An interesting short novel I picked up is Frank Schildiner‘s Iron Skull: The Last Dominion from Pro Se Productions. It makes use of, and basically re-images, the obscure Golden Age comicbook character the Iron Skull.
Now, who is the Iron Skull? He was a minor character who appeared in comic books published by Centaur Comics, a short-lived third- or fourth-rate comic book publisher. Their main claim to fame is that they published the first original masked comic character, The Clock, and they were also the publisher of Bill Everett‘s Amazing Man. All of their characters are in the public domain, and several were used as the Protectors from Malibu, and I believe someone has created prose stories with these characters.
Now, back to the Iron Skull. He appeared in his own strip that ran in Amazing Man #5-11, 14-20, and 22, and Stars and Strips #2-6. Created by Carl Burgos, the Iron Skull’s origin was given in Amazing Man #7. In 1950, World War II is still raging, and has reached the U.S! An unnamed soldier is injured and taken to Chicago, where he is turned into a cyborg. He is super-strong, resilient to bullets, and his face has no nose, giving him a skull-like appearance. In the post-war period of 1960, he goes after crime, called just “The Skull.” At some point this future stuff is dropped. Later in Stars and Strips #3, he starts wearing a costume (if you can call it that), and in the next issue, he adds a cloak and a skull & cross bones on his bare chest, and he can fly.
What you see on the cover of Schildiner’s story matches this final appearance. But Schildiner has re-imagined him for this story, making him an immortal sentinel of justice who works to protect the human race. He was created (along with a few others like him, all gone) by an early and now long-gone civilization.
The story is set in South America, where the Iron Skull meets a group of explorers seeking the lost city of Zol. Zol is a outpost of the Lemuria, here an evil, lost civilization. Interestingly, the story is in modern times, but this has little bearing on the story itself as the Iron Skull, in disguise, accompanies the expedition to lost Zol, with the intent of putting an end to its evil. Will he succeed? Read and find out.
I’m not sure if there are plans for more Iron Skull stories. I guess if this one is successful we may see more, as things are certainly set up for stories set either before or after this one. Check it out. This is another winner from Schildiner.
