Crossover of the Week

Early March 1943

THE LEAGUE OF DEAD PATRIOTS

            FBI agent Dan Fowler tries to apprehend gangster William “The Bill” Kennedy, but is forced off the road by the Domino Lady. When Dan complains about vigilantes interfering with the Bureau’s affairs, his fellow agent Larry Kendal opines that with many of America’s able-bodied men at war, they can use all the help they can get. Fowler says that they’re getting it, from Jim Anthony, the Ghost Squad, and Secret Agent X, all of whom operate with government sanction. However, he argues that “clowns” such as the Shadow, Brother Bones and the Domino Lady are interfering loose cannons. After questioning Kennedy’s henchman Joe McGoohan, Fowler heads to the Tule Lake internment camp. There, he meets Norman Takei and his young son George. Fowler eventually discovers that the Domino Lady and McGoohan are allied against Kennedy. When Fowler asks McGoohan why he is involved in this case, “McGoohan” says the answer is right in front of him. Fowler sees an X etched in the mud, and says that he should have known.

            Story by Andrew Salmon in Dan Fowler: G-Man Volume One, Ron Fortier, ed., Cornerstone Book Publishers, 2009. Dan Fowler was created by Major George Fielding-Eliot and appeared in 112 issues of the pulp magazine G-Men Detective. The Domino Lady was created by an unidentified author using the nom de plume Lars Anderson and appeared in five issues of Saucy Romantic Adventures and one issue of Mystery Adventure Magazine. Jim Anthony appeared in the magazine Super Detective; his exploits were chronicled by Victor Rousseau Emanuel, Robert Leslie Bellem, and W.T. Ballard. The Ghost Squad were co-created by Salmon and Ron Fortier, and have starred in one novel to date, which featured a guest appearance by Fowler. Brother Bones is another hero created by Fortier. Secret Agent X starred in his own self-titled pulp magazine; he was created by Paul Chadwick and his exploits were continued by several others, all of whom used the pen name “Brant House.” In this story, the master of disguise is using the alias Joe McGoohan. The Shadow needs no introduction. George Takei would grow up to portray helmsman Hikaru Sulu on the television series Star Trek; for an explanation of how the future events depicted in the Star Trek franchise and the franchise itself can coexist in the CU, see J.R. Rasmussen’s story “Research.”