The Curse of Skeleton Munroe

Category: Sally O’Neil

  • MEDIA IN COMICS 013

    Today in Media in Comics, we’re all about the Movies:

    Movie star Dawn O’Dare returns to her home town of Holtville to premiere her new picture Love Me Forever! but the whole affair is almost undone when her understudy attempts to impersonate her and make off with the theatrical take, only to in turn be foiled by local copy boy Hap Hazard. (Lightning Comics v2 004, 1941)

    Angry Waves, a sea epic, features a found footage action scene as one of the Strange Twins rescues the other from drowning. (Hit Comics 016, 1941)

    It’s time for our first movie titled Crime Doesn’t Pay, starring police officer Sally O’Neil and featuring a real on-screen murder. (National Comics 010, 1941)

    I fear that we will only be able to evaluate all of the Gone with the Wind parody titles once we have enough of then together to compare. That said, Flown with the Breeze, here about to be attended by Allan “the Hunchback” Lanier and date, has to be one of the more goofy of the bunch. (Wow Comics 002, 1941)

    This adaptation of Ivanhoe had a troubled production thanks to an on-set protection racket. It is also distinguished by the fact that its arms and armour consultant was Justin Arthur, aka the Shining Knight. (Adventure Comics 068, 1941)

    Jungle Justice, another troubled production due to on-set criminals, boasts its own heroic consultant in the person of Congo Bill. (Action Comics v1 042, 1941)

    Though Red River Days managed to get made without any notable hiccups, its premiere in the actual town of Red River is marred by organized crime. (Adventure Comics 060, 1941)

    Thrills of Africa, is a jungle movie that gives one crook the opportunity to dress up in a gorilla suit and rob the theatre it’s playing in after posing as a statue in the lobby for who knows how long. Also, his two pals are there in blackface.

    While chasing these problematic miscreants, Hourman passes a poster for The Count of… something. Perhaps Monte Cristo? Whatever it is, it must be printed real small, given the size of that poster. (All-Star Comics 006, 1941)

    During the Dummy’s tenure ans one of the Five Fingers of the Hand, he heads off to Hollywood to run a kidnapping scheme, and of course this ends up involving a whole plethora of movies. To begin, we have Aircraft Carrier, the premiere of which is ruined when star Rex Mason is seemingly turned to stone but actually spirited away.

    Six-Gun Serenade, a Western, features occasional Vigigilante sidekick Billy Gunn as an extra.

    While Vigilante is visiting Billy on-set, he gets involved in the latest kidnap attempt on the nearby set of sports film Touchdown Blues.

    The crooks’ getaway then takes then through the set of Bars and Stripes, which may or may not be a patriotic prison movie.

    Finally, the Dummy’s men are run to ground on the set of jungle picture Tropic Doom. (Leading Comics 001, 1941)

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 680: MADAMOISELLE MORGUE

    (National Comics 006, 1940)

    Madamoiselle Morgue is an interesting case, because technically she does not exist. I mean, technically none of the characters I write about here exist, but even within the fictional world within the story, she is a false person.

    See, Scar Celleni, big time New York gang boss, has decided that the key to success is to wage all-out war on the police and that the optimal first move in this war is to assassinate prominent police officer Sally O’Neil. Thankfully for Sally she is the protagonist of the strip and she is saved by the timely intervention of her police badge. Faking her death, Sally reinvents herself as French femme fatale Madamoiselle Morgue, with her three brothers and father serving as her gang of masked henchmen. Presumably non-speaking henchmen at that, as the O’Neil clan really put the Irish in “stereotypical Irish-American cops.”

    The Madamoiselle Morgue persona is not a particularly deep one, but it doesn’t really seem like it needs to be. Scar Celleni is more than willing to believe that his reputation precedes him to the extent that a domino-masked babe would come all the way from France to get in on his rackets.

    Would I describe the next part of the plan, in which Madamoiselle Morgue/ Sally O’Neil suggests that the combined gang rob a bank and then arrests everyone once they are inside, as entrapment? Yes, yes I would. It’s a really good gotcha moment, though.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 680: MADAMOISELLE MORGUE

    (National Comics 006, 1940)

    Madamoiselle Morgue is an interesting case, because technically she does not exist. I mean, technically none of the characters I write about here exist, but even within the fictional world within the story, she is a false person.

    See, Scar Celleni, big time New York gang boss, has decided that the key to success is to wage all-out war on the police and that the optimal first move in this war is to assassinate prominent police officer Sally O’Neil. Thankfully for Sally she is the protagonist of the strip and she is saved by the timely intervention of her police badge. Faking her death, Sally reinvents herself as French femme fatale Madamoiselle Morgue, with her three brothers and father serving as her gang of masked henchmen. Presumably non-speaking henchmen at that, as the O’Neil clan really put the Irish in “stereotypical Irish-American cops.”

    The Madamoiselle Morgue persona is not a particularly deep one, but it doesn’t really seem like it needs to be. Scar Celleni is more than willing to believe that his reputation precedes him to the extent that a domino-masked babe would come all the way from France to get in on his rackets.

    Would I describe the next part of the plan, in which Madamoiselle Morgue/ Sally O’Neil suggests that the combined gang rob a bank and then arrests everyone once they are inside, as entrapment? Yes, yes I would. It’s a really good gotcha moment, though.