CAPTAIN BARKAN

Real Name: Barkan (first name unrevealed)

Identity/Class: Human

Occupation: Captain of unidentified freight ship

Group Membership: Leader of unidentified crewmen

Affiliations: Unidentified pier guard;
    formerly Caxon Oil Company, Gerald Mills

Enemies: Devon Caxon (see comments);
    Blackbyrd (Nathaniel Byrd) and Abraham Brown took out his pier guard and would have taken him down if Miss Caxon didn't kill him first

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
    formerly mobile aboard an unidentified ship;
    sometimes docked at the harbor of New Yorks Lowe East side

First Appearance: Deadly Hands of Kung Fu I#12/2 (May, 1975)

Powers/Abilities: Captain Barkan was an experienced seaman, and he was willing to commit criminal activities and transport radioactive material for additional pay. 

    He was greedy enough to try to extort more from those with whom he had dealt.

    He wore an eye patch over his left eye, presumably due to near or complete blindness. This almost certainly affected his depth perception, and his peripheral vision to the far left.

Height: Unrevealed (he was only shown seated, but he did not appear to particular short or tall, so perhaps 5'9" to 6'1"
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 180-220 lbs.)
Eyes: (Right eye) dark, likely brown or dark blue; (left eye) unrevealed (covered in eye patch)
Hair:  Light gray or white, with full beard

History:
(Deadly Hands of Kung Fu I#12/2 (fb) - BTS) - As an older sailor, Captain Barkan coordinated shipping illegally imported plutonium for the Caxon Oil Company, based out of the docks on Manhattan's Lower East side.

(Deadly Hands of Kung Fu I#12/2 (fb) - BTS) - Miss Caxon posed as Mills' companion/secretary of Gerald Mills.

(Deadly Hands of Kung Fu I#12/2 - BTS) - After Barkan's agent allowed Caxon and Mills in to see Barkan, private investigator Blackbyrd and his associate Abraham Brown took out Barkan's agent and Mills and Caxon's armed guard.

(Deadly Hands of Kung Fu I#12/2) - Captain Barkan told Mills that this operation had cost him quite a bit of grief, to which Mills responded that he had been well paid for this. 

    While acknowledging that, Barkan further noted that he had considered that some folk would pay an awful lot to hear of the smuggling and other operations they were conducting. 

    After the sweating and desperate Mills turned to his "secretary," asked what they could do and noted they would have to give them more money, Devon drew a gun on Captain Barkan, telling him he had made a foolish move and should have accepted the agreed-upon arrangement. She then shot Barkan in the head, presumably fatally.

(Deadly Hands of Kung Fu I#12/2 - BTS) - Devon then instructed the shocked Mills that the plutonium was aboard the tanker and that their men were ready to cast off. She then ordered him to make sure that no trace of this place was left for anyone who might come looking. 

    As Mills began pouring oil or gasoline around, Blackbyrd stopped him from burning the place down, captured him, and turned him over to the authorities. Abe Brown confronted Devon Caxon who fell overboard in a fleeing motorboat and was apparently crushed by a Coast Guard ship (see comments)

Comments: Created by Bill Mantlo, George Perez, & Rico Rival.

    The daughter of Caxon's owner was first referred to as "Miss Devon," and then later revealed to be "Miss Caxon." So, we know that her last name was Caxon and that she wasn't married, but we don't know for sure that her first name was Devon...for the purpose of this profile, I've ASSumed that it was, but we all know what it means to assume, and that first name is not official until it sees print...

    While Roxxon had already appeared in 1974, it wasn't the main oil/corrupt corporation of the Marvel Universe at that time...and so, this story had Caxon...all plays on Exxon and/or other oil companies...

    The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#12 story was supposed to take place on April Fool's Day (it also said 1975, but the year is certainly topical).

    The story repeatedly refers to the power plants' process as nuclear FUSION (combing smaller atoms into larger ones). I'm no nuclear physicist, but my understanding is that nuclear power plants use nuclear fission (splitting larger atoms into smaller ones)...especially in the 1970s.

    While the person on the ship calling out to Miss Caxon identified his or her group to be the Harbor Patrol, the ship that Blackbyrd and Abe subsequently boarded was labeled "US Coast Guard." I know they are different, the first a branch of the police department and the second a branch of the US military, but I'm just reporting what was stated in-story. Perhaps both were involved.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Captain Barkan should be distinguished from:

• other "Barkan" characters or sailors, corrupt or otherwise 

Appearances:
Deadly Hands of Kung Fu I#12/2 (May, 1975) - Bill Mantlo (writer), George Perez (penciler), Rico Rival (inker), John Warner (assistant editor), David Kraft (associate editor), Archie Goodwin (editor)

First posted: 12/17/2021
Last updated: 12/17/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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