The Curse of Skeleton Munroe

Category: immortal

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 381: NYARL-AMEN

    (More Fun Comics 065, 1941)

    Okay, so the guy on the throne is Nyarl-Amen, AKA the Ancient One AKA the Lost Wisdom AKA the Wonder Wisdom. Fifty thousand years ago he ruled the world from beneath the waves as head of the Nyarl-Amen Dynasty.

    Nyarl-Amen has lived in the City of Nyarl-Amen for one hundred thousand years…

    His arsenal includes the Magic Eyes of Nyarl-Amen…

    And together with his minions the Fish Men of Nyarl-Amen he seeks to reconquer the world and presumably establish a Second Dynasty of Nyarl-Amen. Whatever you say about this civilization, “It has too many names,” can’t be one of them.

    The thing is, all this repetition has left me unsure just whether we’re dealing with an immortal fish-man sea-wizard attempting to reclaim his glory after 500 centuries or a city with an upstart ruler and bad imagination. I suppose whether it’s Nyarl-Amen the First or Nyarl-Amen the Six Hundred and Fifteenth doesn’t really matter since Dr Fate ends up blowing up every single Nyarl-Amen mentioned thusfar.

    These guys should 100% be BRUNG BACK for one simple reason: the best thing about Aquaman stories is the weird collection of pulp novel civilizations that coat the DCU seafloor and these fish-head weirdos would enhance that immeasurably.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 377: MAYOOR

    (More Fun Comics 064, 1941)

    Mayoor is an ancient evil god with no in-comic-defined portfolio but if I had guess I would venture that he’s the God of Disappointment. Here’s the sum total of his plots and plans: enthrall a society adventurer named Bill Credon, who then lure Dr Fate chum Inza Cramer to Mayoor’s Yucatan Peninsula temple-cum-prison. Then there’s a bit about using her to spread Mayoor’s message and worship but unfortunately for Mayoor that’s the point at which Dr Fate shows up and kills him.

    It’s not even a challenge! And Mayoor should have known that he was outclassed, because Dr Fate* is the one who imprisoned him in the first place. About the only good thing about this guy is that because he was such a nothing villain he could probably be BRUNG BACK as a regional threat without a lot of baggage, just bedeviling the heroes of Central America for decades – it’s not as if there were any piece of fiction in which it was easy to kill a god, after all. Worldbuilding!

    *this story is a few issues prior to the Dr Fate’s origin story, so while retroactively it was probably Nabu or someone else wearing the Helmet of Fate who imprisoned Mayoor, in-story it’s still Dr Fate being treated as an immortal wizard.

  • CREEPS OF THE WORLD: THE WALKING MOUNTAINS

    (Captain America Comics 002, 1941)

    The Himalayas of any comic book universe are simply chockablock with hidden communities of mystics, monsters, creeps, enlightened souls and weirdos. One such group are the so-called Walking Mountains (AKA the somewhat less PC Oriental Giants). The Mountains are enormous, invulnerable to all harm, possibly immortal and dumb as bricks, which leads to them becoming the muscle for Benson, an unscrupulous banker with poor long-term planning abilities.

    Luckily for Captain America and Bucky, they also have a vulnerability to loud sounds – though presumably louder than gunshots, as people are constantly shooting them at close range with no ill effects – and all five are killed by the end of the story.

  • CREEPS OF THE WORLD: THE WALKING MOUNTAINS

    (Captain America Comics 002, 1941)

    The Himalayas of any comic book universe are simply chockablock with hidden communities of mystics, monsters, creeps, enlightened souls and weirdos. One such group are the so-called Walking Mountains (AKA the somewhat less PC Oriental Giants). The Mountains are enormous, invulnerable to all harm, possibly immortal and dumb as bricks, which leads to them becoming the muscle for Benson, an unscrupulous banker with poor long-term planning abilities.

    Luckily for Captain America and Bucky, they also have a vulnerability to loud sounds – though presumably louder than gunshots, as people are constantly shooting them at close range with no ill effects – and all five are killed by the end of the story.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 282: KHOR, THE BLACK SORCERER

    MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 282: KHOR, THE BLACK SORCERER

    (Marvel Mystery Comics v1 022, 1941)

    Khor, the Black Sorcerer is one of those magical generalists I was talking about back when I wrote about the Mor the Mighty, with a diverse range of magic abilities including stun bolts, paralysis spells, teleportation spells and shrinking spells. He’s a Jack Kirby troll-man special who comes to the attention of the Vision when he kidnaps a whole-ass Antarctic science expedition because he’s a lonely immortal who doesn’t know how to make friends normally.

    By far the most interesting thing about Khor is that his home in the Antarctic tropical paradise the Land Where Time Stands Still has since been retconned as part of Marvel’s main Antarctic tropical paradise the Savage Land. This a fun bit of trivia, but more fun is the idea that throughout the whole convoluted history of the Savage Land (or at least from 1245 AD onward) an immortal French wizard is holed up in a little cave in the one location in the whole dang place not overrun with swamp men or ape men or dinosaurs, missing all the fun. Dante Alighieri is fighting literal demons in an alien amusement park while Khor spends the afternoon washing his robe. Delightful!

    It all ends with the Vision pitching Khor into a lava flow and freeing his collection of beefy old men. I won’t say that I won’t miss him, but I’ll always know that in any story set between 1245 and 1941 AD he’s there, in the Savage Land, bored out of his mind, and that’s enough.

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 282: KHOR, THE BLACK SORCERER

    MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 282: KHOR, THE BLACK SORCERER

    (Marvel Mystery Comics v1 022, 1941)

    Khor, the Black Sorcerer is one of those magical generalists I was talking about back when I wrote about the Mor the Mighty, with a diverse range of magic abilities including stun bolts, paralysis spells, teleportation spells and shrinking spells. He’s a Jack Kirby troll-man special who comes to the attention of the Vision when he kidnaps a whole-ass Antarctic science expedition because he’s a lonely immortal who doesn’t know how to make friends normally.

    By far the most interesting thing about Khor is that his home in the Antarctic tropical paradise the Land Where Time Stands Still has since been retconned as part of Marvel’s main Antarctic tropical paradise the Savage Land. This a fun bit of trivia, but more fun is the idea that throughout the whole convoluted history of the Savage Land (or at least from 1245 AD onward) an immortal French wizard is holed up in a little cave in the one location in the whole dang place not overrun with swamp men or ape men or dinosaurs, missing all the fun. Dante Alighieri is fighting literal demons in an alien amusement park while Khor spends the afternoon washing his robe. Delightful!

    It all ends with the Vision pitching Khor into a lava flow and freeing his collection of beefy old men. I won’t say that I won’t miss him, but I’ll always know that in any story set between 1245 and 1941 AD he’s there, in the Savage Land, bored out of his mind, and that’s enough.

  • MINOR SUPER-HERO 015: THE VOICE

    MINOR SUPER-HERO 015: THE VOICE

    (Feature Comics 032-037, 1940)

    Of the dozen or so heroes and villains named the Voice, this is the best of them all, hands down. Let’s review:

    -shipwrecked on an island in 1790, lives off of special herbs that extend the human lifespan and empower the body

    -finally picked up in 1940, moves to NYC at 150-something years old

    -successfully synthesizes the herb’s properties, ensuring that his life will continue indefinitely. Decides to fight crime

    -learns ventriloquism and close-up magic

    The last is my favourite part: he’s an old man who can pick up a car, for example, but most of his cases are solved with the application of a thrown voice or two. Plus that blonde guy in the second set of panels is his neighbour who just happens to be nearby when Mr Elixer – did I mention that his non-super-hero name is Mr Elixer? – decides to fight crime and is basically conscripted into being his butler.

    Really really good dumb fun comic stuff. BRING BACK the Voice!

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 036: SETAP

    (Action v1 017, 1939)

    Setap is fun because she’s one of the few old lady super-villains who actually is an old lady, rather than a gangster in drag. She’s also pretty happy about her plan to steal youth from one of Zatara’s pals, until he reverses the process and blows up her city.

    Setap is also an early example of a reformed villain, as she shows up a few issues later (presumably after stealing youth off someone else, as she is young again) and enlists Zatara’s help in finding her ancestral home, Atlantis

  • MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 036: SETAP

    (Action v1 017, 1939)

    Setap is fun because she’s one of the few old lady super-villains who actually is an old lady, rather than a gangster in drag. She’s also pretty happy about her plan to steal youth from one of Zatara’s pals, until he reverses the process and blows up her city.

    Setap is also an early example of a reformed villain, as she shows up a few issues later (presumably after stealing youth off someone else, as she is young again) and enlists Zatara’s help in finding her ancestral home, Atlantis