Superheroes continue to practically own pop culture right now. Balladeer’s Blog’s readers wanted more, so I recently posted a look at the Superhero Pantheon of Ace Periodicals. Here is another of their characters that I just added. FOR THE ORIGINAL ITEM FEATURING NEARLY TWENTY MORE FORGOTTEN HEROES AND HEROINES CLICK HERE
THE FLAG
Secret Identity: Jim Courtney, flag-maker
Origin: An unnamed baby was left on the doorstep of crippled World War One veteran John Courtney in 1920. Courtney, a flag-maker, was intrigued by the American Flag birthmark on the infant’s chest. He named the boy Jim and raised him as his son, teaching him his flag-making trade.
On Jim’s 21st birthday he was visited by the ghosts of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln who told him he was a super-powered being and that his powers were ready to be used now that he was an adult. Jim donned a costume and fought the forces of evil as the Flag.
First Appearance: Our Flag Comics #2 (October 1941). His final Golden Age appearance came in 1942.
Powers:
The Flag possessed the strength of 100 men, was invulnerable to even heavy artillery and could both fly and run at super-speed. When this hero ran and flew at super-speed he left an American flag-like trail in his wake.
The American Flag birthmark on Jim Courtney’s chest would glow when his superhero identity was needed.
Comment: The Flag’s girlfriend was Sally Blair, the managing editor of the newspaper called The Daily Clarion.
Before taking on Axis supervillains the Flag fought criminals and Herman Foxson, a William Randolph Hearst-type figure who tried to impose his own dictatorship on America.
I prefer your takes on female superheroes.
I understand.