An Independence Day look at patriotic comic-book heroes
Midweek update: Star-spangled heroes date back to comics' early days
The United States is about to celebrate 248 years from the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4.
This week, let’s look at some of the patriotically themed comic-book heroes that first appeared in comics’ early days. Patriotic comics characters appeared relatively soon after the comic-book medium took off. The generally accepted first patriotic-themed American hero was The Shield.
In 1940, The Shield, created by Harry Shorten and Irv Novick, became comics’ first flag-draped hero, fighting in the pages of “PEP” Comics, later to be the publisher of red-headed teen Archie Andrews.
Recommended Reading:
The character of The Shield was brought back in the 1990s from Impact Comics.
This 1991 revamp of the Shield character was the first release in DC’s Impact line. DC Comics licensed the MLJ characters from Archie Comics in an attempt to develop a line for younger readers – probably aimed around 10-13 years old, as much of the mainstream DC line was skewing older at that point.
In “Legend of the SHIELD,” the SHIELD armor has been developed by the U.S. military. Sgt. Joe Higgins is chosen to wear the strong, bulletproof armor as “The Shield.” His father, Gen. Marion Higgins, has been working on developing the armor since the disappearance of the original Shield character in 1963. But other people want the newly developed armor, and the senior Higgins may have dark secrets, as well.
The comic was written and penciled by Grant Miehm, with Mark Waid as the scripter. Jeff Albrecht was the inker.
After the Shield
The year after “The Shield,” the original version, as the United States was on the brink of World War II, Marvel Comics (then called Timely) introduced the best-known patriotic character of them all.
On the March 1941 cover of the first issue of “Captain America Comics,” Cap is seen socking Adolph Hitler. Created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, Cap became one of the most popular war-time heroes.
Simon and Kirby packaged a number of comics for a variety of publishers before Kirby was called to service in World War II. In 1943, Kirby was stationed overseas as a combat infantryman in the Fifth Division, Third Army, commanded by Gen. George S. Patton. With writer Stan Lee, Kirby revived Captain America in 1964’s “Avengers” #4, and he’s likely the most recognizable patriotic hero still appearing in modern comics.
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Captain America’s loyalties were tested in 1987 by writer Mark Gruenwald. In the story, the government hires its own Captain America, while the original Cap Steve Rogers, dons a black costume and calls himself “The Captain” to continue his fight for liberty.
Gruenwald wanted to show how fans, raised on the action movies of the 1980s, didn’t necessarily want a vicious and violent Captain America. This story is part of the Mark Gruenwald Captain America Omnibus Vol. 1, on sale later this month. Artists include Tom Morgan and Kieron Dwyer.
More World War II heroes
The World War II era brought out a host of costumed superheroes in patriotic garb.
Craig Yoe examines the host of Captains and Majors and other USA-themed characters from the 1940s in “Super Patriotic Heroes,” a reprint volume from IDW.
“During World War II, young adults fighting Nazis for real were devouring millions of comics bought at PXs and sent in care packages from the home front,” Yoe writes in the introduction.
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The Craig Yoe-edited volume “Super Patriotic Heroes” features flag-waving, Nazi-smashing stories from “America's Best Comics,” “Fight Comics,” “Our Flag,” “National Comics” and more. Characters in this volume include Miss America, The Fighting Yank, Super-American, U.S. Jones, Captain Freedom, Lady Liberty, Major Victory, American Eagle and Captain Victory.
Matthew Price, matthew@matthewlprice.com, has written about the comics industry for more than two decades. He is the co-owner of Speeding Bullet Comics in Norman.