The House of Dolmann
The House of Dolmann [sic] was a British comic strip from the pages of Valiant. The serial ran weekly from 1966 to 1973. The serial was among the titles reprinted in Vulcan from 1975 to 1976. Eric Bradbury drew the majority of the strips produced.
It concerned the adventures of crime-fighting inventor Eric Dolmann. He created a roster of robots that looked like puppets, each with special abilities, and used them to combat crime where he found it. Dolmann kept his identity secret from the public, and when not fighting crime had a small business repairing and servicing other mechanical puppets and dolls. Dolmann usually fought small-time criminals such as gangsters or racketeers.
The Dolls
Among Dolmann's robot puppets were the following: -
- Togo - modelled on a Sumo Wrestler, Togo provided brute strength.
- Raider - modelled on a British Commando, Raider was used for stealth, and carried a gun.
- Astro - the pilot for Dolmann's unusual flying device, the Dolmobile.
- Mole - a somewhat manic looking figure with claws for hands, used for digging operations.
- Micro - a superhero-styled doll that could fly, and contained a radio transmitter - usually used either for flushing out crooks, or for when Dolmann wanted to contact the authorities without revealing himself.
- Elasto - modelled on a male gymnast, this robot could stretch its limbs to a large extent.
- Giggler - modelled on a jester, this robot was usually used for disorientating or distracting criminals.
- Trailer - this robot had searchlights for eyes, and was used for tracking villains.
Other appearances
Dolmann was briefly referenced in Alan Moore's Captain Britain series, where a character named Puppetman is referred to as having been killed, along with his robots, by The Fury.
A more substantial reference came in another Moore-related comic, Wildstorm's 2006 Albion series. In this, Dolmann had been imprisoned by the British government, but his daughter Penny (who did not appear in the Valiant stories, and is based on Leo Baxendale's Bad Penny comic) still has possession of some of his robots, and sets out to free him. Dolmann himself is seen briefly in flashback, and later his grave is shown.
Trivia
By an odd coincidence several of Dolmann's puppets resemble those later created for Charles Band's Puppet Master movies, with Pinhead bearing a more than passing resemblance to Togo and Jester to Giggler and the Mole resembling a cross between Blade and Tunneler.