| Whirling Dervish | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Real Name |
Unknown |
|
First Appearance |
Top-Notch Comics #20 (October 1941) |
|
Original Publisher |
MLJ |
|
Created by |
Harry Shorten and Warren King |
Origin[]
In India, many centuries ago, the High Priest, Ahmed Bey, had just died and was cremated. His remains were enclosed in a silver box and taken to his final resting place, high in the mountains, where they were interred along with the family idol. The idol had a rather large ruby gleaming from its sacred eye. After the ritual, the tribe sealed the tomb and left a curse for anyone who would distrub the peace of their fallen brother.
When Dr. Forbes brought back the sacred Indian ruby to the United States, the mischievous Whirling Dervish, followed him home and murdered him. However, he did not kill Forbes because of the curse, but because he was a common thief wanting money and power.
When Firefly investigated the murder, he gave chase to the Whirling Dervish, who disappeared in a whirlpool when he dove into a nearby river. Forbes' daughter still had the ruby and flew to Bombay to return it to its rightful place.
When she arrived, the Whirling Dervish kidnapped her and stole the ruby. Once again, Firefly came to the rescue, but this time the Whirling Dervish unleashed his hungry tiger on the two captives. They were able to leap out of the way of the lunging beast, but the Whirling Dervish was not so lucky, as both he and the animal tumbled together off the stairs clawing at each other.
Public Domain Appearances[]
- Top-Notch Comics #20-21
Notes[]
- The term Whirling Dervish comes from the whirling dance or Sufi whirling that is proverbially associated with Dervishes, who are members of a Muslim order noted for devotional exercises involving bodily movements.