Tuesday, January 30, 2024

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 439: THE SKY-RULER

(Mystery Men Comics 019, 1941)

I'm not sure what the Sky-Ruler's deal is. 

Scratch that - I know what his deal is. He rules the sky. He flies around in a big bomber plane and uses it to drop cars containing his enemies on the streets of New York City (he also tries to throw off the scent of the police by calling these the "Skyscraper Murders" in his notes but I have to imagine that this would only work as long as nobody noticed the enormous plane circling the city every time one happened).

I also know what the Sky-Ruler is doing: he's extorting inventors with the threat of being fatally deplaned in order to get ahold of their various formulae. But why does he want them? He claims that "now the city will be at my mercy," which could mean looting, destruction, ransom or conquest in equal measure. Serves him right that the Blue Beetle captures him by causing his lowly, ground-based car to crash.

Two more things about the Sky-Ruler: his henchmen are called the Sky-Raiders and I always appreciate a nominative flourish even when applied to no-name thugs, and also I appreciate that his character design seemingly involved giving him as many distinctive facial features as possible.

But what was his deal?

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