Wonder Woman (Dec.1941) was also dressed in red, white and blue with a yellow bird I guess to symbolize the bald eagle also there were two different Miss Americas one of which teamed up with Captain America, Bucky, Submariner, Human Torch, Toro and the Whizzer that was fast.
Not to pile on, but Liberty Belle was a 40s era patriotic heroine. I'm really enjoying these videos. Not only do I love looking at comics from the 40s, these off-brand heroes that are no longer around are endlessly fascinating to me.
Crap. Just remembered Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy. Of course, SS Kid and Wonder Woman and Liberty Belle have all been around recently, and part of the fun of these videos is seeing the characters that are no longer around.
I've heard how Capt. America switched from a heraldic shield to a circular one after MLJ threatened lawsuit, as the earlier shield replicated the triangular shape and stars-and-stripes arrangement of the Shield's costume. From what I see of the Shield's origin in comparison to the Super-Soldier serum sequence of CA's origin,. MLJ had material to claim it was a complete swipe of their character.
@@FizzFop1 they did and if they didn’t change the shield it would have killed Cap entirely…they chose to not go after the origin especially as it was just different enough to be acceptable
@@bostonrailfan2427 funny enough the circular shield would go on to be a sticking point of marvels lawsuit vs Liefeld for his Agent America. (which became Fighting American)
I am very happy you have done a video about The Shield, for I have been meaning to find out information about him. Also did you notice Captain America's original shield is very similar to The Shield's outfit. This is the reason it was changed as the original creators of The Shield asked Joe Simon and Jack Kirby to change it.
+Vincent Sutcliffe I read years ago...I couldn't find the article on it...but Timely Publisher Martin Goodman threw a copy of Pep Comics on Simon and Kirby's desk and said "He wanted one of those." Three days later, they had Captain America. Captain America is one of the few examples where the swipe became more popular than the original hero.
+FizzFop1 That is true, but you could make the argument that Captain America was inspired by The Shield or that Simon and Kirby used The Shield as a baseline. But, yeah, it is pretty obvious that Captain America is a big "swipe' of The Shield.
You forgot the other Shield Lancelot Strong if I remember correctly his costume was basic blue instead of red but almost exactly the same as the red Shield.
I think it's interesting these early comics predate the names organized crime groups label themselves. The comics possibly influenced the idea, considering the age of some of the founders of groups like, 1% biker groups, would be about right, so as they became adults they adopted the idea, into their club names. Funny how none took the name, the justice league, or, Gal Grapplers, or something. Though probably Pro-Wrestling stole at least some of these for themselves.
so Marvel ripped-off more than just the shield design when creating Captain America…it explains why Simon was taking cheap shots at MLJ’s heroes years later 🙄
I kind of do like Capt America, but never much cared for this admittedly important genre. The Shield's costume looks really weird to me. I get it, it was a good idea, but it just doesn't work for me, it's kind of grotesque like at 0:36.
Some, like the Fighting Yank, survived. He was picked up by AC Comics along with other public domain heroes and shown going into cryosleep after the war and reawakened recently.
I think that's actually been done with some of Timely's patriotic heroes, like the Spirit of '76 and the Patriot, who were retconned as being Cap's stand-in after he was frozen. He was definitely present for when Jeff Mace died of cancer after a trippy adventure thru time and space where the Patriot got to serve as Captain America one last time.
Yes, Captain America was a "swipe" of The Shield. "Swipe" was the term the artists and publishers used back in the 40s to describe characters that copied another. I wanted to put the story behind Captain America in this, but I couldn't find the original source material to an article I had read sometime ago. For decades, Simon and Kirby denied they had swiped The Shield with Captain America...In their later years, They came clean and said that Timely Publisher Martin Goodman walked up to their desk one day and threw down a couple of Shield comics and said..."I want one of these!" Two days later, they had Captain America.
Super American was said to be the original planned name for Captain America. Uncle Sam was later adapted into DC and led the Freedom Fighters in an alternate Earth. He even cameoed in Marvel's Captain America #383.
Hi Bob Jase! Thanks for watching! I was about to say "Harumph" myself until I checked up on those heroes...sure enough all of them came out just before Pearl Harbor. Well, that's three more to add to this list!
I'm an old fart, I started collecting Nedor in the mid 70's when I traded a copy of All American Comics #69 to Jerry Nails for a copy of Startling Comics #36.
Disappointed when you made the claim others copied Captain America when in fact Kirby blatantly copied The Shield. Both were supersoldiers enhanced by a combination of formula and rays, both had patriotic coloured and patterned costumes with a shield to protect them. In fact MLJ sued Marvel and they reached an out of court settlement. One notable change immediately after was Cap adopting a round shield instead of the heater style he had and The Shoeld wore on his chest. Kirby must have been a huge fan of the Shield, as he also used him for inspiration when he created Guardian and Fighting American.
Hi Mike, I don't think I said The Shield copied Captain America...he couldn't have-the Shield came at a full two years before Captain America...I presented these characters in order of their publication. The commercial success of Captain America did create a wave of imitators-an imitation of an imitation.
@@FizzFop1 I know you never said Shield copied Cap. I meant that although you said others copied Captain America, you neglected to mention he copied The Shield so much it led to a lawsuit. In fact many patriotic heroes appeared before Cap, so I am unsure why you think so many copied him and not Shield as he was the first and very popular also.
Dan Williams Hi Dan! Thanks for watching! The term "Snowbird" was 40s/50s slang for a cocaine addict. That term pops up a lot in crime comics and detective stories. The Shield defeats Snowbird by replacing his cocaine with salt which makes him sneeze uncontrollably. MLJ managed to create some really odd villains.
@@FizzFop1 Up here in New Hampshire, snowbird is a term for the folks who winter in Florida. Be real easy to have some awkward conversations, depending on who you're using that term around.
Aside from Captain Battle, Lev Gleason Publications also had Pat Patriot (no, not the NFL Patriot's mascot) "America's Joan of Arc" and also Nedor comics, aside from the Fighting Yank, had another patriotic superhero, the American Crusader, who was basically a Superman copycat superhero, with patriotic costume. OH! And then we have Centaur comics "Man of War" created by the god of war Mars, his intention was to give the perfect soldier to the Germans (which he liked), but because of a miscalculation by Mars, he ended up creating him on American soil instead of Germany. And so Man of War got infused with American ideals of freedom, with a red, white and blue costume, rejected Mars' ways, and used his powers to fight against the Germans.
Never read many of his stories, but always liked the design on Minute man. Shame DC stuck him in the same limbo as all the other non-Shazam Fawcett heroes.
3:10 - 3:30 -- While not decked out in red, white, and blue, I would recommend the Spy Smasher as another, far more prominent patriotic hero by Fawcett.
Hi hydrolito! I don't think that Kato was a teenage sidekick. I think he was always an adult. The creation of Robin in Batman started the craze of kid sidekicks in comics. Before the Green Hornet, The Lone Ranger had Tonto.
This is my favorite series on RU-vid. Please continue it I hope you don't quit cause of views cause if you keep pumping out videos of this quality you are sure to get views. If you could do Stripesy and Star Spangeled Kid, Skyman,Captain Midnight. I know Dark horse is now doing Skyman and Captain Midnight but I'd love to see vids on them. Keep up the great work.
Thanks for the compliments PearishableRecords! I've got a few more in the works! The next one should be out next week. Here's something I did for the place I work at...this is the video that gave me the idea to do Lost Hero's... Milt Caniff
So darrien can you do captain 3D blackout black bat captain flag Grimm ghost captain zero captain blood blue fairy blue fire black lion captain terror and catman
Hi Asteroid Kat Facts! I agree--I think one reason why certain heroes like Batman are popular is because they have the best villains. The villains really make the hero.
Hi kurumais! Fighting American is on my "to do" list. He didn't come out until the 1950s. This video only featured patriotic characters before the U.S. joined in World War II.
Hi tenhirankei! They should be there on youtube...they are The Heap and Springheeled Jack. For some reason, youtube has some sort of issue with Springheeled Jack...they've flagged it and demonetized it four or five times...I don't know why?
Hi Mecah, Thanks for watching. I'm working on five videos at the moment. It's time consuming because I want to make quality videos. Last year I only managed to get 4 videos done. This year I'm hoping to get six done.
