History:(Wild Western I#5/3 (fb) - BTS) - Monte Mundo sold some of his horses to Henry Grafton of the Red Gold Ranch. Monte noted with interest that Henry paid him in gold but the location of Monte's gold mine was a secret.
MONTE MUNDO
Real Name: Monte Mundo
Identity/Class: Human (Old West Era)
Occupation: Horse dealer
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Manuel
Enemies: Henry Grafton, Joan Grafton, Kid Colt (Blaine Colt), Sam
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Sagebrush, western USA
First Appearance: Wild Western I#5 (January, 1949)
Powers/Abilities: Monte was a skilled horse rider and a crack shot with a rifle. To torture Henry Grafton, he built a club with a horseshoe nailed to its tip.
Height: Unrevealed (approximately 6'1")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 170 lbs.)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black
History:
(Wild Western I#5/3 (fb) - BTS) - Monte Mundo sold some of his horses
to Henry Grafton of the Red Gold Ranch. Monte noted with interest that
Henry paid him in gold but the location of Monte's gold mine was a
secret.
(Wild Western I#5/3 (fb)) - Determined to find the gold mine, Monte lay in wait atop a cliff until Henry and his servant Sam passed nearby. Monte shot Sam with his rifle then attacked Henry, demanding he tell him where the mine was located. Henry refused to speak so Monte built a club with a horseshoe on its tip and began striking Henry in the head. Just then, Sam rose up, still alive, and grappled with Monte. Monte took his club and repeatedly struck Sam in the right hand, bashing it to a pulp. When Henry's daughter Joan rode up, Monte concealed himself as she tended to her father. Once Joan and Henry were gone, Monte crept out and took the unconscious Sam with him on Henry's black stallion. Joan assumed her father had been kicked in the head by his black stallion and was confused that Sam had disappeared when she returned.
Monte raided the Graftons' home and searched their papers for the mine's location but could not find a map. Realizing that Sam knew the location of the mine, Monte nursed him back to health and gave him a hook in place of his right hand. In the months that followed, he waited for Sam's memory to return so that he could find the gold.
(Wild Western I#5/3) - Months later, Kid Colt rode into Sagebrush after meeting Henry and Joan. Recognizing Sam nearby Monte, Colt approached him. Monte intercepted Colt and offered to tell him Sam's story, claiming that he found him near-dead and nursed him back to health. When Colt noticed a piece of red-gold nugget on Monte's pocket watch, he commented on the fact that the Graftons had reddish gold. Monte claimed much of the gold in the area was of that type but feared that Colt suspected something so ordered his ally Manuel to kill Colt. However, Colt easily slew Manuel then pursued Monte.
Sam took Colt prisoner and brought him to Monte's stable, where he revealed he possessed Henry's black stallion. Monte proceeded to relate how he had tried to kill Sam and get the mine's location from Henry. However, by telling this story, he caused Sam's memory to return. Enraged, Sam attacked Monte and threw him into the stall of the black stallion. The stallion trampled Monte to death.
Comments: Created by Ernie Hart and Russ Heath.
Profile by Prime Eternal.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Monte Mundo should not be confused with:
Henry Grafton was a miner who had lived for some time in Mongolia with his daughter Joan and returned to the United States with her and his servant Sam. Somewhere in the desert outside Sagebrush, he made a gold strike and started a mine but kept it hidden. The gold he mined had a reddish tint so he named his home the Red Gold Ranch. Monte Mundo was one of the men he did business with and after Henry paid for horses with gold from the mine, Monte became determined to find the mine. Monte attacked Henry and Sam, shooting Sam with a rifle then beating Henry with a club made with a horseshoe on its tip. Henry refused to speak and suffered brain damage which left him a raving maniac. Joan did her best to care for him and assumed her father's black stallion had struck him in the head. One night months later, Henry tried to steal Kid Colt's stallion Steel, apparently in his delusion thinking it was his black stallion. Steel bucked Henry from his back and Colt shot at Henry. The violence of Steel and Colt's attack jarred Henry's mind back to normal. Colt took an interest in Henry's problem and went seeking the missing Sam, eventually finding Sam an amnesiac with Monte. After Sam and the black stallion caused Monte's death, Colt returned Sam to the Red Gold Ranch, where Henry had resumed work. Henry was grateful for Kid Colt's help.
--Wild Western I#5/3
Joan Grafton was the daughter of Henry and had been brought up in Mongolia when Henry was there then returned to the USA with her father and his servant Sam. Joan helped her father establish the Red Gold Ranch but one day, Henry was attacked by Monte, leaving him brain-damaged. Joan tried to care for her father but he was virtually senseless. After months of tending to him, Henry chanced to encounter Kid Colt, who injured him but luckily caused Henry's sanity to return. Joan explained what she knew of how her father had been injured and mentioned how Sam had been missing ever since. Colt went in search of Sam and ultimately proved Monte Mundo responsible for the assault upon them. Colt brought Sam back to Henry and Joan. As Colt left, Joan realized she had never learned what Kid Colt's name was.
--Wild Western I#5/3
Manuel was an ally of Monte Mundo. When he suspected that Kid Colt knew something of his involvement in the assault on Henry Grafton, Monte ordered Manuel to take care of Kid Colt. Manuel took out a knife and was about to throw it into his back but Colt sensed danger, whirled around with both guns drawn and shot Manuel to death.
--Wild Western I#5/3
Sam was an immense Mongolian man who worked as a servant to Henry Grafton. He became employed by Henry while he was in Mongolia and returned with him and Henry's daughter Joan to the United States when they left Mongolia. Sam assisted Henry in establishing the Red Gold Ranch as they mined gold but one day, Sam was attacked by Monte Mundo, who wanted to find the location of Henry's mind. Monte fired a rifle at Sam and hit him. Monte began torturing Henry for the location of the mine to no avail. Noticing that Sam was coming to, he began beating him with a club with a horseshoe on its tip, crushing Sam's right hand into a bloody pulp. Just then, Joan rode up and Monte hid. When Joan left with her father, Monte crept out and loaded Sam on to Henry's black stallion. Unable to find Henry's mine, Monte nursed Sam back to health. His right hand was badly damaged and had to be amputated. Finding that Sam was amnesiac, Monte feigned friendship with him in the hopes that when his memory returned, he would reveal the location of Henry's mine. Monte replaced Sam's missing hand with a steel hook. Months later, Kid Colt met Henry and Joan and learned about Sam's strange disappearance. When Colt found Sam with Monte in Sagebrush, Monte claimed he had been passing by and found Sam injured. Colt doubted his story but Sam helped Monte take him hostage in a stable as Monte explained what had really happened. In telling the story, Sam's memory was jogged and he turned on Monte, throwing him into the stall where the black stallion was kept. The stallion trampled Monte to death. Colt brought Sam back to the Red Gold Ranch to reunite him with Henry and Joan.
--Wild Western I#5/3
images: (without ads)
Wild Western I#5/3, page 8, panel 5 (Mundo, main)
Wild Western I#5/3, page 9, panel 6 (Mundo, face)
Wild Western I#5/3, page 3, panel 2 (Henry)
Wild Western I#5/3, page 9, panel 6 (Joan)
Wild Western I#5/3, page 9, panel 2 (Manuel)
Wild Western I#5/3, page 9, panel 5 (Sam)
Appearances:
Wild Western I#5 (January, 1949) - Ernie Hart (writer), Russ Heath (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
First posted: 01/06/2023
Last updated:
01/06/2023
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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