplaying accountants (spoiler: they didn’t) that’s worthy of comment. (Amazing-Man Comics 017, 1940)

    Ape Men: 

    And speaking of isolated populations of weirdos, ape men/ape-men/apemen and other missing link-style hominids are some of the most common. This particular group are from Malaysia and seem to be reasonably chill until Dr Fung and his pal Dan show up while following rumours pointing to the location of a lost heiress. Things get a bit too macho (and the old question of just what “white” means in 40s comics rears its ugly head once more) and Dr Fung and Dan have to shoot their way out. It’s all very rude, frankly. (Wonderworld Comics 005, 1939)

    Ape-Men & Lizard-Men: 

    The Diamond Empire is a hidden civilization probably somewhere in Asia, located in an improbably large inaccessible region hemmed in by mountains – there’s a reason that so many hidden kingdoms are underground, after all. It’s a bit more plausible to have an implausibly large area underground and hidden than as a conspicuous blank spot on a map.

    In any case, the lands around the Diamond Empire are like most other terrae incognitae in genre fiction, in that they are populated with a variety of humanoid civilizations, including Hawkmen, Batmen, and today’s focus, warring nations of Lizard-Men and Ape-Men. The Lizard-Men sadly get the short end of the stick characterization-wise, being sneaking, cowardly ambushers with a uncomfortably horny king, but at least they have very cool faces – just love a black eye with a white pupil. 

    The Lizard-Men get beaten up and pushed in a river by their ancient foes the much less cool Ape-Men who then themselves capture the the Rocket and the Queen of Diamonds. These Ape-Men are just what they are billed as: apelike humans, though the yellow heads and weird dents on top of their skulls set them apart slightly, even if they look dumb. 

    There’s a lot of malarkey involving the Rocket taking on an Ape-Man named Ungar for the role of tribal chief, and we get a glimpse of the Ape-Men’s idea of how a trial by ordeal should work as the Rocket is made to enter the Cave of Horrors to prove his mettle, but eventually the majority of the Ape-Men just end up dumped into a chasm to their dooms. I assume that the Lizard-Men, merely damp, were very smug about this. (Pep Comics 004-005, 1940)

  • ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 004

    Now’s the time that we start pulling aliens from the vaults! So look out for a lot of A-names for the next while! Not the first one though, because something has to come up organically.

    Crillionites:

    Hailing from the planet Crillon (which boasts the majestic Crillion City, natch), the Crillionites are a caste-based society in which the Lords of Crillon (like from the title of the comic!) rule over a slave population via some sort of divine right. This societal order is threatened by Professor Wendall Keene and his crew of space explorers: Hugh, Celeste, and the also-titular Ken Craig, but whether this is due to some innate sense of justice on their part or for some other reason is never quite spelled out in their one extant appearance, as things start in media res and Mort Cowen there presumably thought he could go back and explain what was going on a bit later. No dice, Mort. (Circus, the Comics Riot 001, 1938)

    the Ancient Ones: 

    It’s that old staple of adventure, the ancient hidden civilization! Not all of them are different enough from regular humanity to qualify as an Alien and So Forth, but I reckon a society of prehistoric Antarcticans who retreated underground when the ice crept across their lands and have indefinite lifespans must surely count. The Ancient Ones are kind of boringly benevolent, but they do have a lot of gold, which inspires hero Rocky Ryan’s crew to mutiny and thus provides a bit of excitement.

    This also allows the Ancient Ones to show off their somewhat ghoulish hobby: collecting gold-hungry adventurers in suspended animation. Or possibly practicing human taxidermy. (Big Shot Comics 009, 1940)

    Antarenes: 

    The Antarenes, inhabitants of the planet Antar, have a problem: their sun has gone out. Their solution? Head underground and set out through the void of space with their whole dang planet to find a new one. Unfortunately for Earth, rather than one of the presumably many uninhabited stars in the galaxy the Antarenes have chosen Earth’s orbit as the coziest place to pull up their planet, and the Earth is just going to have to move out of the way (and into the Sun), whether they like it or not. Fortunately for Earth, Marvo 1￮2 Go+ is on the case and Antar is rerouted back out of the Solar System to find somewhere elese to park.

    One small detail that I appreciate about the Antarenes: as a society that seems to mimic the eusocial nature of our world’s ants they of course have a Queen but we never see her, for the simple reason that she is way too important to let two weird randos just rock up and meet with her. (Superworld Comics 003, 1940)

    the Ants:

    Captain Tornado, along with Professor Bordani and his daughter Jane, are stranded on the extrasolar planet Barrang. They meet and shoot a variety of intelligent aliens while there, the first of which are these giant alien ants, who don’t figure too heavily into the plot but who do engage in intraspecies warfare and melon farming. (Popular Comics 046, 1939)

  • ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 004

    ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 004

    Now’s the time that we start pulling aliens from the vaults! So look out for a lot of A-names for the next while! Not the first one though, because something has to come up organically.

    Crillionites:

    Hailing from the planet Crillon (which boasts the majestic Crillion City, natch), the Crillionites are a caste-based society in which the Lords of Crillon (like from the title of the comic!) rule over a slave population via some sort of divine right. This societal order is threatened by Professor Wendall Keene and his crew of space explorers: Hugh, Celeste, and the also-titular Ken Craig, but whether this is due to some innate sense of justice on their part or for some other reason is never quite spelled out in their one extant appearance, as things start in media res and Mort Cowen there presumably thought he could go back and explain what was going on a bit later. No dice, Mort. (Circus, the Comics Riot 001, 1938)

    the Ancient Ones: 

    It’s that old staple of adventure, the ancient hidden civilization! Not all of them are different enough from regular humanity to qualify as an Alien and So Forth, but I reckon a society of prehistoric Antarcticans who retreated underground when the ice crept across their lands and have indefinite lifespans must surely count. The Ancient Ones are kind of boringly benevolent, but they do have a lot of gold, which inspires hero Rocky Ryan’s crew to mutiny and thus provides a bit of excitement.

    This also allows the Ancient Ones to show off their somewhat ghoulish hobby: collecting gold-hungry adventurers in suspended animation. Or possibly practicing human taxidermy. (Big Shot Comics 009, 1940)

    Antarenes: 

    The Antarenes, inhabitants of the planet Antar, have a problem: their sun has gone out. Their solution? Head underground and set out through the void of space with their whole dang planet to find a new one. Unfortunately for Earth, rather than one of the presumably many uninhabited stars in the galaxy the Antarenes have chosen Earth’s orbit as the coziest place to pull up their planet, and the Earth is just going to have to move out of the way (and into the Sun), whether they like it or not. Fortunately for Earth, Marvo 1￮2 Go+ is on the case and Antar is rerouted back out of the Solar System to find somewhere elese to park.

    One small detail that I appreciate about the Antarenes: as a society that seems to mimic the eusocial nature of our world’s ants they of course have a Queen but we never see her, for the simple reason that she is way too important to let two weird randos just rock up and meet with her. (Superworld Comics 003, 1940)

    the Ants:

    Captain Tornado, along with Professor Bordani and his daughter Jane, are stranded on the extrasolar planet Barrang. They meet and shoot a variety of intelligent aliens while there, the first of which are these giant alien ants, who don’t figure too heavily into the plot but who do engage in intraspecies warfare and melon farming. (Popular Comics 046, 1939)

  • ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 003

    It’s time for round three of all the various aliens encountered by Spacehawk in his crusade for justice in the year 1940!

    Neptunian Dog-Men, Plutonians, Jovians, Lunarians: 

    This gang of space pirates that Spacehawk and his pal Galar beat up are described as “screaming, bloodthirsty Neptunians, Plutonians and Jovians” and this is somewhat vexing because they are an extremely heterogeneous bunch who absolutely come in more than three distinct styles, but I reckon that we can do it. The Neptunians are described in a couple of places as “Neptunian Dog-Men” so let’s say that they make up the bulk of the group, the light orange ones. With the exception of the camel-faced guys lugging hoses in the first panel above – they seem distinct and arbitrarily reading left to right I’m going to say that they are Plutonians, which means that all of the green lizardy guys are by default Jovians, even the one with tentacles.

    The pirate captain is the Lunarian, and I have to say that I am a big fan of his segmented arms and big ears, but not so much of his attitude. (Target Comics v1 011, 1940)

    Uranians: 

    We only encounter the Uranians as represented by the evil denizens of a pirate city for jerks, so their horrible rat-man personas are really emphasized. It’s entirely probable that there is a pleasant city full of nice rat men who do arts and crafts on the other side of the planet. (Target Comics v1 010, 1940)

    Vulture Men:

    Really enjoy the look of the Vulture Men, who come from a far distant star to skeletonize people and steal our planet. They’ve got bird legs for arms!

    They also appear to not have an articulated jaw, as seen when they themselves are skeletonized as an ironic punishment by Spacehawk. How do they eat? Nobody knows! (Target Comics v1 008, 1940)

    Spacehawk’s Species: 

    As revealed in the Galar entry of the recent Minor Super-Hero Round-Up, he and Spacehawk are both members of a human-appearing alien race from somewhere outside our solar system. Not much is known about this species: they have some degree of super strength as compared to humans, they can communicate telepathically and their lifespans are long enough that Galar and Spacehawk, having not seen one another for six hundred years, catch up like two old high school friends now in their thirties. (Target Comics v1 011, 1940)

    Mentioned but Unseen: 

    the Savage Snake Men of Planet Hogo (Target Comics v1 011, 1940)

  • MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 051

    It’s Day Three of Round-Up Week here at the Curse of Skeleton Munroe. 

    **UPDATE** the White Streak:

    Novelty Press is back at it again, exercising their compulsion to tone down the “fantastic” in their comic book stories. The White Streak has gotten a job as an FBI agent, and so he gets plastic surgery in order to make his inhuman face into that of a square-jawed white guy. Now instead of being the utterly fantastical ancient android in a bright costume running around blasting people with electron vision and zooming through the skies on an electric ladder, he’s… the same thing but he looks like a normal guy. Plus he tries to limit his power usage so as to stay inconspicuous, so he sticks to x-ray vision and electrified punches. Very realistic stuff. 

    If this move was in the cards for the White Streak, this might also be the explanation we were looking for for why Dr Simms went off the rails and blew up his entire life as Dr Death: it was a good old-fashioned slash-and-burn of a comic book’s supporting cast before a change to the status quo. Feels like I’m in the Nineties again! (Target Comics v1 010, 1940)

    Galar: 

    A childhood friend of Spacehawk’s from the same near-human species as him, Galar is turned from his six hundred year-long career as a space pirate by the intervention of his old friend and sent out into the galaxy to act as the protector of some random solar system, which it turns out is the reason that Spacehawk is protecting our solar system: he just arbitrarily chose it. (Target Comics v1 011, 1940)

    the Stratosphere Patrol: 

    Speaking of Spacehawk, here’s “Spacehawks,” a Basil Wolverton strip that didn’t really get the room to shine before its home comic was given the axe. While “stratosphere” in the context of 1940s comics is often a flowery way to describe everything up to and including interplanetary space, the meaning here is quite literal: Steve Grover and Bart Bixby and their colleagues are charged with policing the vast array of air traffic that is constantly whizzing around in the near-future, and their greatest challenge occurs when they encounter an evil scientist who can go into the upper, upper atmosphere! Heady stuff. (Circus, the Comics Riot 001, 1938)

    the Ghost Rider: 

    There are a seemingly infinite number of masked cowboy vigilantes roaming the various Wests of assorted comic book universes, and the Ghost Rider is one of them. In his one recorded adventure he stops the wretched gambler and crime boss of the town of Last Chance, Poker Slade, from murdering miner Robert Burton and his daughter Rose and stealing their gold claim. Also, though it’s not particularly visible in the image above, this particular Ghost Rider is the only one to have a mustache.

    As always, there are no new super-hero names under the sun, and “Ghost Rider” might just be one of the ones to unexpectedly crop up the most times. (Amazing Mystery Funnies v2 004, 1939)

  • MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 051

    It’s Day Three of Round-Up Week here at the Curse of Skeleton Munroe. 

    **UPDATE** the White Streak:

    Novelty Press is back at it again, exercising their compulsion to tone down the “fantastic” in their comic book stories. The White Streak has gotten a job as an FBI agent, and so he gets plastic surgery in order to make his inhuman face into that of a square-jawed white guy. Now instead of being the utterly fantastical ancient android in a bright costume running around blasting people with electron vision and zooming through the skies on an electric ladder, he’s… the same thing but he looks like a normal guy. Plus he tries to limit his power usage so as to stay inconspicuous, so he sticks to x-ray vision and electrified punches. Very realistic stuff. 

    If this move was in the cards for the White Streak, this might also be the explanation we were looking for for why Dr Simms went off the rails and blew up his entire life as Dr Death: it was a good old-fashioned slash-and-burn of a comic book’s supporting cast before a change to the status quo. Feels like I’m in the Nineties again! (Target Comics v1 010, 1940)

    Galar: 

    A childhood friend of Spacehawk’s from the same near-human species as him, Galar is turned from his six hundred year-long career as a space pirate by the intervention of his old friend and sent out into the galaxy to act as the protector of some random solar system, which it turns out is the reason that Spacehawk is protecting our solar system: he just arbitrarily chose it. (Target Comics v1 011, 1940)

    the Stratosphere Patrol: 

    Speaking of Spacehawk, here’s “Spacehawks,” a Basil Wolverton strip that didn’t really get the room to shine before its home comic was given the axe. While “stratosphere” in the context of 1940s comics is often a flowery way to describe everything up to and including interplanetary space, the meaning here is quite literal: Steve Grover and Bart Bixby and their colleagues are charged with policing the vast array of air traffic that is constantly whizzing around in the near-future, and their greatest challenge occurs when they encounter an evil scientist who can go into the upper, upper atmosphere! Heady stuff. (Circus, the Comics Riot 001, 1938)

    the Ghost Rider: 

    There are a seemingly infinite number of masked cowboy vigilantes roaming the various Wests of assorted comic book universes, and the Ghost Rider is one of them. In his one recorded adventure he stops the wretched gambler and crime boss of the town of Last Chance, Poker Slade, from murdering miner Robert Burton and his daughter Rose and stealing their gold claim. Also, though it’s not particularly visible in the image above, this particular Ghost Rider is the only one to have a mustache.

    As always, there are no new super-hero names under the sun, and “Ghost Rider” might just be one of the ones to unexpectedly crop up the most times. (Amazing Mystery Funnies v2 004, 1939)

  • ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 002

    It’s back-to-back round-ups this week!

    Moon People: 

    Spacehawk seems to make friends easily, and wherever there is an evil alien space menace he must battle there is seemingly a friendly alien species nearby to help out. In this case, the space menace is on the Moon, and the friendly folk are the Moon People or Moon Men, barrel-chested fellows with the faces of cartoon mice. I like them, even if their eyes do freak me out. (Target Comics v1 008, 1940)

    Neptunians:

    This unfortunate Neptunian space pilot has the misfortune to be the first target of Jark and Zorg and so the only state we see his species in is hapless fear. I kept wondering what I found so appealing about this design but then I realized that it reminded me of Earthworm Jim and all was well.(Target Comics v1 007, 1940)

    Saturnians:

    Given the Wolvertonian trend toward species with a lot of physical variation in their populations my instinct is to try to see how the melty-faced Saturnians in the first panel above and the worried green fellow on the right hand side of the second panel (pictured with two hapless and fearful Neptunians) are part of the same species. It’s a real stretch, I must admit. (Target Comics v1 006 & 007, 1940)

    Plutonians: 

    Love these little toad-faced Plutonian space cops. Really wish that they were running around the whole story, making that face the whole time, but they stupidly chase a fleeing suspect into a pirate city and get absolutely annihilated. Captain Dakk there is the only one who makes it and even he would be toast is his friend Spacehawk hadn’t placed his brain in an alien dinosaur. (Target Comics v1 010, 1940)

  • ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 002

    It’s back-to-back round-ups this week!

    Moon People: 

    Spacehawk seems to make friends easily, and wherever there is an evil alien space menace he must battle there is seemingly a friendly alien species nearby to help out. In this case, the space menace is on the Moon, and the friendly folk are the Moon People or Moon Men, barrel-chested fellows with the faces of cartoon mice. I like them, even if their eyes do freak me out. (Target Comics v1 008, 1940)

    Neptunians:

    This unfortunate Neptunian space pilot has the misfortune to be the first target of Jark and Zorg and so the only state we see his species in is hapless fear. I kept wondering what I found so appealing about this design but then I realized that it reminded me of Earthworm Jim and all was well.(Target Comics v1 007, 1940)

    Saturnians:

    Given the Wolvertonian trend toward species with a lot of physical variation in their populations my instinct is to try to see how the melty-faced Saturnians in the first panel above and the worried green fellow on the right hand side of the second panel (pictured with two hapless and fearful Neptunians) are part of the same species. It’s a real stretch, I must admit. (Target Comics v1 006 & 007, 1940)

    Plutonians: 

    Love these little toad-faced Plutonian space cops. Really wish that they were running around the whole story, making that face the whole time, but they stupidly chase a fleeing suspect into a pirate city and get absolutely annihilated. Captain Dakk there is the only one who makes it and even he would be toast is his friend Spacehawk hadn’t placed his brain in an alien dinosaur. (Target Comics v1 010, 1940)

  • ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 001

    ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 001

    I’ve highlighted some particular aliens before but what is this blog but an exercise in making note of every dang thing I come across. And so: aliens! We’re going to stick to our old familiar way of dealing with things that will have a lot of examples with little info: the round-up, and since I’ve been reading Target Comics recently, we’ll be seeing all of the alien weirdos that Basil Wolverton designed for Spacehawk to encounter! As time goes on we’ll see some of the (checks files) nearly 900 alien species I have catalogued in a dusty old spreadsheet, as well as any new ones who might come our way.

    Bat-Men:

    Spacehawk encounters this solitary Bat-Man in the giant ant tunnels that riddle the crust of Neptune, and he just wants the danged Martian pirates who have been making their lair nearby to clear out and stop being such bad neighbours. I really appreciate the 1940s “didn’t bother to check out what a bat wing looks like” wings, which can be totally justified because, hey, this is an alien! Why would it have the same kind of wings anyway? (Target Comics v1 005, 1940)

    Martians:

    And speaking of those Martians: here they are. As you can see, the Martians in Wolverton’s Spacehawk stories have a fair amount of different facial lumps and bumps, but they all have droopy little ears and noodly tentacle arms. (Target Comics v1 005, 009 x2, 011, 1940)

    Mercurians:

    I said it before in the Grebo entry but the point still stands: I really appreciate this glimpse of “men of all the nations of Mercury” that shows that there is just an incredible amount of phenotypic diversity in the Mercurian genome, covering every humanoid alien look from lizard-man through pink and lumpy to weird little imp. (Target Comics v1 006, 1940)

    Draxions:  

    The Mercurian tendency toward genetic diversity finds its ultimate expression in the Draxions, who moved to Venus after a disastrous war and managed to become water-breathing fish-men over the course of a couple of hundred years merely by hanging around a lake enough. Luckily for them, Spacehawk is on hand to help them out with a bit of superscience when they decide that living in a lake isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. (Target Comics v1 006, 1940)