The following persons are not actually members of the Empire Club, but rather are amici of the club and, nevertheless, have joined in many adventures. Their services and succor have always been appreciated.
ALISTAIR SMITH-SMYTHE
A secret agent of the first order, Smith-Smythe is never without his silver cigarette case and a wry quip whenever the worst is at hand. Assigned to assist King Fuad of Egypt when he traveled abroad, he found himself working with The Crimson Wraith, Juliet DuPont, in trying to pull off the theft of the corpse of Egyptian Pharaoh Orthos-Ra. Smith-Smythe was later sent to fetch Prince Farouk, heir to the throne of Egypt, from the company of the Empire Club when the young monarch had overstayed his welcome. This made Alistair a target of Hugala Khan, when the warlord tried to kill the friends of the Empire Club members.
SAMMY PALERMO
Sammy and his brother Chuckie comprise "The Flying Palermo Brothers," an aerialist act that shares the same agent as Max Galahad. In his exploits around the world, Max has enlisted the services of Sammy's planes, the Bellerophon, and, later, the Bellerophon II, each of which perished like their mythical namesake. Sammy has a wooden leg that has saved him on more than one occasion, and an unrefined Brooklyn manner that makes even Max seem suave.
WILHELM LIPSCHUTZ
To outsiders, Wilhelm appears to be Cara Al-Moud's manservant, but he is, in fact, her mentor. He has overseen her mentalist training from an early age, introducing her to the people who could best help her develop her skills and abilities. He was also an espionage agent during The Great War, smuggling treasures out of occupied territories with a crack team of agents including Mr. Darvy. Resourceful and ruthless, he is able to facilitate whatever needs Cara may have. Wilhelm is infused with mannic energy, making him a target for Professor Ozymandius when the latter needed a sacrifice for the mystic cabal known as The Black Lodge. Lipschutz later helped Lord Merryweather crack Ozymandius' plan to destroy the Empire Club from within using zombified dopplegangers.
DR. REINER VERLETZ
Reiner Verletz is a patron of the arts. When the Empire Club first encountered him, he was sponsoring a concert conducted by George Gershwin of the composer's classical work. What the Empire Club didn't know was that Verletz was a spy working towards the overthrow of the Nazi regime. Utilizing a code based on musical notes, Verletz and his partner Rostov Dracul circulated information amongst the members of the resistance.
ROSTOV DRACUL
The leader of a gypsy band with a long and strange history, Rostov agreed to help Dr. Reiner Verletz create a spy network devoted to the overthrow of the ever-expanding Nazi regime. However, Dracul didn't count on his family earning the attention of the infamous Italian mystic Benedict Grey from the Nazis when he was arrested for the murder of a Nazi naval officer. Later, after his ancestor, Vlad Tepes, declared a blood hunt on Juliet DuPont, Dracul became a target of Professor Wo-Feng's Phoenix Horde.
LAMONT CRANSTON, a.k.a. "THE SHADOW"
Like the beautiful Juliet DuPont, this nefarious criminal discovered the ancient Tibetan city of Divinidon and learned its secrets. Vowing to use his powers to redeem himself, he became a horrifying vigilante of the night called "The Shadow," with the uncanny ability to "cloud men's minds." When his trusted chauffeur turned up missing, the Shadow, traveling as Lamont Cranston, with his fiancée Margot Lane, tracked him down to The Black Lodge, a cabal of the worlds most infamous mystics. His efforts to save his friend brought him into contact with Cara Al-Moud and Max Galahad. Cranston warned Cara against pursuing the vendetta of the Empire Club against the Lodge, and ended up helping the Club crash the Lodge's latest meeting.
DR. INDIANA JONES
Archaeologist by trade, adventurer by reluctant choice, Dr. Jones politely declined the offer of the Admissions Committee to become a member of the Empire Club for fear that his membership in an organization that has accepted such questionable personages as "The Crimson Wraith" might harm his career in the world of academia. Having spent his entire life in the search for rare antiquities for the museums of the world, his pursuits led him to seek The Gordian Knot, the rope that Alexander the Great slashed in two, that was said to bestow upon its possessor the ability to determine the fate of Asia. When the Knot fell into the hands of Hugala Khan, son of Professor Wo-Feng, Indiana found himself allied with members of the Empire Club, and managed to keep the fate of Asia in the hands of those who deserved to set its course -- the people of Asia. Later, he gave the group a forgery of the Dagger of Rukh-al-Diin, which led the group to the genuine article . . . and a passage toward the Phoenix Palace of Wo-Feng.
MR. MOTO
This elusive Japanese secret agent is small, unobtrusive, and almost delicate in appearance. He is polite, well-mannered, and an impeccable dresser, and when he smiles, reveals a number of gold-capped teeth. Behind this modest, soft-spoken veneer, however, lies a master of martial arts, an expert in make-up and disguise, and a ruthless and efficient assassin. His persistence and craftiness have unlocked many a mystery, and wherever a danger or interest to the Japanese government lies, Mr. Moto will be there, though few will know it. Even fewer have managed to get close enough to him to learn his first name, Kentaro. Mr. Moto has encountered members of The Empire Club on several occasions, although no one is ever quite sure whether he is an ally or an adversary.
TOUSSAINT D'ARTAGENAUVE
Known more affably as "Mr. Darvy," this senior sea boat captain has an uncanny endurance in the water. During The Great War, Mr. Darvy left his home country of Haiti to serve the Queen of England as an espionage agent when the huns destroyed his livelihood by sinking his fishing ship for sport. As a favor to his former colleague in the spy game, Wilhelm Lipschutz, Mr. Darvy helped smuggle the tender-aged Cara out of Europe with her rag doll, which contained the Voodoo Cross of Marie LaVeau. Much later, the trio met again when Lipschutz and the Empire Club enlisted Mr. Darvy's help in shipping the Janissary Army to Kuramtuma, Mongolia, on his ship The Jade Nile, to battle the dreaded Phoenix Horde and rescue Cara Al-Moud from the warlord Wo-Feng. Though his hair is now snow white, advanced age has not diminished this strapping man's vitality, lust for life, or heart.
"JIMMY" SUNG HSI
Trusted confidant and advisor to his predecessor, late Tong boss Wook Chang, and now the leader of the infamous "Sung" crime family of Hong Kong, Jimmy and his band of thugs have come to the aid of the members of the Empire Club on many occasions. When two-fisted daredevil and Empire Club member Max Galahad saved Jimmy's life from rival gangster "Fat Man" Wu, Jimmy gave Max half of his Empire, much to the chagrin of Jimmy's trusted "Number Two," Danny "Killer" Mak.
DANNY MAK
Best friend of Chinese Tong boss Jimmy Sung since childhood, double-barreled Danny has become Jimmy's right-hand man and trusted emissary. With both guns ablaze, paled only by the fire in his fearless eyes, Danny's unassailable daring is an essential when the most dangerous crises face the Empire Club. First aiding the Empire Club in defeating rival gangster Fat Man Wu's attempts to distribute high-tech automatic weapons manufactured by the American-based munitions company, Grey Industries, Danny returned to aid Max Galahad in again thwarting the efforts of Grey Industries in developing atomic weapons for the Nazis. It was Danny who inducted the young "Number Nine" into the ranks of Jimmy Sung's gang.
CLAIRE WITHERSPOON
Now known only as "Mien Tsang Chu," or "Cotton Palm Number Nine" in honor of her position as the ninth member in the hierarchy of Jimmy Sung's Tong family, this pubescent pickpocket has traveled the globe as a street urchin ever since the untimely death of her parents in a train wreck. Her mastery of the quarter-staff, surpassed only by her prodigious skills as an inventor, won her the favor of Danny Mak, whose keen eye for aptitude recognized this otherwise unassuming child as a necessary addition to Jimmy Sung's underworld family.
SULEIMAN
This loyal Sherpa was the sole survivor of Sir Heathcliffe's hunting companions on his latest expedition to hunt the white tiger. Sir Heathcliffe got more than he bargained for on that trip, as his old hunting rival Sir Reginald Hollingsly-Smythe decided to hunt Sir Heathcliffe and his companions instead! In a confrontation with the animated remains of a long-dead chieftain of the White Tiger cult, Suleiman rescued Sir Heathcliffe from being thrown over a precipice into a bottomless pit by the zombie monster by knocking the creature into the chasm with a well-placed shotgun blast.
DR. DAK SERUUN "CHRISTIAN" XAN
This modern-day Rumpelstiltskin hailed from ancient Atlantis ten thousand years ago. Dr. Xan, however, had escaped the annihilation of his pre-historic, high-tech culture by preserving himself in stasis. Following a tracking device he constructed using his native technology, he discovered that another Atlantean, Gaius Appellius, who had been hiding out in 1934 on a tiny island in the Japanese protectorate, had built a volcano-powered time machine which destroyed Atlantis by consuming it in lava, ten millennia ago. Aiding the members of the Empire Club in capturing Appellius and jettisoning him into "null space" with his own time machine, Xan returned to the past, and beseeched the heroes to search for more Atlantean technology and destroy it lest it "fall into man's hands."
PACO DELARROYO
A deserter from Zapata's army, this desperado-turned-first-mate of Mr. Darvy's ship, The Jade Nile, is a menace with a six shooter. Although his loyalty to Mr. Darvy is unshakeable, his sharpshooting talents leave much to be desired. He has accompanied Mr. Darvy on many an adventure, not the least of which included Mr. Darvy's journey with the Empire Club to a tiny island usurped by a mad scientist from ancient Atlantis. Paco's attempt to rescue Adam Tempus from the aboriginal minions of the Atlantean usurper resulted in a misplaced gunshot to Adam's chest, landing the American in a military hospital in the Hawaiian islands.
DR. GREGORY MCGREGER
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An American-born physician, Dr. McGreger has traveled the world in his quest for the one "true healing art," a quest that has enabled him to master the medical practices of many of the world's cultures. A devout adherent to the Hippocratic Oath, Dr. McGreger's services have been enlisted by the infamous Chinese gangster Jimmy Sung as personal physician to the Tong, a title that has not extricated him from the death-sentence some Tong bosses have placed on his head. Originally entrusted with the Herculean task of keeping Max Galahad alive during Max's brief stay in Jimmy Sung's village, Dr. McGreger's services and scientific knowledge have proven invaluable in his continuing journeys with the Empire Club. |
This Greek military scientist, in hiding in Hong Kong, was hunted by the Nazis in their attempt to procure the secret of Greek fire, the millennia-old weapon of the Greek Armies of Byzantium. If not for the intervention of Max Galahad, Danny Mak, Dr. Gregory McGreger, and the diminutive "Number Nine," this erudite scholar would surely have been captured by gestapo officer Major Steinholtz and tortured for his military secrets.
COMMANDER JACK PERCEVAL
Those who call "Military Intelligence" an oxymoron make an exception for this dashing Navy reconnaissance agent. His astuteness, dauntlessness and dashing good looks are the bane of any enemy, foreign or domestic. A stalwart soldier sworn to protect our shores from harm, Commander Perceval has, at his disposal, the resources and world-class military training of the United States Navy and top-priority clearance to the most highly classified military secrets. He is seldom found without his trusted sharp-shooting companion, Petty Officer Bucky Dougherty.
BUCKY DOUGHERTY
Still in the midst of his salad days, this naive, gawky, bright-eyed farm boy from America's heartland is a prodigy with a firearm. Navy Intelligence attributes his skill to the exceptional military training of the United States Government. William Dougherty, Sr., attributes it to "darn good upbringin'." The trusted sidekick to Navy Intelligence Agent, Commander Jack Perceval, Bucky was recently promoted from Seaman First Class to Petty Officer, and has lent his services to the Empire Club on more than one occasion. He has been captivated by the unremitting charm of Cara Al-Moud and has developed an eye for the young "Number Nine."
PROFESSOR HOLLANDER
Astronomer, astrophysicist and collector of strange ideas, Professor Hollander has dedicated the majority of his time of late to improving conventional methods of stargazing. Backed by the patronage of Texas millionaire Richard Berch, Professor Hollander is credited with the modification of a rocket ship, found by the United States Navy, which is capable of traversing the stars, much like the vessel in Jules Verne's A Trip to the Moon.
BLOR
This sentient, simian creature from a far off planetary system was captured by the evil Galactic Emperor Halcius of the Nexian Empire, and imprisoned on a distant planetoid called Nexus. The members of the Empire Club encountered him when they too were captured by Emperor Halcius after accidentally jettisoning themselves into space on a rocket ship found by the United States Navy. In a harrowing journey that took the heroes meandering through the alien planetary system, Blor assisted them in escaping and overthrowing Emperor Halcius, and gave his life in overthrowing Halcius' successor, Emperor Rahl, as well.
DR. ZERON
This four-armed scientist from a far off planetoid in a distant planetary system was once a great inventor among his race, the Gaeans, until the Nexian Empire, in its quest for galactic domination, subjugated Dr. Zeron's people, and imprisoned the doctor in a stasis field on the dead planetoid of Terminus. The heroes of the Empire Club aided Dr. Zeron in his quest to overthrow the Nexian Empire when they were lost in space on a rocket ship that was stolen from Dr. Zeron's people by the Nexians and subsequently reacquired by the United States Navy.
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