Captain Flag is a superhero created by

MLJ Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Joe Blair Joe C. Blair (died 23 September 1946), known as J. C. Blair and JCB, was president of the Melbourne Football Club, treasurer of the Melbourne Cricket Club, vice-president of the Victorian Football League (VFL) and deputy chairman of the Vacuum ...

and artist Lin Streeter. He first appeared in September 1941, in issue #16 of '' Blue Ribbon Comics''. He continued until the last issue, ''Blue Ribbon Comics'' #22 (March 1942). Fall 1941 was a boom period for patriotic superheroes as the country prepared to enter

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

; 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. Captain Flag was the "only one" of the various patriotic-themes superheroes to be "trained by an actual bald eagle"

Publication history

Captain Flag debuted in ''Blue Ribbon Comics'' #16 (Sept 1941), as a possible headliner for MLJ's superhero stable. In his first story, written by

Joe Blair Joe C. Blair (died 23 September 1946), known as J. C. Blair and JCB, was president of the Melbourne Football Club, treasurer of the Melbourne Cricket Club, vice-president of the Victorian Football League (VFL) and deputy chairman of the Vacuum ...

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 Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

to form the Ultra-Men in ''Mighty Crusaders'' #5.

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 A bombsight is a device used by military aircraft to drop bombs accurately. Bombsights, a feature of combat aircraft since World War I, were first found on purpose-designed bomber aircraft and then moved to fighter-bombers and modern tactical ...

. 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. 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. He names his animal savior-turned-sidekick Yank the Eagle, and goes on to thwart the Black Hand, hanging him from a ship's

yardarm A yard is a spar on a mast from which sails are set. It may be constructed of timber or steel or from more modern materials such as aluminium or carbon fibre. Although some types of fore and aft rigs have yards, the term is usually used to de ...

References

External links

Captain Flag
at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Archived
from the original on April 9, 2012. *

Offenberger, Rik Rik Offenberger (born January 30, 1964) is an American comic book journalist and publicity agent, an early utilizer of the Internet for distributing comics news, and the public relations coordinator of Archie Comics. Career Offenberger started ...

, ed
Captain Flag
at MightyCrusaders.net {{GoldenAge American superheroes Archie Comics superheroes Comics characters introduced in 1941 Golden Age superheroes Male characters in comics Male superheroes United States-themed superheroes