Kevin Scrivner Posted January 5, 2004 Report Share Posted January 5, 2004 Marvel's Captain America gets all the acclaim but he wasn't the first hero to wear a patriotic set of longjohns. Here's an homage to other heroes who've borne their nation's colors. The Shield (1939, MLJ aka Archie Comics) -- The original star-spangled hero, Joe Higgins was an FBI (later CIA) agent with a bulletproof costume and chemically enhanced reflexes. Like Steve Rogers, he got frozen at the end of World War 2 and was revived in the modern era. His costume was based on the shield of the United States, with a blue cowl and shoulders and red-and-white striped torso. Uncle Sam (1940, Quality Comics) -- A Revolutionary War patriot resurrected by his nation's need during World War 2, Uncle Sam wore the Thomas Nast top hat and swallow-tail coat we've all come to recognize. A brick, created by Will Eisner. The Fighting Yank (1941, Standard Comics) -- Bruce Carter, aided by a magic cloak of invulnerability and the spirit of a Revolutionary War ancestor, battled evil in a tricorner hat, domino mask, and buckled shoes. In addition, he wore a white longsleeved shirt with an American flag on it and blue slacks. The Star-Spangled Kid (1941, DC Comics) -- Acrobatic, wealthy Sylvester Pemberton was one of the few kid superheroes who was the leader of the team. His sidekick, beefy adult Pat Dugan, was Stripesy. They had a rocket car but no powers to speak of. Miss America (1943, Marvel Comics) -- Marvel's first female superhero sported a red and blue costume. Madeline Joyce gained strength, invulnerability, and the power to fly from an inventor's electrical gadget. The Fighting American (1954, Prize Comics) -- A Jack Kirby creation and a Cold War curiosity. Wimpy Nelson Flagg had his brain transplanted into the robotically enhanced body of his murdered brother and went on to battle satirical Russian villains. Patriotism that didn't take itself too seriously. American Flagg (1983, First Comics) -- Reuben Flagg, an out-of-work actor in a dystopian future America, finds his television persona taking on a life of its own. He becomes a representative of and enforcer for a U.S. government relocated to Mars after a global disaster. His costume was fairly understated, a black bomber jacket with tricolor lapels, blue slacks, and red boots. And, lacking superpowers, he carried a big blaster. Any others you all can think of? And besides you-know-who, which one's your favorite? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent Escafarc Posted January 5, 2004 Report Share Posted January 5, 2004 I believe there was a another Miss America published by another company around the same time as Timely's(DC owns the character now so it probaly was Quality Comics). Right now the only other one's I can think of is Yankee Girl, Major Glory, Ms. Victory, and a group of government heroes that appeared in the Outsiders vol. 1 (Major Victory, Miss Liberty, Shooting Star(?), and some others), and how about Liberty Belle does she qualify or were you looking for actual "Flag" wearers instead of "Patriot" archtypes?. Oh yeah, their was Americomando and a Mr. America too. Let me dig into it some more I know there was some more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermit Posted January 5, 2004 Report Share Posted January 5, 2004 I'm not sure when they actually appeared in the comics, but back in MU's WW2, there was also the Spirit of '76 and The Patriot. Natch, in the 80's/90's we'd have the Super Patriot, who would later become USAgent. As for my favorite SANS Cap... wow, toughie.Are we talking just American Patriot heroes? Because some like Union Jack and Vindicator/Guardian were kind of cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyendasky80 Posted January 5, 2004 Report Share Posted January 5, 2004 Super Patriot? Erik Larsen has a Super Patriot character. He was a very capable soldier like Nick Fury or Sgt Rock who was captured by Nazis (after fighting off dozens of them single-handed) and experimented on. He gained super strength and agility and became a patriotic hero. He had a very long career until a shark themed character bit off his limbs. He was rebuilt by another evil organization (he has bad luck with evil organizations) with cybernetic limbs that he can transform into any weapon and stretch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WhammeWhamme Posted January 5, 2004 Report Share Posted January 5, 2004 Originally posted by Eyendasky80 Super Patriot? Erik Larsen has a Super Patriot character. He was a very capable soldier like Nick Fury or Sgt Rock who was captured by Nazis (after fighting off dozens of them single-handed) and experimented on. He gained super strength and agility and became a patriotic hero. He had a very long career until a shark themed character bit off his limbs. He was rebuilt by another evil organization (he has bad luck with evil organizations) with cybernetic limbs that he can transform into any weapon and stretch. If that's bad luck, I'd hate to see good luck... actually, no I wouldn't. I mean... they gave him superpowers... TWICE? Works for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyendasky80 Posted January 5, 2004 Report Share Posted January 5, 2004 Granted, the getting kidnapped by Nazis worked out in his favor. But I think I'd rather hang on to my original limbs and not have them bitten off by a shark-man, thank you very much sir. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakboy6117 Posted January 5, 2004 Report Share Posted January 5, 2004 hmmm yeah ist always good when you get captured and then spend sevral years being painfully experimented on to test out possible super soldier serums watching others arodun you turn into hideous blobs of protoplasm or just die in excruciating pain listening to there screams at night as you lie sobbing racked with pain at the latest invasive tests the latest wabe of radiation treatments the superpowers probably make up for the post traumatic stress disorder anbd the nightmares . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterhawk Posted January 5, 2004 Report Share Posted January 5, 2004 Originally posted by Agent Escafarc ...and a group of government heroes that appeared in the Outsiders vol. 1 (Major Victory, Miss Liberty, Shooting Star(?), and some others)... One of my favorite 'theme teams' The Force of July: Major Victory - Superstrength, Invulnerablitlity and Flight through powersuit. Sparkler - Kid pyrokinetic Mayflower - Plant Manipulator Lady Liberty (?) - Frenchwoman with Statue of Liberty styled weapons including EB torch and tablet shield. Silent Majority - Monosyllabic duplicator. Most, if not all of them, were capped in the pages of Suicide Squad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrosshairCollie Posted January 5, 2004 Report Share Posted January 5, 2004 Re: Forgotten Flagsuits Originally posted by Kevin Scrivner The Fighting Yank The Fighting ... *snicker* *giggle**snort* HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomGM2602 Posted January 6, 2004 Report Share Posted January 6, 2004 other Flagsuits Let's see if I could get this right. Ms Victory[AC]; Formerly Miss Victory or Miss V. Secret ID:joan wayne Powers:Superstrength,invulnerability,flight[in later issues] powers gained via downing a secret vitamin serum V47 later became a villian when forcefed a varient of the formula by a revived former supersoldier. Became heroic after old enemy imbibed v45 and became Rad[her former villian name] Daughter took her place as MsV during her time as Rad. Miss America[timely/Marvel] real name: Madelyne Frank powers: Flight Superstrength and superspeed gained powers via accident. served with Captain America in the All Winners Squad [seen in issues of Avengers and She Hulk] became mother to mutated son Nuklon,married the Whizzer at end of WWII, Dies in Childbirth at Wundagore mountain. Last seen[With revised origin] on Spider Man {Animated 1990s] in episode " Six Forgotten Warriors". Captain Flag[Archie] Real Name:Tom Townsend spoiled and irresponsible son gets abducted when famed scientist refuses to devulge to an master villan what he wants to know. The scientist is killed and his son is rescued by an eagle who takes him to his aerie and nurses him back to health. He then begins a muscle training regimen to pump up the muscles degenerated by idle living. When his winged benefactor returns one day with a American flag, he's inspired to create a costume out of it and battles crime as CAPTAIN FLAG! Captain Freedom Real name: Don Wright has no super powers but fantsastic skills and an ability to inspire others while battling the Axis powers. anyone else? BTW you can get the data on any flagsuited hero in the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SUPERHEROES By Jeff Rovin. Your best bet is to find it in the Library because it's out of print and very hard to find. Good Luck[you'll need it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JmOz Posted January 6, 2004 Report Share Posted January 6, 2004 Not quite a flagsuit, but always one of my favorite patriotic characters: Liberty Belle: She was essentialy a norm with a belt buckle made from part of the Liberty Bell, when ever it rang she would get a little adrendlin(sp) rush. She would later develp sonic powers (In the 80's series All Star Squadron, a team she led). The current DC character Jesse Quick is her daughter (Her father was a GA Hero named Johnny Quick) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent X Posted January 6, 2004 Report Share Posted January 6, 2004 Anybody mention Steel from the 70s or his grandson in that ill-conceived relaunch of the JLA in the 80s? There are more flagsuits. If you've got an old Overstreet you'll catch a few in the covers selection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug McCrae Posted January 6, 2004 Report Share Posted January 6, 2004 I guess the man himself - ol' winghead - is my favourite, but I'm also partial to the Force of July. You're not referring to the likes of Captain Britain, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug McCrae Posted January 6, 2004 Report Share Posted January 6, 2004 Re: Re: Forgotten Flagsuits Originally posted by CrosshairCollie The Fighting ... *snicker* *giggle**snort* HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! What's funny about the Fighting Yank? (I'm not being sarcastic or anything, I've genuinely just missed the joke.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assault Posted January 6, 2004 Report Share Posted January 6, 2004 Re: Re: Re: Forgotten Flagsuits Originally posted by Doug McCrae What's funny about the Fighting Yank? (I'm not being sarcastic or anything, I've genuinely just missed the joke.) Think: mindless vulgarity and alternate meanings of "yank". During the Australian Golden Age, comic titles changed with every issue, due to paper rationing regulations. One publisher attempted to maintain continuity between their titles, and convince their readers that they were US reprints rather than Australian product, by including the word "Yank" in all their titles. As a result, you got titles like: "Gripping Yank Comics", "Yank Adventure Comics", "Crackajack Yank Comics" and "Famous Yank Comics". Sadly, I don't think "Total Yank Comics" was published. Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcholmes Posted January 6, 2004 Report Share Posted January 6, 2004 Re: Forgotten Flagsuits Originally posted by Kevin Scrivner Any others you all can think of? And besides you-know-who, which one's your favorite? Captain Canuck! (I remember seeing several issues of Captain Canuck when I was a kid, but I never owned one myself. Mostly because the writing seemed so lame) I can't remember if The Spirit of '76 (who appeared in a 1976 issue of The Invaders) had a US flag motif. He dressed in 18th century "revolution-era" clothes. Union Jack (from _The Invaders_ and other comics). Captain Britain. The Americommando (a DC Captain America clone in old issues of _Freedom Fighters_). And his sidekick Rusty. And wasn't there a Davedevil villain with a flagsuit theme in Miller's days? I remember him taking these red-white-and-blue pills. Can't remember his name, though. Plus, one of my favourite comics called (if I remember correctly) simply _The American_ about a team of soldiers who each do a tour of duty as The American so that it seems like The American has been around since the 1940s. If they survive, they get to retire and earn a cut of The American merchandising. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Neko Posted January 6, 2004 Report Share Posted January 6, 2004 Re: Re: Forgotten Flagsuits Originally posted by bcholmes And wasn't there a Davedevil villain with a flagsuit theme in Miller's days? I remember him taking these red-white-and-blue pills. Can't remember his name, though. That would be Nuke --- had the flag tattooed on his face. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Scrivner Posted January 6, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2004 The villainous flagsuit Dardevil encountered was Nuke, psychotic product of a super soldier program gone very wrong. He was a pill-popping, steriod-crazed killer in triocolor body paint. Darvdevil managed to defeat him and turned the unconscious Nuke over to the police to expose the covert program that created him. I've read a little of Archie Comics' The Shield from the 1980s and thought it was OK. Wasn't impressed by the Impact Comics version from the 1990s -- too much conspiracy theory stuff. In the original Shield universe, J. Edgar Hoover was a hero genuinely trying to protect Americans from harm and being a G-man, even in spandex, was a good thing. The Shield could regard his service in the FBI and CIA with justifiable pride. It's hard to be a cynic when you're draped in the flag, although American Flagg managed to promote justice and roll his eyes at the government he supposedly represented at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oruncrest Posted January 6, 2004 Report Share Posted January 6, 2004 Originally posted by Agent Escafarc (Miss Liberty, Shooting Star(?) The only Miss Liberty I know of was in a Japaneese 2-part manga -- The Mighty Bombshells -- that was published here in the states by Antarctic Press. She had superhuman strength (50 ton capacity) limited invulnerability, could fly, and I believe her origin was that the spirit of America (Uncle Sam himself) gave her those powers (which would explain the Uncle Sam outfit). Shooting Star is a Marvel heroine who's a member of theRangers. They were another team that Rick Jones had a hand in making, although they didn't go over with the readers like his first team, the mighty Avengers. I don't think she wore a 'Flagsuit' though Another Flagsuit character is Lancelot Strong. He was created in the 50's or the 60's by Jack Kirby for Archie Comics as a relaunch of the MLJ Shield series. Lance had superstrength, limited invulnerability, and wore a blue, red & white (in order of the color's promenance on his costume) that was reminiscent of Captain America's. As for favorite flagsuit, well, if I can't vote for Wonder Woman, I'd have to go with.......(drum roll please)........ Yankee Poodle!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyendasky80 Posted January 6, 2004 Report Share Posted January 6, 2004 Major Glory from the Giffen/DeMattis Justice League. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assault Posted January 6, 2004 Report Share Posted January 6, 2004 America Man!!! http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/amerman.htm and a picture at: http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/chaloner.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyendasky80 Posted January 7, 2004 Report Share Posted January 7, 2004 Was the Native American patriotic hero Chief Strongbow? He ran with Cap, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengal Posted January 7, 2004 Report Share Posted January 7, 2004 Nah, chief Jay Strongbow was a pro wrestler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug McCrae Posted January 7, 2004 Report Share Posted January 7, 2004 Originally posted by Eyendasky80 Was the Native American patriotic hero Chief Strongbow? I think it was American Eagle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomGM2602 Posted January 8, 2004 Report Share Posted January 8, 2004 Originally posted by Kevin Scrivner [i've read a little of Archie Comics' The Shield from the 1980s and thought it was OK. Wasn't impressed by the Impact Comics version from the 1990s -- too much conspiracy theory stuff. In the original Shield universe, J. Edgar Hoover was a hero genuinely trying to protect Americans from harm and being a G-man, even in spandex, was a good thing. The Shield could regard his service in the FBI and CIA with justifiable pride. It's hard to be a cynic when you're draped in the flag, although American Flagg managed to promote justice and roll his eyes at the government he supposedly represented at the same time. [/b] Ahh excuse me? Am I hearing this right? J Edgar Hoover as The Sheild? UNTRUE!! The original Shield is Joe Higgins whose father was working on a formula when he was killed by enemy agents. He went after them when he learned of their identity and got beaten up and left for dead at another explosion site. Barely alive he crawled back to his lab and rubs the formula[whic BTW he completed with the help of his father's notes] into his body donning a special suit and injecting himself with fluroscopic rays for 12 hrs. He gains super strength, can leap incredible distances,and can withstan bullets and temperature up to 2000 degrees Farenheit. With an patriotic themed suit of armor he becomes the Shield his identity known only to J Edgar Hoover and longtime friend Henry Boyle ,joining the FBI as it's top agent. His career lasted through WWII even when he loses his powers in 1942 and his armor became his sole source of strength. He gets turned to iron while battling the Eraser and remained in suspended animation for 3 decades until he was revived by the Comet. During those 30 years his son Bill took over as the Shield using a spare costume of his father's and relying on his own brawn and the suits resistance to bullets and fire. publicly he seems to be the ideal hero image, but his private life's a total mess. He went into the Air Force when his father was revived years later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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