In his first theatrical serial, Lieutenant Commander Don Winslow served in Navy Intelligence, just as he had always done. Yet, for the sequel serial, he mysteriously transferred to the Coast Guard (yes, it was called Don Winslow of the Coast Guard). Of course, for fans, Winslow was and would always be a Navy man. Created in 1934 to help boost Navy recruitment in the Midwest, LCDR Frank V. Martinek’s comic strip Don Winslow of the Navy was an instant hit, spawning those two serials, a radio show, tie-in novels, and a successful comic book continuity. Sadly, the strip ended its run on this day in 1955, but given his popularity, Winslow is due for rediscovery and maybe even rebooting.
In some ways, Don Winslow served as a prototype for Steve Canyon and Buz Sawyer, whose creators moved away from the high seas adventure strips that made their reputation, in favor of more military-themed intrigue (to which they retained the rights). Along with Martinek’s Winslow, these strips were like the Clancy-esque “technothrillers” of their era. For instance, Winslow uses a cutting-edge closed circuit television camera in his post-War story-arc, “The Mystery of Sinbad Valley.”
Understandably, during WWII, Winslow only fought the Germans and Japanese. If Martinek could came back to write a modern-day storyline, Winslow would surely fight the brutal and oppressive Iranian Revolutionary Guard. The fact that he has no real pop culture equivalent today is a void many of us keenly feel.
After the war, Winslow returned to battling the Scorpion, the supervillain behind the stateless army of evil known as Scorpia. Arguably, they predate and prefigure Marvel’s Hydra and AIM, James Bond’s Spectre, and Man from U.N.C.L.E.’s Thrush.
Inevitably, contemporary critics often try to dismiss Don Winslow as dated. His patriotism is usually cited as exhibit A. Apparently, Winslow thought America should win the life-and-death war it was fighting. Oh, how “jingoistic” of him. That is also why it is so refreshing to read his newspaper strips, if you can find them.
If anything is dated, it is his sidekick, Lt. Red Pennington, particularly with respects to his frequent exclamation of choice: “hooter hoot!” Pennington is admittedly on the husky side, but he is also a two-fisted brawler, who has Winslow’s back. In the 1930s, there were probably more than a few non-commissioned officers, who shared some physical similarities with Pennington.
On the other hand, his potential love interests met Winslow on relatively equal footing, like Navy WAVES Captain Jane Steele, who was recruited into Winslow’s team as a full member. Likewise, his longtime Mercedes Colby served as a military nurse, under active combat conditions.
Up until 1952, former Navy Lieutenant Leon Beroth provided the strip’s crisp, clean art. Sadly, Martinek is even more forgotten today than his creation, but he wrote columns as early as 1921 warning of the rise expansionist militarism in Japan. He also served as an agent for the Bureau of Investigation (which eventually evolved into the FBI). Frankly, contemporary newspapers do not have staff with his insight and experience writing for their international or editorial sections. Yet, he brought his expertise to the so-called “funny pages.”
Honestly, we need Winslow and a few good men of his ilk from other branches of the service. Some people will dismiss him as “old fashioned,” but there is a hunger for the kind of patriotic heroism he embodied. If you can find them, his newspaper strips are highly recommended, precisely because of their military savvy and their embrace of American ideals.