More Spy Comics Pages Leaked!

By Bob Barnes

Special to DFG ONLINE!

Back in August two pages of the highly anticipated Spy Comics Presents the Invincibles #5 were leaked by an inside source at DFG Corporate HQ (click here for story and pages). Now, amidst the pandemonium generated by the freak accident and hospitalization of DFG colourist, Flora Lovartalot, two further pages of Dan Graves pencilled artwork have been posted online. Pages 3 and 4 reveal the mounting tenion in the concluding chapter of "The Battle of the Invincibles." Again, the suspected source is DFG janitor, Ernest Wontellalie, who has already received several reprimands for his previous leaks. Oscar Foodlecollins, DFG webmaster has provided DFG ONLINE with scans of the pages. "I'm shocked... and saddened," said DFG Publisher and Vice-President Dan Graves, upon hearing of the leaked pages, "That someone would take advantage of the confusion of this tragic situation to loot the DFG offices for artwork to post on the internet is just plain unconscionable." Chief Augustus Smith, head of DFG security also commented, "We really have egg on our faces, this time. This sort of thing seems to now standard for DFG staffers. Let me tell you, this time we are going to lay charges and get to the bottom of such scandalous behaviour." At this hour, DFG legal counsel, Sir Milton Goldfarbstein, KG, QC, LLB, PhD, is in court attempting to obtain an injunction to have the pages removed from the internet.

August Villain

Our August Villain is Insanity.

Insanity was introduced in the final issue (#8) of the original Spy Comics series, way back in 1985. Insanity was actually a wealthy high society heir named Sherrinford P. Worthington IV. Worthington had been committed to the Carnage City Asylum for mental health issues. He soon began to manifest strange abilities such as the ability to induce vertigo when others gazed upon his stare. He could also put his victims into a temporary state of insanity. In Spy Comics #8, he escaped from the asylum and began to wreak havoc in Carnage City. Chief Augustus Smith called upon The Spymaster to help track him down, but The Spymaster fell victim to Isanity's deranged touch.

Sadly, the story was never completed, as the series was rebooted and relaunched later that year. Many old threads were never picked up... the Insanity story is one of those. Will Insanity make a return to the DFG Universe anytime soon? Only the DFG "brass" knows for sure, and they're keeping things under their hats for now. Be sure to follow DFG ONLINE! newsposts for future developments and the possible return of Insanity!

Breaking News -- DFG Legal Counsel Hospitalized!

By Cynthia Martin

Freelance Journalist

"Good Lord! No!" These were the words of Chief Augustus Smith last night, upon learning that DFG legal counsel, Sir Milton Goldfarbstein, had been hospitalized due to chest pains earlier that day. The condition of Sir Milton, an icon of the legal community, is currently unknown. Chief Smith made the following comment: "Obviously any health scare for Sir Milton is of great concern given his advanced age."

Sir Milton was born in 1873 in the small Kenyan village of Mbingo. His father was a British medical missionary and his mother, who died last year, was a gypsy fortune-teller. The family returned to England in the late in 1882, where Milton became the youngest person ever to earn a law degree. He was "called to the bar" in 1884, quickly becoming partner in a prominent London law firm. He is the last remaining Victorian QC. He was elected to the British Parliament in 1905 and after serving as an officer in the First World War, was knighted by King George V (grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II) in 1919 for exemplary service to the British Empire. He has the distinction of being the last living "Knight of the Garter" from the reign of King George V. He retired from his firm in 1939, just before the outbreak of the Second World War, but was pressed into service as an undercover agent for His Majesty's Secret Service for the duration of the War. As a retirement hobby, Sir Milton earned a PhD in Molecular Biology and has lectured widely on the subject. In the 1970's he authored the seminal work, Fun with Molecules: What the Microscope Can Teach Us About the Funny Bone. He lived as a recluse for many years until he was invited by DFG President, Dan Graves, to join the company as its legal counsel.

"The hospitalization for Sir Milton is a crushing blow for DFG, at the moment," added Chief Smith. Sir Milton & Chief Smith have been actively engaged in dealing with several legal problems faced by DFG in the recent days.

Please keep Sir Milton, his seventh wife Minnie, and their, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great grandchildren, and their dog Rufus in your prayers.

Original Dan Graves Art for First DFG Comic Sells for $50,000 on Internet!

By Bob Barnes
DFG ONLINE Staff Reporter

Word has just arrived at the DFG Corporate Head Office that the long-lost original artwork for the cover of Spy Comics Vol. 1, No. 1 (Nov/Dec 1981), the first DFG Comic, has surfaced. Not only has the artwork, which was once thought destroyed, been found but it has sold in an internet auction for a record-setting sum for DFG original art! "Never has a Dan Graves original fetched such a sum," commented DFG Vice-President and Co-Publisher Darryl Andrews, "This is absolutely remarkable, if not somewhat surprising!" According to official DFG historian, Prof. Montague R. Schoedel, the artwork went missing sometime around 1984/85 when DFG was preparing to relaunch its entire line. "Dan Graves believed that it had been shredded by a careless office worker, but it is now clear that it was stolen," commented Prof. Schoedel. The seller, who remains anonymous made the following public statement: "I had no idea the work was stolen. I bought it in good faith from a reputable antiquities dealer in a Cairo street market in the early nineties and have been waiting for the right moment to sell it. I can, in no way, be held responsible for its disappearance." DFG legal counsel, Sir Milton Goldfarbstein, LLB, PhD, QC, KG, is currently investigating DFG's legal options. Chief Augustus Smith is reported to have reopened the "missing cover" file. DFG President and Co-Publisher Dan Graves has been fairly philosophical about the whole thing, though, making the following statement, "I'm just happy that it's been found. I could have used the 50 grand, though."

The Many Faces of Chief Smith -- Panoramic Poster!

DFG Comics has released a retrospective of the career of Chief Augustus Smith in the form of a panoramic poster entitled The Many Faces of Chief Smith. Since his first appearance in the very first DFG comic, Spy Comics Vol. 1, #1, in 1981, Chief Smith has been one of the most important supporting characters in the DFG universe. As DFG executive Darryl Andrews noted, "In the DFG universe everyone ages naturally, there's none of this 'slowed time' crap that you encounter in our competitors' publications. That's why we've seen Chief Smith go through the aging process over the years and his appearance has changed. We all get older and we all look different as the years go by."

Chief Smith has gone through many changes in his life since his first appearance. Perhaps the most traumatic event in his life was the death of his daughter Sarah at the hands of Capt. Nepto's foe, the Unknown Strangler, back in Spy Comics Vol. 2, #3 (Jan/Feb 1985). Her death left Smith a grimmer and more driven figure, as he was now all alone in the world with the exception of his younger brother, Sgt. John Smith, also of the Carnage City Police Force.

Smith retired from the force in 1996 (as seen in Spy '96 #3, Mar. 1996) handing over the reigns to his former Chief Inspector, Shamus McMullen. However, after Julius Smithers became Governor General, Smith was pressed back into active service as the director of the national Security and Intelligence Service (and also serves presently as tactical advisor to the Invincibles). He remains, even at his advanced age, a crucial character in the DFG universe.

The character of Chief Augustus Smith is based on his real-life namesake who now serves as a security advisor to the management of DFG Publications.

The poster features art from throughout the publishing history of DFG Comics by DFG artists Darryl Andrews, Dan Graves, Frank Daniels, and comic book legend Todd Abbot.

For a closer view of the poster, click on the image, above.

February Villian - The Terror!

We started an Online feature of profiling one D.F.G. main characters per month but due to reader demand; have expanded this form to include one hero character and one villian character. This month relive the history of one of D.F.G.'s greatest villians: The Terror!!

The Terror's background remains shrouded in mystery. No one knows who he is, what his motive might be for being such a nasty DFG baddie. He was created by Dan Graves and made his first appearance in Spy Comics Volume 2, #2 (Sept 1985) and went up against The Spymaster. It was later revealed that he was part of a band of villians led by The Killer Shark (who had arranged for the killing of Captain Nepto's parents, and much later, The Spymaster's wife, Sandra Smithers). It was believed that he died in an explosion in an old theatre that had been The Killer Shark's base of operations (see Spy vol. 2, #4), but he reappeared in Spy '96, #3 when he crashed Chief Smith's retirement party alongside the original Sy Clopps and The Jester. He was apprehended through the quick machinations of Frank Bates. His current whereabouts are unknown.