Mix Superman and Captain America, throw in a pinch of the Spectre, and you might well end up with a character like Nedor’s Fighting Yank.
“During World War II, when the superhero genre first took over comic books, American patriotism was perhaps at its all-time high,” observed comics historian Don Markstein. “Naturally, strongly patriotic-style characters like the Shield and Captain America abounded. Fighting Yank, who came along after both of those were firmly established, showed that even a superhero doesn’t have to wrap himself in a flag, like they did, to prove his patriotism.”
In times of trouble, Bruce Carter III’s 18th century ancestor and namesake would pitch in. The ghost had been martyred fighting for George Washington.
“DC Comics later used a similar shtick in its war series The Haunted Tank,” Markstein noted. “It was the Revolutionary War Bruce who showed the World War II Bruce where to find a magic cloak able to protect him from harm and impart super strength…. His girlfriend, Joan Farwell, was in on the secret, and usually accompanied him on adventures. Depending on the needs of the story, she could be either an assistant or a hostage.”
The feature was introduced in Startling Comics 10 (Sept. 1941), drawn by Jon L. Blummer and written by Richard E. Hughes, who later handled lots more ghosts as the editor of the American Comics Group.
The Fighting Yank also starred in his own title and America’s Best Comics during his eight-year run.
He first appeared on newsstands in August 1941, just two months after Hitler sent four million troops to invade the Soviet Union. Though not yet officially in the world war, the United States, through President Roosevelt’s Lend-Lease Bill, was already openly supporting the beleaguered Allies.
Bob Doncaster
ReplyDeleteI’ve got a soft spot for flag draped patriotic heroes. Even though most were created at a very dark time for the world.
I replied:
Much darker than we now generally realize. Hindsight wears rosy-colored glasses.
Johnny Williams:
ReplyDeleteDan, this is another well-researched and thought -out essay from you. I have a vague recollection of seeing this hero somewhere before and I have an idea where it may have been, but I want to check on something first to attempt to substantiate my idea.
Now, I want to admit to you that one of my favorite parts of the piece was this part -
“The feature was introduced in Startling Comics 10 (Sept. 1941), drawn by Jon L. Blummer and written by Richard E. Hughes, who later handled lots more ghosts as the editor of the American Comics Group.”
Because as a boy I was a fan of ACG’s two heaviest hitters, Nemesis, and Magic Man. I know that Herbie was quite popular, perhaps their best seller, but I found the character annoying at the time, funny but annoying.
I can appreciate him a bit more in retrospect.
I replied:
Hughes started interacting with his readers even before Stan, too.
ReplyDeleteEdward Lee Love:
I wonder just how much of Standard's comic book longevity was due to the outstanding Schomburg covers?
For the time, Standard would appear to have been a successful company. They had an extensive pulp line. With the Phantom Detective, they introduced the second-hero pulp of the time and one of the longest lasting ones. Yet, I find the Phantom Detective to be much like the comic line, he's really pretty forgettable. There's some great stories, especially in a handful written by one of the Doc Savage ghost writers. Yet, somehow he outlasted many much better written and more interesting pulp heroes.
And, this is pretty much indicative of their comic superheroes.
On the surface, the likes of the Fighting Yank, Black Terror and Pyroman really stand out. With the American Crusader, the company produced one of the first atomic-powered superheroes. But, when you get past the covers and some rather creative ideas behind a few of the characters, the stories are mostly middle of the road. The stories often feature generic mobsters and spies and 5th Columnists with a sprinkling of the occasional mad scientist or outright costumed super-villain. But most seemed designed so that almost any of the heroes could be used to be plugged in. Mostly all plot with little eye to humor or satire. There was one brief shining moment in the late 1940s when Robinson and Meskin did a handful of Fighting Yank and Black Terror stories and the writing sparkles with stories focusing on character and human interest. Otherwise, none of the big-name creators worked on the interior stories. Simon & Kirby didn't do any patriotic heroes or covers. Everett didn't provide a water-based hero, Guardineer a backwards speaking magician, Gustavson an urban vigilante, nor Sultan or Fujitani providing a highly stylized and hint of macabre to the heroic tales. Just as the writing had a sense of sameness to the various features, so did the art. Capable, but bland.
So, how this company managed to outlast so many of their competitors is a mystery to me. And, how its characters managed to outlast so many characters from the other companies, even companies that lasted, that had stronger stories, concepts, and storytelling.
Yet there is an irony in that the Fighting Yank, Black Terror, Pyroman, the Grim Reaper, and to a degree Miss Masque have strong enough visuals, that through that alone they in recent decades do show up in various revivals. The Black Terror may hold the record for being revived by the most different companies: AC Comics, Dynamite, Eclipse, DC's ABC line. For some reason, the companies like to kill the Fighting Yank as part of their "revival".
As a kid, I was often drawn to the Fighting Yank though through the reproductions of the Schomburg covers in the Buyer's Guide. The historic garb grabbed me like few others. He became a favorite character of whom I had never actually read a single adventure of. At the time, there were no publishers other than DC and Marvel reprinting the older stories. In that sense, DC did save the Quality and Fawcett heroes for my generation by at least reprinting some of the works by Fine, Beck, Gustavson, Guardineer. This probably worked in the Fighting Yank's favor. Spared of actually reading the generic stories, my imagination was fueled by what little I knew of the character from books on comic histories, and the suggestions of greatness by Schomburg's covers. I was thus surprised when I was finally able to buy and read a Fighting Yank story, it was one of the ones by Robinson & Meskin. The story was great, but the look of the character inside was different. He looked even MORE like a Revolutionary War era character with a white wig complete with small pony tail. No mask. His shirt was completely loose, not tight across bulging muscles, and no flag on the chest. Not really the dynamic figure cutting loose on the covers.