CODEX OMNIVERSA

Dragon Island

In the Spring of 1927 in Shanghai, China, Hans von Hammer (Enemy Ace) walked into the “You Rascal You” Saloon & Emporium and was rescued from a bar fight by Biff Bradley from Brooklyn. He also met…

Lash explains that 28 years ago, he had a falling out with some gambling buddies back home and hopped a ship to Shanghai where he made some money dealing cards and opened his own place.

Later, the three men participated in a clandestine meeting with…

Stilwell asked if they’d ever heard the old Chinese folk tale about Dragon Island…

Long ago, a barbarian chief named Fan sought to befriend our Emperor. He created two magic swords and sent them to the king. The Emperor was suspicious. He went to a mountain saying: “If these swords are truly magic, then they will slice the stone!”

The Emperor struck the rock! The mountain split and from its depths arose great dragons! The king hitched the dragons to a flaming sky-boat and flew across the land, uniting our people.

One day a jealous cousin poisoned the Emperor… Fleeing in the dragon boat, a faithful servant carried the swords to a hidden isle! They remain there to this day – on the Isle of Dragons! It is said that when the swords and dragons return, China will once again be strong.

General Chiang Hai-Shek further said that if the swords and dragons indeed existed, he must have them to rally his people and lead them away from the Communists. He hired the men to find them. To days later they set sail. Little did they know they were followed…

On the island, the “team”, joined by Bradley’s sidekick, Chop-Chop, encountered Kung, Major of Special Operations for the Imperial Army of Japan and one of the Dobutsu Ninja, and faced Miss Fear and a brute called “Thunderer.” Finally, they met the person manipulating them all… Vandal Savage!

Hah! Little fool! Vandal Savage serves no flag!

As Lash sparred with Savage in the cave, von Hammer struggled with a ninja in the sky. The latter emerged victorious as Bradley rode in on a stegosaurus and impaled Savage. Bradley was badly injured, but tells Lash, “Cut one Bradley down… another one takes his place. Count on it…”

The team took the swords to Chiang, but kept the “dragons” a secret. When they departed, Chiang dropped the swords into the water, then asked a man in the shadows if he was sure it was the right thing to do…

Roderick Burgess, Pt. 2

Following Dream’s capture, a little girl named Ellie fell asleep and never woke up. A young man named Daniel Bustamonte woke in terror from a dream that turned into a nightmare. Unity Kincaid slept for almost 20 hours a day. At the age of 16, Stefan Wasserman, another victim of the “Sleepy Sickness” killed himself.

In June of 1920, Professor John Hathaway, senior curator at the Royal Museum, was accused of stealing books and manuscripts. He used an artifact from the museum to commit suicide. Accusations were made linking Hathaway to Roderick Burgess and his Order of Ancient Mysteries, but nothing could be proven.

In November of 1930, a schism brought chaos to Burgess’s Order. Second-in-command Ruthven Sykes disappeared with Ethel Cripps, Burgess’s mistress.

In December of 1930 in San Francisco, Sykes sold Dream’s helm to the demon Choronzon for protection from Burgess.

To be continued…

Wesley Dodds, Pt. 2

In the early 1930’s, Wesley Dodds served in the U.S. navy as a pilot with Clyde Dunlap and Happy O’Shea.

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The Great Depression cast a shadow over the United States, and in Germany, Adolf Hitler rose to power. People were looking for distraction… entertainment.

In 1930, magazine publisher Street and Smith sponsored a radio show promoting stories from their Detective Story Magazine. The fictional narrator, The Shadow, became popular. After numerous requests for his own publication, Street and Smith created one. A novel, The Living Shadow, hit newsstands in April of 1931, and was a huge success, paving the way for pulp adventures from rival publishers.

These pulp magazines ruled print, and their characters became the template for heroes to come…

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