A Mercenary at the Circus

Dominic Fortune was a kind of do-over as a character. Artist/Writer Howard Chaykin had created a character called the Scorpion for Atlas Comics in 1975, but that publisher folded and the Scorpion was only around for three issues.

So Chaykin revamped the character as Dominic Fortune--swashbuckling mercenary-- and brought him to Marvel Comics that same year. He never really made a big splash, but the 1930s setting for his stories made an impression on my old-school sensibilities.

Like the Scorpion, though, Dominic might defeat villians on a regular basis, but he's constantly being beaten down by cancelled comic books. Len Wein plotted a Dominic Fortune story set in 1938, with Chaykin doing the layouts, only to see the book in which the story would appear (Marvel Super-Action) cancelled. But you can't keep a swashbuckling mercenary down. David Micheline finished the script and--with Terry Austin doing the finished art--this story eventually appeared in Marvel Premiere #56 (October 1980).

It's a story I like because of its setting and using a pre-Howing Commando Dum Dum Dugan in a supporting role. This is one of those cases where my enjoyment of the story is largely a personal thing, though. Perhaps has a result of the story being passed from one creative team to another partway through the process of creating it, the art work sometimes lacks a kinetic sensibility and the story comes across as a bit contrived in places. This is especially true at the climax, when Dominic jumps from one airplane to another in order to fight the bad guy--despite the fact that the bad guy's plane was obviously about to crash anyways. It was as if Dominic was thinking "Well, we need a big action finish to the story, so I guess I gotta do this!" It makes no story sense, though to be fair, it's the sort of think Dominic probably would do just for the heck of it.

So if you find a copy of this (I recently re-acquired it as a digital comic), be warned that you might find it flawed. But if you really enjoy 1938 as a good year for adventure stories, then--like me--you may find yourself forgiving of its flaws and able to enjoy it on its own merits.

As the story opens, Dum Dum is beating up a bunch of thugs on a gambling ship. Dominic has been living on the ship for the past few months and had been a little slow to pay his rent, so Sabbath Raven, the ship's owner, forgives his debt if he'll break up the fight.

It turns out that the thugs had jumped Dum Dum because he's refusing to sell his circus to their boss, a sleezy crook named Spencer Keene. Dum Dum, though, just lost the circus to Sabbath, who initially has no problem with selling out to Keene.

But Keene proves to be a sexist jerk, so Sabbath quickly changes her mind. She doesn't want to own a circus, though, so Dum Dum starts looking for ways to scrouge up enough money to buy it back from her.

It turns out, though, that Keene didn't want the whole circus. Buying it was just the most convenient way to get access to a sideshow mentalist, who actually does have telekinetic powers. Keene needs him to use his powers to open a safe that is otherwise rigged to explode if anyone touches the lock.

A circus employee is bribed to release a lion and cause a distraction while the mentalist is snatched. But Keene's hired thugs aren't terribly good at their jobs. They grab the mentalist's lovely assistant by mistake.

Except that the lovely assistant is the one with actual powers.

All of these plot twists have the making a fine pulp-era story. But it all continues to unfold in a rushed fashion that seems contrived. Once again, I'm going to blame this on the fact that a second creative team had to step in to finish things up. Everyone involved is extremely talented and responsible for countless exciting comic book stories, so I would bet that outside factors (the switch or perhaps a rushed deadline) account for the story's weaknesses.

Anyway, the good guys track down the bad guys, which leads to Dominic making his completely unnecessary mid-air jump. Keene is captured, Dum Dum racks up enough money to buy the circus and everyone not going to prison is happy.

I've been whining about the story's shortcomings, bu the setting and the characters still sell it for me. I recognize the flaws, but by golly I still had fun reading it.

Next week, we'll visit the planet Mongo.