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Winslow, Don. Don Winslow was created by Lt. Commander Frank Martinek (Bos’n Hal) and appeared in the comic strip “Don Winslow of the Navy” (1934-1955); Winslow went on to appear in comic books, Big, Little books, and radio shows and movies.

Lieutenant (later Lt. Commander) Don Winslow, a World War One veteran, is an agent of Naval Intelligence who is assigned to handle the major individual threats to world peace. He is assisted in this task by his friend, the squat and portly Lieutenant Red Pennington, and by his girlfriend, Mercedes Colby, the daughter of Winslow's commanding officer, Admiral Colby. Ranging across the world, and making use of real locations and naval bases, Winslow takes on the Scorpion, Winslow's bald, cigar-smoking nemesis and the head of the secret organization, Scorpia, whose goal is to CONQUER THE WORLD!; the "sinister fakir" the Spider; the Hawk, a magician and warlord; the Crocodile, who has a floating Sky City island and bears a grudge against America; Dr. Centaur, the Mad Scientist and inventor of the "paralysis ray...the weirdest weapon in the world;" Dr. Q, who tries to destroy the Panama Canal; and the Big-Headed Dwarf Genius and criminal mastermind the Dwarf, and his agents and assassins, the Duchess and Dr. Thor.

* I'm including "Don Winslow of the Navy" in the Best of the Encyclopedia list because its imaginative content. The writing and art of "Don Winslow" was average, really, neither particularly bad nor particularly good. I would say that Martinek's main talents were in making use of the Navy he knew so well in comic form and in creating supervillains for Don Winslow to fight against and ultimately defeat. The Rogues Gallery of Winslow foes reads like a list of potential enemies for James Bond to fight--not a coincidence, seeing as Martinek's approach to Winslow's adventures had a number of elements in common with Ian Fleming, Bond's creator. "Don Winslow" can be a bit of a guilty pleasure, but there's no reason to be ashamed of enjoying the Scorpion or the Duchess and Dr. Thor. 

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