The Curse of Skeleton Munroe

Category: Shark

  • CATALOGUE OF WOUNDS 009

    How can we have nice things if they keep getting so dinged up?

    the Black Terror:

    It might look like the Black Terror (‘s secret identity) is knocked out by falling down a flight of stairs onto his head, but according to him it was actually a bullet creasing the old skull that did the trick. (Exciting Comics 010, 1941)

    This is a tough one: the Black Terror is shot and nearly killed, and he kind of seems to be clutching his head but the gun is aimed at his torso as it fires. Guess we’ll file this under “shot, unspecified.” (Exciting Comics 012, 1941)

    the Black Fury:

    Shot in the left shoulder and tossed out of a moving car. (Fantastic Comics 020, 1941)

    Chuck:

    The Black Fury’s sidekick Chuck is shot in the ever-popular left shoulder and knocked clean off of a building by one of the Fang’s henchmen, but makes out okay nonetheless. (Fantastic Comics 019, 1941)

    Dr Hypno: 

    I never expected a fellow whose whole shtick is putting his mind into animal bodies to get mixed up in the action enough to take a wound, but here he is: poor ol’ Dr Hypno getting branded on the chest by a crook. (Amazing-Man Comics 018, 1940)

    the Mask:

    The Mask, in his civilian identity of District Attorney Tony Colby, joins the “skull creased by a bullet” club. EDIT: I wrote this without checking and it turns out that this is the second time that the Mask’s skull has been creased, so he was already a member of the club. My apologies. (Exciting Comics 011, 1941)

    Mighty Man:

    Mighty Man gets shot through the left shoulder. Considering his size at the time (enormous) he’s lucky that the guy didn’t score a headshot. (Amazing-Man Comics 014, 1940)

    the Shark:

    The Shark (temporarily weakened by the loss of his magic knife) gets whipped with belts by a bunch of jerk Nazis. (Amazing-Man Comics 011, 1940)

    A couple of issue later, the Shark gets stabbed in the gut by his own dang knife. Yes, the stab wound is swiftly turned back on his attacker by the weapon’s magic, but you can’t tell me that the Shark doesn’t get stabbed first. (Amazing-Man Comics 013, 1940)

    Super Ann:

    In one of Super Ann’s handful of adventures she gets a real one-two: a bullet-creased scalp followed by a near-drowning. (Amazing-Man Comics 025, 1941)

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 964: THE SHARK

    (The Face 001, 1941)

    “Sparky Watts” was a long-running comic feature in Big Shot Comics and other Columbia publications about the eponymous Sparky Watts, a down-on-his-luck young man whose life turns around when scientist Doc Static gives him super powers using his cosmic ray machine. Having started out as a comic strip, Watts’ adventures tend to hew closer to the comic adventurous rather than the super-heroic. Still, every once in a while he encounters a minor super-villain such as the Shark.

    The Shark is a crypto-fascist in the truest sense: he clearly started out as a Nazi and his men bear some of the visual tropes of Nazi spies, but between the bizarre formality of his speech (which mimics the mock-Japanese speech patterns of 1940s comics while also being distinct from them) and the names of his underlings (Flitoog, Saber, Egnog, Kabitz) which approach mock-German without really getting there, it all ends up being the mere suggestion of a smear of an Axis pastiche.

    The really important thing about the Shark is that he’s a shark weirdo. He looks like a shark, he loves sharks, he has shark-themed decor and he bites people’s throats out with his “shark-like teeth” or at least threatens to. It’s always a joy to see a true oddball find his groove, even if it’s as an evil fascist. But preferably not as an evil fascist.

    The Shark and his men have heard of Sparky’s remarkable strength and have set out to acquire it for themselves, and since Sparky isn’t really in this issue (he’s off playing baseball tow towns over) they don’t have much trouble roughing up his friends to get what they want.

    Doc Static, of course, neglects to tell them that absorbing an insufficient charge of cosmic rays means that the power is temporary, and that once the rays leave the human body it shrivels up and shrinks until it is smaller than a grain of sand. The fascists all turn on one another once they achieve any sort of power which occupies them until they shrivel, and then an over-zealous minion (who was not invited along to get super powers) seals the deal by crushing all of the “bugs.” The world is safe!

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 964: THE SHARK

    (The Face 001, 1941)

    “Sparky Watts” was a long-running comic feature in Big Shot Comics and other Columbia publications about the eponymous Sparky Watts, a down-on-his-luck young man whose life turns around when scientist Doc Static gives him super powers using his cosmic ray machine. Having started out as a comic strip, Watts’ adventures tend to hew closer to the comic adventurous rather than the super-heroic. Still, every once in a while he encounters a minor super-villain such as the Shark.

    The Shark is a crypto-fascist in the truest sense: he clearly started out as a Nazi and his men bear some of the visual tropes of Nazi spies, but between the bizarre formality of his speech (which mimics the mock-Japanese speech patterns of 1940s comics while also being distinct from them) and the names of his underlings (Flitoog, Saber, Egnog, Kabitz) which approach mock-German without really getting there, it all ends up being the mere suggestion of a smear of an Axis pastiche.

    The really important thing about the Shark is that he’s a shark weirdo. He looks like a shark, he loves sharks, he has shark-themed decor and he bites people’s throats out with his “shark-like teeth” or at least threatens to. It’s always a joy to see a true oddball find his groove, even if it’s as an evil fascist. But preferably not as an evil fascist.

    The Shark and his men have heard of Sparky’s remarkable strength and have set out to acquire it for themselves, and since Sparky isn’t really in this issue (he’s off playing baseball tow towns over) they don’t have much trouble roughing up his friends to get what they want.

    Doc Static, of course, neglects to tell them that absorbing an insufficient charge of cosmic rays means that the power is temporary, and that once the rays leave the human body it shrivels up and shrinks until it is smaller than a grain of sand. The fascists all turn on one another once they achieve any sort of power which occupies them until they shrivel, and then an over-zealous minion (who was not invited along to get super powers) seals the deal by crushing all of the “bugs.” The world is safe!

  • ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 038

    Where are we going to put all of these aliens? 

    Undergrounders: 

    I want to call these guys mole men who invade the surface world in the year 3050 CE, but looking at the battle scene and the remainder of this adventure I reckon that Abovegrounders of that particular future also look all bald and gangly. It’s a whole world of mole men! Science adventurer Captain Daring kills the Undergrounders’ underground Fuehrer and installs his own ladyfriend as the new Queen of the Underground, which has to be an improvement. (Daring Mystery Comics 007, 1941)

    Juno Men:

    These fellows hail from the planet Juno and are invading the Earth of the far future of the year 3000. We don’t really learn any more than this because we are seeing these events play out from the persepctive of a time-travelling Minimidget and Ritty, and so not only are they without context but they are too small to ask a passerby to explain just what the heck is happening. They are driven off with what I would call embarrassing ease. (Amazing-Man Comics 014, 1940)

    Followers of Elo: 

    Underwater adventurer the Shark is possibly my favourite Centaur Comics character, because he spends a lot of his time palling around with his dad, Father Neptune. A little-explored aspect of this father-son relationship is that it is part of a Phantom-like generational super-hero legacy, with each Shark serving for 500 years before becoming Father Neptune and passing his legacy on to his son. One of the few times that this arrangement is explored is in Amazing-Man Comics 014, when Father Neptune tells the story of how he served on a pirate crew for a while back when he was the Shark, and how in 1664 his crewmates were all slaughtered in the name of the Great God Elo by some lumpy-headed green guys on an island off South America.

    Cut to 1940, and the Shark and Father Neptune decide that a trip to that same island would be a perfect father-son outing. They find that the Great God Elo has only two followers left, and that one of them is a capable enough scientist that he has developed super-hero strength sleep gas grenades. Father and son are swiftly taken prisoner.

    The unnamed scientist has also created an interplanetary teleportation device, which he employs to teleport in some…

    Martians: 

    Specifically, a pretty lucky first teleport brings him Prince Zog, son of Diggo, King of Mars. But just why bring Martians to Earth? We will never know, because Zog is a very rude warmonger and he has electric eyes. The tribe of Elo is down to its very last member and he has sensibly vacated the area.

    No aliens are going to invade the Earth on the Shark’s watch, and he KOs on after another as they pour out of the teleport beam, until a lucky punch sends one crashing into the equipment, wrecking it.

    Though the teleporter is no longer spewing out Martians, there are still a pile of knocked-out ones lying around. How to tie up this loose end? Why, have Father Neptune, who missed the fight due to still being knocked out, throw a bucket of water on them so that they will wake up and engage him in the manly art of fisticuffs, of course! And then make it so that Martians are water soluble! Gruesome! (Amazing-Man Comics 015, 1940)

  • REAL PERSON ROUND-UP 005

    REAL PERSON ROUND-UP 005

    You can’t deny that they were real people.

    Adolf Hitler:

    This unnamed leader of the unnamed forces that the Flying Trio are battling on behalf of the little nation of Sylvania is a real Hitlerian fellow (Crash Comics Adventures 005, 1940) 

    Amelia Earhart:

    Two variations on a theme: using the story of the disappearance of Amelia Earhart as fodder for a damsel-in-distress story. The first (Amazing-Man Comics 018, 1940) involves the Shark rescuing Amelia Reinhardt from an old man who has her trapped in the jungle in hopes that she will fall for him. The second (Big Shot Comics 019, 1941) features aviator Rocky Ryan and his pal rescuing Amy Every from cartoonishly racist cannibals.

    Captain Kidd:

    Crooks try to pull a fast one by purchasing Captain Kidd’s authentic treasure chest and then “discovering” it after filling it with stolen gold (Cyclone Comics 001, 1940)

    Ethan Allen: 

    The Liberty Lads are back at it, getting their grubby mitts all over the American Revolutionary War. This time they meet Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys on the eve of the capture of Fort Ticonderoga. (Champion Comics 009, 1940)

    John Hancock and Samuel Adams:

    More Liberty Lads shenanigans. This time they’re saving Samuel Adams and John Hancock from capture by the British, something that as far as I can tell almost happened in our timeline. (Champ Comics 011, 1940)  

    Joseph Stalin:

    “Nilats,” leader of “Aissur” is tracked to his office in “Wocsom” by Strongman, who objects to the Aissurans’ invasion of the Balkan country of Rutania (Crash Comics Adventures 003, 1940)

    Orson Welles:

    For a while, Orson Welles’ ‘War of the Worlds’ broadcast is used as a shorthand for a reason that the cops blithely ignore multiple calls about some fantastic threat, only they certainly never do more than allude to the real thing. This time it’s giant mutant ivy plants and the dumb police are talking about a broadcast by “Worsen Welds”. (Amazing-Man Comics 006, 1939)

    Saladin:

    Makes a one-panel appearance in the otherwise undistinguished Crusades comic “Reynard the Fox”. (Cyclone Comics 005, 1940)

    Tecumseh:

    Whether “Metumseh” is a stand-in for Shawnee leader Tecumseh or they just mushed around his name to make up one for this fellow I cannot say, but they were certainly thinking of him while they did it. (Champion Comics 010, 1940)

  • GENERIC COSTUMED VILLAIN ROUND-UP 010

    The thing is that they have some but not all of the attributes of a super-villain.

    A sea-raider who uses a stolen acid gun to build a psychically-controlled army of skeleton men? If only he had a name or had a bit more swagger! Alas for him the Shark puts him down before he could do enough to elevate himself out of this gathering of also-rans. (Amazing-Man Comics 021, 1941)

    This gang of guys dressed as mailmen don’t give the Blue Beetle much trouble even when wielding compressed air guns that fire explosive pellets. I admire the visual, though. (Big 3 005, 1941)

    The Scooby-Doo style “fake haunting to drive people away from treasure/natural resource/property” is of course super-villain adjacent, but there are so many instances of in comics that I tend to disregard them as generic criminality. This unnamed fellow, however… not only was he attempting to scare off a homeowner so that he could look for pirate treasure in her basement but he went and “I would have gotten away with it…” -ed at that meddling Marvelo, Monarch of Magicians. (Big Shot Comics 009, 1941)

    Just some nameless goons that take part in an usurpation attempt against Blue Bolt villain the Green Sorceress but they’re Jack Kirby goons so they look fantastic. (Blue Bolt v1 004, 1940)

  • MAD AND CRIMINAL SCIENTIST ROUND-UP 006

    It’s time for more mad and criminal scientists! Round ’em up!

    The fantastically-named Doctor Evecloud has a plan: shrink everyone else on the planet so that he, the only big person, will be in charge. As so often happens, one of his first guinea pigs is a super-hero, in this case the Shark. Things end poorly for Doctor Evecloud. (Amazing-Man Comics 016, 1940)

    This fellow is Dr Scowl and so far we’re sitting at 2/2 great scientist names. Dr Scowl is attempting to dissect Minimidget and Ritty to figure out how his late colleague got them so dang small and he’s not afraid to deploy a highly unsettling chimeric man to do so. (Amazing-Man Comics 025, 1941)

    Professor Zarr breaks the good name streak and it’s entirely in character, as he’s a guy who can’t catch a break: Samson and David bust up his radium-stealing gang, bust up his fortress lair and destroy his Z-Ray machine before he has a chance to even fire the thing. And to add insult to injury, he sets himself on fire while he’s trying to get his revenge. (Big 3 003, 1941)

    Later in the same issue, Samson and David head to Central America and spoil the plans of Dr Kalt, who seems to be Professor Zarr’s non-union equivalent, down to not getting to fire his solar disintegrator and blowing himself up with a grenade he was trying to throw at the heroes. (Big 3 003, 1941)

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 466: THE MAD-MAN

    (Amazing-Man Comics 010, 1940)

    I am heartbroken. 

    Here’s a bit of trivia: most of the 465 entries before this were written about characters in comics I had already read and if there was something in them that made me feel particularly strong emotions then I had had time to process it and mull it over. Going forward, however, we’re looking at a lot of comics that are brand new to me.

    In that spirit, I must admit: the first few pages of this Shark adventure had me. I was all in. A non-human villain? An octopus, no less? A well-drawn octopus?! Move over Robin because Cephalopoda the Murder Octopus was all set to be my sensational character find of 1940.

    I should have known that it was too good to be true when Cephalopoda and the Shark squared up on page 2. Rather than engage in Exciting Combat Between Demigod and Octopode, Cephalopoda flees into a crevice and when the Shark follows he is swept deep into the bowels of the Earth. And that’s it! That’s a wrap on Cephalopoda! Sadness reigns!

    The Shark wakes up in a cavern deep under the Earth and is subsequently gathered up by a weird sub-Earth goon (trivia: those weird Bart Simpson head lumps this guy has instead of hair are very unsettling to me) and taken to a cool walking building.

    There he meets the Mad-Man (unofficial name), who I would normally think was pretty neat: a psychic megalomaniac who came to the centre of the Earth (so-called) to capture the lumpy-headed folk who live there and use them to conquer the world, plus the same high pressure environment that makes the lumpy-heads so strong has also crunched down the Mad-Man into a wee little fella.

    As I said, a guy like this is good, to me. A fun antagonist to have in your super-story! Sadly I cannot fully enjoy his villainy as he reveals that my beloved Cephalapoda was in fact being remotely controlled as a lure for the super-durable Shark. All of my dreams of an octopus super-villain have been dashed to pieces. I’m sure I’ll encounter one some day, but for now it’s just dreary old humans and humanoid aliens and extradimensional humanoids and humanoid robots. Plus a few more kinds of humanoids.

    The Mad-Man’s plan is to incapacitate the Shark, then implant the knowledge of how to perform a brain transplant into his lumpy-headed thrall. This all goes roughly to plan until the lumpy-head actually removes the Mad-Man’s brain, at which point his mental domination ends, the thrall runs off and the Shark is free to go. The Mad-Man’s brain moulders on a table under the Earth forevermore.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 466: THE MAD-MAN

    (Amazing-Man Comics 010, 1940)

    I am heartbroken. 

    Here’s a bit of trivia: most of the 465 entries before this were written about characters in comics I had already read and if there was something in them that made me feel particularly strong emotions then I had had time to process it and mull it over. Going forward, however, we’re looking at a lot of comics that are brand new to me.

    In that spirit, I must admit: the first few pages of this Shark adventure had me. I was all in. A non-human villain? An octopus, no less? A well-drawn octopus?! Move over Robin because Cephalopoda the Murder Octopus was all set to be my sensational character find of 1940.

    I should have known that it was too good to be true when Cephalopoda and the Shark squared up on page 2. Rather than engage in Exciting Combat Between Demigod and Octopode, Cephalopoda flees into a crevice and when the Shark follows he is swept deep into the bowels of the Earth. And that’s it! That’s a wrap on Cephalopoda! Sadness reigns!

    The Shark wakes up in a cavern deep under the Earth and is subsequently gathered up by a weird sub-Earth goon (trivia: those weird Bart Simpson head lumps this guy has instead of hair are very unsettling to me) and taken to a cool walking building.

    There he meets the Mad-Man (unofficial name), who I would normally think was pretty neat: a psychic megalomaniac who came to the centre of the Earth (so-called) to capture the lumpy-headed folk who live there and use them to conquer the world, plus the same high pressure environment that makes the lumpy-heads so strong has also crunched down the Mad-Man into a wee little fella.

    As I said, a guy like this is good, to me. A fun antagonist to have in your super-story! Sadly I cannot fully enjoy his villainy as he reveals that my beloved Cephalapoda was in fact being remotely controlled as a lure for the super-durable Shark. All of my dreams of an octopus super-villain have been dashed to pieces. I’m sure I’ll encounter one some day, but for now it’s just dreary old humans and humanoid aliens and extradimensional humanoids and humanoid robots. Plus a few more kinds of humanoids.

    The Mad-Man’s plan is to incapacitate the Shark, then implant the knowledge of how to perform a brain transplant into his lumpy-headed thrall. This all goes roughly to plan until the lumpy-head actually removes the Mad-Man’s brain, at which point his mental domination ends, the thrall runs off and the Shark is free to go. The Mad-Man’s brain moulders on a table under the Earth forevermore.

  • NOTES – FEBRUARY 2024

    Good reactions by the people in this crowd to Amazing-Man passing through in his Green Mist form – people usually treat it as if he’s invisible but this is much more satisfying. (Amazing-Man Comics 014, 1940) 

    Origins:

    The Shark is not just the son of Father Neptune, he’s part of a long line of father/ son Neptunes and Sharks! I was right in my belief that the Shark was more interesting than most ocean dwelling super-heroes! (Amazing-Man Comics 014, 1940)

    I Don’t Get It Dept:

    The names on this poster are either character in the story (Dr Hypno, Lana the lion tamer) or jokes (Governor Graft, Senator Filchit, Mayor M.I. Blue), but Ivan Coe is not the former and I can’t figure out any way he’s the latter. It’s a puzzle! (Amazing-Man Comics 019, 1941)

    Attacking Hitler:

    Amazing-Man participates in the grand old tradition of political commentary in comics (Amazing-Man Comics 022, 1941)

    Fate of Atlantis:

    Adventurer Reef Kinkaid encounters a fairly standard version of Atlantis (or Atlantia) stuck in a little bubble under an island and still somehow managing to thrive for 9000+ years. (Amazing-Man Comics 022, 1941)

    Gruesome:

    Real gruesome death perpetrated by one-off hero the Marksman (Amazing-Man Comics 023, 1941)

    Famous Names:

    Hobo Harper encounters this evil guy who loves “fancy murders” and is trying to gain control of a travelling carnival – Tony Blair (Amazing-Man Comics 025, 1941)

    Giant guy on the right lives in the Tennessee woods eating wild boar and ends up falling off a mountain while tussling with DA Tom Kerry. Jim Davis is the name. (Big Shot Comics 002, 1940)

    Cops Shoot:

    Captain Courageous is accused of being a spy (literally by one guy yelling “he’s a spy!”) and these cops attempt to execute him. Twice! (Banner Comics 003, 1941)

    Now, the Blue Beetle did just rob a restaurant in order to get in good with a gang, but that’s still not a good reason for this cop to attempt to murder him. (Big 3 006, 1941)

    Canada:

    Always have to note when a comic makes a stop in a specific rather than generic location in Canada, even when it’s not actually Canadian for another eight years or so. This time it’s Captain Courageous showing up to help these wacky pacifist fishermen drive off a Nazi invasion. (Banner Comics 004, 1941)