FASCIST GOON CLEARING HOUSE 004

More goon/ more fascist

The Band AKA the Anti-American Band AKA the Un-American Band are yet another take on the German-American Bund distinguished by the fact that they were infiltrated by Bruce Blackburn - Counterspy so a) they were one of the few gangs of fascist goons to last more than one adventure and b) they were the villains that Blackburn created his shortlived alter-ego the Destroying Demon to fight (Feature Comics 038-041, 1940-1941)

The Advance Front! Fascist agitators who seem to be actual Nazis, or at least be using actual swastikas. I hesitate to call this refreshing but it's at least simpler to call someone a Nazi than a crypto-fascist Nazi-alike German analog. Beat to tar by USA, the Spirit of Old Glory (Feature Comics 046, 1941)

Hold Tight America is our first example of the fascist group that is calling for peace in order to advance their plans for war before being foiled by Doll Man (Feature Comics 049, 1941)

The Hand is just as halfassed and slapdash as these chumps usually are but I'll say this for them: they capture and almost manage to assassinate not just the Black Condor but FDR too! (Crack Comics 019, 1941)

SUPER-HERO COSTUME PARTY

This bit where Hawkman intends to attend a costumed event as himself but doesn't quite make it (Flash Comics v1 022, 1941) made me realize that I've missed a few examples of super-heroes attending costume parties as themselves, one of my most favourite tropes in comics! Time for some catchup rectification!

Here's the Red Gaucho being mistaken for someone who was dressed as him, who is then impersonated by a third person in a story that was not called "Too Many Gauchos" but could have been (Nickel Comics 006, 1940)

Similarly, Rex Tyler attends a costume party as Hourman and gets mistaken as part of a whole gang of Hourmen who are planning on sticking the place up (All-Star 003, 1940)

And finally we have USA, the Spirit of Old Glory attending a party in her own costume with no impostors to horn in on her idea. (Feature Comics 048, 1941)

MINOR SUPER-HERO 028: USA, THE SPIRIT OF OLD GLORY

(Feature Comics 042-048, 1941)

USA, the Spirit of Old Glory might just be the most overtly patriotic super-hero concept ever, which is saying something. Especially as she is a Quality Comics character, a company that also featured Uncle Sam (the literal Spirit of America) and Miss America (literally given her powers by the Statue of Liberty) in their roster.

USA was originally a little girl who saw Betsy Ross sew the first American flag and was just so friggin' jazzed about the whole thing (and by that locket full of threads) that she immediately ran out into the rain and died. Betsy Ross dropping that last stitch was so metaphorically powerful that an anime dust ring blew out from it and knocked that kid into the Spirit Realm.

Then, in 1941, she returns! Conspicuously aged up about a decade so that she can fly around with her back arched all the time without it being weird! And she uses her magic flag and torch of liberty to kill lots of spies and traitors!

Cards on the table: I'm a Canadian, so I'm always looking at American patriotism through an anthropological lens - Canadian patriotism is mostly about being quietly smug about not being American. Like I said before: this is possibly the most ultrapatriotic origin story of all time: the creation myth of America, as it is happening, is so powerful that it creates this super-human. Uncle Sam might be the spirit of America, but the other countries all have spirits too - John Bull shows up once or twice to help beat ass and all of the Nazi-occupied countries languish in a sort of mystic otherworld waiting to be liberated. Uncle Sam being an unstoppable juggernaut is just American exceptionalism, while this here is the mythologization of America.

ADDENDUM:

USA's second appearance introduces perhaps the most on-the-nose weakness for a patriotic hero:

Yes, all one must do to thwart her is to literally hide behind the flag. These men are kidnapping a man's child in order to prevent him from testifying about their spy activities, and she knows that. Remarkable!

ADDENDUM II:

Surprising nobody, when USA adopts a secret identity in order to do defense work, she goes by the name Usa.