The best of the Encyclopedia of Pulp Heroes: Captain Storm

Captain Storm. Captain Storm as created by Emilio Salgari (Sandokan) and appeared in the Italian novels Capitan Tempesta (1905) and Il Leone di Damasco (1910). Captain Storm is a Costumed Avenger. During the Third Crusade the Saracens attack the island of Cyprus. Eleonora, the Duchess of Eboli, is trapped in the city of Famagosta when the Saracens lay siege to it. Eleonora’s fiancé, the Vicomte le Hussière, has been captured by the Saracens, so Eleonora puts on a suit of armor, calls herself “Captain Storm,” and fights the invaders, hoping to rescue the Vicomte. Eleonora is a more than capable fighter and gains a reputation for herself, to the point that Muley el-Kadel, the “Lion of Damascus,” one of the Saracens’ finest warriors, challenges Captain Storm to a duel. Eleonora accepts and defeats el-Kadel but spares his life, for Eleonora knows el-Kadel to be a valiant and honorable warrior. When the Saracens conquer Famagosta Eleonora is injured rescuing a child; Eleonora’s servant asks el-Kadel for help. Eventually el-Kadel helps Eleonora free her fiancé, but by that point Eleonora has fallen in love with el-Kadel, who has become her Loving Enemy, and at the end of Capitan Tempesta they are married. In Il Leone di Damasco the pair fight a villainous Turkish leader in the town of Candia and then on the Mediterranean.