General Kon
| Dictator General Kon | |
| |
| First appearance: | "Ughland" |
|---|---|
| Created by: | Lee Falk & Sy Barry |
Profile
- Name: General “Jo Jo” Kon AKA Dictator Kon AKA “The Monster of Ughland”
- Occupation: Dictator of Ughland
- Legal Status: Criminal, presumed either imprisoned or executed by his people but not officially known
- Allies: None
- Place of Birth: Unknown
- Marital Status: Single
- Base of Operations: Ughland
- First Appearance: The Phantom daily strip – February 14, 1983 ("Ughland")
- Current Status: Probably executed
- Height: Approximately 5’8”
- Weight: Probably 325-340 lbs. – muscular arms, but very overweight --- to the point of obesity
- Eyes: Black
- Hair: Bald, with large mustache that points downward at both tips
- Signatures: Almost always uniformed, fond of brandishing a long military sabre to enhance his threatening appearance
- Special Abilities: None
Fictional Character Biography
From his humble origins as a mere thug for hire and bar-room brawler, which his massive physique well-suited him for, Dictator General Kon or Jo Jo Kon entered the Ughland military guard as a lowly corporal after honing his remorseless knack for killing as a hit man. He quickly ascended the ranks by eagerly plying physical brutality at the whims of his corrupt superiors. As Kon’s military honors and promotions mounted, so did his appreciation of the finer things, namely more refined forms of coercion, which, while gradually involving torture machines and other medieval instruments as opposed to fists, always culminated in maiming and murder.
By the time of his appointment as the country’s supreme ruler and dictator general, he had assembled an unrivaled, ghastly collection of pain-infliction devices that more than complimented his resume as one of the UN’s most flagrant violators of human rights. He is believed to have tortured and killed hundreds of his country’s own citizens to ensure his elite position of power.
Kon enjoys an over-privileged existence, residing in a grand palace of legendary opulence, liberally entertaining (and bribing) dignitaries and emissaries, pursuing high-brow leisure past-times, and, as his massive stomach attests, partaking of the finest food and wine. However, he seems to have to work extremely hard at maintaining his expensive lifestyle. Indeed, he seems to spend his ill-gotten fortunes much faster than he brings them in, and one assumes his business acumen is limited --- perhaps a consequence of his uneducated, rough-and-tumble beginnings.
As a character you love to hate, Kon is appropriately vain and despicable, callous and cruel. The myriad numbers of ostentatious self-portraits that deck the rooms of his mansion are amusing (tennis shorts, anyone?). But while he’s certainly as brutal and sadistic as other despots, like Tara, he’ll always have the psyche of a mere thief (Kon, as in “con,” or theft, one might guess).
To Kon's credit as a vicious villain, it’s worth noting that in "Ughland" Diana is probably in far more immediate danger than in previous, similar yarns, assuming Kon intended to execute Diana (not just torture her) before the ambassador’s ransom offer was received, and assuming Kon had other nasty things in store for her after he planned to flee Ughland with her in tow.
All told, Jo Jo Kon makes a fine, if not overly colorful, addition to Falk’s acclaimed “villain’s hall” of corrupt dictator generals.
Appearances
This list of appearances is considered to be complete, with reservations for the possibility of mistakes.
Daily/Sunday stories
| Title | Writer | Artist | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Ughland" | Falk | Barry |