MINOR SUPER-HERO ROUND-UP 088

To continue my recent trend, 3/4 of these characters are very unlikely to appear in a modern Marvel comic and the fourth is decently likely to.

Mr Million:

Mr Million is kind of what everyone yaps about wanting Bruce Wayne to be: a rich guy who uses his money to help people instead of beating people up, and while that might be better for society in this completely fictional version of New York City it's pretty boring to read about. But this one orphan kid is no longer being bullied and his child labour is netting him enough to support his sick mother, so that's something, I guess. (Daring Mystery Comics 007, 1941)

Categorized in: Alphanumeric (a Million), Generica (Misters)

Captain Daring:

Captain Daring is the square-jawed hero of America in the year 3051 CE, and while short-lived sci-fi adventurers are so plentiful in both the Golden and Silver Ages that I don't usually bother with them, this is another early Jack Kirby strip. As such, you get the fun of spotting the first-draft versions of things that he will come back to throughout his career, like the cast of differently-shaped background characters above, or the cool armour that everyone sports.

The technology isn't quite as ornate as it will get but you can see the base structures that Kirby will build upon.

And of course there is Kirby's love of a tough woman and (less common but still something that he will return to) his fondness for dog cavalry.

Captain Daring himself is notable for facing both a Hitler-inspired subterranean Fuehrer and Hitler himself, but sadly is dropped from Daring Mystery Comics while he is mind-controlled by the latter. I can't believe that they made Captain Daring a Nazi, etc. (Daring Mystery Comics 007, 1941)

Categorized in: Generica (Captains), Language (Superlatives - Daring), Origins (Heroes of the Future)

the Challenger:

Bill Waring is a physically-unimposing young law student who is almost killed when his father attempts to expose a city-wide corruption scandal and is gunned down in the street. Swearing vengeance, Bill sets out to learn everything he needs to become a crime fighter.

Waring travels the world, mastering among many other things the secrets of: jujutsu, chemistry, nerve control, fencing, the rifle, aerial combat, boxing, swimming, baseball, football and most useful of all, polo. He's the complete crimefighting package!

Finally prepared, Bill dons a costume that is simultaneously kind of cool- and quite goofy-looking (I thought for sure that that little white dot in the centre of his mask was meant to be his nose poking out but I checked the original art and even there it's just a weird white dot) and confronts Dram, the gang boss responsible for his father's death. His name, it turns out, is in reference to his habit of challenging crooks to single combat that is sometimes, as in Dram's case, to the death. The Challenger moves over to Mystic Comics after his first appearance, so we will be seeing him again in a few months to find out if he keeps this habit up. (Daring Mystery Comics 007, 1941)

Categorized in: Activities (Duelling), Origins (Crime Orphans), Powers (Martial Artists, Weapons Masters)

Citizen V:

Citizen V is in reality British Army Lieutenant John Watkins, who is seemingly killed during the evacuation at Dunkirk but is only mostly dead. After being nursed back to help by a kindly French fisherman, Watkins makes his way back to England and is recruited as an officially sanctioned costumed agent to head back into Axis-occupied territory and incite rebellion.

Watkins' Citizen V uniform is interesting for being one of the few super-hero costumes to incorporate Morse code (just above the "V" on his chest) and is also a fine example of how some design choices just don't work. If there is a super suit out there that looks good with both long sleeves and short shorts, it isn't this one. More modern depictions of the character lean into the "military uniform" aspect of the look more and give him pants. It's a bit less super-hero-y but much nicer looking.

Though Watkins does punch plenty of Nazis (and Hitler himself!) in the snoots, the main focus of his mission is in promoting the "V for Victory" campaign, a real-life thing that actually happened in occupied Europe, and which characters such as the Silver Streak and London were also involved in in their respective comics.

Citizen V is of course most well-known today for having been murdered by Baron Zemo, who stole the identity for use as the leader of the first Thunderbolts team. He also has a surprisingly extensive collection of successors, all of whom unfortunately seem to prefer the terrible Zemo version of the costume, which I had always assumed was purposefully designed to look like an exercise in patriotic bad taste but which is evidently preferable to wearing a little service cap. (Daring Mystery Comics 008, 1942)

Categorized in: Alphanumeric (V), Generica (Citizens), Origin (Faked Own Death)