MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 497 UPDATE: RAMUN THE EVIL ONE

(The Face 001, 1941)

I can't say I'm surprised to see Ramun the Evil One again, given what I said about his supposed death in his last appearance. Ramun trails his old foe Marvelo (Monarch of Magicians, natch) into the desert and replaces his caravan's staff with he and his men in an effort to steal the treasure of Tut-Akum-Aut from them when and if they dig it up. And he does it! He has them at his mercy and the treasure in his sights, and he still manages to screw it up by gassing on about how he's going to use the treasure to make himself a new Pharaoh, which makes his henchmen angry enough to murder him for being too greedy to share with them.

While The Face 001 and Ramun's last appearance in Big Shot Comics 019 were both published in November 1941, this issue feels like the real final appearance for the character, since he is visibly shot to death rather than merely drowning out of sight. Farewell to thee, Ramun.

If I'm honest I was much more excited about the fact that Marvelo's partner in this venture is Professor Scorp, last seen being placed in psychiatric care after stealing the mummy of Tut-Akum-Aut and attempting to resurrect it to learn the location of his treasure. And now he's well enough to seek the treasure in a more conventional way! Perhaps this expedition is even part of his therapy! I'm just so chuffed to see a comic book madman get constructive help and rebuild their life without some narrative about how they can never be fully trusted! Don't get used to it!

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 497: RAMUN THE EVIL ONE

(Big Shot Comics 016, 1941)

Ramun the Evil One aka Ramun the Great is a hypnotist/ stage magician with a simple if short-sighted plan: 1) open a club in New York 2) have it become popular with the wealthy social set 3) hypnotize rich guys 4) profit

(aside: just look at that charming picture of a man who thinks he's an ape! The little dance!)

The short-sighted part goes hand-in-hand with the profit, as once Ramun has induced his victims to hand over all of their fungible wealth he orders them to drive into the Hudson River and drown themselves, and he's done this more than a dozen times over the course of two weeks. This is... not smart. "Hey, every victim went to the Egyptian Gardens and got hypnotized just before withdrawing all their monies from the bank and disappearing" is a thought that even the most dull-witted police officer will eventually have, to say nothing of Marvelo, Monarch of Magicians.

Ramun does find an unorthodox counter to the common super-villain problem of invisible magic-men creeping around in their lairs: train an ape to deal with it. And he comes as close as anyone to killing Marvelo, so good job Ramun!

Ramun blows himself up at the end of the story but manages to recover enough for he and Edpo the ape to return in Big Shot Comics 019, wherein they have switched their focus from larceny to espionage. This time, Ramun seems to have some actual, non-hypnosis-based magic to call on, but it's not quite enough.

Ramun, Edpo and their unnamed employer end up simultaneously perforated and drowned at the climax of the story, and while this is exactly the kind of off-panel "nobody could survive that" death that Ramun came back from the first time he was doomed by a far more insidious foe than mere bullets: popularity. Big Shot Comics 020 was Marvelo's final outing and so Ramun would never get his chance to return.

UPDATE: Ramun makes a completely unexpected return in The Face 001!