Feodor Danowski’s two briefcases contained documents which were far dearer than life itself... documents for which the Phantom Detective dared to pierce the Iron Curtain.
Born Richard Curtis Van Loan, the man who would wear the domino mask in his own magazine was a child of wealth. Orphaned at an early age, Van Loan found a father figure of sorts in newspaper publisher Frank Havens, a relationship that would have a direct impact on his future. Not only did Van Loan share his playboy status with characters both before his creation and after it, he also had something in common with many other Pulp heroes, having served in World War One, specifically as a pilot. Returning from the war, whatever idleness he’d had before was now absent from Van Loan. Struggling to find his purpose, he accepted a challenge from Frank Havens to solve a crime that law enforcement could not. Succeeding at this, the haggard war veteran and millionaire felt he had found his purpose, not something born out of personal tragedy as so many other heroes had, but out of a need to do good, to help others. Having been the epitome of a playboy prior to the war, Van Loan recognized he would need certain skills to follow his new mission. To this end, he taught himself to be a master at disguise, an escape artist, a skilled fighter, and most importantly, an expert in detection and criminology. This is an aspect of the character that definitely sets him apart from his Pulp peers. Once believing himself suitably ready, he donned a domino mask, not the top hat so famously depicted on each of the magazine’s covers and became The Phantom Detective.
The Doomed Millions was originally published in the Spring 1952 issue of The Phantom Detective Magazine and is read with pulse pounding intensity by award winning voice actor Milton Bagby.
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Behind the Curtain
Chapter 2: Sudden Finish
Chapter 3: A Message of Importance
Chapter 4: Assignment to Danger
Chapter 5: Intrigue
Chapter 6: Typical Spy Stuff
Chapter 7: Island of Sudden Death
Chapter 8: Cash Proposition
Chapter 9: Attack in the Night
Chapter 10: At Bruger’s
Chapter 11: Gambling House
Chapter 12: The Shape of the Scheme
Chapter 13: The Phantom in Action
Chapter 14: Murder in the Game
Chapter 15: Doubled in Death
Chapter 16: Ann Explains
Chapter 17: Red Technique
Chapter 18: The Triple Cross
Chapter 19: Appointment with Treachery
Chapter 20: Gangsters Are Gangsters
