The Covert Operators

The Covert Operators are a group of globe-trotting "scientific adventurers" in the tradition of The Challengers or Doc Savage's Fabulous Five. The present team is composed of various public domain characters from the Golden Age of Comics, including Doctor Edwin Blake, Jennifer Dare, Barry Finn, Captain James Lockhart and David Ruggles.

Background
'Champ' Ruggles, 'Cap' Lockhart, 'Dardevil' Finn, 'Ace' Jenny Dare, and 'Doc' Edwin Blake were all invited to star on a new survivor TV show to prove they have the right stuff and win big money. Each were convinced in one way or another to go and prove they could be at the top. They all figured they could use the money for their own projects (such as Jimmy Lockhart's super-sub "The Red Torpedo").

Each were picked up in a private jet and flown to an uncharted island where the show would be filmed. During their final approach, the planes were shot down with missiles, hitting the engines and sending them crashing into the sea. Incredibly enough, all of the "contestants" survived unscathed. Further attacks followed as they managed to swim ashore, fighting their way inland before running into one another. They teamed up to stay alive and discover who had lured them to this Killing Zone.

Their "host" turned out to be a mad hunter known as The Chase Stalker. Obsessed with hunting the world's most dangerous prey, The Stalker pursued them through a series of lethal traps, gradually honing their combined skills until they outwitted their crazed adversary. At Jennifer's suggestion, the group decided to stick together: having survived this insane adventure (where they should have died so many times over), all agreed that fate had united them for a reason. Naming themselves The Covert Operators, they now deal with threats of sometimes cosmic magnitude, The Operators strike from the shadows, allowing humanity to go about its normal day, ignorant of the secret history of this world.

Main Cast

 * David Ruggles (aka Champ): Olympic wrestler, decathlete, world-class boxer and prize-winning weightlifter.
 * James Lockhart (aka Captain): Master skin diver, polymath and oceanographer.
 * Barry Finn (aka Daredevil): strategist, stunt-master and escape artist.
 * Jennifer Dare (aka Ace): aviator, pilot, navigator and flight instructor.
 * Doctor Edwin Blake (Doc): nuclear physicist, inventor and all 'round mechanical genius.

Permissions
Each member of The Covert Operators is derived from the public domain. The present configuration was proposed by Josh Downing on PDH Facebook, 12 June, 2023.