Sailor Steve Costigan is a fictional character created by American writer Robert E. Howard. He is a merchant sailor on the Sea Girl and is also its champion boxer. His only true companion is a bulldog named Mike (after his brother and fellow boxer, "Iron" Mike Costigan).
Costigan, one of Howard's humorous boxing pulp heroes, roamed the Asiatic seas with fists of steel, a will of iron, and a head of wood. A striking contrast between Howard's barbarians and swordsmen, Costigan was a modern-day character, written in a humorous, Texas tall tale style. The Sailor Steve Costigan stories were very popular in the pages of Fight Stories, Action Stories, and the short-lived Jack Dempsey’s Fight Magazine. In a career that was made up largely from writing short stories about recurring characters, Howard wrote more completed stories about Costigan and his pugilistic ilk than about any of his fantasy heroes except Conan the Barbarian.
Style
Howard used understatement and misdirection to create humor. He established Costigan as a most unreliable narrator, a sailor who cannot admit when he has had a lot to drink, does not realize he is a terrible judge of character, and acts before he thinks. These character flaws are the heart of the boxing series and make Costigan as sympathetic as he is hilarious. Told in a jaunty first-person style and in the past tense, the Costigan stories are presented in a slang-riddled, colloquial fashion. Howard grew up in the storytelling tradition of the Southwest and the narrative structure of the Costigan stories mirrors this, especially in the endings, with their humorous stings, inappropriate life lessons, and outright punch lines.
Dennis Dorgan
When Magic Carpet Magazine opened up as a companion to Weird Tales, Howard took some of the unsold Costigan stories and submitted them to the potential new market. The editor of both Magic Carpet and Weird Tales, Farnsworth Wright, was already publishing one story by Robert E. Howard, and requested the author use a pseudonym for the boxing story. Howard chose "Patrick Ervin" for himself, and then not wanting readers to question why someone named Ervin would write about Robert E. Howard's Steve Costigan character from Fight Stories, decided to change his main character's name as well. Howard resurrected the “Dorgan” surname from an earlier boxing story that was changed to a Costigan yarn, and added the more alliterative first name of “Dennis.” Every other character in the story remained the same; the name of the ship, the crew, and the bulldog. Dorgan was little more than a disguise for Costigan. With the pseudonyms in place, Wright accepted four Dennis Dorgan stories. After the fact, Howard changed the name of the Sea Girl to the Python, and the Mike into Spike. Bill O’Brien, Mushy Hanson, and Sven Larson stayed the same.
Only one Dorgan story, “The Alleys of Singapore", however, was published (renamed “Alleys of Darkness”) before Magic Carpet ceased publication as well. Jack Dempsey’s Fight Magazine started after that, and Howard managed to place three more Costigan stories before the magazine folded. Fight Stories, after a hiatus of two years, returned as a quarterly magazine in 1934 and continued to reprint the Costigan stories for years after Howard's death, changing the titles and eventually crediting the authorship to their house pseudonym, "Mark Adam".
Despite these characters having different names, Costigan and Dorgan are the same character. They act, speak, and fight in exactly the same way, much like how there is no discernible difference between Howard's humorous western characters Breckenridge Elkins and Pike Bearfield. “Dennis Dorgan” is counted as a separate character only because a number of the unsold Costigan stories were published by Darrell Richardson in the 1970s. Howard himself never really considered that the name Dorgan to be anything other than a pseudonym for Costigan, and went back to Costigan more than once.
Fictional character biography
Steve Costigan is an Irish American from Galveston, Texas (Texas Fists, 1931). He has one brother, Mike, who is also a boxer and has been more successful in this sport than Steve himself (The Bull Dog Breed, 1930). He left Texas to become a sailor, soon becoming an able seaman on the merchant ship Sea Girl (registered in San Francisco, California). While he has worked on other ships, he considers this to be his home.
He has been an amateur boxer since childhood. Steve always likes to be champion of whichever ship or organization of which he is part (Circus Fists, 1931). Subsequently, the only title he really holds is "Champion of the Sea Girl" (which he refers to as "The Fighten'est Ship Afloat"). He found his pet bulldog, Mike, as a stray in Dublin, and named him after his brother (The Bull Dog Breed, 1930). Steve is a heavyweight boxer, weighing 190 lb and standing 6ft (1.8m) tall. He has the "Black Irish" combination of blue eyes and black hair.
"The Slugger's Game" (First printed in Jack Dempsey's Fight Magazine, May 1934.)
"Sluggers on the Beach" (First printed in Jack Dempsey's Fight Magazine, August 1934.)
"Texas Fists" (First printed in Fight Stories, May 1931. Also known as Shanghied Mitts.)
"The TNT Punch" (First printed in Action Stories, January 1931. Also known as The Waterfront Law, The Waterfront Wallop.)
"Vikings of the Gloves" (First printed in Fight Stories, February 1932. Also known as Including the Scandinavian.)
"Waterfront Fists" (First printed in Fight Stories, September 1930. Also known as Stand Up and Slug.)
"Winner Take All" (First printed in Fight Stories, July 1930. Also known as Sucker Fight.)
Dennis Dorgan stories
"Alleys of Darkness" was originally published in the final issue of Magic Carpet in 1934
"Alleys of Darkness" (First printed in Magic Carpet Magazine, January 1934. Also known as Alleys of Singapore. Only Dennis Dorgan story that saw print during Howard's life.)
"Alleys of Treachery" (First printed in The Howard Collector #8, Summer 1966. Also known as The Mandarin Ruby.)
"The Destiny Gorilla" (First printed in The Incredible Adventures of Dennis Dorgan (1974). Also known as Sailor Costigan and the Destiny Gorilla and Sailor Dorgan and the Destiny Gorilla.)
"In High Society" (First printed in The Incredible Adventures of Dennis Dorgan (1974). Also known as Cultured Cauliflowers.)
"A Knight of the Round Table" (First printed in The Incredible Adventures of Dennis Dorgan (1974). Also known as Iron-Clad Fists.)
"Playing Journalist" (First printed in The Incredible Adventures of Dennis Dorgan (1974). Also known as A New Game for Costigan and A New Game for Dorgan.)
"Playing Santa Claus" (First printed in The Incredible Adventures of Dennis Dorgan (1974). Also known as A Two-Fisted Santa Claus.)
"Sailor Dorgan and the Jade Monkey" (First printed in The Howard Collector #14, Spring 1971. Also known as Sailor Costigan and the Jade Monkey and The Jade Monkey.)
"The Turkish Menace" (Sold to Magic Carpet Magazine in May 1933, magazine suspended before publication. First printed in The Incredible Adventures of Dennis Dorgan (1974). Also known as Sailor Dorgan and the Turkish Menace and Sailor Costigan and the Turkish Menace.)
"The Yellow Cobra" (First printed in The Incredible Adventures of Dennis Dorgan (1974). Also known as Sailor Dorgan and the Yellow Cobra, A Korean Night and A Night Ashore.)
Robert E. Howard wrote the weird menace story "Skull Face" with a main character also called Stephen Costigan. This Costigan is distinct from Sailor Steve Costigan, as the Skull Face version is a drug-addicted former-WW1 soldier suffering from shell shock. "Skull Face" was first printed in Weird Tales, October 1929, in a three part series ending in December, 1929.
The Old Man: The Welsh owner and captain of the Sea Girl. He is most familiar with the South Pacific and South China Sea. He frequently makes bad bets whilst drunk, which often adds to Steve's problems.
Mike: Steve's white bulldog and best friend. He has killed several people, often by ripping their throat out. Steve has trained him not to interfere with fights in the ring and not to attack women. Mike largely mirrors Steve's personality.
Bill O’Brien: Another Irish-American sailor/boxer aboard the Sea Girl. He is Steve's best (human) friend.
Mushy Hanson: (Over 6ft (1.8m), 200lb) A Danish sailor/boxer aboard the Sea Girl. Mushy is an amateur poet and keeps a collection of Dime novels.
Sven Larson: (6ft 4in, 245lb) A Swedish sailor/boxer who constantly challenges Steve for the title of Champion of the Sea Girl. (Champ of the Forecastle)
Opponents
Bat Slade: (5ft 10in, slightly less than 190lb) Champion of the Dauntless. (The Pit of the Serpent)
Bert Harper: (6ft 1in, 198lb) A sailor acting as a stunt-double in Hollywood. (Sailor's Grudge)
Big John Clancy: (6ft 1¾in, 230lb) Bouncer at Ladeau's American Bar. (The Sign of the Snake)
Biff Leary: (5ft 10in, 195lb) Champion of the Bueno Oro mine. (Texas Fists)
Bill Brand: (6ft, 190lb) An English boxer from the King William. (Hard-Fisted Sentiment)
Bill Cairn, the Ironville Blacksmith: (6ft 1¼in, 210lb) Title contender from Ironville, Nevada. (Circus Fists)
Robert Ervin Howard was an American writer. He wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. He is well known for his character Conan the Barbarian and is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre.
Primo Carnera, nicknamed the Ambling Alp, was an Italian professional boxer and wrestler who reigned as the boxing World Heavyweight Champion from 29 June 1933 to 14 June 1934. He won more fights by knockout than any other heavyweight champion in boxing history.
A sailor is part of a crew on a ship or boat.
Costigan is an Irish surname with higher concentrations in Counties Laois, Tipperary and Kilkenny. Costigan is a branch of the Fitzpatricks of Upper Ossory, although the name may also independently derive from Hodgkin, a dimin. of Roger. Genetic evidence shows shared ancestry amongst Fitzpatricks and Costigans with ancestry in Upper Ossory Notable people with the surname include:
"The TNT Punch" is a Sailor Steve Costigan short story by Robert E. Howard. It was originally published in the January 1931 issue of Action Stories. It has been reprinted under the titles "The Waterfront Law" and "The Waterfront Wallop" since Howard's death. The story was sold to Action Stories publisher Fiction House in August 1930 for $75.
"Vikings of the Gloves" is a Sailor Steve Costigan short story by Robert E. Howard. It was originally published in the February 1932 issue of Fight Stories. It was reprinted under the title "Including the Scandinavian!" after Howard's death and attributed to the Fight Stories housename "Mark Adam". Howard earned $65 for the sale of this short story.
A list of prose works by Robert E. Howard. The works are sorted by genre, by series and then alphabetically. Untitled works and fragments are listed separately by their opening line.
"Alleys of Peril" is a Sailor Steve Costigan short story by Robert E. Howard. It was originally published in the January 1931 issue of Fight Stories.
"Sailor's Grudge" is a Sailor Steve Costigan short story by Robert E. Howard. It was originally published in the March 1930 issue of Fight Stories.
"The Bulldog Breed" is a short story by American writer Robert E. Howard, featuring his character Sailor Steve Costigan.
"The Slugger's Game" is a Sailor Steve Costigan short story by Robert E. Howard. It was originally published in the May 1934 issue of Jack Dempsey's Fight Magazine.
"Slugger's on the Beach" is a Sailor Steve Costigan short story by Robert E. Howard. It was originally published in the August 1934 issue of Jack Dempsey's Fight Magazine.
"Texas Fists" is a Sailor Steve Costigan short story by Robert E. Howard. It was originally published in the May 1931 issue of Fight Stories.
"Circus Fists" is a Sailor Steve Costigan short story by Robert E. Howard. It was originally published in the December 1931 issue of Fight Stories.
"Fist and Fang" is a Sailor Steve Costigan short story by Robert E. Howard. It was originally published in the May 1930 issue of Fight Stories. Howard earned $100 for the sale of this story. It is also known by the title Cannibal Fists.
"General Ironfist" is a Sailor Steve Costigan short story by Robert E. Howard. It was originally published in the June 1934 issue of Jack Dempsey's Fight Magazine. Howard earned $35 for the sale of this story which is now in the public domain.
"Waterfront Fists" is a Sailor Steve Costigan short story by Robert E. Howard. It was originally published in the September 1930 issue of Fight Stories. Howard earned $90 for the sale of this story which is now in the public domain.
"Winner Take All" is a Sailor Steve Costigan short story by Robert E. Howard. It was originally published in the July 1930 issue of Fight Stories. Howard earned $80 for the sale of this story which is now in the public domain.
The Rampaging Hulk is a comic book series published by Marvel Comics. The first volume was a black and white magazine published by Curtis Magazines from 1977–1978. With issue #10, it changed its format to color and its title to The Hulk!, and ran another 17 issues before it was canceled in 1981. It was a rare attempt by Marvel to mix their superhero characters with the "mature readers" black-and-white magazine format.
Skull-Face is a fantasy novella by American writer Robert E. Howard, which appeared as a serial in Weird Tales magazine, beginning in October 1929, and ending in December, 1929. The story stars a character called Stephen Costigan but this is not Howard's recurring character, Sailor Steve Costigan. The story is clearly influenced by Sax Rohmer's opus Fu Manchu but substitutes the main Asian villain with a resuscitated Atlantean necromancer sitting at the center of a web of crime and intrigue meant to end White/Western world domination with the help of Asian/semite/African peoples and to re-instate surviving Atlanteans as the new ruling elite.
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