Danny Doom

Last updated

Danny Doom
Valiant240874DannyDoom.jpg
Danny Doom (right) and Madgewick the rat in the 24 August 1974 issue of Valiant , art by Eric Bradbury.
Character information
First appearance Valiant (25 May 1974)
In-story information
Full nameDaniel Doom
SpeciesHuman
Place of origin Earth
Team affiliationsAstorath
PartnershipsMadgewick
Carol Langdon
AbilitiesThe Star of Astorath
The Hand of Orloff
Publication information
Publisher IPC Magazines
ScheduleWeekly
Title(s) Valiant
25 May 1974 to 22 March 1975 [lower-alpha 1]
FormatsOriginal material for the series has been published as a strip in the comics anthology(s) Valiant .
Genre
Publication date25 May  1974  22 March  1975
Creative team
Artist(s) Eric Bradbury
Fred Holmes

Danny Doom is a British comic character who has appeared in eponymous strips published by IPC Magazines and Rebellion Developments. The character, a boy sorcerer, appeared in boys' weekly anthology comic Valiant between 25 May 1974 and 22 March 1975. The character is a 13th century boy sorcerer accidentally sent forward to the present day.

Contents

A reimagined version Danny Doom subsequently appeared in a major role in the 2005 - 2006 WildStorm limited series Albion , which declared him the son of another IPC mystic, Cursitor Doom.

Creation

Danny Doom first appeared in the 25 May 1974 edition of Valiant, and was part of a general relaunch of the comic after it merged with long-running stablemate Lion . The new-look Lion and Valiant not only brought "Adam Eterno" and "Spot the Clue with Zip Nolan" from the cancelled title, but added four new serials - "The Lincoln Green Mob", "Valley of the Giants", "Trail to Nowhere" and "Danny Doom". Experienced artist Eric Bradbury drew "Danny Doom". [2]

Publishing history

The two-page feature ran in Valiant for just under a year, ending in the 22 March 1975 edition after four serials during another reshuffle of the title's contents. Bradbury drew the story for most of its life, aside from in October 1974 when another veteran, Fred Holmes, took over for a month. [2] The inclusion of present-day girl Carol Langdon, drew comment from The Spectator in an overview of British comics of the time due to the rarity of female characters in boys' comics of the period. [3] Some of the strips were reprinted in France in the pages of Mon Journal's anthology Janus Stark comic, featuring in issues 34 and 40 as a back-up strip. [4]

In 2005 the character made a return as the lead protagonist of Albion , a WildStorm revival of numerous IPC characters. This portrayed Danny as a present-day youth with no memory of his childhood; [5] the character's true nature was not made clear until the final issue of the series, where he was revealed to be the son of the previously unconnected Cursitor Doom. [6] Series writer Leah Moore enjoyed writing Danny as she felt he was "well-meaning but crap". [7]

By 2018, the rights to the character were owned by Rebellion Developments, and the original version made a cameo appearance in the one-shot The Vigilant as an ally called upon by Doctor Sin. [8]

Plot summary

In 13th century England, sorcerer Astrorath accidentally conjures a demon while brewing a potion in his crypt under Doom Lodge, but his young apprentice Daniel is powerful enough to drive the creature off. In awe of the boy's power, Astrorath attempts to get his aid to harness the power of instant transportation across time and space; however, the experiment goes wrong; Danny and his pet rat Madegwick are flung forward hundreds of years to the present day. Appearing in the ruins of their master's house, he explores the strange new world, finding his disappearance from the past has become part of folklore in the nearby village. Workers planning to demolish the remnants of Doom Lodge accidentally unleash a Cyclodon spirit, but Danny is able to defeat it. He plans to watch over the village from the ruins. [9]

Danny tries to reverse the spell and return to his own time, but is unsuccessful. When a creature kills the villager, he is able to recover the fearsome Hand of Orloff from the crypt below the Lodge and use it to track the attacker, which is targeting members of the Helsdon family, finding that Marcus Helsdon and his manservant were using a Hound of Hell to bump off their relatives to claim inheritance. Danny helped true heir Jack claim his legacy. [10]

After another attempt to return to the 13th century simply moved him through space rather than time, Danny helped local girl Carol Langdon after her father was killed by the reanimated Ancient Egyptian giant Dargath after coming close to discovering the secret of the Golden Relics in Morg Museum. Together, the pair were able to defeat the apparent ghost of cruel Saxon king Gudrun - actually a projection operated by museum curator Septimus Steed. Following his capture, Carol asked to join Danny on his quest to protect humanity from dark forces. [11]

Instead of trying to go back in time, Danny rigged the Spell of Transportation to take the pair to the place they were most needed. They materialised in Scotland near the village of Tannoch, and helped defend locals from the mud beast Werrag, which was at the beck and call of local miser Fergus. The beast was revealed to be a thug in the pay of Fergus, who was hoping to drive the villages away from salvaging diamonds from a crashed aircraft. [12]

Notes

  1. No issues of Valiant were printed between the 29 June and 3 August 1974 editions. [1]

Related Research Articles

<i>Albion</i> (comics) Comic book series

Albion is a six-issue comic book limited series plotted by Alan Moore, written by his daughter Leah Moore and her husband John Reppion, with covers by Dave Gibbons and art by Shane Oakley and George Freeman. The series aimed to revive classic IPC-owned British comics characters ), all of whom appeared in comics published by Odhams Press and Amalgamated Press/Fleetway Publications/IPC Media during the 1960s and early 1970s, such as Smash!, Valiant, and Lion.

The Steel Claw was one of the most popular comic book heroes of British weekly adventure comics of the 1960s and 1970s. The character was revived in 2005 for Albion, a six issue mini-series published by the Wildstorm imprint of DC Comics.

<i>Lion</i> (comics) British weekly comic

Lion was a weekly British comics periodical published by Amalgamated Press from 23 February 1952 to 18 May 1974. A boys' adventure comic, Lion was originally designed to compete with Eagle, the popular weekly comic published by Hulton Press that had introduced Dan Dare. It debuted numerous memorable characters, including Captain Condor, Robot Archie, Paddy Payne and the Spider. Lion lasted for 1,156 issues before being merged with stablemate Valiant.

<i>Valiant</i> (comics) British weekly comic

Valiant was a weekly British comics periodical published by Fleetway Publications and later IPC Magazines from 4 October 1962 to 16 October 1976. A boys' adventure comic, it debuted numerous memorable characters, including Captain Hurricane, The Steel Claw and Mytek the Mighty. Valiant lasted for 712 issues before being merged with stablemate Battle Picture Weekly.

<i>Smash!</i> (comics)

Smash! was a weekly British comic book, published initially by Odhams Press and subsequently by IPC Magazines, from 5 February 1966 to 3 April 1971. After 257 issues it merged into Valiant.

<i>Vulcan</i> (British comics)

Vulcan was a British weekly boys' comic published by IPC Magazines from 1 March 1975 to 3 April 1976, when it merged with Valiant. The comic was unusual among IPC's weeklies for several reasons - it used a much smaller format than most of the company's weeklies and featured more colour; until September 1975 the title was only available in Scotland as the format was tested; and it consisted entirely of reprints of extant material. It was also published simultaneously in German as Kobra.

<i>The House of Dolmann</i> British comic book story

"The House of Dolmann" is a British comic strip published by Fleetway Publications and later IPC Magazines in the boys' comic anthology title Valiant between 29 October 1966 to 11 April 1970, with a brief revival from 7 September to 26 October 1974. Written by Tom Tully and primarily illustrated by Eric Bradbury, the strip centred on the exploits of genius inventor Eric Dolmann and his army of crime-fighting robot 'puppets'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Bradbury</span> British comic artist (1921–2001)

Eric Bradbury was a British comic artist who primarily worked for Amalgamated Press/IPC from the late 1940s to the 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Vigilant (comics)</span> Comic book superhero team

The Vigilant are a British superhero team who appear in comics published by Rebellion Developments. The team is mainly made up of updated versions of extant IPC/Fleetway Publications characters that are now owned by Rebellion, mixed with some original characters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Eterno</span> Comic book character

Adam Eterno is a fictional British comic book superhero who has appeared in comics published by Fleetway Publications and, since 2018, Rebellion Developments. The character was created by Jack Le Grand and Tom Tully, debuting in the first issue of Thunder in October 1970.

<i>Thunder</i> (British comics) British weekly comic

Thunder was a weekly British comics periodical published by Fleetway Publications from 17 October 1970 to 13 March 1971. A boys' adventure comic, the title only lasted for 22 editions before being merged with another Fleetway title, the long-established Lion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steel Commando</span> British comic book character

The Steel Commando is a British comic character, appearing in strips published by IPC Magazines. Created by Frank S. Pepper, the character first appeared in the first issue of the short-lived boys' weekly adventure anthology comic Thunder, dated 17 October 1970. After Thunder ended in March 1971 the strip continued in Lion until 1974. The character is a robotic soldier fighting for the British Army in World War II; due to a programming error the mechanical man will only obey the orders of layabout Private Ernest 'Excused Boots' Bates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mytek the Mighty</span> British comic book story

"Mytek the Mighty" is a British comic adventure strip, appearing in titles published by Fleetway Publications. The story revolves around Mytek, a large and powerful robotic ape. The strip first appeared in the boys' anthology title Valiant on 26 September 1964. The story was written by Tom Tully and initially drawn by Eric Bradbury, with Bill Lacey later taking over.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cursitor Doom</span> British comic book character

Cursitor Doom is a fictional British comic book character who debuted in a self-titled comic strip in the 15 March 1969 issue of the anthology Smash!, published by IPC Magazines. Created by Ken Mennell, Cursitor Doom is a powerful mystic who protects Earth from supernatural threats.

<i>The Astounding Adventures of Charlie Peace</i> British comic book story

"The Astounding Adventures of Charlie Peace" is a British comic strip published in the weekly anthology Buster from 27 June 1964 to 15 June 1971, published by Fleetway Publications and later IPC Magazines. It was previewed by a single instalment in Valiant on 20 June 1964. The strip featured fictionalised adventures of the real-life Victorian era criminal Charles Peace.

<i>The Astounding Jason Hyde</i> British comic book story

"The Astounding Jason Hyde" is a British comic story published in the weekly anthology Valiant from 15 May 1965 to 11 May 1968, published by Fleetway Publications. Uniquely for a story in Valiant, it consisted of illustrated prose episodes rather than comic strips. It tells the adventures of Jason Hyde, a scientist left with x-ray eyes and telepathy after exposure to radiation who subsequently embarks on a crimefighting career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Max</span> British comic book story

Black Max is a British comic character who has appeared in eponymous strips published by IPC Magazines and Rebellion Developments. The character, a German World War I fighter pilot with telepathic control over gigantic bats, first appeared in the launch issue of IPC weekly comic Thunder on 17 October 1970. The comic only lasted for 22 issues before merging with Lion; "Black Max" survived the transfer, and would continue until 21 October 1972; it was replaced by a spin-off strip called "Secrets of the Demon Dwarf", focusing on supporting character Doktor Gratz. Since 2018, the character has returned in new material published by Rebellion Developments.

<i>The Dracula File</i> British comic book story

"The Dracula File" is a British comic horror strip published by IPC Magazines and Rebellion Developments. It debuted in the first issue of the weekly anthology comic Scream on 24 March 1984. The story was written by Gerry Finley-Day and later Simon Furman, and was drawn by Eric Bradbury. The story featured Count Dracula escaping from the Eastern Bloc at the height of the Cold War before appearing in modern-day England, with KGB Colonel Stakis in pursuit. Scream was short-lived, being merged into Eagle in June 1984 after only 15 issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Death Squad (British comics)</span> British comic book story

"Death Squad" is a British comic war story published in the weekly anthology Battle from 12 July 1980 to 4 June 1981 by IPC Magazines. Set during World War II, the story follows a Wehrmacht penal military unit spared death sentences in return for service on the Eastern front. It was written by Alan Hebden and drawn by Eric Bradbury.

References

  1. Holland, Steve (2002). The Fleetway Companion. Rotherham: CJ & Publication.
  2. 1 2 Holland, Steve (1994). Valiant - A Complete Index. Comic Journal/A&B Whitworth.
  3. The Spectator. F.C. Westley. 1975.
  4. "Mon Journal : Janus Stark". bdmonjournal.free.fr.
  5. "Albion: Looking back at Wildstorm's "British Invasion"". 5 July 2019.
  6. "Albion #6". 13 December 2016. Archived from the original on 13 December 2016.
  7. "Forever Albion: An Interview with Leah Moore and John Reppion". downthetubes.net. 7 February 2007.
  8. "The Vigilant – Classic British Comics Characters Are Reborn as Rebellion's Shared Universe Breathes New Life into Old Favourites - Broken Frontier". 13 August 2018.
  9. Eric Bradbury  ( a )."Danny Doom - The Crypt of Astorath" Valiant (25 May to 29 June 1974). IPC Magazines .
  10. Eric Bradbury , Fred Holmes ( a )."Danny Doom - The Helsdon Hound" Valiant (25 May to 29 June 1974). IPC Magazines .
  11. Eric Bradbury  ( a )."Danny Doom - The Mystery of Morg Museum" Valiant (16 November 1974 to 15 February 1975). IPC Magazines .
  12. Eric Bradbury  ( a )."Danny Doom - The Werrag" Valiant (22 February to 22 March 1975). IPC Magazines .