REAL PERSON ROUND-UP 005

You can't deny that they were real people.

Adolf Hitler:

This unnamed leader of the unnamed forces that the Flying Trio are battling on behalf of the little nation of Sylvania is a real Hitlerian fellow (Crash Comics Adventures 005, 1940) 

Amelia Earhart:

Two variations on a theme: using the story of the disappearance of Amelia Earhart as fodder for a damsel-in-distress story. The first (Amazing-Man Comics 018, 1940) involves the Shark rescuing Amelia Reinhardt from an old man who has her trapped in the jungle in hopes that she will fall for him. The second (Big Shot Comics 019, 1941) features aviator Rocky Ryan and his pal rescuing Amy Every from cartoonishly racist cannibals.

Captain Kidd:

Crooks try to pull a fast one by purchasing Captain Kidd's authentic treasure chest and then "discovering" it after filling it with stolen gold (Cyclone Comics 001, 1940)

Ethan Allen: 

The Liberty Lads are back at it, getting their grubby mitts all over the American Revolutionary War. This time they meet Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys on the eve of the capture of Fort Ticonderoga. (Champion Comics 009, 1940)

John Hancock and Samuel Adams:

More Liberty Lads shenanigans. This time they're saving Samuel Adams and John Hancock from capture by the British, something that as far as I can tell almost happened in our timeline. (Champ Comics 011, 1940)  

Joseph Stalin:

"Nilats," leader of "Aissur" is tracked to his office in "Wocsom" by Strongman, who objects to the Aissurans' invasion of the Balkan country of Rutania (Crash Comics Adventures 003, 1940)

Orson Welles:

For a while, Orson Welles' 'War of the Worlds' broadcast is used as a shorthand for a reason that the cops blithely ignore multiple calls about some fantastic threat, only they certainly never do more than allude to the real thing. This time it's giant mutant ivy plants and the dumb police are talking about a broadcast by "Worsen Welds". (Amazing-Man Comics 006, 1939)

Saladin:

Makes a one-panel appearance in the otherwise undistinguished Crusades comic "Reynard the Fox". (Cyclone Comics 005, 1940)

Tecumseh:

Whether "Metumseh" is a stand-in for Shawnee leader Tecumseh or they just mushed around his name to make up one for this fellow I cannot say, but they were certainly thinking of him while they did it. (Champion Comics 010, 1940)

REAL PERSON ROUND-UP 004

More of those pesky real people have gotten into my comic books!

Andrew Jackson:

Character Keith Kornell, aka the West Pointer, is a descendant of Andrew Jackson, something you would perhaps be more proud of in 1939 than today. (Top-Notch Comics 001, 1939)

Benito Mussolini:

He's a fairly oblique reference to Benito Mussolini but I reckon that up-and-coming Filipino dictator Remy Mussoni fits the brief. (Wonderworld Comics 008, 1939)

Billy the Kid:

Appears in a questionably true story told by character Windy Parks (Western Picture Stories 004, 1937)

the Dionne Quintuplets:

"Ad-Ventures at the Circus" was a recurring feature throughout the life of Star Comics (1937-1939), and it's a fascinating artifact of the time that someone more qualified than me should write about some day. Long story short it was a twee little comic about advertising mascots going to the circus to watch other advertising mascots perform. There's maybe a 75/25 split between the Surprisingly Familiar and Surprisingly Unfamiliar mascots with regular appearances by Surprisingly Racist ones. It's a bit like a Neolithic Foodfight!. 

Everything about this feature is weird, from the slightly uncanny valley illustrations by Raphael Astarita to the fact that it doesn't really seem to be sponsored content (other than a command appearance by NRG, mascot of heavy Star Comics advertiser Baby Ruth). And then the final extant installment comes around and we get the weirdest advertising mascots of all as the Quaker Oats Man leads the Dionne Quintuplets onto stage - five living humans given the same status as the Crackerjack kid or Mr Peanut or some anthropomorphic orange who used to work for Sunkist. It's a grim reminder of just how commodified those poor kids were, right down to their "act" being a pantomime of them going about their day, just like they did in the weird zoo they grew up in. (Star Comics v2 007, 1939)

Gene Autry:

An adventuring version of the singing cowboy in modern times (the Funnies 030, 1939)

George VI of England:

This here visit by King Arnold and his unnamed Queen is certainly meant to evoke the 1939 tour of Canada and the US by King George VI of England and Queen Elizabeth, the future Queen Mother. (Wonderworld Comics 005, 1939)

George Washington:

Not quite an appearance by Washington as adjacent to him, but the fact that one of the Wizard's ancestors is given credit for a key part of the history of the American Revolution is worth noting. (Top-Notch Comics 001, 1939)

FDR:

Misc Minor Appearances: Thanks secret agent K-51 for saving foreign royals (Wonderworld Comics 005, 1939) 

the Mona Lisa:

As the "Lona Dizzi", painted by "Lombardo da Ginki" ("Dixie Dugan" strip, 1931)

Paul Revere:

Ride witnessed - and hide saved - by American Revolution-era child-patriots the Liberty Lads. (Champion Comics 008, 1940)

Robert E. Lee:

Wizard ancestor Thomas Whitney accepts the surrender of Robert E Lee at Appomattox, whether in place of Grant or prior to his showing up cannot be said. (Top-Notch Comics 001, 1939)

Tom Mix:

Like Gene Autry, Tom Mix was a movie cowboy who starred in adventure comics as a larger-than-life version of himself having rootin' tootin' Wild West adventures. Unlike Autry, Tom Mix generally starred in stories set in the Old West, as himself but in the past. Tom Mix also holds the special distinction of appearing in comics from this earliest example (that I have found, at least) to at least the early 50s, long after he had died in October, 1940. (The Comics 001, 1937)