(Silver Streak Comics 009, 1941)
Dominic Leonetti, aka the Domino, is a nightclub owner/gang boss with what I would call a moderate commitment to his chosen theme. Sure, he plays a game of dominoes with his victims before killing them, and sure he leaves a domino in the hand of whoever he kills, but where's the domino tie pin or domino-handled knife or even that old standard the domino mask? Even his nightclub is called the Red Rouse, which is so much not a domino term that it doesn't seem to mean anything. Call it the Red Pip!
The Domino's attempt to murder his underling Chick Biro is foiled when it turns out that Biro has been replaced by Presto Martin and that Martin is wearing a bulletproof vest (and this has officially happened often enough that the crooks in Martin's version of NYC should be headshot-only at this point). The gang manages to escape thanks to Martin's bumbling assistant Sergeant Murphy, but they have to take it on the lam.
Being on the run means that the Domino is unable to run his nightclub, to which he objects. What, I ask you, is the most logical and straightforward way for him to get back to his preferred lifestyle? All answers are wrong because what Leonetti decides to do is start killing cops in alphabetical order (leaving a domino behind so that the police can be sure it's him), with the explicit threat that the killings will continue until the charges against him are dropped and he is left alone. Is this the least thought-out plan in comics history? It's certainly the worst one that I personally can think of.
Presto Martin solves this problem like he solves all problems: by dressing up like the Domino's next most probably victim and tanking a tommy gun clip thanks to his presumably magical bulletproof vest. A few well-placed bullets drives the gang's car off the road, followed by a few well-placed punches to send them to sleep, and the reign of the Domino is over.
Categorized in: Activities (Games), Day Job (Nightclub Owner), Location (NYC)
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