The Curse of Skeleton Munroe

Category: Flame

  • CATALOGUE OF WOUNDS 014

    I’ve finally caught up on all the backlogged wounds! Only new wounds for the catalogue going forward.

    the Dart:

    The Dart has come all the way from Ancient Rome to the present day (1940) only to be shot in the left arm. (Weird Comics 006, 1940)

    Doc Strange:

    Though the text box says that Doc Strange is “riddled with bullets” in this exchange, the subsequent first aid suggests that his left arm bore the brunt of the damage. (Thrilling Comics 001, 1940)

    the Falcon:

    The Falcon gets a classic head creasing. (Human Torch v1 002, 1940)

    Ferret:

    Despite the fact that these crooks manage to capture Ferret and force him to remove his bulletproof vest, they not only then choose to shoot him in the head but fail to actually shoot him in the head fatally and instead do a classic skull crease. (Marvel Mystery Comics v1 008, 1940)

    the Flame:

    The Flame gets in on the classic skull crease game. (Wonderworld Comics 018, 1940)

    the Masked Rider:

    Not to be left out, the Masked Raider sustains a head crease, classic. (Startling Comics 001, 1940)

    And again a few issues later. (Startling Comics 004, 1940)

    the Spirit:

    The Spirit (who I’m sure will be a frequent visitor to the Catalogue of Wounds) is shot in the left shoulder by Dr Cobra. (Spirit Section, June 9, 1940)

    A few months later: shot in the right shoulder. (The Spirit Section, September 22, 1940) 

    And a few months after that, the right shoulder again, this time by the Black Queen. (The Spirit Section, November 10, 1940)

    Thor, God of Thunder:

    Thor’s alter identity of Grant Farrel is shot in the back, wounding him badly enough that it takes weeks for him to recover. (Weird Comics 003, 1940)

    Yarko the Great:

    Even Yarko’s great magic cannot save him from occasionally being shot in the right arm. (Wonderworld Comics 004, 1940)

  • CATALOGUE OF WOUNDS 014

    I’ve finally caught up on all the backlogged wounds! Only new wounds for the catalogue going forward.

    the Dart:

    The Dart has come all the way from Ancient Rome to the present day (1940) only to be shot in the left arm. (Weird Comics 006, 1940)

    Doc Strange:

    Though the text box says that Doc Strange is “riddled with bullets” in this exchange, the subsequent first aid suggests that his left arm bore the brunt of the damage. (Thrilling Comics 001, 1940)

    the Falcon:

    The Falcon gets a classic head creasing. (Human Torch v1 002, 1940)

    Ferret:

    Despite the fact that these crooks manage to capture Ferret and force him to remove his bulletproof vest, they not only then choose to shoot him in the head but fail to actually shoot him in the head fatally and instead do a classic skull crease. (Marvel Mystery Comics v1 008, 1940)

    the Flame:

    The Flame gets in on the classic skull crease game. (Wonderworld Comics 018, 1940)

    the Masked Rider:

    Not to be left out, the Masked Raider sustains a head crease, classic. (Startling Comics 001, 1940)

    And again a few issues later. (Startling Comics 004, 1940)

    the Spirit:

    The Spirit (who I’m sure will be a frequent visitor to the Catalogue of Wounds) is shot in the left shoulder by Dr Cobra. (Spirit Section, June 9, 1940)

    A few months later: shot in the right shoulder. (The Spirit Section, September 22, 1940) 

    And a few months after that, the right shoulder again, this time by the Black Queen. (The Spirit Section, November 10, 1940)

    Thor, God of Thunder:

    Thor’s alter identity of Grant Farrel is shot in the back, wounding him badly enough that it takes weeks for him to recover. (Weird Comics 003, 1940)

    Yarko the Great:

    Even Yarko’s great magic cannot save him from occasionally being shot in the right arm. (Wonderworld Comics 004, 1940)

  • FASCIST GOON CLEARING HOUSE 015

    If there’s one thing I know it’s that the world has a seemingly-inexhaustible supply of odious little fascist worms.

    the All-American League:

    The All-American League is nothing so exciting as your Nazi spies trying to poison the reservoir or prevent and/or encourage the US entrance into WWII. Instead, they are the more banal type of fascism that is popular nowadays, in which patriotism is weaponized as a way to enrich and empower a few petty men (yes, yes that’s what the Axis was too but they killed a lot of people while doing it so we hold them in higher esteem). The Flame is more than a match for a collection of small-minded opportunists.

    Please note that this is the one and only adventure in which the Flame is said to live in a place called Metropolis before someone presumably thought better of it, and that it features an ethnic neighbourhood with the hilariously on-the-nose name of “Foreign Town.” (The Flame 007, 1941)

    the Nazi Bund:

    This is our second instance of a group called the Nazi Bund and as the other one occurred in Fantastic Comics I would be tempted to posit that it represents a rare connection between two Fox Features titles. Not a strong connection, as this particular branch is completely annihilated by the Green Mask, just as that other was by Samson. (Green Mask v1 005, 1941)

    the Yellow-Jackets:

    Though the Yellow-Jackets, the recurring foes of America’s Air Ace Bill Barnes, are described as a kind of freelance band of international bandit spies, in practice they are just another bunch of Nazis-by-another-name. It’s a good name, though. Menacing. (Shadow Comics v1 002, 1940)

    Unnamed Saboteurs:

    This band of Nazi saboteurs are not the most distinguished but also not the least. Their big plan involves starting a forest fire outside of the war production centre of Brownstown and then burning down the town itself while everyone is out fighting the first blaze. Not a bad plan, if doomed to failure because of the presence of human fire extinguisher Fire-Man, but what really sets these guys apart is their weird cloth masks that sport one big central lens to see out of. These are not given any sort of narrative justification, so one must presume that they are worn solely to look cool. (Man of War Comics 001, 1941)

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 978: THE BLACK LEGION

    (The Flame 007, 1941)

    The Black Legion is a mysterious cult who recruit members by sending them a sternly-worded letter through the mail. Presumably they have some way of researching their potential inductees to screen for susceptibility to peer pressure and so forth, because the initiation process involves carving a large letter D into your own chest while swearing fealty to the cult’s leader, the skull-masked Master of Death.

    The Black Legion takes its vows seriously, as member Graves finds when he tries to leave and is brutally murdered. Even Linda Dale, the niece of Black Legion co-leader Emma Dale, is almost killed when she asks a few too many questions about the secret ceremonies taking place in her basement on a regular basis. Lucky for her, then, that she has just become a member of the Flame’s supporting cast, as has Pug, the newest prospective member of the cult.

    So just what is the deal with the Black Legion? What ethos they espouse or dark deity they serve? What, in short, is the point of all this? As the Flame learns after busting the place up, it’s all a huge scam. Emma Dale and the Master of Death have been recruiting gullible fools to the organization and then pocketing the mandatory membership fees, and making even more money off of sales of the mandatory green velour robes. It’s a shocking indictment of the state of comic book cults.

    Categorized in: Colours (Black), Fraud (Con Artists), Misc (Cults)

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 977: THE HOODED MEN

    MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 977: THE HOODED MEN

    (The Flame 006, 1941)

    The Hooded Men are a cult of Tibetan fire worshippers who show up one day and kidnap the daughter of the Flame’s friend Doctor Roy. This is a huge coincidence, as the Flame (as I’m sure you all remember) is also a member of a sect of Tibetan fire worshippers! How lucky for Doctor Roy and his child, No First Name Given!

    The Flame is able to follow the cult back to Tibet thanks to the fact that he, like they, can teleport himself through fire. Once there, he engages them in thrilling hand-to-hand combat and sends them all plummeting to the bottom of a cliff to explode, and while history tells us that attempting to settle which religion is best through violent conflict is a net negative proposition there is something very satisfying about this in a strict Fire Worshippers Power Ranking kind of way.

    So just why did the Hooded Men show up to steal Nameless Girlchild Roy anyway? Turns out that the Hooded Men offered Dr Roy shelter while he was backpacking around Asia in his youth and he had to promise that they could have his firstborn child in order to not be sacrificed himself, and he subsequently just… failed to mention this to either the child in question or his good friend who might be able to offer some crucial insight. Father of the year, folks.

    Categorized in: Misc (Cults), Origin (Ancient Tradition Followers), Powers (Elemental Teleportation)

  • MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 097

    It’s astonishing. They just keep on coming up with more super-heroes.

    the Flame **UPDATE**:

    Like many other long-running Fox Features characters, the Flame gets a bit of an overhaul late in 1941. In the Flame’s case, this includes an expansion to his powers: long able to get around by running on the stream of fire produced by his flame gun, the Flame is now simply able to fly. He can also now pick up and move fire around, as seen in this very innovative bit of fire-fighting in The Flame 006.

    The Flame also gets a proper secret identity (Gary Preston) and a job (private investigator) as a part of this revamp. And he gets a supporting cast, in the form of secretary Linda Dale and punch drunk ex-boxer/assistant/comic relief character Pug! (The Flame 007, 1941)

    Finally, though the Flame was explicitly a NYC-based super-hero in his earliest experiences, his 1940-41 adventures frequently have the liminal feel of the many stories set in generic unnamed US cities. In one of his very final appearances, he gets a proper fictional burg to call his own: Big City. (Big 3 006, 1941)

    the Yank and the Rebel:

    I think I’ve occasionally mentioned the inherent ridiculousness of the concepts behind many if not all patriotic super-heroes – it’s something that really jumps out at you as you read through as many Golden Age comics as I have. Please believe me, then, when I say that the Yank and the Rebel are the most conceptually ludicrous patriotic heroes of the lot, and I will be thoroughly (and probably not pleasantly) surprised if I’m ever proven wrong.

    As might be surmised from their names, the Yank and the Rebel are two otherwise unidentified soldiers who are on opposite sides during the American Civil War. While locked in hand-to-hand-to-gun combat, the two fall into a fissure opened by the artillery bombardments at the Battle of Gettysburg, landing next to a convenient radioactive pool that holds them in a state of suspended animation for the next seventy-eight years.

    The duo are eventually awakened when Army manoeuvres re-open the cavern, and they resume their battle until a helpful general explains that the American Civil War ended in some sort of peaceful draw, that nobody really “lost” or “won” the war and that the North and the South are all totally cool with one another now. So why did he put so much spin on history? Probably for the same notion of national unity in the face of war that inspired the people at Fox Features to do so.

    Regardless of the reasoning behind them, the officer’s words inspire a new spirit of patriotism and cooperation in the Yank and the Rebel, and the two team up to hunt spies and saboteurs for two whole adventures before evaporating in the Fox Features financial crisis of 1942. In what is certain to be a massive surprise to nobody, no modern publisher has taken advantage of the fact that these fellows are in the public domain. (The Flame 007, 1941)

    Categorized in: Locations (Specific Places), Origin (Patriotic Heroes), Team Membership (Confederate Army, Union Army) 

    Vulcan **UPDATE**:

    Taking a cue from the Flame, fellow fire-themed hero Vulcan gets a slight expansion to his powers in 1941: he can now create and use flame constructs such as this cool sword. (Four Favorites 001, 1941) 

    It’s not all good news for our favourite demigod, howver, as 1941 is also the year that Vulcan is given a weakness to cold. (Four Favorites 002, 1941)

    Lash Lightning **UPDATE**:

    Lash Lightning gives blood to injured army private Tom Jasper, who immediately develops mild superhumanism in the form of increased muscle mass and vigour. This is especially notable because it really is the ultimate expression of the writers on this feature forgetting that Lash’s powers are derived from a magical amulet and not from his own body. Sad times. (Four Favorites 002, 1941)

  • MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 097

    It’s astonishing. They just keep on coming up with more super-heroes.

    the Flame **UPDATE**:

    Like many other long-running Fox Features characters, the Flame gets a bit of an overhaul late in 1941. In the Flame’s case, this includes an expansion to his powers: long able to get around by running on the stream of fire produced by his flame gun, the Flame is now simply able to fly. He can also now pick up and move fire around, as seen in this very innovative bit of fire-fighting in The Flame 006.

    The Flame also gets a proper secret identity (Gary Preston) and a job (private investigator) as a part of this revamp. And he gets a supporting cast, in the form of secretary Linda Dale and punch drunk ex-boxer/assistant/comic relief character Pug! (The Flame 007, 1941)

    Finally, though the Flame was explicitly a NYC-based super-hero in his earliest experiences, his 1940-41 adventures frequently have the liminal feel of the many stories set in generic unnamed US cities. In one of his very final appearances, he gets a proper fictional burg to call his own: Big City. (Big 3 006, 1941)

    the Yank and the Rebel:

    I think I’ve occasionally mentioned the inherent ridiculousness of the concepts behind many if not all patriotic super-heroes – it’s something that really jumps out at you as you read through as many Golden Age comics as I have. Please believe me, then, when I say that the Yank and the Rebel are the most conceptually ludicrous patriotic heroes of the lot, and I will be thoroughly (and probably not pleasantly) surprised if I’m ever proven wrong.

    As might be surmised from their names, the Yank and the Rebel are two otherwise unidentified soldiers who are on opposite sides during the American Civil War. While locked in hand-to-hand-to-gun combat, the two fall into a fissure opened by the artillery bombardments at the Battle of Gettysburg, landing next to a convenient radioactive pool that holds them in a state of suspended animation for the next seventy-eight years.

    The duo are eventually awakened when Army manoeuvres re-open the cavern, and they resume their battle until a helpful general explains that the American Civil War ended in some sort of peaceful draw, that nobody really “lost” or “won” the war and that the North and the South are all totally cool with one another now. So why did he put so much spin on history? Probably for the same notion of national unity in the face of war that inspired the people at Fox Features to do so.

    Regardless of the reasoning behind them, the officer’s words inspire a new spirit of patriotism and cooperation in the Yank and the Rebel, and the two team up to hunt spies and saboteurs for two whole adventures before evaporating in the Fox Features financial crisis of 1942. In what is certain to be a massive surprise to nobody, no modern publisher has taken advantage of the fact that these fellows are in the public domain. (The Flame 007, 1941)

    Categorized in: Locations (Specific Places), Origin (Patriotic Heroes), Team Membership (Confederate Army, Union Army) 

    Vulcan **UPDATE**:

    Taking a cue from the Flame, fellow fire-themed hero Vulcan gets a slight expansion to his powers in 1941: he can now create and use flame constructs such as this cool sword. (Four Favorites 001, 1941) 

    It’s not all good news for our favourite demigod, howver, as 1941 is also the year that Vulcan is given a weakness to cold. (Four Favorites 002, 1941)

    Lash Lightning **UPDATE**:

    Lash Lightning gives blood to injured army private Tom Jasper, who immediately develops mild superhumanism in the form of increased muscle mass and vigour. This is especially notable because it really is the ultimate expression of the writers on this feature forgetting that Lash’s powers are derived from a magical amulet and not from his own body. Sad times. (Four Favorites 002, 1941)

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 976: DOCTOR DROOL

    (The Flame 004, 1941)

    Doctor Drool* is a medical doctor who was recently executed for an unspecified crime. He has, however, planned for this eventuality, and his assistant Scully is on-hand to collect him from his mausoleum at the earliest opportunity so that he can administer a revivification treatment to him. Thus restored, Doctor Drool swears revenge on the Judge, District Attorney and jury who convicted him, a fourteen-person death list that would eventually grow to include the Flame as number fifteen.

    Doctor Drool’s real distinction is that his story is serialized over three issues, namely The Flame 004 and 005 and Big 3 003. Sadly, this is not the bold departure from the rapidly-solidifying episodic formula that it could be.

    *his actual surname. Heavy contender for the worst name in comics. 

    Perhaps the best aspect of this extended story is the fact that Drool is able to make many more on-panel attempts at revenge than is typical. This really drives home the terror of the situation for his victims, particularly given his method of murder: sending threatening notes, etc to drive them into a frenzy of fear and then firing a gun loaded with blanks at them to incite a heart attack (a method of murder not without its risks, as two strong-hearted jurists do survive). Please also note the signature on the notes is a stylized representation of Drool’s own tombstone.

    The repetition doesn’t work quite as well in all aspects of the story, alas. For instance: the Flame knows that Drool is operating out of his old home (the unnervingly-named Drool Mansion) though he cannot find his secret lab for most of the story. This leads to him searching the place on five separate occasions, and on three of those he falls for the same trick in which Drool has set up a dummy of himself that sets off a deathtrap when the Flame attacks it.

    (that said, there is a charming bit in which the Flame finds two mice in the mansion’s cellar on his first visit there and reports on the status of their growing family every time he revisits the place, until Drool Mansion is finally destroyed and the now eight-strong mouse family move house en mass. There’s also a recurring bit in which the Flame scares a pair of cemetery workers that is not quite as charming but still fun)

    After maybe a month in-comic, Drool is eventually stopped after he falls off of a building and ironically dies of fright despite being caught by the Flame before he could hit the ground. And since the police never really believed that Doctor Drool was behind the killings, the Flame just tosses him back into his coffin as if he had never went on a killing spree at all. I reckon that there is a pretty high chance that he would’ve been brought back again at least one more time if the next issue didn’t mark the start of the New Look Flame under a different creative team. Scully is still at large, after all, and we never learn where those mice end up!

    JUDGE AND JURY REVENGE KILLER SCORE: 5/15

    Categorized in: Accessories (Calling Cards), Doctors and Professors, Origin (Faked Own Death)

  • CATALOGUE OF WOUNDS 010

    CATALOGUE OF WOUNDS 010

    I’m beginning to think that the super-hero scene is pretty hazardous.

    the Blue Bolt: 

    The Blue Bolt’s first outing against the Green Sorceress is marred by the fact that he gets near-fatally clawed by her vulturoid monsters. (Blue Bolt v1 001, 1940)

    the Cloak: 

    Jeff Cardiff, aka the Spy-Master, aka the Spay-Chief and the future Cloak, gets a classic skull crease. On purpose! This is the way that that goon chose to knock him out! Such confidence! (Big Shot 002, 1940)

    Jeff’s choice to adopt the Cloak identity comes after his identity as a government man gets around and enemy agents start gunning for him. Specifically, they gun him in the left shoulder. Twice! (Big Shot 015, 1941)

    Being a costumed super-hero is no guarantee that you won’t be shot, however, and Jeff gets his skull creased once more on his third outing as the Cloak. (Big Shot 018, 1941)

    the Flame:

    The Flame turns off his bullet-melting heat aura for just an instant to pick up a lady in need and gets his skull creased by a bullet. (The Flame 007, 1941)

    Phantasmo:

    Phantasmo is one of the last super-heroes who one would expect to get injured, seeing as how his whole deal is supposed to be sending out a huge, invulnerable astral form to fight crime. Nevertheless, he keeps on starting adventures in his very vulnerable human body, and so he inevitably gets shot in the left shoulder. (The Funnies 061, 1941)

    Skyman:

    Skyman dodges a bullet at close range – an impressive feat – but he still gets a bloody gash across his enormous chest. (Big Shot 003, 1940)

    Zanzibar the Magician:

    Zanzibar takes an arrow in the right shoulder courtesy of a dastardly Walrus Man. (Mystery Men Comics 005, 1939)

    A couple of years later but the same shoulder: Zanzibar is shot. (Mystery Men Comics 023, 1941)

     And what Golden Age super-hero goes very long without getting his head creased by a bullet? (The Flame 006, 1941)

  • FASCIST GOON CLEARING HOUSE 014

    Surely fascists will stop being such a problem eventually, right?

    the German Help Club:

    Probably the most straightforwardly cynical version of the German American Bund that we’ve seen so far, the German Help Club is simply a mass extortion scheme in which the German-American residents of NYC are forced to give up 15% of their earnings or see their relatives back in Germany be persecuted and jailed. Pat Patriot breaks them up with extreme prejudice. (Daredevil Comics 006, 1941)

    Gorilla-Suited Saboteurs: 

    This bunch of Nazis dress up in bulletproof gorilla suits in order to sabotage British operations in Uganda, but they are unable to contend with jungle adventurer ed Crane. (Exciting Comics 008, 1941)

    the Nazi Bund:

    The Nazi Bund is yet another riff on the German-American Bund as an actually impactful spy organization. Is Bund leader Fanz Mann a version of the real-life Bund leader Fritz Kuhn or just a Nazi with a generic German name? Hard to say, but in either case he gets smashed up by Samson. (Fantastic Comics 020, 1941)

    Herr Arson:

    Herr Arson runs one of those Fifth Column cells that gave 1940s comic book heroes so much trouble. He has three major claims to fame: 1) Herr Arson is a fantastic name for a Nazi saboteur, 2) Given that, the fact that, of four acts of sabotage he commits this issue, only one is arson is very funny.

    3) Herr Arson might just get the most killed that I have ever seen in a comic, as the Flame uses his flame gun to utterly vaporize him in the middle of the street. (The Flame 006, 1941)