''Don Winslow of the Navy'' was an American comic strip created by

Frank Victor Martinek Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Cur ...

and distributed mostly by the

Bell Syndicate The Bell Syndicate, launched in 1916 by editor-publisher John Neville Wheeler, was an American syndicate that distributed columns, fiction, feature articles and comic strips to newspapers for decades. It was located in New York City at 247 West 4 ...

from 1934 to 1955. The title character was a spy-chasing

lieutenant commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...

Naval intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

. The comic strip led to a radio adventure serial that began in 1937, as well as

film serial A serial film, film serial (or just serial), movie serial, or chapter play, is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, gene ...

s that began in 1942. Original

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

stories also appeared in

Fawcett Comics Fawcett Comics, a division of Fawcett Publications, was one of several successful comic book publishers during the Golden Age of Comic Books in the 1940s. Its most popular character was Captain Marvel (DC Comics), Captain Marvel, the alter ego of ...

titles starting in 1943.

Publication history

The idea for ''Don Winslow'' was conceived by Lieutenant Commander Frank V. Martinek, USNR, himself a veteran of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, after Admiral Wat T. Cluverius complained to him about the difficulties of recruiting in the Midwest. Ruminating on the challenge, Martinek decided that a comic strip that focused on Naval tradition and courage would educate and fascinate America’s youth. He had previously used the character Don Winslow in some novels he wrote, so he had the main concept readymade. Colonel

Frank Knox William Franklin Knox (January 1, 1874 – April 28, 1944) was an American politician, newspaper editor and publisher. He was also the Republican vice presidential candidate in 1936, and Secretary of the Navy under Franklin D. Roosevelt durin ...

, later

Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

helped sell the idea to the Bell Syndicate. Martinek brought in Naval Lieutenant Leon Beroth as art director and Carl Hammond to handle layouts and research. Martinek articulated this central principle: "Since ''Don Winslow of the Navy'' is approved by the Navy Department, I cannot allow him to do anything that is contrary to the ideals, traditions or motives of the Navy." The strip debuted on March 5, 1934. A Sunday page was added on April 21, 1935. Martinek supervised the daily feature’s "general tone and direction", sending the typewritten continuity to Beroth every week for illustrations. From 1934 to 1952, Beroth was the leading artist on the feature.

Ken Ernst Kenneth Frederic Ernst (1918 – August 6, 1985) was a US comic book and comic strip artist. He is most notable for his work on the popular and long-running comic strip ''Mary Worth'' from 1942 to 1985.''Contemporary Graphic Artists'' By Gale Res ...

(later famous for ''

Mary Worth ''Mary Worth'' is an American newspaper comic strip that has had an eight-decade run from 1938. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, this soap opera-style strip influenced several that followed. It was created by writer Allen Saunders and ar ...

''), assisted or ghosted the art between 1940 and 1942. With Don leaving his fiancée behind in December 1941 to go fight the Japanese, the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

period saw the height of ''Don Winslow'''s popularity. The Sunday page featured several topper strips during the course of the run: ''Bos'n Hal'' (April 21, 1935-1940s), ''Bos'n Hal's Notebook'' (1936), ''Winslowgrams'' aka ''Don Winslow's Hero-Gram'' (February 9, 1936-March 14, 1943) and ''Winslow's Crime Facts'' (June-August 1944). The

Bell-McClure Syndicate The Bell Syndicate, launched in 1916 by editor-publisher John Neville Wheeler, was an American syndicate that distributed columns, fiction, feature articles and comic strips to newspapers for decades. It was located in New York City at 247 West 4 ...

dropped the strip in 1953, and it was picked up by

General Features General Features Corporation was a syndication service that operated from 1937 to 1974. It was founded by S. George Little and billed itself in the early 1950 as "America's Leading Independent Syndicate." By 1967, General Features distributed 80 c ...

, where it was illustrated by John Jordan. The strip finally came to a close on Saturday, July 30, 1955.

Story and characters

Don's best pal throughout the run of the series was the somewhat chubby Red Pennington. His commanding officer for a time was Admiral Colby. Mercedes Colby, the Admiral's daughter, was Don's romantic interest for the first half of the narrative, from 1935 to 1946. Mercedes was a war nurse and in a rare instance of realism returned to the states in 1944 suffering from "war trauma." Jane Steele, a captain in the WAVES, was introduced in 1951, and Don's sister Mary Winlsow was incorporated in 1952. Don's primary nemesis was The Scorpion. He opposed Don from the very beginning of the comic strip, often behind the scenes and unseen for long periods of time, as the head of a global, extra-national organization of espionage and sabotage called Scorpia. Time in Tibet allowed him to develop a variety of abilities, including on at least two occasions having his spirit leave his body and permanently possess another new one. He had a daughter, Madame Mask (1937, 1950), who was just as evil but not quite as persistent. The Scorpion favored beautiful associates, including Lotus (1934–36, 1941, 1943) who later reformed; Tasmia (1936–37, 1940, 1946); and Asmara (1940–42). Agents of Scorpia in the 1930s included the Crocodile (1936), Dr. Thor (1937), and the Duchess (1937); in the 1940s, The Duster (1948), the Polecat (1948), and Cold Shivers (1949); and in the 1950s: Half-Dome (1951), Eight Ball (1951), and the Red Vulture (1952). Efforts to create new menaces other than Scorpia were generally short-lived, but included Owl-Eyes (1939, 1949), and clandestine organizations such as The Panther's Claw (1943) and the Clenched Fist (1944).

Legacy

Although created primarily as a Navy recruitment and propaganda tool, the strip received high marks from

Coulton Waugh Frederick Coulton Waugh (; 10 March 1896 – 23 May 1973) was a cartoonist, painter, teacher and author, best known for his illustration work on the comic strip ''Dickie Dare'' and his book ''The Comics'' (1947), the first major study of the ...

for “excellent suspense, and ingenious, spine-joggling situations.”

Ron Goulart Ronald Joseph Goulart (; January 13, 1933 – January 14, 2022) was an American popular culture historian and mystery, fantasy, and science fiction author. He published novelizations and other work under various pseudonyms: Kenneth Robeson, Co ...

credits ''Don Winslow'' with "intrigue, spychasing, beautiful women, and villains with names like Dr. Centaur, the Dwarf, and the Scorpion."Waugh, Coulton. ''The Comics''. New York: Luna P., 1974 (original copyright 1947). p.301.
/ref>

Comic books

Following up on the success of the comic strip, reprints of the feature in

form appeared from various publishers. Merwil, a small publisher, offered reprints in 1937. In 1938

Dell Comics Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark" ...

began reprinting the newspaper strips in ''Crackajack Funnies'' alongside other established newspaper features. When that title ceased publication in 1942, ''Don Winslow'' reprints begin running in ''Popular Comics'', again with other strip favorites of the era. In addition, Dell also had Don Winslow in two issues of their ''

Four Color Comics ''Four Color'', also known as ''Four Color Comics'' and ''Dell Four Color'', was an American comic book anthology series published by Dell Comics between 1939 and 1962. The title is a reference to the four basic colors used when printing comic b ...

'', a series which spotlighted a different character with nearly every issue. Dell's 1938 one-shot, ''Famous Feature Stories'', contained more ''Winslow''.''Don Winslow of the Navy''
at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Archived
from the original on April 10, 2016.

released the ''Don Winslow of the Navy'' comic book with original stories beginning in 1943. The cover of the first issue shows Captain Marvel introducing the character to the readers. This series lasted until 1948, then was revived in 1951, for a total to 69 issues. Winslow was revived again for a final brief time starting in 1955 in reprints published by

Charlton Comics Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1945 to 1986, having begun under a different name: T.W.O. Charles Company, in 1940. It was based in Derby, Connecticut. The comic-book line was a division of Charlton ...

.Grand Comics Database: ''Don Winslow of the Navy'' (Charlton Comics)
at the Grand Comics Database.

In other media

Film serials

* '' Don Winslow of the Navy'' (1942) * ''

Don Winslow of the Coast Guard ''Don Winslow of the Coast Guard'' is a 1943 Universal Pictures Serial film based on the comic strip '' Don Winslow of the Navy'' by Frank V. Martinbek. Plot After service at Pearl Harbor, Naval Commander Don Winslow, and his friend and junior ...

'' (1943)

Radio program

* '' Don Winslow of the Navy''

References

{{reflist

External links

"Don Winslow of the Navy" by Mark Carlson-Ghost
American comic strips Charlton Comics titles 1934 comics debuts 1955 comics endings War comics Educational comics Nautical comics Fawcett Comics titles American propaganda during World War II Comics set during World War II American comics adapted into films Comics adapted into radio series Winslow, Don Winslow, Don Winslow, Don Winslow, Don Winslow, Don