This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog will look at the Charlton Comics hero Peacemaker BEFORE DC Comics bought him and changed him.
PEACEMAKER
Secret Identity: Christopher Smith
First Appearance: Fightin’ 5 #40 (November 1966)
Origin: American diplomat and scientist Christopher Smith was a noted pacifist in his public persona but was secretly affiliated with the Pax Institute’s covert operations arm in Geneva, Switzerland.
When peaceful solutions to an international situation hit a dead end, Smith donned the costume of his alter ego Peacemaker, who used violence against global dictators and other aggressors to nip potentially larger conflicts in the bud.
This hero’s adventures were every bit as focused on Cold War situations as early Marvel Comics stories were in Iron Man and the The Hulk.
Powers: Peacemaker was in peak physical condition and was a master of armed and unarmed combat. He designed and tested his own weapons in his secret “Peace Palace” lair in the Swiss Alps. Peacemaker’s action outfit included body armor, a jetpack for flight, plus a helmet for protection AND for radio communication. This hero’s weapons included his powered laser gun and the sonic beams shot from his helmet.
Comment: Peacemaker was the model for the Comedian in Watchmen, but the original Charlton version was neither the violent maniac of Watchmen nor the buffoonish character from recent movies and television shows.
FIGHTIN’ FIVE Vol 1 #40 (Nov 1966)
Title: Introducing the Peacemaker
Villain: Emil Bork, Arms Dealer
Synopsis: Diplomat Christopher Smith is in his car in Geneva, Switzerland being briefed about international arms dealer Emil Bork by his secretary Miss Blair. The weapons merchant has agents in two fictional South American countries egging on their war so that Bork can make more and more money. Two agents of Bork try to kill Smith and Blair but fail.
The following day Christopher attends an embassy dinner in Geneva, at which Bork and Smith needle each other. Smith dons his Peacemaker outfit and assembles his weapons, then flies out to Bork’s mansion in the Alps. Bork’s private army tries to kill Peacemaker but he outfights them all.
He then interrogates a defeated mercenary and learns that Emil has just flown off for South America to exacerbate the war between the two nations he is profiting from. Our hero flies off after Bork’s overhead jet but the villain fires a missile at him. Peacemaker damages it with his laser but the missile still goes off with him in the blast range. Continue reading
WHITE THUNDER 
CANADIANA 
Jennifer proved strong enough to rebel against Robertson and use her powers against him and against his other female acolytes. She adopted the costumed identity Canadiana. 
CREATURES ON THE LOOSE Vol 1 #22 (Mar 1973) 
Synopsis: Thongor (at right), as always wielding his father’s god-forged sword Sarkozan, is working as a thief in the city-state of Zangabal. During one caper Thongor comes close to being captured by the authorities but is given shelter by Kaman Thuu, a Priest of the Seven Gods of Zangabal. 
TEEN TITANS Vol 1 #32 (Apr 1971) 
When they return to their own time period it turns out that Gnarrk’s death caused a butterfly effect and the “present” is now ruled by an evil version of Loren Jupiter called Jupiterius. He rules the world with Lilith’s (on stairs) sorcery, monsters and the evil counterparts of what would have been the other Teen Titans. 
This weekend’s superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at some of the earliest comic book adaptations of the iconic character the Green Hornet. That figure originated on radio in January 1936 and in a very early example of a shared universe, the Green Hornet’s secret identity was Britt Reid, grand-nephew of John Reid – the Lone Ranger. 
And just as the Lone Ranger show’s theme music came from classical music – the William Tell overture – the Green Hornet show’s theme came from Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumble Bee. 
The police and even Daily Sentinel crime reporter Mike Axford (formerly of the 1932 radio series Warner Lester, Manhunter) misunderstood the Green Hornet’s vigilante activities and suspected the masked hero of being a criminal himself. The Hornet took advantage of that misperception by convincing some of his gangster foes that he was indeed an outlaw and wanted a cut of their illegal operations. 
HULK! Vol 1 #11 (Oct 1978) 
UNCLE SAM
Powers: This hero had Superman-level strength and invulnerability. He could fly in a sense by making enormous Hulk-sized leaps. He had a mystic ability to know where he would be needed. Due to his supernatural nature, Uncle Sam could not be photographed or filmed.
NATIONAL COMICS #1 (July 1940) 
INHUMANS Vol 1 #1 (Oct 1975) 
Blastaar flies to Attilan, the Great Refuge and fights his way in past the airborne guards. In the Royal Palace, a long-buried device rises from the lowest depths below Attilan and sits, apparently waiting for a clearly missing component to complete it. Black Bolt and Triton dive into the watery depths below Attilan to see where the machine originated from. 
THOR Vol 1 #225 (July 1974)
Meanwhile, a being called Firelord arrives on Earth and enters Krista’s hospital. People attack Firelord, who injures them, prompting Hercules to fight him.
THE SHIELD 
Powers: The chemical formula that the Shield rubbed onto his skin followed by bombardment with flouroscopic rays endowed him with super-strength plus invulnerability. The Shield also wore an indestructible costume which encased his torso like a shield.
