Sidi-Ahmed is organizing an Arab revolt! I'm going after him. If I'm not back in a week, start looking for me. 
- — Rick O'Shay src
In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Rick O'Shay traveled the world seeking adventure.
History
In 1940, a globe-trotting American Soldier-of-fortune, calling himself "Rick O'Shay," was drawn to a conflict in Northern Africa. In Nador, the Central African Colony of Franconia, a rebellion was led by Arab chieftain Sidi-Ahmed, who enjoyed success after success, destroying Franconian fortifications and airfields, and ambushing patrols, all across the territory.
Accompanying O'Shay was his Arab servant, Mekki, who had previously accompanied him on adventures all over the world. These two adventurers performed some free-lance espionage work on behalf of the Franconian government, and learned of Sidi-Ahmed's plans. O'Shay recruited a crew of volunteers at the Franconian barracks, and told them to wait one week before looking for him. Then he and Mekki flew and marched and climbed until they reached the warlord's stronghold, where they were captured.
Sidi-Ahmed had a potion that could shrink a person, and their clothing, down to the size of a chess-man, and another that could expand a housecat to the size of a tiger. O'Shay turned the tables on Sidi-Ahmed, freed some captured Franconian Soldiers, escaped the area, returned to the Franconian army post. Sidi-Ahmed and his troops attacked the fort, and after a shoot-out, there was a great deal of close-quarters fighting, amidst which Sidi-Ahmed and Rick O'Shay dueled it out with scimitars. The chieftain was captured alive, and was imprisoned in Nador.
Powers and Abilities
Abilities
- Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced) Rick O'Shay once grappled with a leopard and killed it.[1]
Paraphernalia
Transportation
- O'Shay's airplane, the "Red Flash," (a single-engine 1930s racing monoplane w/ fixed landing gear)
Weapons
- O'Shay packed a Colt revolver in a quick-draw holster.
Notes
- This version of Rick O'Shay, including all history and corresponding appearances, was erased from existence following the collapse of the original Multiverse in the 1985–86 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and later restored following the rebirth of the infinite Multiverse during the Dark Crisis of 2022-2023. Even though other versions of the character may have appeared, this information does not apply to those versions.
- The Rick O'Shay series ran from Master Comics #1 to issue #6, then from Wow Comics #1 to issue #5.
- The artist on the story which introduces Rick O'Shay is tentatively identified as Henry Kiefer.
- Sidi-Ahmed had a size-changing potion. Nobody thought to steal his supply of it, or beat the formula for it out of him, or anything. We're not told where or how he got it, and it's never mentioned again.
Trivia
- Rick O'Shay attended Harvard.[2]
Related
- Appearances of Rick O'Shay (Earth-S)
- Images featuring Rick O'Shay (Earth-S)
- Quotations by or about Rick O'Shay (Earth-S)
- Character Gallery: Rick O'Shay (Earth-S)
Footnotes