Joker in
the Sunlight
Or
The Green Hair has it
By
Oh Susano
weeps an ocean.
Fools’ Poker’s a chancy,
tricksy,
yet stirring game
laughs Aunt Nancy,
raking in the pot.
Sticky-fingered Brother Lepus dealt
a card dropped
face up. Before Loki glints
a regal, radiant, royal
dame
Loki winks,
with a medial spin and
shifty motion
the Queen became a Joker
in the sunlight.
Bedecked and Bedeviled
Count Bruga (1931)
Part One: Lily Bugov,
Countess Idivzhopu
Section One: What lies beyond the Mountains?
Admittedly there is a
certain symmetry in believing that Doc Savage’s arch enemy was also his son.[1]
If the child of Doc Savage and Lily Bugov had used a
potion to artificially age himself, as suggested by Rick Lai, it could account
for the great discrepancy in age.[2]
It also true that Sunlight often acts like a teenager given to petulance and
odd choices in clothing. However I find that I am forced to dismiss the notion
that Sunlight was Doc Savage’s son and agree with Carey in his speculation that
John Sunlight and Lily Bugov were the same person.
Mr. Carey’s theory that
John Sunlight was Lily Bugov unfortunately has one
major problem, this being that John Sunlight was undeniably male. Carey
suggests that she became a man because she could not achieve a lust for power
as a woman. How was this gender transformation accomplished? Was it through
mere transvestitism, or more radically, through surgery?
The surgical procedure
for changing a man into a woman was in its infancy in the 1930s. The procedure
for altering a woman into a man is far more complicated and was not
successfully achieved until the 1950’s. The transvestitism angle might have
worked but for the fact that Lily was described as having very large breasts,
even with severe binding the massive breasts would be hard to conceal. Now Lily
could have simply had a double mastectomy and faked the rest but it should be
remembered that Sunlight had been a solider in the Soviet army, such major
scarring would have been hard to hide. If, as Carey suggests Sunlight was able
to heal his scarring by imbibing the elixir created by Baron Von Hessel, the elixir would have healed the scarring but would
have also undone any surgical modifications. In A Feast Unknown it is revealed that in the ceremonies of the Nine,
a man’s testicle is routinely removed and eaten like a communion wafer. However
due to the healing properties of the Elixir the testicle eventually
regenerates, ergo the removed breasts would have therefore re-grown.
If it was unlikely for
Lily Bugov to transform herself into man either
through surgery or through transvestitism, it would appear that Mr. Carey’s
theory is proven false. That is unless you look at the theory from another
angle and examine evidence that might appall some Doc Savage fans. Lily Bugov did not become John Sunlight but was already John
Sunlight. To quote another hero in the Wold Newton Universe, “That ain’t no woman, it’s a man, man!”.[3] In other words Lily Bugov
did not exist- as a woman!
Haven’t I just
contradicted myself? Haven’t I just stated that Lily Bugov
could not have become John Sunlight without undergoing massive surgery because
of her large breasts? That is true, if those breasts were real. While it is true
that Lily Bugov displayed her breasts in gowns that
accentuated her cleavage, it is also true that for the most part she was never
seen up close except by Clark Savage and the Baron’s inner circle. Usually when
Lily was paraded before the men under the Baron’s command or the men in the
prison camp, Lily was in the distance.
On the occasions that
Clark Savage was in relatively close proximity to the Countess he had been
distracted. On the first occasion Baron Karl laid out a sumptuous culinary
feast that overwhelmed the half starved Savage’s senses.
Despite his training and
prodigious skill in many disciplines it should be remembered that Clark Savage
was not yet at the height of his powers. Despite his gifts he was a sixteen year
old boy being seduced by two masters in the arts of seduction, manipulation and
misdirection. Lily’s Bugov’s large, half displayed
bosom was an intentional bit of misdirection drawing all eyes towards this
portion of her anatomy. In doing so it kept attention away from other areas of
her body. The large, half displayed breasts drew attention away from a close
examination of her face and her throat. It was the latter that was most
important although not critical.
One method that is often
used to unmask male transvestites is by examining the adam’s
apple. While this is usually effective it isn’t 100 percent accurate. The adam’s apple is a protrusion composed of thyroid cartilage.
The larynx is surrounded by a skeleton of cartilage plates that prevents it
from collapsing. The Adam's apple, properly called the prominentia
laryngea, is the central ridge where two plates
of cartilage meet. The size of the adam’s apple
varies from individual to individual and although the adam’s
apple is often seen as a secondary sexual characteristic, it really is not one.
Although generally men have more prominent adam’s
apples than women, this is not always the case. Some men have small adam’s apples and some women have large ones. Lily Bugov seems to have a small adam’s
apple, perhaps like Anne Coulter.
The first false bosom was
patented in 1858 and was a wire frame device.[4]
This was later surpassed by rubber bosoms but these also had problems with
distension or deflation. I suspect that the Baron’s genius was able to
construct a wire frame device covered with flesh toned latex rubber that
created the illusion of breasts.
While I admit that this
theory that Lily’s large breasts were false can also bolster Mr. Carey’s theory
of Sunlight being a woman. Instead of a man Lily could have been a flat chested woman who used these enhancements as an allure.
This then removes the need for Lily to undergo a double mastectomy in order to
become John Sunlight.
However I have found
other pieces of evidence which I believe can bolster my theory. The Countess is
described as having broad shoulders and thin hips. These are physically male attributes;
generally a woman has slim shoulders and wide hips.
Another clue lies in her
name, Lily Bugov. In Russian naming conventions
surname endings are determined by gender.
ov is a masculine ending and ova, as one might
expect, is a female ending,. Lily Bugov should have
been named Lily Bugova A careful researcher such as
Philip Jose Farmer would have undoubtedly known this, so the masculine ending
is undoubtedly a clue as to “Lily’s” real gender.
There are other clues as
well.
One of Lily’s attendants
is a big brute of a man named Zad. He is assigned to
bath Clark Savage and makes suggestive comments and gestures while forcibly
stripping Savage for his bath. Losing his temper Clark Savage defeats the huge
Cossack in a fight. Savage encounters Zad a couple of
more times in the book. At one point Zad blows him a
kiss. Now this could be simply mockery but it could also point to Zad’s homosexual orientation. This may be among the reasons
he was “Lily’s” attendant. He attended all
of “Lily’s” needs.
The fact that camp was
named Loki may also point to some male to female transvestitism going on, for
according to the myths Loki disguised himself as a woman quite often, and
indeed once physically transformed himself into a female. To retrieve Thor’s hammer, Loki traveled to Jotunheim disguised as Freya’s
Handmaiden. When the great walls Asgard was being
built by a giant who has asked for the moon, suns and goddess Freya in payment the gods had agreed if he completed the
task with in a certain time. The builder had a giant horse Svaðilfari
with whose help he was easily going to make the deadline. Loki transformed
himself into a mare and lured the giant stallion away, preventing the builder
from completing the task on time. Loki returned a few months later with a colt.
Loki had not only transformed himself into a mare he had also allowed himself
to be mounted. Loki was also known for having lured the goddess Idunn away from Asgard where she
was captured by a giant. Significantly Idunn was the
cultivator of the golden apples which gave the Gods immortality. When she was
captured the gods began to age. Most version of the tale have Loki luring her
away as himself, although in a couple versions he did so as a woman. Finally
Loki assumed the guise of an old woman to learn the secret of Balder’s vulnerability, a secret that resulted in Balder’s death.
Farmer does not specify
what sort of sexual liaison went on between Lily Bugov
and Clark Savage jr. He does however point out that Clark had distanced himself
from the sexual mores of The United States. While this could mean that Clark
had loosened up enough to engage in premarital sex, it could also mean that
Clark also engaged in sexual acts that many in the United States would have
found repugnant or perverted, at least in 1918, such as cunnilingus, fellatio
or sodomy. Lily may have, after a suitable seductive interlude suggested the
latter two acts as an alternative to one that could get her pregnant. One
should not forget that Baron Von Hessel was by this
time a well trained biochemist with access to long forgotten herbal lore. It is
possible that he gave Lily a potion that would dull Clark’s senses while
raising his libido.
Although Baron Karl
states that Lily believes that she is the next Catherine the Great, the next
Cleopatra, we have only his word that she is sexually promiscuous. The only
sexual act that she is depicted as having in Escape From Loki is with Clark Savage Jr.
At the end of Escape From Loki Lily is savagely
attacked by a Sergei Khutzinov,
a young Russian soldier who slashed her face with a bayonet, damaging the eye
and leaving a great scar on her forehead and cheek. Just as an aside, is it
possible that Sergei Khutzinov
was merely an invention of Philip Jose Farmer? There seems very little doubt
that the “Countess was attacked but perhaps the attacker was not this Sergei Khutzinov. The name Khutzinov may be a bit of a joke by Farmer as well as being
both a clue and a deliberate mislead. The name Khutzinov
may equal the phrase Cuts it off.
Who attacked Lily and
why? In A Feast Unknown Farmer tells how the repressed Doc Caliban was
sexually suppressed due to his strong moral background, over large genitals and
lack of familiarity with women. On one case he was drugged and tied down by a
female criminal who raped him. The loss of his control so infuriated Doc
Caliban that he broke his bonds and then literally twisted the woman’s head off
of her neck. Although I agree with the position that in the Wold Newton
universe at least, Doc Savage and Doc Caliban were two different people, their
lives ran a very close parallel course, designed by the Nine. Could the young
Doc Savage have committed a similar act?
As the story went Young
Savage interrogated Lily Bugov about the Baron’s
formula when she was suddenly attacked by this soldier, which happened so
rapidly Savage had no chance to stop. Later it is said he wished he had
interviewed her privately. Given Savage’s proximity to her and his superlative
reflexes it seems odd that he could not have overpowered the mad Russian. One
also has to wonder where the Russian prisoner had acquired the bayonet. There
is also the odd fact that the Savage would ask her about the Baron’s highly
secret project in front of her attendants and the room full of prisoners.
Consider this as an
alternative theory. What if Savage had in fact taken Lily into a private room
to interrogate her? What if she had tried to vamp him once again? However this
time Savage was not exhausted and half starved. His mind was clear and he suddenly
perpetrated Lily’s hoax. Realizing how he had been mislead and tricked into
engaging in behavior that would have
been repugnant even to his enlightened attitudes he attacked Lily with the
bayonet. The bayonet bisecting the eye and scarring of the face are very
symbolic. The bayonet, a phallic symbol raping the face that had deceived. The
eye hearkening back to the old biblical adage, if thine
eye offends, pluck it out. The bisected eye would also leave a puckered scar
that could have seemed faintly vaginal. As if Doc had given this false woman a
permanent symbolic brand. Yet given the clue of Khutzniov
or cuts it off, did the mutilation end there?
Did Doc with crude surgery emasculate “Lily” making “Lily” into a
caricature of the sex she pretended to be?
Doc heard that long after
the crash that Lily had her back broken and had been paralyzed from below the
waist. Perhaps this paralysis was not the result of a train crash but rather
from a bayonet being used in two other regions below the waist.[5]
If our theory about Lily
actually being a man is true it may explain one of the reasons why Doc Savage
had such difficulty relating to women. The psychological impact of Clark Savage
jr. having been fooled by such a disguise would have alone been disillusioning
to the nascent superman. Then there is the special impact that his first sexual
encounter was tainted not only by deception but that it had been tantamount to
homosexual rape, even if Clark had not been on the “catching” end of the
encounter. It undoubtedly left lingering
issues of not being able to trust women, although it was not through any fault
of womankind. It also left scars of doubt in Clark’s psyche about his own
sexuality. What did it mean that he could have been so easily fooled? Had he
really been fooled? Was there a bit of
latent homosexuality in Doc Savage that he suppressed until the opportunity
arose to act on his desires, and having acted upon it was so repulsed that he
forwent sexual activity? [6]
Why
would “Lily” undergo the pretense of being a woman? As with many of the aspects of “Lily’s” life,
there seem to be two main answers to this question. First and foremost was that
it was an effective disguise; the second answer was that it allowed for him to
openly express his sexual desires.
The trap was designed to
lure Clark Savage Jr into being under the influence
of Baron von Hessel, either through bribery via the
elixir of life or via blackmail courtesy of Lily.[7]
Lily Bugov,
Countess Idivzhopu may have been an entirely fictitious name.
The name Lily means virtue and purity, which is the diametric opposite of what
the Countess supposedly was. This flipside name may have been another clue that
the Countess pretended to be something other than she was. The name Bugov may also have been a modification of Bogrov, Ivan Zarov’s most famous
impersonations. Farmer may have deliberately altered the name to Bugov to create a punish name Bugov
equally Bug off, this is especially true when the Countess’ estate name is
taken into account, Idivzhopu seems to be a
modification of the phrase Eedeh vy zhopu, which is Russian for Go
to Hell. Therefore taken together Bugov, Idivzhopu form Bug off, Go to hell
We
are given rather scant information about “Lily’s’ background and most of it
from two rather unreliable sources. The first source of information is from
Baron Karl. He merely states that she was the daughter of a Russian Count who
opened property and thousands of peasants. She had on occasion severely whipped
for her own amusement. However the Russian Revolution had caused her holdings
to fall into the hands of the peasants. She had escaped with some of her jewels
but had to trade on her sexuality and beauty to find a position of luxury and
comfort.
The
second source of information was Sergei Khutzinov, a young Russian soldier who attacked the
Countess and slashed her face with a bayonet, damaging the eye and leaving a
great scar on her forehead and cheek. Khutzinov said
he had attacked the Countess because he had been one of the peasants on her
estates. The Bugov family had held manhunts in which
peasants were hunted like game. Khutzinov’s brother
had been killed by Lily on one such a manhunt.
Although
this statement may not be entirely truthful, in that the source may not have
been Seregi Khutzinov but
may have been Lily. Couched in a sexual boast about always getting “her” man
Lily may have boasted about the hunting activities of the “Bugov”
family. Despite what source that was its origin the story allows us to pinpoint
“Lily’s” origins a little better. In Richard Connell’s famous short story, “The
Most Dangerous Game” General Zaroff, another Russian
émigré, conducts manhunts on his island retreat. Zaroff
owned an island in the Caribbean and he manipulated the channel lights to trap
ships. He hunted the ship wrecked crews for sport. Zaroff was eventually beaten at his own game by a big game
hunter named Sanger Rainsford. Defeated by Rainsford in a sword duel, Zaroff
was left to feed his hungry dogs.
In
a bizarre bit of synchronicity Doc Savage also had an adventure on a very
similar island. On this island a Count Ramadanoff and his brother
used a similar method of luring and trapping ships. The ships’ crews however
were not taken primarily for hunting but rather to work in a mine on the
island. The escapees however were hunted. General Zaroff’s
island was in the Caribbean and Count Ramandoff’s
island was in the Galapagos. However the similarities were so profound that
both authors were probably talking about the same island. Connell’s account of
the location and name of the host is probably the most accurate. Dent had to
change certain facts to avoid any hint he had lifted material from Connell.
Rick Lai has suggested in his article that The Brother’s Zaroff
that the General Zaroff and Count Ramandoff
were brothers, although he speculates that the incidents took place on two
different islands. As Count Ramandoff lay dying he
told Doc Savage that he had assumed the name of the real Count Ramandoff after his men had murdered the real Count.
Since Connell wanted to tell the story of a big
game hunter who had to pit his wits and skill against a madman who hunted human
prey and he left out Sanger’s description of the slave operation as an unnecessary
distraction. This left the door however for Dent to tell the fuller story of
the island hellhole, however he had to keep out elements that were too like
Connell’s account. What emerges from a combination of the two stories is that a
group of Russian aristocratic exiles took refuge on a Caribbean island. They
soon discovered that a unique emerald was contained in the volcanic soil of the
island. Working the small native population to death they trapped more miners
by manipulating the channel signals around their island.
A true autocrat Zaroff
lived apart from the other exiles who ran the mining operation and slave pens.
Intractable slaves were given the chance for freedom if they participated in Zaroff’s hunt. The trophy heads dissuaded most from
participating in this contest.
After Sanger defeated Zaroff
and left him for dead, his younger brothers killed him under the pretense of
putting him out of his misery. After killing his brother one of the brothers
assumed command of the island. However he felt guilt over the act, considering
it murder. This was the man Dent called Count Ramandoff.
Unless
manhunts were a widespread practice among the Russian aristocracy, there was
undeniably some connection between “Lily’s” family and General Zaroff. In fact, “Lily” was a Zaroff
or Zarov rather than a Bugov
for as we will show later,
“Lily’s”
name and title were entirely fictitious. According to “The Most Dangerous Game”
the Zarov family had large holdings in the Crimea.
The Crimea was a bastion of the Russian aristocracy and it was the stronghold
of the anti-Bolshevik White Army. When the White Army was crushed the remaining
members of the army and the last remnants of the Russian aristocracy had to
board ships and flee through the Black Sea. Few records exist from that
tumultuous era however a report on the Zarov estate
was uncovered during the recent opening and categorization of the Soviet
Archives. An army squadron was to take the Zarov
family into custody and were issued warrants for Alexander, Ilya,
Boris and Ivan Zarov. The first three brothers were
Alexander, who was depicted in Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game” and Ilya and Boris who were depicted in the Doc Savage
Adventure Fantastic Island. Of
the last brother Ivan there was no record although there was a special notation
for him to be taken alive if possible.
This
information prompted a further research into the Russian Archives, assisted by
Russian archivist Natalya Simonova.
According to his research Ivan Zarov, the youngest
son’s share of the inheritance would have been minimal, as would any title he
might have received. He needed another means to achieve power and prestige and
so Ivan Zarov became an agent of Ohkrana.
One of his earliest investigations was into the activities of a man named
Dmitri Bogrov. Bogrov was
the son of a wealthy Jewish attorney from Kiev. Bogrov
had studied law at Kiev University and at Munich University and upon his
return to Russia had been interrogated by the Okhranka and died as a result.
Ivan Zarov assumed the identity of Dmitri Bogrov and became an agent provocateur. He informed his
superiors on the activities of Social Democrats, anarchists and other dissident groups.
To his compatriots in the know Ivan insisted that this was his way of
getting information on the Okhranka's activities. He could also remove disloyal revolutionaries.
In 1911 Dmitri Bogrov,
the supposedly loyal Ohkranka agent, assassinated the then Russian Prime Minister Petr Stolypin in the Kiev Opera House in front of Tsar Nicholas II. Bogrov was
sentenced to death by the district military court. He was executed on September
24 (September 11 old style), 1911. The investigation of Stolypin's
assassination was discontinued by the order of Nicholas II.
The execution was a sham but the Dmitri
Bogrov identity had to be discarded. After 1911 the
name Ivan Zarov once more appeared in a few messages
available in the archives. It is not certain what he was doing but it appears
that he was still working as an agent provocateur among the various democratic
and socialist organizations that had been clamoring for reforms in the Tsar’s
autocratic rule since 1905. Besides stirring up the Socialists Ivan Zarov also had contacts with Polish nationalists and worked
in the sections of the Russian Empire that had once been Polish territory.
Among the contacts that Zarov made in Russian Poland
was the Prussian Baron Karl Von Hessel. Records
indicate that Von Hessel may have been a double agent
working for both German intelligence and for the Ohkranka.
His first allegiance seems to have been towards Germany but his true allegiance
may have been to an international organization rather than to any one nation.
Although this is the first recorded
contact between Ivan Zarov and Baron Karl von Hessel, it may not have been. As early as 1906 Baron Von Hessel was on occasion seen in St. Petersburg reportedly in
the company of Grigori Rasputin.[8] At an early stage in
his career Ivan Zarov was one of the Ohkrana agents assigned to the constant surveillance of
Rasputin, in essence this meant not only watching his activities but becoming
one of his acquaintances.
Section II
Wolf’s Cub
The connection between Rasputin and
Baron Karl Von Hess is an intriguing one. In Son of Holmes, John Lescroat reported
that Auguste Lupa a.k.a Nero Wolfe’s birth name was John Hamish Holmes, the
son of Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler. He also revealed that Grigori Rasputin was the son of Professor Moriarty. This
would make Baron Von Hessel and Grigori
Rasputin half brothers. It is unknown if either knew of their relationship, or
that Moriarty even knew about Rasputin until they became involved with the
Nine, since there is evidence that Rasputin was also an agent of the Nine.
Win Eckert has speculated the Lily Bugov was “the granddaughter of Sir William Clayton and Sir William’s wife, a
Russian woman named Natalie, daughter of the Prince of Kiev, who disappeared
shortly after their wedding in 1855.” I agree
with this genealogy but dispute the gender of “Lily”. Natalie had run off with
a former suitor, the heir of the Zarov family, having
married Sir William only at her father’s insistence. Sir William was the
grandfather then of Count Zarov and his brothers.
Lily was referred to as Baron Karl’s mistress,
if Lily was truly Ivan Zarov a man, was this merely a
cover story? For the most part I believe that it was part of their cover
however it should be remembered that in earlier portions of his life, Baron
Karl had been a sailor. Sodomy although extremely frowned upon in most Navies,
was not uncommon. We know of three sexual encounters that have been accounted
to Baron Karl, two in his persona of Wolf Larsen and one as Baron Karl. As
Larsen he wed, bedded and quickly abandoned
One has to wonder if
perhaps, Baron Karl Von Hessel merely had sexual
relations with these women with the express purpose of begetting a child.
In his persona of Wolf
Larsen, Baron Von Hessel was involved in a strange triangular
relationship between Humphrey Van Weden and Maud
Brewster. The Sea Ghost rescued Humprey Van Weden after the ship
he had been traveling upon collided with a steamer. Larsen forced the weak
young man into virtual slavery to work for his passage on the ship. Van Weyden was a highly educated man and Larsen was a self
taught genius. Larsen formed an odd bond with Van Weyden
due to Larsen’s need for intellectual stimulation. In Van Weyden’s
mind they formed an affiliation much like a master and a favored slave. However
Larsen may have seen the association in a different light, viewing himself as
the dominant member of relationship that satisfied his emotional, intellectual
and possibly his sexual needs. While Van Weyden was
still on board the Sea Ghost also picked up another castaway, Maud Brewster a
female scholar and poetess. Van Weyden was
immediately attracted to her because of her intellect and her beauty.
The collapse of the brute
Larsen after such a minor wound can be attributed to two causes. The primary
cause is that Larsen was indeed ill and was suffering from a medical condition
that affected his neurology. This condition, which we suppose to have been a
brain tumor or a series of strokes would worsen causing blinding headaches,
paralysis and eventually his death in the novel. A secondary but lesser reason
is that Larsen collapsed out of a sense of despair and betrayal. Part of why
Larsen made a coarse courtship of Maud Brewster may not have been so much
because he desired her but because Van Weyden did.
In a sense Larsen was
reasserting his dominance over Van Weyden
demonstrating to Van Weyden that he was still Van Weyden’s master, holding such power over Van Weyden that he could deny Van Weyden
what he most desired. Rape being an act of violence rather than love or lust,
Larsen also wished to violently avenge himself on this woman who had stolen Van
Weyden’s affections. Yet at the same time Larsen made
overtures to Maud Brewster in an attempt to make Van Weyden
jealous. However when Van Weyden chose Brewster over
Larsen to extent of literally stabbing him in the back, this made Larsen
realize that despite all of his overtures towards Weyden
that Van Weyden would never impale him with anything
but a knife. Even the strongest man can be brought to his knees by unrequited
love. It is telling that when Larsen is afflicted by blinding pain he called
out for Hump, his nickname for Humphrey Van Weyden.
Although it is possible
that reading homosexual connotations into the relationship between Wolf Larsen
and Van Weyden may be stretching things, one should
note that a slang term for a predatory homosexual during the turn of the
century was a wolf. Also the general depictions of a homosexual pairing during
that era were of a strong masculine figure coupled with a weaker, effeminate
man. The latter was known as a punk or a sissy, which is how Van Weyden was called aboard the ship. [9]
If Karl Von Hessel a.k.a. Wolf Larsen was indeed a homosexual, or at
least a bisexual with a preference for men, then why did he bed and abandon two
women, rape one and attempt to rape a third? The answer to this question also
resolves the mystery of his neurological condition, his longevity and apparent
resurrection from death and his relationship with Rasputin and Ivan Zarov.
Karl Von Hessel was born in 1858 the son of Professor James Moriarty
and Amalie Luise, the
younger sister of Count Karl Frederick, a member of the Danish nobility with
ties to the Royal family and to the house of
When James Moriarty concluded
his European lecture series he returned to England and was offered the
mathematics chair at one of the smaller universities. The prestigious
university gave him academic credentials and the small student body allowed
James Moriarty to work on his magnum opus The Dynamics of an Asteroid, a
work that ascended to such rarefied heights of pure mathematics that few people
were capable of understanding it much less criticizing it.
While
James Moriarty was giving birth to his greatest work, Amalie
Luise gave birth to his two sons, whom she named Karl
and Jeppe. Unwilling to dishonor her family with
illegitimate children she sent them to be raised as simple peasant children by
the relatives of one her courtiers. When they were approximately eight years
old James Moriarty found Karl and Jeppe.[10]
At this time James Moriarty was using the name of Nemo and was Captain of the
submersible ship known as the Nautilus. Karl and Jeppe
served as cabin boys aboard the vessel. When the Nautilus sank in the maelstrom
off of the coast of Norway, Karl and Jeppe were among
the survivors. They were taken in by a family of Norwegian seal hunters. Jeppe was content to live this life but Karl yearned to
resume the education that he had begun under his father’s tutelage. Enlisting
on a British ship at age of twelve, Karl eventually made his way to England in
1873.
Somewhere
between 1873 and 1880 he was approached by representatives of the Nine who
offered him virtual immortality in exchange for becoming their servant. Through contacts with agents of the Nine Wolf
embarked on an eclectic education in between missions for the Nine. He also
learned the truth about his parentage and his connection to the German and
Danish thrones. Although his studies were informal they revealed him to have an
innate genius for mathematics and chemistry.
In
between missions for the Nine, Wolf’s friendship was cultivated by Iwaldi, one of the Nine who encouraged his rebellious
streak. He helped Wolf establish, through sophisticated extortion among the aristocracy
of Germany and Denmark, the identity of Baron Karl Von Hessel.
However the Nine preferred that he use the identity of Wolf Larsen and that he
use his profession as a seal hunter as a cover for world wide missions. Most of
the Nine’s missions were courier jobs, piracy or the occasional murder however
there were a couple of incidents that Wolf found extremely distasteful. One of
the Nine’s interests was eugenics and to this end they bred people like cattle
or so it seemed to Wolf. He was ordered to wed, bed and impregnate the daughter
of a fellow sailor, Ned Land. And in 1885 he turned his considerable charms
onto the sixteen year old Arronaxe Land and seduced her. After ensuring she was
pregnant he abandoned her.
Five
years later he was told to kidnap a certain group of Japanese women and
impregnate a particular woman. Once this had been accomplished he was to let
the women return to their families.
These
two incidents persuaded him break the hold that the Nine had on him. Iwaldi encouraged him to work on an alternative to the
Nine’s Elixir. In a fortuitous accident, Wolf cultivated a bacteria that exuded
the same active ingredient as the Nine’s elixir. He kept the active samples in
his “ancestral” castle.
The
Nine learned that he was seeking to betray them, although they do not seem to
know he had succeeded in creating a life extension formula. He was ordered to
go an extensive voyage and because of his planned betrayal of the Nine he was
denied his yearly dose of the elixir starting in 1891. After the first year he
discovered a rather insidious secret about the elixir; it was addictive. The
addictive element however was not replicated by his bacterial form. His
withdrawal symptoms manifested a severe neurological condition. In 1893, while
Wolf was traveling on The Ghost, a
fire broke out in his “ancestral’ castle and destroyed his bacteriological
samples. Although there is no evidence that the fire in Schloss Sigmaringen was arson, it seems likely that the Nine
destroyed his work.[11] The neurological
condition brought on by Elixir withdrawal caused him to suffer
a brain
aneurism that nearly killed him. Had it not been for the bacterial form of the
elixir in his system, he probably would have died.
Knowing
that his bacteria samples had been destroyed and not wishing to undergo another
withdrawal attack, Wolf attempted to get back into the good graces of the Nine
once more. With his Wolf Larson identity certified as being dead, he assumed
the Karl von Hessel identity full time.[12]
To gain the polish and education that his new role required he attended several
schools from 1895 until 1905.His innate genius served him well and within a
sort period of time he personified his role to such an extent that even at
times even he was almost convinced he had been born a German nobleman. Once his
training had been accomplished, to best serve the interests of the Nine Von Hessel became part of the Imperial German Secret Service
under the guise of being part of its diplomatic service.
In
this capacity he was first assigned to Russia from 1905 until 1908. Also
arriving In St. Petersburg of 1905 for his second visit to the capital was Grigori Rasputin.
As
stated earlier, like Wolf Larsen/Baron Von Hessel, Grigori Rasputin was also the son of Professor James
Moriarty. According to all known records Grigori
Rasputin was born sometime between 1868 and 1873 in Siberia to Effim and Anna Rasputin.[13]
. The most likely date is January 10, 1869. Why would James Moriarty have been
in Siberia of all places in 1869?
As
detailed in many other articles and novels, James Moriarty, in addition to
being the Napoleon of Crime, was also one of the men who were called Captain
Nemo.[14]
Although no one has yet detailed this, it is believed that in 1868 the two
Nautilus submersibles met and fought off the coast of Norway. Damaged in the
battle both were sucked into the maelstrom,
Moriarty’s ship got the worst of it and broke apart, although much of
the extensive damage may have come about through sabotage.[15] Moriarty was picked up by a Lithuanian
fishing trawler. When he appeared on shore he was met by an old man with an eye
patch at first claimed to be a Capellean Elder.
Eventually however the old man revealed that he was part of an organization far
older than the Capelleans. Aware of the Eridanean and
Capellean organizations and their conflict this group
had co-opted some members from both organizations and had on occasion used the
names of these organizations while carrying out their own stratagems.
The Nine
offered Moriarty an even longer life than that promised by the Capelleans. To
prove that they also had access to knowledge and technology far superior to the
Capelleans, who at best grudgingly provided its adoptees
with advanced technology, the old man with the eye patch sent Moriarty to Tobelesk, Siberia to look among certain kurgans.
Kurgans
were barrows or burial mounds that dotted the landscape between Eastern Europe,
Russia and Mongolia. The name for the burial mound was also given to the people
who created them. The Kurgans were an Indo-European people that practiced a
form of mummification and also sacrificed the servitors, concubines and horses
of the deceased. However as of 1868 very little of this was known about the
Kurgan. Arriving at the village where the old man had directed him, Moriarty
asked about for a guide to the mounds. He was told to ask after Anna Egorova, the wife of Effim
Rasputin. She was of Samoyed and Mongolian stock and knew about the barrows.[16]
With
Anna Egorova and her two children in tow, James
Moriarty toured the barrows. After digging through the rock coverings of
several and breaking into them to discover only ancient artifacts, mummified
corpses and the skeletal remains of horses he began to believe that the old man
had in fact been an Eridanean agent that had
successfully gulled him. However one of the barrows was quite different.
The
walls of this barrow were covered with glyphs comprised of lines, squiggles and
minute squares. There was mummified corpse much like the others only this one
sat in stone throne with a seat of woven metal. Although the metal was
blackened and pitted with age and corrosion it caught his eyes for it was not
made of copper or bronze but rather when scraped yielded a silvery glint like steel.
He noted with a start that the mummy wore a vest of what appeared to a fragment
of a larger piece of clothing. The cloth shimmered like silk yet had the
texture of woven metal. On the shoulder of the vest was a faintly colored
rectangle as if an insignia had been there. The corpse’s skeletal hands
crisscrossed over a hand-sized box. Cracked black ceramic of some type covered
the outside of box but a silvery flash caught Moriarty’s eyes. Ripping the box
from the skeleton’s hands Moriarty’s nails tore at the ceramic which crumbled.
Beneath the black covering were dark lines scribbled upon a piece of glass.
These resembled the hieroglyphics on the wall. Underneath his thumbnail the
darkness was replaced by the shininess of metal.
Moriarty
made an intuitive leap that only one of his level of genius would have made.
This corpse was a space traveler like the Eridaneans and Capelleans. The device
was a sophisticated piece of machinery with the metallic lines being an
integral part of the device’s function.[17]
Moriarty compared the lines in the device to those on the wall and discovered
that they were different. He quickly copied them in his note book. Giddy as a
schoolboy his discovery he impulsively kissed Anna Egorova.
Her eyes widened at this and she ordered her children out of the barrow. She
then attacked Moriarty with the ferocity of a lioness in heat. Instinct won out
over intellect. Moriarty left the village the next day. Nine months later Anna Egorova presented her husband with a new son. Seduced by
the promises of the Nine Moriarty became one of their servants. He would find
it to a devil’s bargain. Some quirk in his biochemistry allowed the Nine’s
elixir to be addictive but denied him the benefit of its longevity. What’s more
it neutralized the longevity treatment given to him by the Capelleans. When
Moriarty realized that the elixir was not benefiting him he attempted to break
from the Nine. Withdrawal gave him a persisting neurological condition.
Grigori Rasputin had very formal education but showed flashes of
brilliance and intuition at an early age. At eight years old he denounced a man
as a horse thief. Investigation proved him to be correct. Although his
uncovering of the thief was attributed to mystical powers, he most likely
discerned the horse thief through intuition and observation, like his kinsman
Holmes. Grigori married early but despite this he was
a rather wild youth given to drunkenness, womanizing and thievery. He and his
friends were accused but not convicted of horse thievery. Faced with banishment
Grigori proposed that he instead be allowed to make a pilgrimage 260 miles
northwest to the Verkoturie Monastery.
At
the monastery he underwent a conversion of faith and returned as an ascetic man
of faith. During the next decade he underwent a spiritual journey that led him
to explore various religious beliefs. One sect that struck a chord in him was
the Skoptsy sect. This flagellant cult believed that
sin must be experienced before it could be forgiven. Although it seems that he
was never a member of the sect he seems to have been influenced by it. His
spiritual journey was also a physical one and the Siberian peasant traveled to
Greece and to the Holy land.
It
was most likely during this journey that Rasputin was approached by servants of
the Nine and became one of their servants.
Rasputin
had visited St. Petersburg in 1903 and made acquaintances from all strata of
society. During the 1903 visit Rasputin established his reputation as a starets, a wandering mystic with powers of prophecy and
healing. In 1905 he took up residence in St. Petersburg and began gathering
disciples from the middle class and aristocracy. In 1905 Rasputin was
introduced to the Imperial couple and after that he came under scrutiny by the Ohkrana. The early surveillance was not as intense as it
would later become when Rasputin became considered a member of the court.
Assigned to befriend and keep tabs on Rasputin was young aristocrat Ivan Zarov. He became one of Rasputin’s circle of friends.
The
Nine had long range plans for Russia with Karl von Hessel
and Grigori Rasputin playing important roles. It was
through the confluence of Rasputin and Von Hessel
that Von Hessel became acquainted with Ivan Zarov. The Baron saw some very unique qualities in young
Ivan, qualities that with proper guidance and molding could make Ivan someone
with whom be reckoned. Much like he had with Humphrey Van Weyden
Von Hessel made Ivan into his protégé. He convinced
Rasputin that they should sponsor him as a servant of the Nine. The Nine were
not entirely sold on Ivan Zarov, wanting him to prove
that he would follow their orders as directed.
It
was under their orders that Zarov in his Bogrov guise assassinated Prime Minister Stolypin. Petr Stolypin had to be eliminated because he was a danger to
the Nine’s plans. His agrarian reforms and ruthless persecution of terrorists
were defusing the long smoldering tensions of the peasant class. Further more
he denounced Rasputin and attempted to discredit him with the Imperial Couple.
Shortly
after he had become Prime Minister in 1906 an assassination attempt on Stolypin injured the Prime Minister’s children. Tsar
Nicholas sent Rasputin to aid them. Stolylin
recounted that Rasputin ran his pale eyes over him and that Stolypin
began to feel an indescribable loathing for the vermin sitting next to him. He
realized that Rasputin possessed great hypnotic power. Rasputin’s attempt to
control the Prime Minister had failed. His efforts with the Imperial family
however bore fruit by his ability to heal the Imperial heir when he suffered
from life threatening injuries brought on by his hemophilia.
Shortly
after Rasputin’s failed attempt to influence Prime Minister Stolypin
a leftist student by the name of Dmitri Bogrov died
while being interrogated by the Ohkrana. As part of Stolypin’s crack down on revolutionary groups, Ivan Zarov assumed Bogrov’s identity
and infiltrated several leftist groups. Known to Stolypin,
he became one of his most trusted agents.
In 1908
Von Hessel was assigned to take up residence in Gdingen, West Prussia. There he was to keep tabs on Russian
agitators, Polish nationalists and also to cultivate the friendship of Greek
military officers. Greek military officers were often trained in Germany. Some of these Greek officers however became
involved with the Polish nationalists. Ordered to create a scandal that would
discredit the Polish nationalists, Von Hessel decided
to also get back at a Greek officer that had for some reason offended him.
Raping the daughter of this Greek officer, he convinced all involved that the
rapist had been a member of the Polish nationalists. Although the accused
Polish national denied all, he was forced to marry the girl. Afterwards he was
found dead. Von Hessel had successfully stopped the
Polish nationalists from gaining allies among the Greeks. This Greek girl was
the granddaughter of Aspasia Clayton, who was the
daughter of Sir William and Ermione Khatamagos. Their child was born in Gdingen
on May 28, 1908 and was named Ernst Stravo Blofeld.
For a time Blofeld would be the Nine’s fair-haired child and lead their
criminal and terrorist enterprises until stopped through by the actions of
British Intelligence.[18]
In
1910 Baron Von Hessel returned to St. Petersburg and
was ostensibly part of the German diplomatic entourage. By 1911 through
constant propagandizing against Rasputin, Stolypin
had succeeded in getting Rasputin banished from St. Peterburg. After Stolypin’s
assassination Rasputin returned to St. Petersburg.
There
were no shortage of suspects as to whom had hired Bogrov
to kill Stolypin.
Various terrorist organizations wanted Stolypin
out of the way because of his oppression. The Bolsheviks wanted Stolypin dead because his reforms quelled the fires of revolution.
The conservatives wanted Stolypin dead because they
feared his liberalism might expand and end their class privileges. The Germans also wanted Stolypin
out of the way because they feared that his policies might make Russian even
more economically powerful than Germany. Rasputin and his disciples were fairly
far down on the list. Bogrov was hung rapidly and the
investigation into the assassination declared closed by the Tsar. This has
given credence to the theory that Stolypin had been
assassinated by conservative elements of the aristocracy aided by the secret
police. This does seem to have been the case.
After
his successful guise of Dmitri Bogrov came to an end,
Ivan Zarov’s rise in the Ohkrana
paralleled the rise of Rasputin in the imperial court. Under many names he
worked as an agent provocateur exposing the conspiracies of leftists and their
Jewish and homosexual allies. It was during this period that Ivan learned to
impersonate a woman with perfection. Despite having obeyed the order of the
Nine Ivan was not allowed to join the Nine as of yet. Von Hessel
transfused some of his blood into Ivan with the hope that the life extending
bacterium he had discovered would be transmitted to Ivan. It was not and this
is when Von Hessel began to suspect that the
bacterium in his body was dying out.
Although
Rasputin and Ivan outwardly worked for the good of Russia while Baron Von Hessel worked for the good of Germany, in reality they
worked in concert to accomplish the goals of the Nine. While Baron von Hessel undoubtedly had figured out the Nine’s long range
plans, neither Rasputin or Ivan realized what would be the culmination of the
Nine’s plans. Even in their later careers, neither Rasputin nor Ivan Zarov would be very successful in working out the
consequences of their actions.
As
planned Rasputin worked his way into the inner circle of the Imperial Court
until he had a distinct influence with the Imperial family. That a peasant was
given such power outraged the conservatives at court. They also played up his
influence at court granting him svengali-like powers,
they exaggerated his drunkenness and sexual antics.
Despite
carrying out his instructions for the Nine, Rasputin had also acquired a true
affection for the Imperial family. In 1914 he obliquely warned Nicholas about
becoming involved in the Balkan situation. Rasputin was summoned back to his
home in Tobolesk and left on the pretext of visiting
his family. While in Tobolesk Rasputin was stabbed in
the abdomen by a female follower of his main detractor Illidor.
The wound was so deep and wide that his intestines spilled out of the wound. He
was expected to die. Although the dates for the stabbing are inexact, author
Colin Wilson in The Occult discovered
that Rasputin was stabbed on the same day that the Archduke Ferdinand was shot
to death. The one person that would have advised Tsar Nicholas not to enter the
war was unavailable because of his stab wound. Rasputin recovered from his
seemingly fatal wound and once again took up his post at the Imperial court.
Realizing
the consequences of crossing the Nine, he went along with their plans. As per
the Nine’s instructions Rasputin advised the Tsar to ignore the advice of his
generals and to take personal command of the war. Once Nicholas was gone
Tsarina Alexandra was in command. Rasputin used his influence over her to place
some of his friends in government posts. Enemies of Rasputin spread innuendo
and gossip about Rasputin’s relationship with the Tsarina, declaring that
Nicholas was a cuckold. His detractors
played up the Tsarina’s Germanic background and promoted the idea that Rasputin
was also a German sympathizer was convincing the Imperial couple to make peace
with Germany.
Unbeknownst
to Rasputin, it was Ivan Zarov and Baron von Hessel that were instrumental in creating the propaganda
against Rasputin among the upper and lower classes. The Nine felt that Rasputin
had compromised himself by becoming emotionally attached to the Imperial
family. It was part of Rasputin’s function in their plan for him to become a
lodestone of controversy that reflected badly on the Imperial family. He was
also to advise the Imperial family in such a way that their bad decisions would
further alienate them from their people. He however failed in this duty.
Ivan Zarov was able to use his proclivities for homosexuality
and cross dressing to further the plans of the Nine. Using the name Dmitri he
befriended the bi-sexual and cross dressing Prince Felix Yussupov,
the Tsar’s nephew. Zarov convinced Felix to befriend
Rasputin and after a time convinced him to partake in a plot to murder
Rasputin. Although in his memoirs Felix states that he had joined the
assassination plot out of political considerations and to 'save' Russia, his
real motives remain elusive. Felix had never shown any interest in politics or
the country, so this claim of his is questionable.
The
true reason may have been to aid his friend Dmitri, not the Dmitri who was Ivan
Zarov in disguise, but rather Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich, the cousin of the
Tsar. Dmitri had at one time been engaged to Olga the daughter of the Tsar.
However his friendship with Felix Yusupov had caused
the Tsarina to break the engagement. Many accounts report the rupture came
about because it was believed that the relationship between Dmitri Paulovich and Felix had been homosexual in nature.[19] This
however does not seem to be the case, the Dmitri who was Felix’s lover was in
fact the cover identity of Ivan Zarov. The similarity
of names caused confusion. Ivan convinced Dmitri Paulovich
and Felix to assassinate Rasputin for several reasons. Ivan had convinced Felix
and Dmitri Paulovich that it had been Rasputin who
had spread the lie about them being lovers and had convinced the Tsarina to
cast Dmitri aside. He also convinced them that Rasputin was in the pay of both
the Germans and the socialists and that his influence on the royal family would
cause the Imperium to fall. He pointed out that it
seemed to be Rasputin who kept the Imperial heir alive and if he were removed,
the heir would probably not live to his majority. This would pave the way for
Grand Duke Dmitri to become the next Tsar.
Whether or not Rasputin truly had prescient powers
or was just intuitive enough to realize that events had moved beyond his
control, he did attempt to warn the Imperial family of the plans of the Nine
before his assassination in a document that has come to be known as his last
letter. He warned of his assassination, the coming revolution and the fall of
the aristocracy.[20]
On December 16, 1916 Felix Yusupov
invited Rasputin to his home to meet his wife Irina.
He was served sweetcakes and wine. At first Rasputin
refused to eat possibly put on alert by the presence of people he did not know.
When Ivan Zarov in his Dmitri guise showed up
Rasputin was put at ease and ate the cakes and wine. Both were supposedly laced
with poison. However after an hour or so Rasputin still did not show any ill
effects and according to Yusupov he went upstairs got
a handgun and fired into Rasputin’s back. He and all his conspirators assembled
to get rid of the body. Rasputin however jumped up and attacked them. Yusupov and his fellow conspirators[21] fired
into Rasputin, one of the bullets supposedly struck his head. As they attempted
to carry Rasputin from the room he once again started flailing about. The
conspirators then beat and stabbed him until he lay still.[22] They
threw his body into the Neva river. Yet Rasputin was found on the ice of the
river having died from either drowning or hypothermia.
Despite
having ensured that Rasputin’s influence on the Imperial family had been
removed so that the Nine’s plans for Russia could move apace, Ivan Zarov
discovered that he had to go into hiding from his fellows in the Ohkrana as the Tsar put pressure on discovering all of the
conspirators in Rasputin’s murder. Ivan Zarov took
refuge among his leftist contacts after the Revolution he was exposed as an Ohkrana agent and as an aristocrat. Disguised as a woman
Ivan fled towards Germany.
Meeting
up with Baron Von Hessel, the Baron convinced Ivan to
create the identity of Lily Bugov. It allowed Ivan to
hide without fear of discovery and to carry one a semi open relationship with
the Baron that would not cause tongues to wag, at least with rumors that could
have ruined the Baron’s reputation rather than accentuate it.
Although
Lily’s tryst with Clark Savage Jr. was part of the Baron’s plan to entrap the
young man, it was it was not a chore that “Lily” minded in the least. Lily had
a healthier libido than the Baron, which is why “her” attendants were strapping
men with the same proclivities. However the tryst between Lily and young Savage
caused a rift in the relationship between Lily and the Baron. Lily had become
enamored of the young flier. Although the Baron’s passion had cooled, he was
perturbed at losing Lily’s affection rather than he being to one to cast “her”
off.
After
Savage and successfully ruined the Baron’s biological experiments and arranged
the escape from Camp Loki, the Baron and Lily went their separate ways. Having
been wounded in the face and perhaps elsewhere Ivan dropped the Lily persona.
Besides a woman with a horrific facial scar would have been more noticeable
than a man with such a wound.
Returning
to Russia Ivan deliberately created several conflicting stories about his past.
He was a German defector, A Finn, Latvian, Lithuanian or Pole attracted to the Revolution. He had
been wounded fighting against the Whites. Ivan adopted a variation of his
family name Ivan Zarya which translates as John
Sunrise or as Lester Dent wrote it John Sunlight.
Part Two: Ivan Zarya a.k.a John Sunlight
Section One: The
Monochromatic Maniac
At the beginning of The Fortress of Solitude, John Sunlight escaped
from a Siberian prison camp and discovered quite by accident Doc Savage’s
Fortress of Solitude.
John Sunlight had been sent to the prison camp for “using blackmail on his superior officers in the army to force them to advance him in rank”. The prosecutor found John Sunlight not merely contemptible but a horrible thing. "This thing known as John Sunlight," Serge Mafnoff said earnestly, "is incredible and shocking. We owe it to humanity to see that he is shot." Considering the virulence of Serge Mafnoff’s statements we have to wonder what exactly John Sunlight had used as blackmail against these superior officers.
John Sunlight’s
description is as follows “He resembled a gentle poet, with his great shock of dark hair, his
remarkably high forehead, his hollow burning eyes set in a starved face. His
body was very long, very thin. His fingers, particularly, were so long and
thin--the longest fingers being almost the length of an ordinary man's whole
hand.” With the possible exception
of the hands this description sounds like a clean shaven Rasputin.
That John Sunlight has a commanding
almost mesmeric charisma.
“John Sunlight stepped out
on the bridge of the ice-breaker, and forty-six persons sank to their knees in
craven terror. This pleased John Sunlight. He liked to break souls to do his
bidding.
No one had been killed yet.
The forty-six included the crew of the ice-breaker, and the convicts. For one
of the queerest quirks of John Sunlight's weird nature was that he preferred to
control a mind, rather than detach it from the owner's body with a bullet or a
knife.”
So it would appear that Ivan Zarov alias Ivan Zarya had
learned lessons from both Baron Von Hessel and
Rasputin. When one considers our
speculations about Sunlight’s sexual proclivities and about his powerful
mesmeric personality it is not hard to image what the circumstances of
blackmail might have been. The very nature of the acts that were the basis of
blackmail would have been enough to have many people consider John Sunlight a
loathsome “thing” However Serge Mafnoff must have
realized that Sunlight had not merely found other officers who shared his
orientation but rather that Sunlight had used his charisma and hypnotic powers
to seduce these men into performing acts that they normally would not have
done. He then either blackmailed them or allowed them to reward him with
promotions. .
Considering his speculated connection to
James Clark Wildman, alias Doc Savage, immaterial of whether John Sunlight was
Lily Bugov or Lily Bugov
and Savage’s son, it does seem to be rather coincidental that Sunlight would
just stumble onto the location of Doc Savage’s Fortress of Solitude. Why did
Sunlight command the ice breaker ship to go north rather than south when they
escaped from Siberia? Even after the ice breaker’s supplies ran out and his
crew began to starve Sunlight persisted in pursuing the same course. The most
probable explanation is that Sunlight knew of the Fortress and of its general
location. Finding it was his specific purpose instead of sailing south towards
freedom of the Soviets and the ice.
While Ivan Zarya
was rising through the ranks of the Soviet Army, his mentor Baron Von Hessel had, by necessity since the re-creation of his
elixir had been destroyed, become a loyal adherent of the Nine’s plans. In
Germany he convinced his follow Junkers to sponsor the rise of a rabble rousing
politician with a ridiculous moustache. Once Hitler had become Chancellor, Von Hessel had been dispatched to Hungary. His mission there
was to foster National Socialist sympathies while at the same time undermining
Hungary and its relationship with its neighbors. Von Hessel
was successful in creating tensions between Hungary and Roumania
over Transylvania.
Von Hessel had
kept a close eye on his grandson however and heard that he had acquired some
method for extending his life span. He wondered briefly if Savage had been
recruited by the Nine. However the Nine discouraged questions and only
disseminated information that would serve their mysterious purposes. Von Hessel also learned that young Savage had a secret retreat
where he created miraculous devices, products, medicines and even botanical
creations. Von Hessel became determined to learn the
location of the secret base. When German Intelligence, which had a superlative
file on Savage, with much of the information having come from Von Hessel, had reports of Savage on occasion re-fueling an
airplane in Western Soviet territory, he knew the base was somewhere around the
North Pole.
Von Hessel made
several stratagems to discover the base or rather have it discovered since the
Nine would not allow him to leave his post in Hungary, although he did travel
to the United States on diplomatic jaunts. He convinced one of Hitler’s Thule
Society brothers that the Polar opening discovered by the Zeppelin O-220 in
1929 should be explored for possible ties to Thule and Atlantis. He also
convinced Himmler that an expedition should be
launched to get absolute proof of the World-Ice theory.
His last stratagem involved his sometime
protégé and it was the one which he thought had little chance for success.
Through coded messages he told Ivan about his suspicions about Savage’s secret
hideout. He did not expect much since Ivan was quite content with his position
in the Soviet Union. After having the eyeball slashing blow to his face Ivan
had become unhinged, fixated on the subject of Clark Savage jr. When Von Hessel hinted that if Sunlight did actually find the
sanctorum, he would prove to Savage that he was the better man. Yet these were enough for Sunlight to destroy
his carefully created cover and embark on a floundering, almost futile
expedition. Knowing that he could not win the Nine’s approval to leave his post
in the Soviet Union and that any attempt to get leave to search for Savage’s
fortress would be denied, Sunlight arranged to have his career destroyed by
exposing his activities. He also knew that it was likely to sent to Siberia so
he would be that much closer to his goal.
During the year he was in the Siberian
prison camp Ivan took the opportunity of isolation to hone his hypnotic skills.
He loved to dominate men. As Dent so aptly said “He did not want men to die. A
man dead was a man he could not dominate” In the Siberian prison John Sunlight
made “friends” with Civan a large, bull of a man who
reminded him of his bodyguard and attendant Zad. He
also befriended and then controlled two American amazons named Titania and Giantia Jeeves. They were vaudeville performers sent to Siberia for
espionage. According to Dent “They were a little queer, maybe, because all
their lives men had been scared of them.”
He also said “Titania and Giantia
were afraid of John Sunlight. They had never been scared of any other man. But
they did not worry about John Sunlight.”
Chris Carey has speculated that this
could have been an indication of John Sunlight having been a woman. However I
think that the message is even more complex than that. The sisters had nothing
to worry about from John Sunlight because he was homosexual, his masculinity did
not threaten their sexuality. Also the reverse was true, normally John Sunlight
could have seen these amazonian women as sexual
competitors, however as Dent states, “they were a little queer”, which may
indicate that they were lesbians and so were no sexual competition for John.
It is interesting to note that it is said
several times that John Sunlight does not like to kill men but prefer to
control and dominate them. The operative word seems to be men. Although Sunlight
uses Gigantia, Titania and
their sister Fifi, he plans to have them killed once
their usefulness ends. Apparently he does not have a deep desire to control or
dominate women, although he does use them as henchmen. Interestingly enough
Sunlight used women as proxies, as his main muscle against Doc Savage. In The Fortress of Solitude, he used Titania and Gigantia by
manipulating their concern over their sister and by making them think Savage
had killed Fifi. In The Devil Genghis, Sunlight used Toni Lash, an female mercenary
specializing in intelligence work. Perhaps he saw the women as disposable
cannon fodder or perhaps he chose them because he knew of Savage’s discomfort
around women.
Dent may not have known any of this but
even if he did all he could only hint at it in the pulp story. In The Fortress of Solitude Dent makes
tailors the story to suit his dramatic needs.
One example is John Sunlight’s
relationship with Baron Karl. Baron Karl was the head of a Balkan nation’s spy
system. He characterized as something of a coward and a dandy with an eye for
the ladies. Baron Karl is treated as though he were willingly subordinate to
John Sunlight. Karl is said to be so afraid of John Sunlight that he had
immediately come to America when Sunlight demanded it.
Dent has Baron Karl as being reluctant to
go to the arctic with John Sunlight because of the temperature. However John
Sunlight insists on taking him there to demonstrate a new weapon. In fact it
was probably quite the opposite, with Baron Karl demanding to know the location
of the Fortress and going there and Sunlight trying to forestall him. Although
Sunlight met with him in the Arctic it was not anywhere near the Fortress.
Sunlight tried to buy the Baron off with a couple of the weapons. When this did
not work, Sunlight told the Baron that unless took the weapon and forgot about
the rest, his country would not last for very long. Although Baron Karl
probably did not have strong patriotic feelings for either Germany or Hungary,
he also did not want to take the chance of Ivan Zarya
wrecking the Nine’s plans for Europe.
Sunlight remained uneasy about his deal
with Baron Karl for after he had left, he wanted make certain his pilot had
flown him back to New York. He became worried when Baron Karl had demanded to
be flown into Montreal.
One of the other possible misdirection
that Dent makes is in how the relationship between Doc Savage and John Sunlight
plays out. After surviving hardship and near starvation finding and then
attempting to get into the Fortress, John Sunlight steals a great many devices
and then makes a bee line for New York. According to Dent his purpose is to
revenge himself on Serge Maffnof while at the same
time demonstrating to the world that he had weapons of great power.
Dent stated that John Sunlight wanted to achieve a utopian world without war or want, ruled by him. Yet his first move at this was a bit