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Raymond "Deadline" Dawson was a cub reporter who was active in the 1940s. He was good friends with boy detective Terry Vance and often accompanied Terry on his various cases, or sought out Terry's assistance in getting scoops on stories.

1940[]

In Deadline's first recorded appearance he was reporting a series of race car accidents with Terry. When Terry was captured by the crooks responsible, Deadline was led to Terry by the detective's pet monkey Dr. Watson and helped Terry capture the crooks.[1]

Later while out joy riding with Terry in his convertible, they were forced to seek shelter when it began to rain. Getting shelter in a nearby mansion, Deadline was present when Terry exposed a murderer on the property.[2] While working for the World Inquirer, Deadline attempted to get the scoop on a series of art thefts where the original paintings were replaced by thefts. Thanks to his association with Terry Vance, Deadline managed to get exclusive photos of the crooks when Terry solved the mystery.[3]

Getting a job with the Globe Press, Deadline was assigned to get an interview with actress Diana Dunn. After ruining a shot during the making of her recent film, Deadline redeemed himself by assisting Terry in rescuing Diana when she was kidnapped by men seeking to ransom her, and landed the interview.[4]

1941[]

Assigned to a human interest story about the living conditions in the slums of the city, Deadline and Terry found the body of a penniless writer. Deadline was present when Terry exposed the writers killer as his son who was trying to cash in on one of his stories.[5]

Deadline later grudgingly agreed to join Terry and reporter Scoop O'Brien on a fishing trip. However his boredom turned quickly into excitement when they found the abandoned yacht of millionaire gambling addict Fred Rochelle and subsequently discovered that he was killed by an illegal gambling czar named Pinelli.[6] Later, Deadline was present to get the full story when Terry cracked a case involving a plot to bomb the Broome Chemical Plant and other buildings by Killer D'Arcy and his gang.[7]

When Terry was on the trail of local bike thieves, he sent Deadline Dawson to gather the local bike club to help capture the crooks. Following the thieves capture, Deadline covered the story for the local paper.[8] Deadline later got the scoop on a bank robbery that was exposed by Terry.[9] Later, Deadline was dispatched to Washington D.C. to cover a series of plane crashes and accompanied Terry who was also in the area to present his new model plane to the military. Deadline got the story when Terry used the plane to prevent another plane crash and then stopped foreign spies from stealing his invention.[10]

Assigned to the "phantom robbery" case, where a crook was able to rob hard to reach valuables, Deadline called in Terry Vance to help solve the mystery. Deadline was present when Terry caught the robber, a monkey trainer from the local circus.[11] When Deadline was assigned to cover a party at the mayors house, he invited Terry as his guest to the party. There, Deadline witnessed the theft of an emerald necklace worn by the mayors wife, and its subsequent recovery thanks to Terry's detective skills.[12]

When paper deliveries to the newspaper are running behind schedule, Deadline is ordered to take a "vacation" and visit his father's logging camp to see what is keeping the supply up. There, Deadline and Terry discovered a series of log jams were being caused by a rival logging company.[13] On the same trip, Deadline was present when Terry captured Nazi spies who were causing forest fires in the area.[14] Later, while investigating a supposedly haunted mine, Deadline and Terry discover that the "ghost" is really Roy Ramsey, the co-owner of the mine who killed his partner in an attempt to claim full ownership of the mine.[15]

1942[]

Assigned to cover the death of famous magician the Great Voodini, Deadline invited Terry to accompany him to the reading of Voodini's will. There, they were shocked to find the supposed ghost of Voodini murdering the recipients of his will. However, Terry exposed it as a hoax, and that Voodini faked his own death to murder his greedy family members.[16] Later, when covering the death of Hollywood star Aubrey de Wood, a death ruled as a suicide by the police, Deadline was present when Terry deduced that Wood was really killed by his nephew George.[17]

Deadline was next dispatched to the Carribean Islands to write a report on the construction of defense bases there. When they arrived they were surprised to learn of an outbreak of the Yellow Fever -- apparently brought on by a curse -- that only effected white visitors. Terry deduced that the "curse" was really hotel owner Senior Revuelta, who was infecting visitors at his hotel, stopping him before he could make Deadline his next victim.[18]

Back in the United States, Deadline was present when Terry caught Fingo, a con-man attempting to steal the Pharaoh's Eye Ruby,[19] solved the murder of rodeo cowboy the "Ghost Rider",[20] and the Phantom Burglar.[21] Deadline also followed Terry as he exposed the Tropey Stamp Company as a front for a Nazi spy cell.[22]

Travelling to San Francisco, Deadline, Terry and Dr. Watson stumbled upon Imperial Japanese spies who had broken into a government building. Captured, the pair were taken aboard a vessel out on the Pacific then placed inside a decoy submarine loaded with explosives to be sent into San Francisco Bay. When the trio broke free, they turned the sub around and sent it crashing into the Japanese ship, destroying it and slaying its crew before they could launch their real attack on San Diego.[23]

Back home, Deadline and Terry's day fishing turned into another sensational story when they exposed a plot by Nazi spy Felix von Shlecht to steal defense plans for the Panama Canal[24] Deadline was not always there to get a first hand account of Terry's exploits, such as the time when Terry prevented a Nazi spy from sabotaging the Gil Airplane Factory, arriving only in time to see the spy being taken away by the authorities.[25] Deadline also missed out on all the action when Terry rescued kidnapped actress Lucy Love from her captors.[26]

When Deadline failed to get the scoop on Mr. Walker's newest rubber invention, the editor of his newspaper fired him. Initially discouraged, Deadline was convinced by Terry to start his own newspaper -- The Weekly Press -- and try to get the Walker story over the other papers. Sneaking onto Walker's property with Terry, Deadline managed to get audience with Mr. Walker and learn about his new rubber invention, publishing the story in his paper. When his old editor learned the news, he purchased every copy of the paper, rehired Deadline (giving him a raise) and promised to publish the story on the front page.[27]

Later, Deadline and Terry discovered the body of a murdered FBI agent leading them onto the discovery of a Nazi plot to flood a defense shipyard with chlorine gas. Deadline and Terry foiled the plot, netting Deadline another sensational story.[28]

1943[]

When Terry was accused of attempting to assassinate the visiting princess of Borsnia, Deadline stood on the sidelines while Terry cleared his name.[29] Deadline later covered a story on Dr. Watson saving people from a fire which helped land the ape an acting role in a newspaper. When Dr. Watson was kidnapped by a man attempting to halt production, Deadline assisted Terry in recovering Dr. Watson.[30]

Deadline once again found himself in hot water after his article accusing local zoo owner Mr. Kurtz of being a Nazi spy. Kurtz had threatened to sue the paper for slander if the newspaper did not apologize. Deadline's editor punished Dawson by sending him to covering news about the zoo. There, he, Terry and Dr. Watson discovered a Nazi spy named Heinrich Himmelman was disguised as one of the zoo's gorillas waiting for Kurtz to smuggle him out of the country, redeeming Deadline in the eyes of his employer.[31]

However, this did not stop his boss from assigning Deadline mundane tasks. Such as the time when Deadline was ordered to supervise the editors daughter Shirley Booth and her pet parrot Gossip. This led to trouble when Shirley, fancying herself a better detective than Terry Vance, attempted to catch Snake-Eye Smith in the middle of a tire smuggling operation. Deadline accompanied Terry as they deciphered Shirley's clues to her whereabouts and helped keep her out of harms way, while also catching Snake-Eye Smith in the act.[32]

When a circus gorilla named Colosso escaped captivity, Deadline pressed Terry to help in the search but his friend was too busy with the local high school basketball championship. However, the pair managed to find the ape when it revealed itself to be hiding out in the high school belfry.[33] Deadline was also present when Terry captured escaped Nazi spy Carl Wertz,[34] a Nazi spy sabotaging defense factories,[35] and a Japanese spy posing as a Chinese dry cleaner.[36]

Deadline was next hired by a local quiz show as a writer. However when the announcer Mr. Gaines read a different script, he confronted him. Deadline was knocked out and taken hostage. He was later rescued by Terry, who uncovered Gaines as a Nazi spy.[37] When Deadline went to get his pants mended at the local tailor shop, he and Terry discovered the owner was a Nazi spy who was smuggling government secrets in spools of threat.[38] Deadline was later brought to the coast where Terry and his friend Nickie showed off their glider. The trio discovered a Nazi submarine smuggling spies into the country and helped the coast guard capture them.[39]

1944[]

[40] When Terry was hired by the FBI to investigate how Nazi spies were learning how information was being smuggled out of an aircraft factory, they discovered that the spy was disguised as an old woman and used an air-raid look-out post to observe the information.[41] Deadline is also present when Terry stops a gang of crooks who robbed a chemical factory to sell plans to the Nazis,[42] and is present when Terry exposes circus performer Marko the Magician as the one robbing the circus payroll.[43][44] Travelling to the Pine Grove Forest, Terry, Deadline and Dr. Watson stop Nazi spies from burning the entire forest down.[45] Deadline also went with Terry to investigate the home of Old Man Crane and discovered Nazi spies were attempting to steal his jewels,[46] and later joined Terry and local klutz Marmaduke Jones in stopping Nazis from tapping an American pipeline.[47]

Deadline's subsequent activities are unknown.

Attributes

Power Grid[48]
:Category:Power Grid/Fighting Skills/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Energy Projection/None:Category:Power Grid/Durability/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Speed/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Strength/Normal:Category:Power Grid/Intelligence/Normal

Powers

No known paranormal powers

Abilities

Deadline was a skilled reporter.

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Deadline briefly carried a camera to photograph news stories, however for the most of his career he was strictly a reporter.

Transportation

Deadline owned his own car, although he eventually sold it when he briefly started his own newspaper.

See Also

Links and References

References

  1. Marvel Mystery Comics #11
  2. Marvel Mystery Comics #12
  3. Marvel Mystery Comics #13
  4. Marvel Mystery Comics #14
  5. Marvel Mystery Comics #15
  6. Marvel Mystery Comics #16
  7. Marvel Mystery Comics #17
  8. Marvel Mystery Comics #18
  9. Marvel Mystery Comics #20
  10. Marvel Mystery Comics #21
  11. Marvel Mystery Comics #22
  12. Marvel Mystery Comics #23
  13. Marvel Mystery Comics #24
  14. Marvel Mystery Comics #25
  15. Marvel Mystery Comics #26
  16. Marvel Mystery Comics #27
  17. Marvel Mystery Comics #28
  18. Marvel Mystery Comics #29
  19. Marvel Mystery Comics #30
  20. Marvel Mystery Comics #31
  21. Marvel Mystery Comics #32
  22. Marvel Mystery Comics #33
  23. Marvel Mystery Comics #34
  24. Marvel Mystery Comics #35
  25. Marvel Mystery Comics #36
  26. Marvel Mystery Comics #37
  27. Marvel Mystery Comics #38
  28. Marvel Mystery Comics #39
  29. Marvel Mystery Comics #40
  30. Marvel Mystery Comics #41
  31. Marvel Mystery Comics #42
  32. Marvel Mystery Comics #43
  33. Marvel Mystery Comics #44
  34. Marvel Mystery Comics #45
  35. Marvel Mystery Comics #46
  36. Marvel Mystery Comics #47
  37. Marvel Mystery Comics #48
  38. Marvel Mystery Comics #49
  39. Marvel Mystery Comics #50
  40. Deadline Dawson's appearances in Marvel Mystery Comics #51 and 52 go here. No data yet
  41. Marvel Mystery Comics #53
  42. Marvel Mystery Comics #54
  43. Marvel Mystery Comics #55
  44. Deadline's appearances in Marvel Mystery Comics #56goes here
  45. Marvel Mystery Comics #57
  46. Mystic Comics (Vol. 2) #1
  47. Mystic Comics (Vol. 2) #2
  48. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol 1 14
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