A warrior barbarian of ancient Mercury featured in “The Lord of Death”, which also introduced a quartet of space explorers from Earth who utilize a cube-shaped vehicle called the Sky Cube, propelled via an anti-gravitation current. On their first mission, Doctor Kinney, John W. Smith, G. Van Emmon, and E. Williams Jackson discover the tale of Strokor, the Death Lord, through a recording device replaying the biography of the genius-brute. “That, together with the hardness of his eye, the cruelty of his mouth, and the absolute lack of softness anywhere in the ironlike face or frame—all this condemned the monster for what he was; inhuman.” The story also introduces Maka, Strokor’s councilor, Klow, the reigning emperor, Edam, a watchmaker and prophet, Ave, Strokor’s unrequited love, Jon, their god, and Jeos, their name for Earth. Notes: The story employs racist stereotypes, out-of-date ethnic phrases, and language associated with the pseudoscience phrenology, typical of 1919. The story, however, also posits that humanity on Earth evolved from the dark-brown-hued Mercurians by strongly suggesting that Edam and Ave are stand-ins for Adam and Eve.
| Alias Strokor, The Death Lord |
| Real Names/Alt Names Strokor |
| Characteristics Villain, Barbarian, Extra-terrestrial, Mercurian, Stone Age |
| Creators/Key Contributors Homer Eon Flint |
| First Appearance “The Death Lord” in The All-Story Weekly (May 10, 1919) |
| First Publisher Argosy |
| Appearance List “The Death Lord” in The All-Story Weekly (May 10, 1919), “The Queen of Life” in The All-Story Weekly (mentioned, 1919) |
| Sample Read The Lord of Death and the Queen of Life [PG] |
| Description A warrior barbarian of ancient Mercury featured in “The Lord of Death”, which also introduced a quartet of space explorers from Earth who utilize a cube-shaped vehicle called the Sky Cube, propelled via an anti-gravitation current. On their first mission, Doctor Kinney, John W. Smith, G. Van Emmon, and E. Williams Jackson discover the tale of Strokor, the Death Lord, through a recording device replaying the biography of the genius-brute. “That, together with the hardness of his eye, the cruelty of his mouth, and the absolute lack of softness anywhere in the ironlike face or frame—all this condemned the monster for what he was; inhuman.” The story also introduces Maka, Strokor’s councilor, Klow, the reigning emperor, Edam, a watchmaker and prophet, Ave, Strokor’s unrequited love, Jon, their god, and Jeos, their name for Earth. Notes: The story employs racist stereotypes, out-of-date ethnic phrases, and language associated with the pseudoscience phrenology, typical of 1919. The story, however, also posits that humanity on Earth evolved from the dark-brown-hued Mercurians by strongly suggesting that Edam and Ave are stand-ins for Adam and Eve. |
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