MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 765: KILLRAYE

(Speed Comics 007, 1940)

Killraye is the leader of the extremely wild and wonderful looking Jupiter Men (courtesy of writer/artist/wild alien designer Munson Paddock) of an unspecified future, and leads them in an attempt to hijack plans for an advanced ray gun design from inter-planetary mail courier Mars Mason.

(whether the Jupiter Men have a caste-based physiology and Killraye represents their ruling form or he is of a different species entirely is unclear. He certainly looks a lot different that them but on the other hand he does have the same furry legs and weird little round feet as they do)

Mars Mason does not allow this violation of the sanctity of the mail to go unavenged, and not only blows up a considerable portion of the Jupiter Men's city but send Killraye himself spinning off into space via what must have been a superhumanly powerful kick. Surely this is the end of Killraye!

OR IS IT? 

In fact, no, that was not the end of Killraye. In Speed Comics 008 it is revealed that the dastardly Jovian had not in fact been consigned to eternal exile in space but had landed on a comet complete with a population of Needle Men (related to and indistinguishable from Jupiter Men and just as willing to follow a guy like Killraye) as well as a weird super-powered skeleton alien. Rather than enjoy his second chance at life in peace, Killraye immediately resumes his piratical ways and inevitably ends up clashing with Mars Mason again.

It seems like Killraye is finally going to get the upper hand, when the community-minded Saturn Men get involved and wreck house so thoroughly that Killraye himself does not actually get a death scene. Good night, sweet alien bastard.

ADDENDUM: Killraye was a fine villain, but the real star of his second appearance was this unnamed hench-creature, whose host of positive attributes include:

- amazing skeleton body

- rare 1940s anime hair

- a catch phrase: "Bah!"

- the power to send its skeletal hands and feet across interplanetary distances to snatch up people and loot

- a boss ray gun

Truly this is the villain I want to see in my space comics.

NOTES - APRIL 2025

Aliens:

The adventures of Mars Mason, interplanetary mailman, are rife with amazing alien designs thanks to creator Munson Paddock, but the Tough-Tails of Planet Greentrees and their allies the top-hatted Spear-Men are possibly my favourite aliens that I've seen in a couple of years. (Speed Comics 009, 1940) 

The Speed Comics 010 Mars Mason adventure again features some more top-notch alien designs, including both the Mercurian leader with his enormous ears and his subjects with their amazing hats. The Uranian Monster-Men are okay, but the real star of that second set of panels is Mars Mason's amazing radiator suit that seems to help him weather both the cold of Uranus and the heat of Mercury with equal aplomb.

Drawn Without Reference:

A nice fuzzy spider created to menace Shock Gibson. (Speed Comics 010, 1940) 

Good Henchmen:

It's not really germane to the story, but I would like to highlight the emotional journey that this henchman goes through over the course of a scheme by upcoming Minor Super-Villain Comrade Ratski. midway through a scheme to release giant arthropods on an unsuspecting populace is a heckuva time to confront your dislike of bugs. (Speed Comics 010, 1940)

Honours:

Ted Parrish, aka the mystery man known as the Man With 1000 Faces, wins the Academy Award for his performance in a film called Thundering Hoofs. We must make some assumptions - that Thundering Hoofs was completed and released in 1940, for example - but I think that Parrish might just have gotten his Oscar at the expense of Jimmy Stewart's win for The Philadelphia Story. (Speed Comics 010, 1940)

Mars Mason, Interplanetary Mailman, has his likeness on the Mercury Mail five-something stamp. (Speed Comics 011, 1940)