September 1941: Speed and Shock

 

Take one ersatz Captain America, add a graduate from the Flash Gordon School of Character Names and you’re well on your way to the recipe for an issue of Speed Comics.

“Part of that early proliferation of Superman imitators was Shock Gibson, whose first adventure had a cover date of October 1939,” observed comics historian Don Markstein. 

“Speed Comics 1, where that adventure appeared, was published by Brookwood Publications, which disappeared from the industry in 1941. It was bought by Harvey Comics, which, as the source of Richie Rich, Wendy the Good Little Witch and many other kid characters who started in the 1950s, had a much more noticeable impact on the field.” 

“(Charles) Gibson was his name before he powered himself up. He was experimenting to see if electricity, which had already improved people’s lives in so many ways, might also be useful in improving their personal selves, by enhancing their strength, health, etc. He found that by proper application of electricity to his own body, he did gain super strength, as well as the ability to emit powerful electrical bolts, magnetize things, weld metal with his bare hands and even fly. But instead of sharing his discovery with the world, he kept it to himself and became a superhero, using his newly minted nickname, ‘Shock.’ as part of his monicker.”

Shock Gibson, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon — that combination of punchy, dynamic one-syllable nickname and common, two-syllable American surname had a long run.

Captain Freedom first appeared in Speed Comics 13 a scant three months after the million-selling debut of Captain America Comics, which hit the newsstands in December 1940.  The first flag-themed superhero, MLJ’s Shield, appeared in November 1939.

Drawn by Arthur Cazeneuve, the feature spotlighted heroic newspaper publisher Don Wright, who moonlighted as the saboteur-slugging Captain Freedom, aided by newspaper carriers he called the Young Defenders.

By the 16th issue, Captain Freedom was cover-featured. He stayed with Speed until its finish in 1947.