A nice, Irish boy from Chicago’s Southside reinvents himself as Spanish royalty, fights the mob, and becomes a martial arts star. But can John Timothy Keehan survive being Count Juan Raphael Dante?
You might remember the iconic comic book ads of the 1970s—The World’s DEADLIEST FIGHTING SECRETS can be yours! But do you know the story behind those ads? John Timothy Keehan returned home to Chicago, a Vietnam War veteran ready to make a name for himself in martial arts. But what he found was a hard town, still run by the Outfit—Capone’s mafia. Luckily, Keehan bumped into an old war buddy, Sidney Brown. Together they set forth on a plan to conquer the world of martial arts, a plan that would turn the nice, Irish boy from Beverly Chicago into the most vicious, hairdressing, car-selling, cape-wearing karate master ever to live!
“‘Count Dante’ does what the best comics do: It builds a myth about a character who seems superhuman. But, the twist here is that this team brilliantly mythologizes one of those weirdos in the tough guy comic book ads from the ’70s. It reads almost like Tarantino’s slumming it in the comic book world.”
— Robert Morast, co-writer of the horror film, “The Girl in the Photographs.”
“Wes and I are thrilled to be representing Scout in 2023. We can’t wait to see Count Dante on the shelves, carrying that Scout logo!”
—JC Barbour
Preview Count Dante #1 from Scout Comics
(W) J.C. Barbour (A) Wes Watson (CA) Cary Nord
Sydney Brown relives his years fighting alongside Count Dante, an iconic and controversial karate master from the 1970s. But while the reporter interviewing him his excited to hear the salacious details of a crazy life, it is clear the time is bittersweet for Brown.
