Don Winslow of the Navy is an American comic strip created by Frank Victor Martinek and was distributed mostly by the Bell Syndicate from 1934 to 1955.

The idea for Don Winslow was conceived by Lieutenant Commander Frank V. Martinek, USNR,[2] himself a veteran of World War I Naval intelligence, after Admiral Wat T. Cluverius[citation needed] complained to him about the difficulties of recruiting in the Midwest.

[2] Ruminating on the challenge, Martinek decided that a comic strip that focused on Naval tradition and courage would educate and fascinate America’s youth.

[citation needed] Martinek brought in Naval Lieutenant Leon Beroth as art director and Carl Hammond to handle layouts and research.

He opposed Don from the very beginning of the comic strip, often behind the scenes and unseen for long periods of time, as the head of a global, extra-national organization of espionage and sabotage called Scorpia.

Agents of Scorpia in the 1930s included the Crocodile (1936), Dr. Thor (1937), and the Duchess (1937); in the 1940s, The Duster (1948), the Polecat (1948), and Cold Shivers (1949); and in the 1950s: Half-Dome (1951), Eight Ball (1951), and the Red Vulture (1952).

Efforts to create new menaces other than Scorpia were generally short-lived, but included Owl-Eyes (1939, 1949), and clandestine organizations such as The Panther's Claw (1943) and the Clenched Fist (1944).

[9] Although created primarily as a Navy recruitment and propaganda tool, the strip received high marks from Coulton Waugh for “excellent suspense, and ingenious, spine-joggling situations.” Ron Goulart credits Don Winslow with "intrigue, spychasing, beautiful women, and villains with names like Dr. Centaur, the Dwarf, and the Scorpion.