Captain Flag
{{Short description|Patriotic superhero}}
Captain Flag is a superhero created by MLJ Comics' writer Joe Blair and artist Lin Streeter. He first appeared in September 1941, in issue #16 of Blue Ribbon Comics.{{cite web |last1=Markstein |first1=Don |title=Captain Flag |url=http://www.toonopedia.com/capflag.htm |website=Don Markstein's Toonopedia |access-date=2 April 2020}} He continued until the last issue, Blue Ribbon Comics #22 (March 1942).{{cite book |last1=Benton |first1=Mike |title=Superhero Comics of the Golden Age: The Illustrated History |date=1992 |publisher=Taylor Publishing Company |location=Dallas |isbn=0-87833-808-X |url=https://archive.org/details/superherocomicso0000bent/page/154 |access-date=8 April 2020 |page=154}}
Fall 1941 was a boom period for patriotic superheroes as the country prepared to enter World War II; during this period, comic book publishers also launched Miss Victory, Miss America, the Star-Spangled Kid, U.S. Jones, the Fighting Yank, the Flag and Yank and Doodle, among others.{{cite book |last1=Benton |first1=Mike |title=Superhero Comics of the Golden Age: The Illustrated History |date=1992 |publisher=Taylor Publishing Company |location=Dallas |isbn=0-87833-808-X |url=https://archive.org/details/superherocomicso0000bent/page/52 |access-date=1 April 2020 |page=52}} Captain Flag was the "only one" of the various patriotic-themes superheroes to be "trained by an actual bald eagle".{{Cite web|last=Hoffer|first=Christian|date=September 6, 2017|title=Celebrate Flag Day With These Five Obscure Star Spangled Superheroes|url=https://comicbook.com/news/celebrate-flag-day-with-these-five-five-obscure-star-spangled-su/|url-status=live|access-date=February 17, 2022|website=ComicBook|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220216184351/https://comicbook.com/news/celebrate-flag-day-with-these-five-five-obscure-star-spangled-su/ |archive-date=2022-02-16 }}
Publication history
Captain Flag debuted in Blue Ribbon Comics #16 (Sept 1941), as a possible headliner for MLJ's superhero stable.{{cite book |last1=Mougin |first1=Lou |title=Secondary Superheroes of Golden Age Comics |date=2020 |publisher=McFarland & Co |isbn=9781476638607|pages=132–134}} In his first story, written by Joe Blair and drawn by Lin Streeter, the character faced off against the Black Hand, a super-criminal working for the Nazis. The character's story in the next issue was drawn by Warren King, and introduced the strip's first supporting character, blonde secret service agent Veronica Darnell. The Black Hand reappeared as a recurring menace several times, including Captain Flag's final 1940s story, in Blue Ribbon Comics #21 (Feb 1942).
The character was revived two decades later, when MLJ (renamed Archie Comics) launched a "camp" superhero line inspired by the popular Batman TV show. In The Mighty Crusaders #4 (April 1966), the company brought back all of their patriotic 1940s heroes in a story called "Too Many Superheroes". Of the 18 superheroes who returned in that story, Captain Flag teamed up with Web and the Fox to form the Ultra-Men in Mighty Crusaders #5.{{cite book |last1=Wells |first1=John |title=American Comic Book Chronicles: 1965-1969 |date=2014 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |isbn=978-1605490557 |pages=77–78}}
Fictional character biography
His secret identity is Tom Townsend, the wealthy playboy son of an inventor father. A villain called the Black Hand kidnaps him and his father, intending to torture Tom's father in order to obtain the secret of his latest invention – a new bomb sight.{{citation |page=28 |work=500 Comicbook Villains |title=Black Hand I [1941] |author=Mike Conroy |year=2004 |isbn=9781843402053 |publisher=Pavilion Books}} Tom's father dies resisting the questioning but before Tom, too, can be killed, a great eagle crashes through the window and carries him off.{{cite book |last1=Morris |first1=Jon |title=The Legion of Regrettable Supervillains: Oddball Criminals from Comic Book History |date=2017 |publisher=Quirk Books |isbn=978-1594749322 |page=20}}
Training with the eagle's aerie at the top of the mountain, the healthy environment and hard living makes him an elite physical specimen. When the eagle brings a US flag, Tom takes it on as his namesake, and makes a costume out of the flag.{{cite book |last1=Nevins |first1=Jess |title=Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes |date=2013 |publisher=High Rock Press |isbn=978-1-61318-023-5 |page=47}} He names his animal savior-turned-sidekick Yank the Eagle,{{Cite web |last=Seifert |first=Mark |date=2022-05-22 |title=Before Eagly, Yank the Eagle in Blue Ribbon Comics #16, at Auction |url=https://bleedingcool.com/comics/before-eagly-yank-the-eagle-in-blue-ribbon-comics-16-at-auction/ |access-date=2022-06-02 |website=Bleeding Cool News And Rumors |language=en}} and goes on to thwart the Black Hand, hanging him from a ship's yardarm.{{r|CV}}
References
External links
- [http://www.toonopedia.com/capflag.htm Captain Flag] at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. [https://archive.today/20240525212619/https://www.webcitation.org/66nzNX9uy?url=http://www.toonopedia.com/capflag.htm Archived] from the original on April 9, 2012.
- Offenberger, Rik, ed. [https://web.archive.org/web/20060819071310/http://www.mightycrusaders.net/handbook/captainflag.htm Captain Flag] at MightyCrusaders.net
{{Archie Comics characters}}
{{GoldenAge}}
Category:Archie Comics superheroes
Category:Comics characters introduced in 1941
Category:Golden Age superheroes