DANNY POLL
Real Name: Daniel "Danny" Poll
Identity/Class: Normal human (World War II era)
Occupation: Criminal, leader of his gang;
formerly prisoner;
formerly U.S. soldier (corporal)
Group Membership: His gang (Firing Squad);
formerly prison cohort;
formerly U.S. Army (dishonorably discharged)
Affiliations: His gang members
Enemies: Angel (Tom Halloway), Major
John Callen, Marie Callen,
"Sonny" Callen, Chief Hannigan, police, Red
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: New York, USA
First Appearance: Sub-Mariner Comics#7/2
(Fall ,1942)
Powers/Abilities: Danny Poll is a trained U.S.
Army soldier and can readily fire a submachine gun. He is a vicious
brawler, using whatever nearby weapon as an advantage, and uses brass
knuckles in a fight. He is murderous and single-minded in his quest for
vengeance.
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 165 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Blond
History:
(Sub-Mariner Comics#7/2 (fb)) - In the mid-1920s,
Corporal Danny Poll was engaged to Marie, but was jealous because she
was also attracted to Lieutenant John Callen. Poll aggressively
confronted Callen and a brief scuffle started, but ended when Poll used
a rock to bash the senior officer's head. Poll was immediately arrested
and court martialled when Callen recovered a few weeks later. Avoiding
death by firing squad, Poll was dishonorably discharged and sentenced
to 15 years in solitary confinement and languished in prison, swearing
vengeance.
(Sub-Mariner Comics#7/2 (fb) - BTS) - John (later becoming
major) and Marie married, and had a son. The couple tried to have Poll's
sentence reduced but were unsuccessful.
(Sub-Mariner Comics#7/2 (fb)) - Shortly after
release, Poll chanced upon a bank robbery and followed the gang back to
their hideout. Grabbing a gun, he killed the leader Red who had
demanded an unequal share of the loot. The thugs readily took Poll as
their new leader when he said rewards would be divided evenly if they
followed his orders. He and his gang adopted short military-like
training and wore stylized uniforms, and each was armed with a "Tommy"
submachine gun. During their first bank raid, they were tackled by the
heroic Angel (Tom Halloway), but the criminals escaped when Poll used
brass knuckles against the Angel, and they fled to a hotel. However,
Poll's wallet slipped out during the scuffle and the Angel used it to
find them, but they instead threw him out the window. Finding out
Poll's plan, the Angel warned John Callen minutes before Poll and his
crew attacked Callen in his home. The police arrived and although the
Firing Squad escaped, Poll was captured. The Firing Squad attacked the
courthouse at the subsequent trial, freeing Poll and he kidnapped
John's son as hostage. Poll sent a note that John go a remote location.
There, the vengeful Poll staged a simplistic "trial" where he judged
John be shot by the Firing Squad in front of his son. But again the
Angel and police intervened and a fierce gunfight ensued. John sought
the safety of the police lines for his son's sake, but didn't realize
Marie had stealthily made her way to the criminals and sought to reason
with Poll. She saw the criminal aim for her husband and son, and jumped
into the line of fire; Poll accidentally shot Marie instead. In grief,
Poll walked amidst the gunfire and let himself be shot and died.
(Sub-Mariner Comics#7/2) - The
Angel typed up the case record shortly afterward (but spoke to the
reader about it anyway).
Comments:
Created by uncredited writer & Gus Schrotter.
John Callen was sometimes misnamed Cullen in the last
panels of the story; it's not a name change in later years as it's
inconsistent, I consider it just an editing error.
John Callen's son is not named in-story, but is called "Sonny" a few times by his father.
Profile
by Grendel
Prime.
CLARIFICATIONS
:
Danny Poll has no known connections to:
- any other "Danny" or
"Poll" characters
John
Callen
John Callen was a lieutenant in the U.S. Army when
Corporal Danny Poll threatened him to keep away from his fiancée,
Marie. On Army camp grounds, the two briefly punched, but Poll bashed
Callen's head with a rock. Poll was immediately arrested and Callen
recovered a few weeks later, and testified at Poll's court martial,
where Poll was sentenced to 15 years prison. Meanwhile, Marie married
John and had a son as John progressed up the ranks to major. John and
Marie made several attempts to have Poll's sentence reduced but were
unsuccessful. Poll's eventual release saw the criminal pursue vengeance
and he formed a gang the Firing Squad to kidnap John from his home. The
attempt was stopped by the Angel (Halloway) and the police, but Poll
escaped capture and blackmailed John to go a remote location for a
simplistic "trial" where the vengeful Poll judged John be shot by the
Firing Squad in front of his son. But again the Angel and police
intervened and a fierce gunfight ensued. John sought the safety of the
police lines for his son's sake, but didn't realize his wife had
stealthily made her way to the criminals and sought to reason with
Poll. The criminal instead accidentally shot Marie and in grief let
himself be shot. After the gunfight, John stoically leaned over Poll's
corpse.
--Sub-Mariner Comics#7/2
Marie
Callen
Marie (maiden name unrevealed) was initially engaged to Corporal Danny Poll, but was also attracted to
Lieutenant John Callen. Marie rejected Poll after he jealously bashed
Callen. She later married John and had a son. The couple tried to have
Poll's sentence reduced but were unsuccessful. Poll's eventual release
saw him gather a murderous gang he called the Firing Squad as he
vengefully targeted John Callen for the court martial. Poll blackmailed
John go to a remote location for a simplistic "trial" where the vengeful
Poll judged John be shot by the Firing Squad in front of his son. But
again the Angel and police intervened and a fierce gunfight ensued.
John sought the safety of the police lines for his son's sake, but
didn't realize Marie had stealthily made her way to the criminals and
sought to reason with Poll. She saw the criminal aim for her husband
and son, and jumped into the line of fire; Poll accidentally shot
Marie instead. In grief, Poll walked amidst the gunfire and let himself
be shot.
--Sub-Mariner Comics#7/2
Firing Squad
Danny Poll's gang, which he dubbed the Firing Squad,
were a murderous gang of six initially led by the mobster Red. After his
release from prison, Poll followed the gang after a robbery to their
hideout, and shot and killed Red, who had claimed half of the loot.
Poll then declared himself their new leader, telling them rewards would
be split evenly, but that they had to follow his orders. Happy with this, the
thugs went along with Poll's short military-like training and wore his
stylized uniforms. They kidnapped Poll's target Major Tom Callen and
later stormed the courthouse to free their leader after Poll had been
arrested. A later gunfight saw Poll kill himself in sorrow by deliberately
walking into the Firing Squad's bullets. The Firing Squad all surrendered to police
afterward.
All wore the same type of uniform and
each used a Thompson "Tommy" submachine gun. They were ready to kill without
hesitation.
--Sub-Mariner Comics#7/2
images:
(without ads)
Sub-Mariner Comics#7/2, p, pan (main image)
p2, pan2 (headshot, army era)
p17, pan4 (kneeling with gun)
p9, pan4 (John Callen, main image)
p1, pan3 (John Callen, headshot)
p18, pan6 (Marie Callen, main image)
p18, pan2 (Marie Callen, headshot)
p5, pan6 (Firing Squad shooting)
p11, pan2 (Firing Squad running)
Appearances:
Sub-Mariner Comics#7/2 (Fall ,1942) - uncredited writer, Gus Schrotter
(pencils & inks), uncredited editor
First posted: 05/31/2023
Last updated:
05/31/2023
Any Additions/Corrections? please let
me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™
and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com.
Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com
for
hosting the Appendix!
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