A Game Most Dangerous, Part 5: The Dreamer

For this entry in A Game Most Dangerous I'm going back to an old favourite on this blog - the Canadian whites! Yep, I'm examining one of the many characters published in Canada during World War II. The character is called the Dreamer and he was published by Bell Features in Wow Comics under the pen of Jerry Lazare.

Jerry Lazare did quite a few characters at Bell, including the Phantom Rider, Jeff Waring, the Wing, the Young Commandos, Nitro and Drummy Young. He was pretty talented - not up there with Adrian Dingle, but certainly better than Ross Saakle.

The Dreamer actually has a very fascinating backstory, an unusual one for a 1940s super hero - it seems he's a psychiatrist, Kent Marlow, and he analyzes his own dreams in order to solve crimes! The 1940s were certainly the decade where psychoanalysis broke into pop culture in a big way (check out the films Spellbound and the Snake Pit for instance) so the Dreamer's existence makes sense along those lines, but he's a very pleasant oddity within super hero comics.

For the purposes of A Game Most Dangerous, I have to cover the Dreamer stories from Wow Comics #29-30 (1946). Previously, the Dreamer's dreams had led him sneak aboard a ship which proved to be smuggling gold. That story came to an abrupt end in Wow Comics #28 when the ship hit a reef. Wow Comics #29 opens with the Dreamer awakening from the shipwreck on Moon Island. Two men - Rabar and Nod - find the Dreamer ashore and drag him to Rabar's home. The Dreamer has a dream of being hunted by Rabar, then awakens to meet his host.

After dinner, Rabar informs the Dreamer that he'll never leave Moon Island. "Luck brought you to my island and I shall take advantage of it!!!!" Rabar hints darkly at the contents of his trophy room, even though the Dreamer has already noticed the island has no wildlife. But then Rabar shows the Dreamer a copy of the novel The Most Dangerous Game! The Dreamer recognizes the book and realizes "You mean to tell me you're going to carry out the plot of that book?? You're going to hunt me down like some animal??" Rabar nods. "Exactly! For after all, Marlow... what are we but animals???" The Dreamer refuses to cooperate so Rabar and Nod throw him into a pit until the time for the hunt has begun.

Continuing in the pages of Wow Comics #30, the Dreamer has been dressed in his costume (he lost the cape and mask at sea) for the hunt. He knows he has no chance against Rabar: "This island is an open book to you, every rock, every tree..." Rabar opines that because the Dreamer is younger than him he has that advantage to his credit. He gives the Dreamer 24 hours to evade him in the hunt; if he survives, Rabar will send him back to the mainland.

As the Dreamer exits Rabar's home to use the one hour head start he's been granted he recalls another dream he's had: "Something about a prophecy! The - the rabbit who flees from the hunter has no hope of escape!! But, the rabbit who faces the hunter has a fighting chance!!!!" He quickly interprets the dream's meaning and hides in the trees nearby Rabar's home. As soon as Rabar exits the house to begin the hunt, the Dreamer sneaks around into Rabar's house and knocks out Nod with a frying pan.

Rabar realizes the Dreamer has doubled back and returns to the house but the Dreamer overpowers him in a fight and takes away Rabar's gun. All at once, Rabar becomes meek: "Did I mention murder? No Marlow, I wouldn't have killed you!!!" he insists, offering his wireless set to the Dreamer so he can radio for help. The Dreamer obligingly uses the wireless set - and calls for the authorities to arrest Rabar and Nod.

My thoughts: What a delight! Not only is the Dreamer a wonderfully unique premise for an adventure hero but this was a fun riff on the Most Dangerous Game which wasn't afraid to admit its influences. I also appreciate the Dreamer's solution to the scenario - to refuse to play the game by its rules but instead leave the hunting grounds and thereby level the playing field.

The Hunter:

• A Russian noblemangentleman (1/4 points)
• Who is a big game hunter (4/4 points)
• But is no longer challenged by big game (4/4 points)
• So he hunts men on his secluded island (4/4 points)
• Justifying this through a eugenics/Darwinian philosophy (0/4 points)
• He is aided by his servants, including a disfigured mute (3/4 points)
• And his vicious hunting dogs (0/4 points)
• He obtains his prey by scuttling nearby luckily receiving people from wrecked ships (2/4 points)
• His victims are given a time limit of 3 days24 hours; if they are alive at the deadline, they win the hunt (3/4 points)
• As a further example of his sense of "sportsmanship", he will deliberately prolong the hunt if he finds it interesting (0/4 points)
• His victims are placed on display in his trophy room (3/4 points)

The Hunted:

• A famous big game hunter (0/4 points)
• Who philosophizes about what (if anything) animals sense while being hunted (0/4 points)
• He is cast overboard and finds himself on the hunter's island, alone (4/4 points)
• The hunter knows him because of his reputation (0/4 points)
• When he learns the hunter's scheme he refuses to hunt alongside him (0/4 points)
• Hunted by the hunter, he flees into the wilderness trying to avoid detection (0/4 points)
• His only tool is a knife which the hunter gave him (0/4 points)
• In time he constructs traps to kill the hunter or his servants (0/4 points)
• He survives the ordeal by leaping over a cliff (0/4 points)
• Although the hunt is over, he confronts the hunter and duels him to the death (0/4 points)

The Island:

• Is a tropical island in the CaribbeanAtlantic? (3/4 points)
• Surrounded by dangerous reefs which wreck ships (4/4 points)
• The island has a dangerous swamp (0/4 points)
• And high cliffs (0/4 points)

I'm awarding an abitrary bonus +1 for being the only rip-off of The Most Dangerous Game so far to own up to its inspiration!

Total score: 36/100!

More hunting to come!