How ya diddly-doin’? Okay, not THAT Flanders, but Flanders as in a World War One reference. This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at a forgotten character from Quality Comics.
GHOST OF FLANDERS
Secret Identity: Rip Graves
First Appearance: Hit Comics #18 (December 1941)
Origin: I doubt that even the original writers could reconcile all the contradictory elements of this hero’s origin story while they were writing it! Okay, it’s nowhere near as ridiculous as Quality’s origin tale for Black Condor but nothing ever could be.
Here goes. Readers are told that Rip Graves was 15 years old in 1918 but lied about his age to enlist in the U.S. Army during World War One. He was mistakenly believed to be killed in the Second Battle of the Marne, which is roughly 200 miles away from Flanders in Belgium.
In reality the young man was in a Prisoner of War camp until being released after the war ended on November 11th, 1918.
By the time that Graves – who has been doing God knows what for 14 years – shows up back in America in 1932, Arlington Cemetery’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier has been freshly dedicated. Continue reading
MERZAH THE MYSTIC 
THE RED CROSS 
Yes, before Batman, before Captain America and even before Superman himself, came the Clock, written and drawn by George E. Brenner. The Clock was the first masked crimefighter in comic books, debuting in 1936, while the much more popular Batman didn’t come along until 1939. I’m not pointing that out to diss Batman, but to point out what a shame it is that the Clock seems to have been forgotten by most of the world. The figure is pretty much the middle character between Pulp heroes like the Shadow and the Moon Man and comic book superheroes. The Clock’s influence on 
FEATURE FUNNIES Vol 1 #17 (February 1939) 
ACTION COMICS Vol 1 #1 (June 1938) 
Superman takes down a wife-beater, saves Lois Lane from horny gangsters and clears a woman falsely convicted of murder by tying up the real killer – and even smashing his way into the governor’s mansion to make him call off her imminent execution. 
LEOPARD GIRL 
Powers: Leopard Girl employed her supernatural “cry of the leopards” to use a small army of leopards to help her fight the forces of evil in Africa. She could interact with the Dark Continent’s ghosts, who saw her as an ally. 
Comment: In her secret identity as “Gwen”, Leopard Girl worked with research scientist Dr. Hans Kreitzer. Her fellow assistant was named Peter, whom she once carried with one arm while swinging through the jungle. 
For this weekend’s light-hearted, escapist blog post about superheroes, Balladeer’s Blog goes back to the Justice Society of America, this country’s very first superteam.
ALL STAR COMICS Vol 1 #39 (February 1948) 
NELVANA OF THE NORTHERN LIGHTS
BLACK WING 
Powers: Black Wing was in peak physical condition and excelled at unarmed combat. He was also a superb pilot and had the advantage of flying the high-tech craft he had stolen from the Nazis. 
THE DRAGON 
YANKEE GIRL 
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