The Valkyrie Traveling Circus is a traveling circus company.
History[]
On July 4, 1955, Valkyrie Traveling Circus arrived in Tulsa, Oklahoma for its annual month-long residency. The popular big top spectacular set up shop across from Bell's Amusement Park with daily shows at noon, 3 PM, and 8 PM. The headlining attractions included, Wagner's Winged Wonder-Warriors, which brought in seven new superstar trapeze artists from the fabled Uberfalke School in Berlin. New performers included Edgar the Enigma, a mystic mentalist; Twyla, a lady lion tamer; and the Superdupermen, a clown show parody of popular costumed adventurers. Fan favorite strongman of Valkyrie, Rolf Müller, was not present that season. Valkyrie's regional promoters reported that this was due to commitments elsewhere. Filling his spot instead was Müller's longtime protégé, Hugo Wylie, aka the Iron Gladiator, newly returned to America from a successful European tour.[1]
Trivia[]
- Valkyrie Traveling Circus, as well as the headlining attraction, Wagner's Winged Wonder-Warriors, are references to both "Ride of the Valkyries" and it's composer Richard Wagner. The composition piece was mentioned by Hollis Mason in the first chapter of Under the Hood and was used in the film Watchmen, during the scene where Doctor Manhattan and the American helicopters bombard the Vietnamese.
- There's a reference to a mystic mentalist named "_____gar the Enigma" - the first name is cut off but the last three letters of the given name are "gar". His first name is most likely "Edgar", and is a reference to Edgar Jacobi, also known as Moloch the Mystic, a prominent foe of the Minutemen.
- The Superdupermen, "clown show parody of popular costumed adventurers", is named after the satirical story of the same name. The story was an influence on Alan Moore when creating Watchmen.
- The newspaper article states that Rolf Müller's spot was filled by his protégé, "Hugo _____ie, The Iron Gladiator." The surname is cut off but it could most likely be "Hugo Wylie", a reference to Hugo Danner, the protagonist of Philip Wylie's 1930 novel Gladiator, which was featured in Hollis Mason's apartment in the first issue of Watchmen.