MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 096

Even the most minor of super-heroes gets the chance to shine brightly in the Round-Up.

Super-American:

I can't decide if I'm surprised or not that the development of the archetype of the patriotic hero was so rapid as to produce a character called "Super-American" less than a year after the debut of Captain America. He's simultaneously straight out to the sketchbook of a 60s underground comix guy (or indeed a more modern edgy comics guy) and a perfectly ordinary 1940s comic book character. Regardless: Super-American!

Super-American is an unnamed resident of the year 2350, who journeys back in time after Dr Allen Bruce uses his Chronopticon device to ask the President of 24th Century America for a little help with all the fascist spies and so forth who are causing trouble in 1940s America. 

This is way too early for a pop time travel story to get too worried about issues of causality and so forth, so I guess we must assume that Super-American uses the kind of time travel where your time travel escapades already happened so you can't actually change your own present. Or maybe the kind where the time you leave from is inevitable, so your actions in the past merely cause it to happen in a different way. Or even the kind where messing around in the past causes a divergent timeline, but the new futures he creates are similar enough to still produce a Super-American.

Thanks to good old-fashioned futuristic technology, Super-American is endowed with powers such as super strength and speed, invulnerability and flight. Plus, he's super-duper patriotic! Like, annoyingly so! As one might expect of someone who willingly wears that helmet. (Fight Comics 015, 1941)

Categorized in: Language (Superlatives (Super)), Locations (Specific Locales), Origins (Displaced in Time)

Captain Fight:

Patriotic hero Captain Fight is actually Jeff Crockett, gym teacher at Freeville High in Freeville, Maryland. Despite being held in contempt by his male students for turning down a career in prizefighting due to a conviction that violence should not be used frivolously, Crockett does not hesitate to don a sporty outfit and deal out fistic justice to the enemies of America when they show their faces in his specific small town. (Fight Comics 016, 1941)

Categorized in: Activities (Fighting), Day Jobs (High School Teachers), Generica (Captains)

Yank Adams: 

Unusually for a boy sidekick, Yank Wilson is not an easily-adoptable orphan, instead, he is one of Jeff "Captain Fight" Crockett's students and also the son of local inventor and espionage target Professor Adams. Yank recognizes Crockett through his weird mask pretty much instantly and a crime-fighting team is formed. (Fight Comics 016, 1941)

Categorized in: Day Job (High School Student), Origins (Sidekicks)

Zanzibar the Magician:

Zanzibar is a standard unit of magical super-hero who adventured in a variety of Fox Features books from 1939 to early 1942. Though his adventures are decently entertaining fare I'm afraid that the most interesting fact I can give you about Zanzibar himself is that at one point he switches from a red fez to a blue one. (Mystery Men Comics 001, 1939)

Categorized in: Locations (Place Names as Proper Names), Magic Users (Magicians), Powers (Various Magic)

REAL PERSON ROUND-UP 026

Once again we point and go "Hey. It's that guy."

Adolf Hitler:

Captain Courageous has to deal with a few pseudo-Nazis working for Hitler-alike Hinkler. (Banner Comics 003, 1941) 

Real Hitler takes a scheme-foiling by Vulcan pretty hard. (Four Favorites 001, 1941)

Devil's Island:

Captain America and Bucky infiltrate Devil's Island to free a prisoner who is not only a victim of carceral justice taken to unjust extremes but also as an arm of the Nazi government in France. (Captain America Comics 005, 1941)

the Duke and Duchess of Windsor:

The Duke of Windsor, aka the former King Edward VIII of England and his wife Wallis, Duchess of Windsor, welcome Speed Martin to the Bahamas in the Duke's wartime role as the Governor General of that territory. (The Funnies 051, 1941)

FDR:

Super-American rescues the most obscured-by-shadow (and completely silent!) FDR we have yet seen from the evil Tyrannus. The usual shadowed-features treatment that he usually gets is so over the top in that it looks like the President is going to be dramatically revealed to be some sort of frog monster in the next panel. (Fight Comics 015, 1941)

By contrast, here's a very recognizable FDR congratulating newsreel cameraman Speed Martin on returning from Europe with some vital intel on the Axis war machine. (The Funnies 051, 1941)

And by contrast with that, here's "Mr Jones," the mysterious government official who recruits Captain Midnight into his country's service and who is heavily implied to be a disguised FDR, even though he lacks the President's famously large head. (The Funnies 057, 1941)

(don't worry: someone thought about the big head issue and inflated it by The Funnies 058)

the German-American Bund:

Very rare appearance of the German-American Bund under it's own name, even if the actual group was already in severe decline at the point this book was published. (Captain America Comics 005, 1941)

Harold R. Stark:

He's not named, but the Chief of Naval Operations seen here sure looks like the man who held the position at the time, Harold R. Stark. Did they do a photo reference this one time? (The Funnies 055, 1941)

Joe Dimaggio:

"Joey Diraggio," star player for the Brooklyn Badgers and victim of the Black Toad. (Captain America Comics 007, 1941)

the Venus de Milo:

The Venus de Milo is stolen by Zeus and brought back to Ancient Greece so that he can turn it into a human woman to be his wife. Zanzibar the Magician rescues the statue woman and brings her back to the present with him, but the question is never resolved: does he chop off her arms and turn her into a statue again? Is the Fox Features Universe minus one statue and plus one blonde lady? (Mystery Men Comics 002, 1939)

Winston Churchill:

Personally thanks Vulcan for escorting a convoy to England. (Four Favourites 001, 1941) 

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 973: THE MASTER MIND

(Fight Comics 011, 1941)

Just when the futuristic (i.e., early 2000s) nation of Greater America thinks that it can relax, it is simultaneously attacked from both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans! Acting quickly, Saber, aka the Spy Fighter, super-powered Head of Greater American Espionage, sets out to discover who is behind this dastardly deed. 

Saber uses his telepathic abilities to trace the impulses that are directing the armies to an isolated outpost where he finds a fellow variously referred to as the Hermit, the Hermit Militarist and the Lonely Genius but most frequently and most accurately the Master Mind. Saber finds that not only is the Master Mind a fellow telepath but that he has discovered the secret to transferring his mind to the mental plane, meaning that merely killing him will not stop the invasion as he will continue directing it as a disembodied intelligence.

Undaunted, Saber acquires an experimental disintegrator ray and uses it to wipe out the Atlantic force (wild that he feels the need to do so after demonstrating the ability to grow to the size of a small moon not one issue earlier). Returning to confront the Master Mind, he ends up blasting him in self-defense, and true to his word, his (master) mind lives on to direct his remaining forces (and no, I do not know why the disintegrator isn't used on them as well).

In a bit of a sad anticlimax, Saber and the disintegrator's inventor Professor Lerno just buckle down and tinker for a week before snuffing out the Master Mind's mind with a short-wave radio signal.

Categorized in: Body (Minds), Power (Mental Communication, Mental Projection), Supercrime (Attempted Conquest) 

ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 049

Yesterday we met Tuk, caveboy of the year 50 000 BCE. Today we meet all the various humanoids and hominids that populate his world.

Shaggy Ones:

The Shaggy Ones are a kind of Missing Link-style ape man species that we don't really get too much of a sense of because Tuk's foster father Ak is the very last one. If we extrapolate the whole species out from him, Star Wars-style, they were a fairly altruistic species, if a bit given to mysticism. (Captain America Comics 001, 1941)

Hairless Ones:

"Hairless Ones" is not exactly a species, but a catch-all category for human-style hominids used by ape-style hominids like Ak, and therefore by Tuk. The first Hairless Ones we meet are Tuk's parents Phadion and Rhaya, exiles from the fabulous city of Attilan and therefore retroactively Inhumans. For our purposes today we will count them as Hairless Ones, however.

Phadion is almost immediately skewered while defending his family from a woolly rhinoceros. Ak takes Rhaya and Tuk back to his home and worships Rhaya as a goddess for several years until she is killed by a lion.

Hairless Ones also encompasses other hominids such as Tuk's Cro-Magnon companion Tanir. (Captain America Comics 001, 1941)

Goreks:

The Goreks, who "worship stone and eat brains" are somewhere between Shaggy and Hairless, I suppose. They serve as low-level antagonists for Tuk to overcome with the help of his new friend Tanir. I really dig their Caveman Viking aesthetic - sadly they only show up the once. (Captain America Comics 001, 1941)

the Hairy Ones:

A different kind of man-ape than the Shaggy Ones, the Hairy Ones very briefly menace King Amir and his subjects (yet another population of Hairless Ones, natch) in the landlocked city of Crete (!!!) before being routed by Tuk and Tanir. (Captain America Comics 002, 1941)

the Witches of Endor:

Yet another group of Hairless Ones, the Witches of Endor live in a valley that is naturally filled with soporific vapours and add to their numbers by scarring captives' faces with acid. As with the city of Crete, this is another interesting example of a thing from moderate antiquity (the Biblical Witch of Endor is historically tied to c.1100 BCE from what I can gather) transposed into comic set in 50 000 BCE. 

Given my experience with Jack Kirby's later work, I imagine that this is intended to be a kind of pre-legendary ancestral origin story for these things rather than a flattening of history in which everything sufficiently old existed at once, but filtered through the limits of Golden Age comic storytelling and Kirby's own inexperience. (Captain America Comics 002, 1941)

Atlanteans:

Speaking of which: after escaping from the Witches of Endor, Tuk and Tanir escort their fellow former captive Princess Eve back to her home, the City of Atlantis. The first time I read this I thought that it might have been the place that Tuk's parents came from, but no, just like the contemporary Marvel Universe, both Atlantis and Attilan are extant.

The Atlantean people are yet another group of Hairless Ones. They're running around in at least the Bronze Age while the rest of the world is just coming to grips with stone. They are also an absolute monarchy, which Tuk and Tanir have to help Princess Eve wrest back from her evil uncle. (Captain America Comics 002, 1941)

Cave People:

Finally, we have some traditional, full-on cavemen. These guys are oppressed by the wicked Bonzo the Brute until Tuk and Tanir take a hand and slay him. (Captain America Comics 004, 1941)

MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 095

There really are a lot of these guys, aren't there?

Hurricane:

As presented, Hurricane is a real mythological mash-em-up: "son of Thor" but also "last descendant of the Ancient Greek immortals," and arch-enemy to the Roman god Pluto. Pantheism, baybee!

Hurricane's whole deal is in being super fast, like mythically fast. The fact that he has a divine opponent is quite nice, in that it offsets some of the tendency of speedster characters to walk all over their opponents as can be seen above.

As befits a divine being with such a diverse background, Hurricane also has a Swiss Army Knife of as-needed powers, including weather control, flight, invisibility and changing into his super-suit in a flash of radiance. His signature (non-speed-related) power is the ability to stick a couple of little wings onto an object or person to give them the power of super-fast flight while looking cute.

Hurricane is one of several older characters to eventually be retconned as former identities of Makkari of the Eternals, but we will deal with that if we ever get to the mid-70s. (Captain America Comics 001, 1940)

Categorized in: Origin (Deities), Powers (Super Speed, Various), Weather (Hurricanes)

Tuk:

Speaking of retcons, here we have Tuk, Caveboy, hero of the year 50 000 BCE! Orphaned as a baby and raised by Ak, last of the Shaggy Ones, Tuk (referred to throughout as one of the Hairless Ones, natch) is the child of two mysterious figures who Ak believed to be some sort of divine being, but who refer to themselves as exiles from a place called "Attilan." 

The real-world explanation for this is surely that Jack Kirby liked the idea of an ancient and mysterious super-kingdom with a name that could have eventually mutated into "Atlantis" over time and used it more than once. The rise of continuity perverts and the fact that Kirby also used Attilan as the name of the Inhumans' home city means that Tuk has now been given the status of first generation Inhuman offspring, and his eventual interbreeding with early humanity is part of the reason that they are so genetically flexible and keep developing super powers all over the place.

Tuk is joined on his travels by Tanir, a Cro-Magnon man and the very first archery-based super-adventurer, at least chronologically. While Tuk has been minorly enshrined in Marvel Comics history, Tanir has largely been ignored, and that's a shame. (Captain America Comics 001, 1940)

Categorized in: Origin (Heroes of the Past, Human Offshoots), Power (Weapons Masters (Bow))

Father Time:

It's Father Time! Possibly my favourite under-used Golden Age Marvel super-hero!

Father Time is really Larry Scott, a man whose father John is found guilty of murder and fast-tracked for execution, quite possibly because he keeps saying that he is innocent. In a series of events that hopefully ends up haunting that judge for the rest of his days, Larry manages to acquire the evidence to prove that his father is innocent, only to arrive mere moments too late to save him.

Larry's takeaway from all this is that time is always on the side of crooks rather than the law, and so he sets out to re-balance things by adopting the costumed persona of Father Time and beating criminal ass. It's a simple but effective origin, if much more pro-legal system than one might otherwise expect. 

Some notable Father Time innovations: the use of a scythe as both a throwing weapon and urban traversal aid, an extremely unique mask design (eyebrow to upper lip with a full nose cutout!) complimenting a decent over-all look, and the use of a calling card in the form of a clock face with an attached skull and crossbones. (Captain America Comics 006, 1941)

Categorized in: Abstract Concepts (Time), Famous Figures (Father Time), Origin (Motivated by Loss)

Spy Fighter **UPDATE**:

Despite the fact that I am a spreadsheet-keeping, blog-writing, categorization fan, I do in fact think that a slavish dedication to continuity can stifle creativity. So what if the details of a character's backstory are inconsistent across appearances as long as it's all fun, right? That said... this "Spy Fighter" episode is set in 2041 CE, while the first one is set in 1997 CE, meaning that poor Saber here has been battling the enemies of Greater America for 44 long years. He still looks great, though. (Fight Comics 012, 1941)

While Fight Comics 013 continues this trend with a story set in 2042 (45 years!), the final three Spy Fighter stories abandon the science fiction and super-hero aspects of the character altogether. The Spy Fighter in Fight Comics 014 through 016 is effectively a separate character who is a non-powered espionage agent supporting the Allied forces in Egypt and the surrounding region - a true fall from grace for an interestingly weird character.