Dale, Jimmie. See the Gray Seal.

Dana Girls. The Dana Girls were created by Edward Stratemeyer and first appeared in By The Light of the Study Lamp (1934); the Dana Girls series ran through 30 novels into 1968. The Girls lived in Oak Falls, a suburban town somewhere in the Midwest, and attended Starhurst School for Girls, a very exclusive boarding school in the nearby village of Penfield. The Girls are Louise, seventeen and dark, and Jean, sixteen and blonde. Both are very pretty, very smart, and very, very capable, in the Nancy Drew (see below) mold. They are orphans who live with Uncle Ned Dana, a sea captain who was forced to be away from home for most of the time, and Aunt Harriet, Ned's sister and an attractive but unmarried woman. The housework was down by the stupid Cora Appel and the stuttering Ben Harrow, who worshiped the Girls and obeyed all orders. The Girls' enemy at Starhurst is snooty, upper class Lettie Briggs, she of the "pinched, disagreeable face," who with her toady Ina Mason tries forever (unsuccessfully, of course) to get the girls in trouble. The Girls date, in an affectionless way, Ken Scott and Jim Barton from the nearby boy's school the Walton Academy.

The Dana Girls Page
A brief biography of the characters and bibliography of the series

The Dana Girls Series
Another brief biography of the characters and bibliography of the series.

Dane, Colwyn. Colwyn Dane was a detective, created by Edward Reginald Home-Gall (or perhaps Rupert Hall) and then taken over by Mark Grimshaw. He appeared in the Champion Library for around 30 years (yes, three decades). He was similar to the Golden Age Sexton Blake, down to his Tinker-ish assistant, Slick Chester, and fought many a Wily Yellow Peril.

Dangerfield, Harry. Harry Dangerfield appeared in Fun and Fiction in the 1910s, perhaps beginning with #5 (November 11, 1911), and Bullseye in the 1930s. The earlier version of Harry had him as the thrill-seeking "Harry Dangerfield--Cinematograph Actor!" During the 1930s he was an "ex-officer, utterly bored with peace-time existence" who would "undertake missions anywhere, at any time, provided that the element of danger is present....payment according to means, to go to children of ex-servicemen."

Danner, Hugo. Hugo Danner was created by Philip Wylie and appeared in Gladiator (1930). Danner is a historically important character, for he is the most important predecessor to Doc Savage and was likewise influential on Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, who created Superman. That more people don't know about Danner or don't recognize Wylie's name is a shame, for Gladiator is a surprisingly modern novel and Wylie one of the great underrated science fiction writers of the last century.

Danner was the son of Abednego Danner, a scientist who wanted to produce a superman. To do so he gave a special serum to his son, Hugo, who grew up to become an ubermensch, capable of leaping 40' in the air, lifting cars, bending steel with his hands, and ignoring everything short of an exploding artillery shell. Hugo was lusted after by women but a social outcast because of his special abilities. He had no compunctions about killing, unlike Kal-L.

d'Arcy, Arthur Augustus. Arthur Augustus d'Arcy was created by Frank Richards and appeared...well, I'm not exactly sure. I know that he appeared in D'Arcy in Danger and one or two other novels, but I haven't been able to find his first appearance (it was in Gem, I know that much) or even a good list of his series stories. Or, for that matter, much other information. He's the "swell of St. Jim's" (the school at which several of Frank Richards' stories appeared), and is a drawlin' 1930s/1940s type of crime fighter, but I don't really have any more information than that. According to literary rumor, he not only appeared in a Sexton Blake story or two but was also the source of Lord Peter Wimsey.

Dare, Daisy. Daisy Dare appeared in The Dreadnought from 1912 to 1914; I'm unaware of her creator. She was a plucky girl reporter for the London Sentinel who was forever getting into trouble in pursuit of a story. Many of those stories involved crimes that Scotland Yard had been unable to solve, but Daisy, sure of her own ability, never hesitated to plunge right in, regardless of the rough surroundings in which she found herself. Although she was most definitely a lady, blushing if paid a compliment, she never let her sense of propriety or modesty stop her. Needless to say, her success rate was very high.

Dare, Dickie. Dickie Dare was created by Milton (Terry and the Pirates) Caniff and ran from 1933 through 1957. Dickie began as a suburban 12-year-old dreaming himself into adventures with characters from Robin Hood to Robinson Crusoe to Aladdin to King Arthur. Eventually he was brought back to the real world, where his parents introduced him to a swashbuckling sailor named Dan Flynn, who took Dickie on a naval tour to the Mediterranean. Adventures followed, where Flynn and a pretty woman named Kim Sheridan became entangled with everything from German submarines to Arab slavers to French Foreign Legionnaires and explored much of Africa and the South Pacific.

Dare, Skippy. Skippy was created by "Hugh Lloyd" (Percy Fitzhugh's pen-name) and appeared in the three-book "Skippy Dare Mystery Stories" series, which appeared in 1934 and began with Among the River Pirates. Skippy was a child investigator who got involved in rather interesting adventures, stopping pirates on the Mississippi, kidnapers, and thieves working from the "Devil's Bog."

Dare, Susan. Susan Dare was created by Mignon G. Eberhart and appeared in six stories in The Delineator in 1934. She was a writer of murder mysteries by trade, producing “lovely, grisly ones, with sensible solutions.” Occasionally her profession leads her to be called upon to solve murders, with the Chicago police department valuing her services. She is sensible and level-headed and has a relationship with Jim Byrne, a reporter.

The Dare Boys. The Dare Boys were created by Stephen Cox and appeared in the twelve-book "Dare Boys" series, which began in 1910 with The Dare Boys of 1776. The Dare Boys were patriotic Americans fighting the evil Red Coats during the American Revolution, operating from the American North West to Boston and into the swamps of the South.

Daredevils of the Red Circle. The Daredevils appeared in an eponymous Republic Pictures serial in 1939. They are Gene Townley, Tiny Dawson, and Burt Knowles, a trio of athletic college kids who perform tricks in a sideshow at the Granville Amusement Pier. They get involved in a revenge plot (an escaped con goes after the millionaire owner of the Amusement Pier) and use their skills—Gene is a high diver, Tiny is a strongman, and Burt is an escape artist—to capture the convict and avenge the death of Gene’s little brother Sammy.

Darraq, Paul. Paul Darraq was created by Jacques Futrelle, the creator of the Thinking Machine, and appeared in The Popular Magazine in 1912. Darraq is a fairly standard amateur investigator, not as intelligent as Professor van Dusen nor as obnoxious, but much more intelligent than the average gentleman sleuth. He is aided in his efforts by his friend Lester, who narrates the stories. Apart from the standard opponents, Darraq also investigated a "flying eye," which turned out to be a special, technologically advanced airplane used by the U.S. government.

Darrell, Jack. Jack Darrell was created by Arthur K. Barnes and appeared in at least two stories in Wonder Stories, beginning with "Lord of the Lightning" (December 1931). Jack Darrell is a crack newspaper reporter who manages to save Earth in his adventures, defeating a heat ray-manipulating mad scientist in Chile in one story and killing a series of would-be Earth-conquering aliens in another story.

Darrin, Dave. Dave Darrin was created by H. Irving Hancock and appeared in the Dick Prescott Cycle. (For more information on this, see Dick's entry.) After serving as Dick's sidekick in the "Grammar School Boys Series," the "High School Boys Series," and the "High School Boys Vacation Series," Dave and his best chum Dan Dalzell graduated and went on to Annapolis, where they appeared in the three-book "Annapolis Series," starting in 1910 with Dave Darrin's first year at Annapolis, or, Two plebe midshipmen at the United States Naval Academy. After that Dave and Dan appeared in the "Dave Darrin" series, which ran for eight books and began in 1914 with Dave Darrin at Vera Cruz, or, Fighting with the U.S. Navy in Mexico. Dave and Dan's adventures basically consisted of them earning acclaim while at Annapolis and then, once graduating, fighting a war against the Hun on the seas of the Atlantic and Pacific, on destroyers, submarines, and battleships.

Darrow, Percy. Percy Darrow was created by Stewart Edward White and appeared in Popular Magazine from 1907 to 1910. Darrow was a playboy sleuth and scientist who was, in the words of one critic, "only slightly less insufferable than Philo Vance," which is really saying something. He's like Vance in that he's a smirking, egotistical dilettante (a racist, too), but he's well-educated and effective, like Vance. He began as an assistant to a scientist who engaged in deadly experiments with radioactivity and discovered a new element, "celestium." (It ended badly, with almost all involved dying. Later Darrow struck out on his own and became a successful investigator, tracking down a mad scientist with a death ray of sorts, although Darrow requires a political fix at the end of that story to keep himself out of jail.

Darrow, Ruth. Ruth Darrow was created by Mildred A. Wirt, creator of Nancy Drew, and appeared in the four-volume "Ruth Darrow Flying Stories" series, which began in 1930 with Ruth Darrow in the Air Derby, or, Recovering the Silver Trophy. Ruth was a teenage pilot whose air skills were among the best. She won races, fought crime, and had adventures, working with the Fire Patrol in California, exploring the Yucatan, and fighting smugglers for the Coast Guard.

Darvil, Robert. Robert Darvil was introduced in Gustave (Cornelius Kramm) Le Rouge's Le Prisonnier de la planète Mars (1908) and The War of the Vampires (1909). I haven't actually read Darvil's debut, not ever having found a reading copy of it. But I do have a decent summary of it from a critical work, and I anticipate having more information on Darvil in June. To quote from the critical source:

Through the combined psychic energy of several thousand Indian fakirs, Robert Darvil is transported to the planet Mars, where he discovers that human beings are being held in slavery by a local race of vampires. During the course of his struggles, Darvil encounters flying octopuses, crystal mountains, giant brains, invisible entities, and so on.

Le Rouge's Mars was elaborately described, with its fauna, flora, and various races of inhabitants, à la C. S. Lewis's Out of the Silent Planet (1938). Darvel ran afoul of Mars' hostile, bat-winged, blood-sucking natives, a once-powerful civilization now ruled by the Great Brain, a giant brain-like entity, perhaps the first time that this now clichéd idea was used in modern science fiction. The Great Brain got rid of Darvel by sending him back to Earth, unfortunately with some of the vampires. The second volume dealt with the war on Earth against the vampires, who wanted Darvel to return to Mars to destroy the Great Brain.

Dash, Speed. Richard “Speed” Dash was created by Erle Stanley Gardner and appeared in Top Notch from 1925 to 1930. Dash was a detective, but quite different from many of the pulp p.i.s. He was a “human fly,” in such good physical shape that he was capable of scaling buildings with no equipment or help. He was in the best physical shape imaginable, able to “crash a raw potato to liquid.” And he led a pure life, never drinking, smoking, or even having impure thoughts about women. (I’ve also seen him referred to as a “hyperactive flying detective,” although I’m not sure what that means)

Dashaway, Bob. Bob Dashaway was created by Cyrus Brady and appeared in the three-volume "Bob Dashaway" series, which began in 1911 with Bob Dashaway, Privateersman. Bob was a patriotic American sailor active during the American Revolution. After the Revolution he went hunting pirate treasure in the Caribbean and then went into the Arctic.

Dashaway, Dave. Dave Dashaway was created by the Stratemeyer Syndicate and appeared in the five-book "Dave Dashaway" series, which began in 1913 with Dave Dashaway, the Young Aviator, or In the Clouds for Fame and Fortune. Dave Dashaway was a teen pilot who used various planes, including a zeppelin and a hydroplane, to have adventures around the world.

Daunt, Adam. Adam Daunt appeared in Fun & Fiction beginning on 20 January 1912. He was a millionaire detective with a massive ego; clients were forced to advertise for his services before he would help them. When Fun & Fiction changed to Firefly, Adam was killed during a flying mission and replaced by his nephew Abel.

Davey. Davey and his best pal Bill appeared in Bill and Davey, done by James P. McCague, running from 1938 through 1940. Davey was a blond orphan who adopted by Bill Bilson, a chunky, muscular sailor. Together they wandered the ocean blue on several ships, piloted by usually-evil captains with names like Lash and Stabb, and helped those in distress, young women and old couples and other orphans. They also fought the inevitable storms and pirates and occasionally found lost or shipwrecked treasure.

Dawe, Archer. Archer Dawe was created by J.S. Fletcher and appeared in a group of stories which were collected in The Adventures of Archer Dawe (Sleuth-Hound) (1909). Michael Grost describes Archer Dawe as “an elderly amateur detective who works closely with Scotland Yard. Both he and the Yard detectives rely closely on Fletcher's two favorite techniques: tracking, and disguising oneself in the clothes of the upper classes.”

Dawlish, Patrick. Patrick Dawlish was created by John Creasey (writing as "Gordon Ashe") and appeared in 50 books, beginning with The Speaker (1939). Dawlish is an enormous, very strong man who is drawn into a series of savage crimes and decides to settle them on his own. This gets him into trouble with the law, on occasion, but he always makes his way out, often with the help of his friends. (There was a clear Bulldog Drummond influence on Dawlish.) During the war he was a highly-ranked officer in MI5, fighting a private war against the Germans.

Patrick Dawlish
Information on the character and his creation, from Creasey's son.

Dawson, Dave. Dave Dawson was created by Robert Bowen and appeared in the "War Adventure Series," also known as the "Dave Dawson Series," which ran for sixteen books, beginning with Dave Dawson at Dunkirk (1941) and continuing through 1946. Dawson was a graduate of Boston's Latin High School, a Boy Scout and track star who was also an experienced pilot. On his 17^th birthday Germany invaded France, and Dave and his friend Freddy Farmer are caught in France and forced to witness German planes gun down unarmed French refugees. They overcome many dangers, including capture and interrogation at the hands of a stereotypically cruel German colonel, before making it back to London, where they quickly volunteer for the RAF. Dave and Freddy became scouts and fighter pilots for them, fighting against the Germans and the Japanese in every theater during WW2.

Dax, Saturnin. Saturnin Dax was created by Marten Cumberland and appeared in at least three novels, beginning with The Perilous Way (1926). A portly Parisian cop, as time goes by he moves from poverty to wealth, rising to the rank of Special Commissaire of Paris' Judicial Police. Ranked by Barzun and Taylor as being more interesting than Maigret (!), Dax is a clever cop who is challenged but never beaten by the unusual crimes and criminals he faces.

Dayland, Dr. Nancy. Dr. Nancy Dayland was created by Florence Mae Pettee and appeared in Black Mask, Action Stories, Argosy All-Story, and Flynn’s from 1920 through 1924. Dr Nancy is, as Sampson put it, “Nancy Drew grown up,” an incredibly unrealistic and idealized female investigator and detective, attractive, intelligent, well-composed, and (of course) able to solve any mystery, no matter how ridiculously obscure (or absent) the clues are. The stories are wholly loaded in favor of Dr. Nancy, and if there is anyone who idealizes Dr. Nancy more than Drusilla Deming, Nancy’s Dr. Watson, it is Florence Mae Pettee. Trust me—Dr. Nancy is not worth any more of your trouble, or mine.

Dead End Kids. No. I can’t do it. I can’t write anything about the Kids, their appalling mangling of the English language, the horrible plots, the unspeakable Leo Gorcey…no, no, no, I won’t do it. Go here instead. Just don't make me write about them or, God forbid, listen to them.

Death, Mortimer. Mortimer Death was created by Ken Crossen and appeared in Detective Fiction Weekly from at least 1941. Death is, of course, a mortician, who with the help of his Sgt. George Stuart (of the Santa Monica P.D.) solves crimes. Stuart is a rough sort who provides comic relief and is Death's Watson, but Death has enough smarts for the both of them. Death is "a little, short, fat man with the most cheerful puss I ever see on a guy." As a mortician he's not very successful–too cheerful looking–but as a detective he's quite handy.

Deathless Men. The Deathless Men appeared in the "V for Vengeance" strip in The Wizard during and after WW2. The Deathless Men was a group of underground fighters who had escaped from German POW camps and fought, in enemy territory, against the Germans. "V for Vengeance" was their motto. The Deathless Men had a list of high-ranking party and Gestapo members, and after they killed one of the men on the list they'd pin the list to the corpse with the dead man's name crossed out. Goebbels, Goering and Hitler were at the top of the list. The Deathless Men were also nameless, always wearing black hoods when they met as a way to protect their individual identities. They were given "Jack numbers" (their head, "Jack One," posed as Colonel von Reich, the second in command to Himmler in the Black Guards) as a way to identify each other. They were never taken alive, however, all being equipped with poison capsules.

Deep Sea Hunters. The Hunters (I've been unable to find out what their individual names were) were created by A. Hyatt Verrill and appeared in the three book "Deep Sea Hunters Series," debuting in The Deep Sea Hunters in 1922 and running through 1924. They were, as their name indicates, hunters and explorers who specialized in the bottom of the ocean, and they went from the Atlantic to the Arctic to the Pacific.

De Grandin, Jules. Jules De Grandin, one of the most memorable of all the fictional detectives, was created by Seabury Quinn (1899-1969), a lawyer and professor. De Grandin appeared in ninety-two short stories and a single novel, appearing from 1925 to 1951, starting with “The Horror of the Links” in the October 25 issue of Weird Tales.

De Grandin is one of those characters one immediately reacts to; one either loves or hates De Grandin. He is a small, excitable Frenchman, given to oaths, parbleu, helas, and interjections, mon vieux, and a similarly stereotyped manner of speech. He is quite contented with himself. Quite contented. The stories lack the build-up that other writers of the time, such as Algernon Blackwood, usually put in their stories; the De Grandin stories move fast and feature a lot of action, but not a lot of subtlety or, let’s be frank, a lot of the style and character development that similar (and better) writers featured in their work.

De Grandin is assisted by Detective Sergeant Costello, his usual contact with the force, and by Dr. Samuel Trowbridge, the stories’ narrator and De Grandin’s sidekick. De Grandin does not usually need their help, however. He is very intelligent, well-educated, trained, and experienced in fighting and defeating the occult and whatever random monstrous nasty he fights. (He’s also vain, voluble, and a glutton, but never mind) He uses guns, knives, stakes, silver, iron, hypnosis, his contacts with French Intelligence (he worked for them after WW1, in which he fought), his experiences in Africa and Asia, even full-fledged magical spells—whatever it takes to slaughter the bad guys and see good triumph. (It always does, of course, though usually not before a lot of blood has been spilled) And bad guys there are: ghosts, werewolves, zombies, ghouls, flying severed hands, vampires, psychic batteries, bloodthirsty Druids (there aren’t any other kind), mummies—every possible bogey, and some that aren’t, run through the De Grandin stories.

Jules De Grandin: Le Sherlock Holmes du Surnaturel
An article from AstroneF magazine reviewing a book on De Grandin and Quinn. In French.

Demonios. Thanks to Marc Madouraud I can pass on some information on this character. Démonios was created by Roger-Henri Jacquart (under the alias of "Roger d'Arjac") and appeared in eight novels: Demonios, Genius of Evil (1938), The Fantastic Affair of Roxy Beach (1939), The Seven Victims of Demonios (1940), The Crime of the Woods of Cambre (1941), The Three Red Roads (1944), Démonios Returns (1947), The Phenomenal Criminal (1947), and Luc Mahor Against the Unknown One (1954). Démonios was one of many Fantomas homages (there were others with names like Ténébras, Férocias, Spectras, Démonax, only the last of which I've been able to find anything on); he was a pitiless and cruel super-criminal similar in several ways to the Master of Terror. Of course, Démonios had an actual origin, something the Genius of Evil lacked. Démonios had at one time been a good and kind man, but during WW1 he sustained a head injury which turned him into a sociopath. Demonios was opposed by Luc Mahor, a valiant policeman who had been a friend of Démonios before the War turned him bad. Démonios did not reveal himself as Mahor's old friend until the end of the series, however, when Mahor defeated Démonios for good and Démonios became the head of a philanthropic organization rehabilitating down-on-their-luck criminals. As a side note, Mahor, in his dress, actions, and modus operandi, may have been lightly influenced by The Shadow.

Desperate Dan. Desperate Dan was created by British comic immortal Dudley Watkins and appeared in The Dandy Comic beginning in the 1930s. Desperate Dan began as a rough, tough, ill-tempered cowboy long on brawn (he could carry a horse on his back and punch clean through a tree) and short on brains, with a barrel chest, a lantern jaw, and chin bristle that required a blow torch to trim. He soon became a more clear-cut hero, although he never got any brighter. His supporting cast included his Aunt Aggie, his nephew Dannie, and his niece Katey. Most interesting about the strip (although it was by no means an uninteresting or poorly executed strip) was that the town the strip was set in, Cactusville, was an odd combination of the Old West and modern Britain, with western sheriffs and British Bobbies coexisting alongside trams and stagecoaches.

Department Z. The Department was created by John Creasey and appeared in 28 novels, beginning with The Death Miser (1932). Department Z is the counterespionage arm of British Intelligence. It is commanded by Gordon Craigie, a square-jawed Scotsman. Their history after the war, when they take on world-conquest-oriented mad scientist, is actually more interesting than the pre-war and wartime adventures, which were concerned with German and Japanese spies.

Department Z
Information on the Department, from Creasey's son.

De Treville, Bernard. Major Bernard de Treville was created by Sax Rohmer and appeared in This Week for sixteen stories from 11 September 1937 through 13 May 1945. The Major is known as the "Crime Magnet" because wherever he goes strange and mysterious crimes occur, enough so that he himself muses that the crimes are somehow attracted to him. He is "witty, gallant, lovable" and a seeker after adventure.

The Crime Magnet
A short summary and bibliography of de Treville.

Dewire, Pee Wee. Pee Wee Dewire was created by Lewis Edwin Theiss and appeared first as a sidekick to Ginger Hale and then in the "Pee Wee Dewire Series," which ran from 1941 to 1946 beginning with Flying with the C.A.A.: How Two of Uncle Sam's Youngest Airmen Saved a Great Defense Plant. Pee Wee and his friend Colvin Criswell flew with the Civil Aeronautics Authority during WW2, helping fight the Axis from the homefront.

Dexter, Bob. Bob Dexter was created by the Stratemeyer Syndicate and appeared in the seven-book "Bob Dexter" series, which began in 1925 with Bob Dexter and the Club-house Mystery or the Missing Golden Eagle. Bob Dexter is a teen detective who solves mysteries on the land, sea, and air, taking on counterfeiters and their ilk.

Dexter, Larry. Larry Dexter was created by Howard R. Garis and appeared in the eight-book "Larry Dexter" series, which ran from 1907 to 1927 and began with From Office Boy to Reporter or the First Step in Journalism. Larry was a reporter who worked his way up from an office boy to a foreign correspondent, covering crime and solving several of them as well as having adventures overseas and at the front during WW1.

Diavolo, Don. Don Diavolo, The "Scarlet Wizard," created by mystery writer Clayton Rawson, ran in Red Star Mystery in 1940. Rawson was the creator of the Great Merlini. Diavolo was a stage magician ("Scarlet Wizard" was his stage name) and a damn good one, world renowned for his seemingly impossible tricks. He was called in by the police to solve crimes that were seemingly supernatural or which somehow involved magic (stage or real). Naturally, by story's end Don Diavolo had revealed the non-magical source of the crimes and caught the bad guy. He was assisted by a group of helpers both on-stage and off; these worthies included Pat and Micky Collins, a pair of identical Irish twins ("Pat" and "Mick," Irishmen--how original); Chan, Don's close assistant; and Woody Haines, a newspaper reporter.

Dick. Dick and his friends were created by Anthony Weston Dimock and appeared in the four-volume "Dick Series" (hold the jokes, please, I've thought of them myself already) beginning with Dick in the Everglades (1909) and running through 1913. Dick (I've been unable to find his last name) was a stalwart young cracker who had adventures fighting crime and nature and wild animals in Florida, from the Everglades to the Seminoles to lumberjacks and miners.

Dick, Tabu. Tabu Dick was created by L. Patrick Greene and appeared in Tabu Dick (1935). Dick is another Tarzan-wannabe, a Brit who grew up in Africa and gained all the usual jungle skills. He got his name when his dying Scots father (Dick's Irish mother had died years before) proclaimed Dick to be "tabu" to protect him from the "savage natives." This gave Dick the time to survive and attend "the finest school in the world -- the school of experience." He of course becomes a better native than the natives, with more acute senses and a greater knowledge of the jungle. He still retains "the white man's ability to take mental short cuts and to make logical conclusions." It's the usual racist claptrap, in other words.

Dickson, Harry. Harry Dickson was created in Germany (I haven't been able to find out by who) and first appeared there in 1907. Later that year some of his adventures were translated into French by Fernand Laven. In 1930 Jean Ray, a French sf and pulp writer, began translating the Dutch versions into French. He grew tired of working on substandard stories and began writing his own. Dickson appeared in approximately 178 novels in France, beginning in 1930, and was billed as "Le Sherlock Holmes Americain." He was in some ways a pastiche, smoking a pipe, living in London on Baker Street, and acting as a detective. But he was not intended as a parody, but rather as an homage (or rip off, if you're feeling uncharitable), and he has acquired a life of his own; his popularity in France continues to this day. He is assisted by his faithful blond sidekick Tom Wills--no bumbling Dr. Watson for Harry Dickson. His better-remembered adventures verged on the fantastique into science fiction, with his opponents being far more vivid and exotic than the average criminal. To quote Jean-Marc Lofficier, to whom I'm indebted for most of this information:

under Ray's pen, Dickson battled a series of villains that even Holmes would never have dreamed of:

Euryale Ellis, a beautiful woman who had the power to turn her victims into stone and who may have been a reincarnation of the legendary Gorgon, Medusa (No. 163); Gurrhu, a living Aztec god who hid in an underground temple located beneath the very heart of London, filled with scientifically advanced devices (No. 93); the last, living Babylonian mummies who found refuge under a Scottish lake (No. 147); a nefarious blood-drinking serial killer dubbed the "Vampire with red eyes" (No. 81); the enigmatic, tuxedo-suited avenger known as "Cric-Croc, the Walking Dead" (No. 146); a death-dealing android with a silver face (No. 151); the murderous spy code-named the Blue Stork (No. 119); the super-villain Mysteras, who relied on elaborate and deadly illusions (Nos. 103-104); the bloodthirsty Hindu god Hanuman (No. 68); the killing sect of the Moon Knights; and many more.

Harry Dickson
A decent introductory site, with illustrations, on Harry Dickson. In French.

Harry Dickson
A much better site, with illustrations and a bibliography, from Jean-Marc Loffiicer.

Diel, Professor. Professor Diel was created by Frank Brueckel and appeared in at least two stories, beginning with “Professor Diel’s Ray” in Science Wonder Stories (March 1930). Professor Diel is a scientist/inventor who creates things like a machine that can control “cosmic rays” so that they pass through solids and return bearing images, and a machine that can pick up scent particles and analyze and identify who they came from.

Dill, Daffy. Joseph "Daffy" Dill was created by Richard Sale and appeared in Detective Fiction Weekly from 1934 to 1943. Daffy was a newspaper columnist for the New York Chronicle who wrote in a sort of Runyonesque style. He was a newsman and reporter of the old, 1930s & 1940s style, hard drinking, hard loving, and hard fighting. (If you want to read some real life stories about this sort of character, check out Runyon's work or Jack Germond's recent autobio) His partner was Dinah Mason, a beautiful Southern blonde who wrote movie reviews for the Chronicle and who loved Daffy and was loved by him. They were a screwball couple and had great fun solving cases in New York, although many of them seemed to have an occult tinge (voices from the grave, walking dead, that sort of thing) Daffy was good at solving crimes, using both footwork and his intuition. ("The hunch is mightier than the clue.") He was good enough to help his friend on the homicide squad, Inspector Hanley, on several occasions.

Dillon, Riley. Riley Dillon, a foppish gentleman jewel thief in no respect different from other characters of this type, was created by H. Bedford-Jones and appeared in Argosy and Detective Fiction Weekly in 1934.

Diogenes. Diogenes, in this case the “Ghost Detective,” appeared in three stories in Detective Story Magazine in 1922. (He’s the first “Ghost Detective,” the second being George Chance, who you can find under the Ghost Detective entry) Diogenes is the Diogenes of Classical Greece,, the cynical philosopher of classical Greece. He was very cynical and very contemptuous of humanity, believing in the essential disreputableness of us all. And when Madame Fatima Caro, a psychic and medium (because she’s neither rare nor well done, as Fred Allen would put it) is arrested by police detective Arthur Bull, Caro summons up Diogenes, who is very unhappy to be there, quite grouchy and irascible, and, as Sampson put it, “a sour, querulous, snarling, whining old sourball.” Caro is revealed by Diogenes to be a murderer, and she dies, leaving Diogenes stranded on our world. He helps Bull solve two cases, glowing in the dark as he does, but hates Bull and eventually storms out of Bull’s office.

Dion. Dion was created by John Swain and appeared in Detective Story Magazine in 1922. Dion was a jewel thief who worked in Europe. Originally he'd been a bookkeeper, but his boss had framed him for a crime the boss himself had committed. Dion's career was ruined, until, one night at the movies, he found himself sitting behind the wife of the man who'd ruined him. Around her neck was a sapphire necklace, and it took only a moment of work with his deft hands to acquire the necklace. After that, his destiny was assured. Crime it was, and quite successfully, too, Dion living in swank hotels and quietly laughing at the ineffectual though earnest pursuit of Old Inspector Callahan. Eventually Callahan told Dion point-blank that he'd made things too hot, and that if Dion did not leave the country the police would frame him. Dion, bearing no ill will to Callahan, left and went to Paris, although he was penniless and spoke no French. He managed, though, after a number of punishing adventures, aided by his knife-throwing companion Arizona Pete; he and Pete managed to defeat two rival crooks and escape to England.

Disher. Disher was created by Will Scott and appeared in three novels, beginning with Disher-Detective (1925). He is a possible source for Nero Wolfe, having some of the same characteristics. He is huge, both tall and fat, and is a brilliant detective who looks down on the policemen who he comes in contact with, knowing that he is far more intelligent and knowledgeable than they are. ("It is the most boring thing in all the world, of course, but I am always right.") He is about as active as Wolfe is, although he does leave his spacious digs on occasion. Disher is about as vain as Wolfe; he claims that he was born great, and that because he already knew everything, there was nothing left for him to do but become a detective.

Mister District Attorney. The eponymous radio show was created by Ed Byron and ran from 1939 through 1953. The title character, who was never named beyond "Mister District Attorney" (or "Chief" or "Boss" to his sidekick and secretary), was a crusading D.A. based on Thomas E. Dewey. While he was not a two-fisted Chad Hardslab type, he had a great success rate, and his crimes were very topical, from Nazi spies to gasoline hijackers to black marketers to berserk war vets randomly shooting people. Mister D.A. was helped by his sidekick Harrington and his secretary Miss Miller.

Dix, Constantine. Constantine Dix was created by Barry Pain and appeared in a number of stories published between 1901 and 1905 and collected in The Memoirs of Constantine Dix (1905). It's a shame that Dix isn't better remembered, since he (and The Memoirs) are more entertaining than many on this list. Dix is a gentleman of leisure whose public persona is that of a reformer, someone who walks among the lower, criminal classes and preaches the virtues of goodness, diligence, and hard work, and who goes out of his way to help criminals walk the straight and narrow, reform their ways, and become good citizens. That is a large part of Dix's personality, and he means every word he says when he preaches those virtues and speaks to the lower classes. However, the other large part of his personality is that of a very successful thief. Dix is not a hypocrite, exactly. He simply feels that his destiny is already pre-ordained, and that he is powerless to fight against it; his destiny is to preach goodness to other men and to help them reform, and to steal things for himself. He even feels he is already damned, and there is nothing he can do about it. He is not morose or gloomy about his wyrd; it simply is, and he accepts it. He is genially cynical without being abrasive or abusive or bitter, and comes off as very agreeable, even witty company.

He is a thief, as mentioned, but he is against killing (when he does kill, in his last story, it leads to his end). He uses no sophisticated tools, feeling that if he is caught it is better to be found with nothing unusual on him. He takes on no crimes that would require anything more than his wiles and intelligence (which are considerable) and an ordinary knife. He has no confederates, strictly working alone and telling no one what he does. (When he parlays his loot into money, he does so on the Continent and through legitimate gem and money dealers) And yet he is highly successful, for he is intelligent enough and thoughtful enough that his planning always suffices to enrich him. More, he is not greedy, seeing that as one of the downfalls of crooks, and is as willing to settle for  £50 as for £5,000. Finally he does not see thievery as an art form or sport, seeing that as the foremost way in which criminals set up their own demise. For him crime is simply a business and a way to keep him comfortable. He steals enough to ensure his own modest luxury, and no more.

Dixon, Dash. Dash Dixon was created by H.T. Elmo and Larry Antoinette and ran from 1935 to 1939. It was strictly a second-rate Flash Gordon copy, with Dash using jet packs and disintegrator pistols against invading robots, metal men, three-headed dragons, and giant bats. Dash's girlfriend was Dot.

Dixon, Don. Don Dixon and the Hidden Empire was created by Carl Pfeufer and Bob Moore and debuted as a Sundays-only strip in October 1935, lasting through 1941. Dixon, a Chunk Throbchest type hero, lived and adventured in a vast world underneath our own. The "Hidden Empire" of the title was Pharia, which was discovered by German surface scientist Dr. Lugoff and his two child assistants, Matt Haynes and Don Dixon. After reaching Pharia they helped the rightful king overthrow the evil vizier who'd displaced him. The king was grateful enough to give Matt the hand of one of his daughters, Princess Marcia. This horrible fate led to their disappearance from the strip. Lugoff, Don, and blonde Princess Wanda, Don's new sweetie, joined forces to fight against the enemies of Pharia. They then began looking for a way back to the surface world, and had a variety of adventures as they made their way across the swamps, forests, deserts and mountains of the underground world, fighting tigers, giant mice, and evil wizards and sorceresses. Once they got to the surface world the thrills didn't end; they took on the Destroyer, leader of a secret organization called the Seven Assassins who were intent on world conquest and operated from Himalayan headquarters; they defeated, after some effort, Dr. Strunski, who kidnaped Wanda and who planned to conquer the earth with his giant robot armies controlled from his Rhode Island headquarters (!); and they beat Wulf, a Captain Nemo character. Eventually they got involved with Morgan le Fay and a series of Wagner-influenced adventures.

Doctor Coffin. Perley Sheehan created Dr. Coffin, who appeared in Thrilling Detective in 1932 and 1933. Coffin was an undertaker, owner of the largest funeral parlor in Hollywood as well as a local cemetery. That was his profession, but his side-job was far more interesting. In two canyons in the Hollywood hills he kept homes, one a bungalow and one a villa, and from there he fought against crime. His real name was Del Manning, and in the time before the stories he'd been a star in Hollywood, the "man with five hundred faces." But he'd been murdered by a gangster (or so they say). Before the "murder" he'd amassed a fortune, but he began wanting to pass his fortune back to the public, and so he staged his own death and took on a new identity: Dr. Coffin, "the living dead man, eerie, mysterious." He held a "Federal Commission of sorts" with the "Federal Secret Service" and worked with Captain Hughes. As Dr. Coffin Manning wore a long black cape, a black felt hat, and a face with a very prominent bone structure and blazing, deeply set eyes. He was assisted in the fight against crime by a squat, long-armed hunchback named Shorty and by a great Dane.

Doctor Death. Doctor Death, one of the odder and yet more fondly-remembered pulp characters, was introduced in All-Detective Magazine #1, in February 1935, with his last appearance being in Doctor Death #3; he was created by Edward P. Norris and Harold Ward. Dr. Death was Rance Mandarin, a scientist (the "world's greatest occultist" and the former Dean of Psychology at Yale) who felt that the potential of mankind had been stifled by the material benefits brought about by civilization. Therefore, he reasoned, the best thing to do for mankind was for civilization to be destroyed and humanity to be reduced to the Stone Age. Dr. Death, an elderly, white-haired, "cadaverous" man, did not want any power for himself; his aims were strictly altruistic (from his point of view, at least). Dr. Death was a magician, a practitioner of voodoo, necromancy and black magic, and controlled a wide range of supernatural forces, everything from zombies to elementals, and although there were attempts to explain these things away in scientific terms these explanations were not successful. Besides, everyone knew that Dr. Death was supernatural. (He did have super-science weapons, as well: "dissolution rays" and anti-gravity aircraft among them) Mandarin's headquarters was underground, a mile from the Lake View cemetery.

Death was opposed by James Holm, a wealthy young criminologist with more than a passing acquaintance with the supernatural. (Holm, orphaned at a young age and adopted by the mayor of NYC, was also an expert in chemistry and psychiatry) Teamed with Holm was John Ricks, the Chief of Police for NYC. Holm is also aided by Nina Fererra, the lovely niece of Dr. Death who loved Mandarin but also knew that he was insane; Nina and Holm fall in love and marry. Much later on, FDR himself forms the "Secret Twelve," an organization of twelve important men, led by Holm, who are dedicated to fighting against Dr. Death. They succeed, but Death continually comes back from seemingly certain death to plague Holm and the Twelve, and it is certain that Mandarin's final "death" was not his end.

Doctor Satan. Doctor Satan was created by Paul Ernst and appeared in Weird Tales beginning in August 1935. Doctor Satan, the "world's weirdest criminal," is a nameless young man, wealthy, from a very famous family, who was so jaded at the thrills his money could buy that he began studying advanced science and the occult so that he could become the world's foremost criminal. He succeeded in this, in large part by mixing science and the occult. (There was also the hint, in a later story, that he might be Satan) Dr. Satan has a number of weapons at his command. He uses the "death shrub," an Australian thornbush to kill enemies. He uses a "voodoo flame first compounded in temples along the Nile 5000 years ago" (voodoo? along the Nile? It's the pulps, don't question, just accept). He uses "static electricity bombs," "Cretan voodoo dolls," (voodoo? in Crete? Don't ask, just accept), a "time diverter," magic dragons, an atomic ray, and a "crystalline lightning tube." Dr. Satan is assisted by Girf, a "monkey-man," and Bostiff, a legless giant.

As with all the great villains, Doctor Satan of course has a nemesis. His is Ascott Keane, a Holmes-like detective who "has raised a hobby of criminology into an art that passes genius." Keane is assisted by his beautiful "secretary and companion" Beatrice Dale.

Dodd, William. William “Bail Bond” Dodd was created by Frederick Davis and appeared in Dime Detective in 1940. Dodd was a bail bondsman, who usually dealt with the scum of society (though very occasionally he made it up to the penthouses) and who was aggressive in his cases simply because if he wasn’t, he wouldn’t get paid. He was a “big man, tall and loose-jointed, with deceptively wide shoulders.”

Dodge, Elaine. Elaine Dodge first appeared in The Exploits of Elaine (1914) serial (her creator is not known to me), reappearing in two more serials and then a 1916 Arthur B. Reeve novel. Elaine is the daughter of Taylor Dodge, the president of Consolidated Insurance Company. Taylor is murdered by a mysterious figure known only as the “Clutching Hand.” Elaine, dutiful daughter that she is, decides to go after him. She’s helped by Craig Kennedy who puts all of his scientific wonders at her disposal and helps rescue her when she’s been captured by the Hand and the Hand’s men. (The Hand turns out to be an evil lawyer) In the sequels Elaine and Kennedy taken on Wu Fang, a Fu Manchu/Yellow Peril type who is looking for Clutching Hand’s fortune; there are more captures and perils before Wu is eaten by sharks. And then Elaine and Craig take on a foreign saboteur, Mr. X, who wants to capture a new torpedo that Craig has invented and give it to an unidentified foreign power. (Craig and Elaine win, of course)

Doe, John. John Doe was created by Paul Ellsworth Triem and appeared in June 1928, running through 1930 in Detective Story Magazine. John Doe is actually Dale Worthington, a wealthy young playboy, bright enough to play a chess grandmaster to a draw. He is lean, handsome, athletic, twenty-four with grey eyes. He is bored, utterly bored, and he only thing that can really interest and thrill him is theft. Naturally, he only steals from those whose money is illegal in origin. He puts on facial disguises and becomes John Doe, a heroic thief, picker up of unconsidered trifles, rescuer of endangered women, and general pulp hero type. He takes on blackmailers, kidnapers, ruthless millionaires (one of whom shot Doe, who spent several chapters recovering), crooked police commissioners, and most memorably Dr. Gold, a mad scientist with a zombie army. Doe is aided by his wife, Molly, a jewel thief who got into theft for the same reason that Doe started stealing.

Domino Lady. The Domino Lady was created by "Lars Anderson" (no one knows who he was) and appeared in Saucy Romantic Adventures and Mystery Adventure in 1936. She was Ellen Patrick, the daughter of one of the most feared politicians in California. Unfortunately, Ellen's father was assassinated by a group of political rivals. Ellen, naturally, swears vengeance, and puts on a backless halter dress and a black domino mask and begins robbing her father's murderers, keeping a small portion of the proceeds for herself and turning the rest over to charity.

Crime Fighting Lady of Fashion
A decent page on Domino Lady, with illustrations and a bibliography. From the Femme Fatales site.

Don Q. Don Q was created by Hesketh Prichard and appeared in various stories and novels beginning in 1898 in Badminton Magazine. Don Q, aka Don Quebranta Huesos ("the bone smasher," the local name for the "bone-breaking vulture"), is a grim Spanish thief who is vicious, even sadistic, toward the rich and evil but occasionally kind to the poor and good. He's

a Spaniard of Spaniards, having the qualities of his race in excess. He was quite fearless, proud to distraction, unsurpassed in the kindly courtesy of a nation of aristocrats, and cruel beyond belief.

...the livid, wrinkled eyelids, the white wedge-shaped bald head narrowing down to the hooked nose, the lean neck, the cruel aspect, all the distinct features of the quebbranta-huesos transmuted into human likeness.

As Rick Lai points out, there's a contradiction in the stated origins of Don Q. The short stories imply that Don Q had been an aristocrat forced into a loveless marriage which prevented him from marrying the woman he loved. To resolve this he faked his death, took on the alias "Don Q," and moved to the mountains. But Don Q's Love Story (which I haven't read) says that Don Q was a young aristo who was framed for the murder of a member of the Hapsburgs in Spain. Don Q then faked his death, assumed the alias of Don Q, and took to the mountains to live the life of shame--every crime in Andalusia was added to his name. A few years later (Don Q's Love Story was set in 1879) Don Q proved his innocence, married his true love, and abandoned the Don Q identity. This of course begs the question as to how there could be a Don Q active at the end of the century if the "real" Don Q gave up the identity in the 1880s.

Donahue, Donny. "Donny" Donahue was created by Frederick Nebel and appeared in Black Mask from 1930 to 1935. He was a tough, cynical, wise cracking^tm private eye called, in the stories, "an iron-nerved private dick," although he's actually rather intelligent and pragmatic, not to mention proud and insular. And of course has a sentimental side to go with his violent habits. He was an "ex-cop discharged from the force because he wouldn't bend to local corruption." So he went to work for the "Inter-State Detective Agency" in NYC.

Donnelly, Jimmy. Jimmy Donnelly was created by Lewis Theiss and appeared in the five-book "Jimmy Donnelly" series, which ran from 1927-1932 and began with Piloting the U.S. Mail or Flying for Uncle Sam. Jimmy was a pilot for the U.S. Postal Service, and in the course of his job ran into a number of crooks and had a number of adventures, even helping out the Coast Guard once.

Donnie. Donnie was created by Darrell "Troy" McClure and debuted in 1934, running for three years. The titular character is a spunk young boy around 12 years old who craves adventure and who finds just that, usually on the high seas. In addition to fighting pirates and giant squid, Donnie became embroiled in palace intrigues in a Balkan operetta kingdom, finally helping the legitimate heir regain the throne. Donnie and his parents tried to return to America but were shipwrecked. Donnie picked up Freddie, a boy companion, and then had to restore yet another king to his throne, and then tangled with Arab white slave traders.

Doome, Sheridan. Sheridan Doome appeared in The Shadow Magazine (years and author unknown) and is described by Robert Sampson as "a Naval Intelligence investigator who is a mass of white scar tissue held together with steel plates. These make him bullet-proof. He needs to be."

d'Ora, Madame. Madame D'Ora was created by the Danish author Johannes V. Jensen and appeared in Madame d'Ora (1904). She was a detective working in an America filled with glorious technology, trains and planes and automobiles, which she (and Jensen) thought marvelous.

Dormouse. The Dormouse was created by Frank King and appeared in at least four novels, beginning with They Vanish at Night (1941). I suspect, given his author, that he debuted in and was a regular in British boys fiction magazines like Thriller, but I haven't found any proof of that. The Dormouse is, to quote one critic, "a gentleman crook afflicted by a droopy eyelid, and consequently the only hero to carry nonchalance to the point of actually looking half-asleep."

Dorn, Jim.Jim Dorn appeared in L. Ron Hubbard's The Mysterious Pilot (1937). Dorn is an agent of the Canadian air police who helps Jean McNain elude a murderer.

Dost, Abdul. Abdul Dost was created by Harold Lamb and appeared in Adventure in 1919. Dost was a doughty Afghan nobleman, warrior and swordsman, tall and strong. He had some very bloody adventures in the Near East in the 16^th century before joining forces with Khlit.

Dove, Fidelity. Fidelity Dove was created by Roy Vickers and appeared in a number of stories, which were collected in The Exploits of Fidelity Dove (1924). Dove is an extremely beautiful woman with a regrettable tendency towards law-breaking. She uses her beauty to enslave men--not through anything supernatural, but through their own desires--and uses these men, who are usually very intelligent and capable in their own right, as her gang. (She uses only their desires, though, and never her body; she leads a very prim, even puritanical, life) Dove generally uses her gang and her own not-inconsiderable talents to help others who've been wronged by criminals and the authorities; she also makes sure that by the end of the caper she's financially ahead, usually substantially so. She is given to wearing gray, as it goes well with her violet eyes.

Downey, Cliff. Cliff Downey was created by Robert Leslie Bellem and appeared in Spicy Detective Stories in 1934. Downey was the "ace operative of the Consolidated Detective Agency, a violent, wise-cracking^tm p.i. who always had time for the ladies. (No surprise, given the magazine he appeared in.)

Drake, Bradley. Bradley Drake was created by Tom Curtin (based on the experiences and book of Herbert Yardley) and appeared in "Stories of the Black Chamber," a radio serial which ran in 1935. Drake was a member of the Black Chamber, an American spy outfit which set him on missions in the U.S. and around the world. He was assisted by Paradine, an older, master spy of the Chamber.

Drake, Dexter. Dexter Drake was created by Elsa Barker and appeared in at least three novels, possibly beginning with The Cobra Candlestick (1928). He was an American detective who specialised in breaking codes.

Drake, Kerry. Kerry Drake was created by Alfred Andriola and Allen Saunders and debuted on October 1943, running through 1983. Drake was in most ways an imitation of Dick Tracy, although the Andriola art was always nice, and the level of violence and sadism was, if anything, higher than in Tracy. Drake was a blond ("keen-witted, cotton-topped"), two-fisted type who began as a private investigator "who is attached to the staff of the district attorney" but who eventually became a police detective after the murder of his fiancé. He got personally involved in his investigations; no Practice lawyer, he. Drake inevitably handled violent, nasty cases--serial murder, gang violence, and the like--as well as colorful, Tracy-esque badguys: Fingers, Dr. Zero, Mr. Goliath, Bottleneck, Mother Whistler, DDT, Kid Gloves, No Face, Stitches, etc.

Dreadnought Boys. The Boys (I’ve yet to find a reading copy of any of their books, so I don’t know what their names were) were created by “Captain Wilbur Lawton,” the pen-name of John H. Goldfrap, and appeared in the six-volume “Dreadnought Boys Series” starting with The Dreadnought Boys on Battle Practice (1911) and running through 1914. The Boys were a pair of American boys who through a combination of luck, patriotism, and hard work joined the U.S. Navy, where they helped Our Lads At Sea fight against pirates, rescue stranded travelers, travel around the world, and that sort of thing.

Drew, Nancy. Nancy Drew was created by Edward Stratemeyer and Mildred Wirt and first appeared in The Secret of the Old Clock (1930); she has appeared in at least 150 more novels since then. Nancy, as I'm sure you all know, is the pluckiest girl detective of them all, the one whose name became synonymous with the phenomenon. Nancy is forever a teenager, although she began a sixteen-year-old and is now an eighteen-year-old. She is pretty but not beautiful, a slim, athletic, attractive blonde beloved by everyone, from her parents to her teachers to random passers-by. She is smart but not brilliant, well-educated and able to discourse on any number of subjects (she pays attention in school and gets As). She can fix broken engines, dance ballet with a sprained ankle, ably shoot a Colt .44, drive and pilot, and is a credible mimic. She's Superwoman, basically. (Although it should be noted that she never did anything about the racist and anti-Semitic stereotypes she encountered in the stories)

She lives in River Heights, a suburban town somewhere in the Midwest that is also home to Emerson College (not the real Emerson College, which is in downtown Boston). She lives with her upper-middle-class father, Carson Drew, a "noted lawyer engaged largely in mystery cases." (Nancy's mother died when she was very young) Carson's work as a father is aided by Hannah Gruen, a plain, elderly woman who does the housework and cooking in the Drew household and who is horribly patronized by Nancy. Nancy's nominal boyfriend is Ned Nickerson, the sophomore football hero of Emerson College, although for all his gridiron glory Nancy is peculiarly nondependent on him. Nancy's two crime solving chums are the tomboy George Fayne and the plump, easily-frightened Bess Marvin.

The Unofficial Nancy Drew Home Page
A decent page on Nancy.

NancyDrew.Com
The official ND site.

Driffield, Sir Clinton. Sir Clinton Driffield was created by J.J. Connington and appeared in 17 novels, beginning with Murder in the Maze (1927). Driffield is the cynical, brusque, and tactless chief constable of his district, somewhere in the English countryside. He is in his mid-thirties, a chess enthusiast and an intelligent, capable investigator. One critic described him as "efficient but essentially unlikeable." He is Watsoned by his friend Wendover, a landowner and fellow chess enthusiast.

Drummond, Ace. One of a number of comic strip air aces, Ace Drummond was never a real success, despite having a few things going for it. The strip was drawn by a legitimate WW1 ace, Clayton Knight, and was rumored to have been written by Eddie Rickenbacker. It appeared at the height of the public’s enthusiasm for air heroes. And it had decent art, with Knight an apt hand at drawing flight scenes. And yet the strip only lasted from 1935 to 1940 and has never been regarded as more than a failure. Ace Drummond was a stereotypical two-fisted Slap Thunkchest air ace, and his stories, thought nicely drawn, were unimaginative. Ace ranged the world, fighting against criminals on the ground and in the air, the worst being the international scoundrel and pilot the Viper; Ace was active in China, Alaska, and South America. Ace was assisted by Jerry, his grumpy mechanic, Dinny Doyle, his copilot, and later on by boy sidekicks, led by Bill of the freckled face and tousled hair.

Drummond, Bulldog. Drummond was created by "Sapper," aka Herman Cyril McNeile, and debuted in Bulldog Drummond (1920), lasting for nine more novels by Sapper and several more by the hands who continued the work after McNeile's death, appearing through 1954.

Now, understand that Bulldog Drummond was enormously popular, especially among British readers, and there yet lingers on affection for him in Olde Blighty. He's very much an expression of his time and place and of McNeile's views. We readers in the new century and millennium  (yes, yes, I know, it won't be a new one of either until January 1, 2001. Bear with me. I intend this site to be around for a long while to come) need to take that into account when evaluating the character of Bulldog Drummond and the works he appeared in. It's not entirely fair to judge the past by modern standards.

That said, the Drummond books, for all their verve, are meretricious, bigoted trash, the equivalent of pork rinds; you'll enjoy them while eating them, but feel ill soon afterwards. Not for nothing has Bulldog been described as "sadistic, demobbed thug."

Drummond is a massive man, a World War One vet who killed any number of Germans in one-man commando raids into the enemy trenches.  After the war he finds peace tedious--unbelievably so--and began fighting against those who would do England dirty. Naturally, this list includes Jews, Germans, Russians, non-whites, anarchists, Communists, and anyone Not Of Our Class. He brings together his friends from the military, and together they wage a private war against these types, killing or imprisoning them on a private island owned by Drummond. Drummond has no compunctions about killing, if he feels it is needed, and although he is not brilliant he still finds a way to defeat his enemies. His arch-enemy is the anti-Semitic stereotype Carl Peterson, who would undoubtedly have killed Drummond a dozen times over if McNeile decided to play fair with his characters. (He never does, of course)

There's more to the novels than this, of course, and when you're looking for brainless adventure the Drummond novels are adequate. But the raw bigotry running through them turns my stomach, and I haven't the fortitude to devote any more space to him, or search out web sites devoted to him. Go to Yahoo! and do a search; undoubtedly you'll find a site or two on him run by a devotee (who will swear that the bigotry either doesn't exist, as most Father Brown fans do, or that it's not really so bad...).

Drury, Jimmie. Jimmie Drury was created by A. Van Buren Powell in the guise of "David O'Hara" and appeared in the four volume "Jimmie Drury Series," which ran from 1938 to 1941 and began with Jimmie Drury: Candid Camera Detective. He's a different character from the Candid Camera Kid, though. Jimmie would never have anything to do with the tawdry evils of a big city, nor with something as lustfully evil as a reporter girlfriend. No, Jimmie is a tight-laced Christian honkie who never does anything bad. He uses his pocket camera to solves crimes around his little town.

Dubnotal, Sâr. Sar Dubnotal was credited to Norbert Sévestre and appeared in an eponymous series of novels starting on 25 January 1909 and running for twenty issues through 1910. (He was also published in Germany in the 1920s as Sar Dubnotal, the Grand Spirit Hunter) Dubnotal was the "Conquistador of the Invisible Ones," the "Napoleon of the Immaterial," "Great Psychagogue," the "grand spirit guide," a psychic investigator/occult detective similar to Carnacki, although much more in the Eastern than the Western vein. He also referred to himself as "El Tebib," "the Doctor," to emphasize his learned nature; he was medically trained and was an excellent psychologist. He was also trained in the Lombroso method, and could recognize the criminal "type" by simply looking at them.

However, Dubnotal (a Rosicrucian) was better known as a master of "psychognosis." He had a wide range of powers, including hypnosis, telepathy, and levitation. He is an expert, and there is "no phenomenon of somnambulism, of telepathy, of `telepsychics,' of levitation, hypnotism, magnetism, suggestion and autosuggestion" beyond him. Dubnotal was "instructed in the school of the brahmins and the most famous Hindu yogis" and has "victories without number over the battle champions of the invisible." He was even capable of speaking to the spirits of the deceased.

Dubnotal, who wore a Hindu turban and affected a generally Indian/Hindu air, lived in a spacious apartment in the rooms below his laboratory. He was assisted by a few people, but his best assistant was the delectable Gianetti Annunciata, a "petticoated" medium who combines, in her manner, the "gay working girl" and the "high priestess." Annunciata translated the raps of the invisible world into French, and vice-versa, thus enabling Dubnotal to communicate with the dead. (Annunciata is assisted in this task by a small "spiritual telegraph"  machine)

Dubnotal took on a wide range of enemies, including Tserpchikopf the Hypnotist (who is actually Jack the Ripper) and Azzef, a Russian terrorist (very loosely based on a real person). In his final appearance he buries himself alive in order to dispel his lethargy.

The titles of his stories indicate the range of adventures he became involved in: "The Haunted Manor of Crec-h-ar-Vran," "Dr. Tooth's Turning Table," "The Fatal Well," "The Tragic Medium," "The Bloody Beach," "The Madwoman of the Rimbaud Passage," "Tserpchikopf, the Bloody Hypnotist," "The Astral Trail," "The Quartered Woman of Montmartre," "Jack the Ripper," "Posthumous Hatred," "The Fiancee from Gibraltar," "The Vampires of the Cemetery," "The Red Mark," "The Sleepwalker of the River of Blood," "The Azzef-Poloukhine Case," "A Terrorist Plot," "In the Siberian Hell," "Azzef, the King of the Agents Provocateurs," and "Double-taf, the Last of the Pentyerns."

Sar Dubnotal
Jean-Marc Lofficier's site on the good Tebib.

Dubois, Colonel. Colonel Dubois was created by "Pierre Nord," aka Andre Brouillard, and appeared in several novels, beginning with Double Crime sur la Ligne Maginot (The Two Crimes on the Maginot Line, 1936). Colonel Dubois is the head of French counter-intelligence, working to protect the French people against the machinations of various German and Soviet spies.

Duck, Detective. Detective Duck was created by Allen Curtis and appeared in the eleven-part serial Lady Baffles and Detective Duck. Duck is, like Sanford Quest, a scientific detective (both from Universal, no less) who uses any number of advanced instruments to help him in The Fight Against Crime. Unlike Quest, however, Duck has an arch-enemy who is not quite so ruthless. Duck is opposed by Lady Baffles, a “lovable lady crook.” (She’s not bad, she’s just drawn that way) Duck uses things like “a rubberscope resembling a closed-circuit TV set-up” and a “smellograph” (shades of Futurama) to help finally track down Lady Baffles.

Duff, Derwent. Derwent Duff was created by Cecil Hayter and appeared in the Penny Pictorial in the mid- and late 19teens. Duff was a detective.

Dugan, Dixie.Dixie Dugan was created by J.P. McEvoy in the novel Show Girl and then appeared in an eponymous comic strip. She was a young starlet whose adventures began as purely romantic but became progressively wilder.

Duluth, Peter. Peter Duluth was created by Patrick Quentin and appeared in nine novels, beginning with A Puzzle for Fools (1936). Duluth is a theatrical producer of some note whose adventures in crime-solving are more-or-less by accident, when he stumbles over bodies or unwittingly discovers the aftermaths of crimes. He is also often asked to help friends and family, which he gladly does. He has a penchant for drinking and is an alcoholic, but does not allow that to get in the way of his detecting. He s assisted by Iris Murdoch, an actress in his company.

Dundee School. The school appeared in Rover sometime in the late teens or early 1920s. I do not know who created them. The Dundee School was a British boys' school and was populated with a plucky group of British lads who got into the predictable hijinks. Most notably they contributed to Britain's victory in World War One by creating a series of superscience inventions with which to slaughter the Huns. One of them was the Snatcher, a giant tank with an enormous claw on its turret; the claw could (and did) pick up German staff cars and tanks, knock down viaducts and hedgerows, plow over trenches, and pull up trees. It was also armed with a rotary saw which helped it move through forests.

Dunlap, Constance. Constance Dunlap was created by Arthur B. Reeve, the author of the Craig Kennedy stories; she appeared in Pearson’s Magazine from 1913 to 1914, and her stories were collected in Constance Dunlop, Woman Detective (1916). Originally she was married to an embezzler, and she helped him, but he committed suicide, leaving her to pick up the pieces. She resolved to redeem herself by doing good; no more illicit earnings and doings for her, it would only be the straight and narrow from that point on. She begins catching criminals and helping others to extricate themselves from crime’s grasp. To help herself in this she invents and uses various advanced equipment, like Craig Kennedy, in the service of crimefighting. She is pursued by the corrupt Drummond, a mean agent of the Burr Detective Agency, who knows about her past and is determined to put her away, regardless of her present.

Dunn, Dan.  Dan Dunn was created by Norman Marsh and first appeared in 1932 in a one-shot comic called Detective Dan; a year later he began appearing in an eponymous comic strip, and three years after that in a rather mediocre pulp magazine. The comic strip was the longest-lived of all three, running through 1943. Dunn was the first and most successful of the Dick Tracy imitations, being a comic in a big city. Dunn didn't limit himself to just urban crime, however; he was also Secret Operative 48 for the F.B.I. (or, sometimes, the Secret Service), and in that role he fought the bad guys across the nation. Among his enemies were Ma Zinger, a Ma Barker-like gang leader; Spider Slick, leader of his own gang of murderers; Eviloff, a hood-wearing arch-criminal who operated from his own Caribbean Island; and, most memorably, Wu Fang, one of the ultimate Yellow Peril/Fu Manchu characters, Dann's arch-nemesis: Wu Fang, King of the Dope Smugglers, with diabolical, fiendish cunning, aided by a horde of depraved gangsters, and an endless stream of money squeezed from human blood, corruption and degradation." Dan is assisted by Wolf, his pet "Wolf Dog," by an orphan girl named Babs that he's informally adopted, and by his chubby sidekick Irwin Higgs.

Dan Dunn Secret Operative 48 on the Trail of Wu Fang
The cover of the Big Little Book

Dunne. Created by Norvell Page and appearing in Strange Detective in October 1937, Dunne was an expert at jujitsu and used it to help him in crimes. His office was rigged in various ways: chairs and blinds that would move by themselves, a talking cigar box, etc—all to unnerve the visitor.

Duroc, Luc. Luc Duroc appeared in the Quebecois pulp Roman Policier; Les Aventures de Luc Duroc (Detective Stories: the Adventures of Luc Duroc), which ran for at least 18 issues beginning in the early 1940s. He was a detective whose stories had titles like, "I am innocent!" "The Monster of Gravenstein," "The Mysterious Adventure of the Night Watchman," and "Gold Robbers."

Dusen, Professor Augustus S. F. X. Van. See the Thinking Machine.

Dutch Heroes. I have, through the wonders of the Internet, found a little information on heroes from Dutch pulps. However, I'm not entirely sure that I've understood what I've found. I'm a native American speaker (quite different from being a native English speaker), and while I can get by, as a reader, in French, and to a lesser degree in German, a language like Dutch baffles me, and the online translators and dictionaries are no help when it comes to Dutch. So what you see here may not be entirely (or at all) accurate. Naturally, corrections and additions are welcome.

Baron Felix Amella. Amella appeared in the pulp Achter de Scherman. Amella was a diplomat active in the 18th (I think) century.

The American. The American was a frontier hero who appeared in De Amerikaan, Boeiende Amerikaansche Avonturen.

Barbarossa. Barbarossa appeared in an eponymous pulp. I believe his adventures were rewrites of the French Nat Pinkerton stories.

Claude Duval. Duval appeared in Claude Duval Voor Eer en Recht. This was, I think, a Dutch rewrite of the French Claude Duval stories.

Enny Gold. Gold appeared in Miss Enny Gold, De Vrouwelyke Detective (Miss Enny Gold, The Female Detective). This female detective appeared in stories with titles like "The Hyenas of London." She was the foremost among the Dutch female detectives, a kind of Dutch Ethel King.

Harrison. This occult detective appeared in Harrison, de Detective Spiritist (Harrison, the Ghost Detective), with stories like "The Hypnotic Ghost."

Hero #1. This man, whose name I don't know, appeared in the pulp The Adventures of the Man with the Sixth Sense.

The Nelsons. This father-and-son pair appeared in De Detective, Avonturen van den Ouden en den Jongen Nelson, Amerika's Grootste Detectives, which I believe translates as "The Detective, the Adventures of the Older and Younger Nelson, America's Greatest Detectives." In a later issue of De Detective they seem to have had their names changed to Wilson.

Tom Shark. This was a Dutch rewrite of the German Tom Shark.

Sitting Bull. This was a Dutch rewrite of the German Sitting Bull.

W. Spearing. This detective appeared in De Avonturen van W. Spearing, Politie-Detectief (The Adventures of W. Spearing, Police-Detective).

Texas Jack. This was a rewrite of the French Texas Jack.

Harry Thomson. This Nick Carter-like detective appeared in De Speurhond (The Bloodhound), in stories with titles like "The Thomsons Against The Chinese." Harry was assisted by his father, who was in his sixties but was still vital and active and who was a former detective himself.

Zilvervos. This Fantomas-like character--perhaps he was rewrite of the Lord of Terror himself?--appeared in the pulp Zilvervos, Meester der Ketenen.

Dysart, Sinclair Noel Brodie. Dysart was created by P.C. Wren (author of Beau Geste) and appeared in Action and Passion (1933), Sinbad the Soldier (1935), Fort in the Jungle (1936) and one more novel. Sinclair Noel Brodie Dysart was a man who led a most interesting life. As a teenage apprentice he worked on the Valkyrie, treated no better than a slave and made to be sick of the sea and sailors. From there he enlisted in the Life Guards and served with them for a few years. He left the Guards to go on a gun-running expedition to Morocco; while there he was captured by nomad Arabs, sold as a slave, and then taken by his master to Mecca. The pilgrim ship returning him from Jiddah was burnt, and he escaped, only to be picked up by an Arab dhow. In Djibouti the ship was seized by French naval authorities and its owners, slavers, hashish dealers, pirates and murderers, were hung by the French. Dysart was accused of being an English secret service agent and spy and was given the choice between life in prison and enlisting in the French Foreign Legion. He chose the Legion, and after training in Africa was sent to Southeast Asia, to help support the French colonial government, troops, and vassal leaders in Annam and along the Chinese border. Among his other feats while there was helping to infiltrate the impregnable stronghold of an Annamese rebel leader, helping to capture that leader's lieutenant, and in general doing French Foreign Legion and secret agent-type things. (Fort in the Jungle is an absorbing combination of adventure fiction and Vietnam War novel, and definitely recommended for those interested in such things) In some ways Dysart is young, almost naive, but he's a good soldier and fighter and capable of brutality and coldness when necessary.

Easton, Val. Val Easton was created by T.T. Flynn and appeared in Dime Detective in 1933 and 1934. Valentine Easton is a top agent for the American Intelligence Service ("sometimes loosely called the Secret Service"), fighting against threats to the American government and to world peace. Easton "was harmless looking, seldom hurried, amiable. His slender figure was not one to attract attention." His boss is Gregg, "that heavy-set, saturnine man who stood at the right elbow of the State Department." Easton's main enemies were the two Fu Manchu-alikes, Carl Zaken, aka the Black Doctor, and Chang Ch'ien:

Through the shadowy paths of international espionage tales of Carl Zaken, the Black Doctor, had for years seeped like fantastic nightmares. Master spy, incredibly clever and ruthless, he had been always a menace to those governments he worked against. And Chang Ch'ien, who had come out of the underworld of France a myth of terror, had proved no less dangerous in company with the Black Doctor.

tall, golden-skinned Oriental...his full-lipped mouth, his stabbing slant eyes, with a small sickle-shaped scar at the corner of his right eyes (sic), his smooth black hair sweeping back from his forehead as he lifted his hat for a moment gave him the appearance of a tall yellow god. The scar drew his eye up into the slightest sardonic cast. And then he smiled; and cunning lay behind it, and ruthlessness, and cruelty. And one saw how this man had become a myth, a legend, a terror in the underworld of many lands.

Edgeworth, Barton. Barton Edgeworth, whose stories have sadly become dated, was created by "Scott Campbell," the pseudonym of Frederick W. Davis, and debuted in Detective Story Magazine in 1917. Edgeworth is a criminal along the lines of Richard Ravenswood but without the debonair attitude; he's a much more grim, even brutal man. He can be sentimental; he refuses to hurt women under any circumstances (his own true love died in his arms), nor will he rob from the poor. Everyone else, though, is fair game. Edgeworth, who is dark-skinned with wavy black hair, dark green eyes, and pearly white teeth, is "crafty, foresighted, and versatile." With his assistant, the stereotypically Irish Connie Curran, they steal, and steal, and steal. Despite the pursuit of the able Clyde Kelsey, a well-dressed, smooth-talking, highly competent cop, Kelsey and Curran, often heavily disguised, steal pearls, reward money, the contents of safes, secret papers, and anything else valuable they can lay hands on.

Frederick Davis
As usual with this site, insight about the character and the writer.

Edwards, Jane Amanda. Jane Amanda Edwards was created by Charlotte Murray Russell and appeared in a dozen novels, beginning with Murder at the Old Stone House (1935). Jane Edwards was single, in her forties, living in the Midwest and independently wealthy enough to be able to pursue a career as an amateur sleuth without worrying about money. Her sister, though friendly to her, believes that Jane is obsessed with murders, although given her track record that is an unduly harsh judgment.

Egg, Montague. All I know about Montague Egg comes via the worthy Kieran Cowan, who gotchas me for having forgot to include him here and says:

Dorothy Sayers' second major detective, he appeared only in short story form, most of which are collected in In the Teeth of Evidence and Hangman's Holiday. A total departure from Lord Peter, (I'm fond of the short stories, put I've never gotten through one of the novels, really, they are VERY tedious, agreed). Monty Egg is a modest wine salesman with a keen eye for human nature and a worshipful devotion to his salesman's bible. Not a bad character. I went through the W's, say Lord Peter, remembered Monty, and checked. He isn't AS famous, but he is known enough to have a following. (For what it's worth, her best mystery by far is the one without Lord Peter, The Documents in the Case. Actually got THROUGH it)

Elegant Edward. Edward Farthindale, better known as "Elegant Edward," was created by Edgar Wallace, noted pulp and action author, and appeared in The Sunday Post in 1924, with the collection appearing in 1928 as Elegant Edward. Edward is an English grifter who makes his money by selling bad stock. However, he has the bad luck and judgment to pick the wrong targets in whom to place his trust, and inevitably he ends up the victim of a scam, by more clever and wily con men or simply by citizens who are too aware to be caught up in his plots. Which is something of a shame, because Elegant Eddie--gold monocle, waxed mustache, silk top hat and tales--certainly looks like a successful con man.

Elk, Inspector. Thanks to Rick Lai, I can tell you something about Sgt. Elk. He was created by Edgar Wallace (him again) and appeared in six novels, beginning with Nine Bears (1910). Quoting Rick, Elk is "a Scotland Yard Detective named Elk. He is a tall lank man with steel-rimmed spectacles and an extremely old brown coat (like Peter Falk's Columbo).  He is in his fifties in the stories.  He remained years as a Sergeant at Scotland Yard because he couldn't pass a standardized History exam required for promotion to Inspector.  Eventually the requirement was waived."

Emerson, John. John Emerson was created by Robert M. Baker and John Emerson and appeared in The Flying Torpedo, a 1916 film. Spottiswoode Aitken is a poor inventor who is funded by his friend John Emerson, a wealthy and successful mystery writer. Aitken, with Emerson's financial help, invents a radio-controlled "flying torpedo" (essentially a guided missile). Unfortunately for Aitken, he has been observed all the while by "enemy agents" (under the direction of the "Chief of International Crooks," the only name given to the head bad guy in the film), and when he has perfected the flying torpedo, they steal it. Emerson then goes after the spies, aided by his Swedish servant Hulda Love and making use of the detection methods that he puts in his own novels. The spies capture Emerson, but Love alerts the police and they swoop in and arrest everyone. At that moment, however, "an army of yellow men from the East" invade America's Pacific coast. The U.S. Army buys the flying torpedo from Aitken and mass produce it, and use them to destroy the invaders and drive them back to their boats.

Enright, Tricky. Tricky Enright was created by John K. Butler and appeared in Dime Detective in 1935. Enright, a native Californian, worked undercover for the Governor's office. His cover i.d. was as a petty thief, and that's what the police thought he was. Really, though, he was a good guy, working directly for the Governor and paid out of a special fund.

Ensign, Professor. Professor Ensign was created by E. A. Martin and appeared in The War O'Dreams, a 1916 film. Ensign is a chemist and inventor who has created a super-explosive far beyond anything yet created. The U.S. Secretary of War offers Ensign, who is quite poor, a huge amount of money for the explosive, but Ensign, on the verge of accepting, has a dream in which he envisions an apocalyptic ending to the world because of the power of the explosive, and he refuses the offer and destroys his invention.

Evans, Bob. Bob Evans was created by Henry MacRae and appeared in The Scarlet Streak, a ten-chapter serial appearing in 1927. Evans is a newspaper reporter who is contacted by Professor Richard Crawford, an inventor who has created (with the help of his beautiful daughter Mary) a ruby laser beam. Crawford wants to sell it, and Evans' articles will help increase its market value. Unfortunately, the Monk, an agent for an unidentified foreign power, reads the article and, seeing the value of the laser, steals it, Crawford, and Mary. Bob, after a fair amount of detecting and adventuring, kills the Monk and recovers both Crawfords (Mary agreeing to marry him) and the laser.

Bob went on to found his own restaurant chain.

Evans, Slim. Slim Evans was created by Thomson Burtis and appeared in the two book "Slim Evans Series," which ran from 1931 to 1932 and began with Slim Evans, Air Ranger. Slim was a teenage pilot who helped the "Air Rangers" take in a dangerous crook and was made an honorary ranger. After that he investigated "Mystery Mountain."

Everhard, Don. Don Everhard was created by Gordon Young and appeared in Adventure from 1917 to 1921. Everhard, whose real name was McDonald Richmond, was a professional gambler and hard man who has a knack for piling up the bodies. Although his job was being a card-shark and preying on other professional gamblers, he keeps getting involved in helping others or, more often, settling accounts. If the choice is between mercy and justice, Everhard chooses justice every time. He's a cold man, always calm (even when under fire), always rational, invulnerable to the wiles of women, and extremely experienced in the ways of criminals and violence. He has a reputation for being very violent, "the most famous gunman in the country," and of having "killed more men than any other fellow in America--and is proud of it." He's not a murderer, however; he kills in self-defense or when the target is guilty and deserving of execution.
 

Introduction
A. The Abbey Girls to Dusty Ayres
B. Bagley to Scott Burton
C. Orhan Cakiroglu to Dr. Theodore Cunliffe
D-E. Dana Girls to Don Everhard
F. Ralph Fairbanks to Miss Fury
G. The Gadget Man to G-8
H-I. Dr. Hackensaw to Baron Ixell
J. Jack, Doc & Reggie to Justice Syndicate
K. Calvin Kane to Kwa of the Jungle
L. Major John T. Lacy to Langhorne Lyte
M. Professor Maboul to Mr. Mystic
N. Lee Nace to Nyoka
O. Fergus O'Breen to Ozar the Aztec
P.  Penny Packer to Judge Pursuivant
Q.  Oliver Quade to Sebastian Quin
R. Ed Race to Captain Rybnikov
S. The Safety First Club to Tom Swift
T-U. Tahara to Godfrey Usher
V. Lieutenant Valcour to Norton Vyse
W. Inspector Wade to Dr. Xavier Wycherley
X-Z. X Bar X Boys to Zorro
Links.