Truth, justice, and the American way!

July 4, 2010 2:46 PM

For your 4th of July enjoyment: 10 Exceedingly Patriotic American Comic Heroes. Given the overlap between the Golden Age of superheroes and the beginning of WWII it should be no suprise that there are so many patriotically themed superheroes. Probably the first was The Shield ("G-Man Extraordinary"), who eventually faded away to be an occasional character in Archie comics, followed by the revolutiionary war themed Minute Man. But the most enduring of all would be Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's creation Captain America, whose first comic sold just under a million copies and featured Cap doing the most patriotic thing of all: Punching Adolf Hitler in the jaw.
posted by Artw (37 comments total)

Uncle Sam looks a lot like Clint Eastwood with Fred Durst's facial hair.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 2:53 PM on July 4, 2010

Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy!
posted by piratebowling at 2:56 PM on July 4, 2010

Thanks to gman for pinging me with the Topless Robot link. Gman extraordinary!
posted by Artw at 2:59 PM on July 4, 2010

In fact, Hitler getting punched (or otherwise abused) is so iconic that it has its own blog.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 3:04 PM on July 4, 2010 [5 favorites]

No love for Patriot/Eli Buckley or his grandpa, the (in-universe) original Captain America?
posted by bettafish at 3:13 PM on July 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

Mr. America has a bulge that makes me proud to be an American.

I am just sayin'.

At first I thought he was all sparkly, which would be even more badass, but I think that is snow.

And the Fighting Yank is an awesome name.

I am going to stop now and get back to Patriotism.
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:14 PM on July 4, 2010

The best part about Fighting Yank? He's haunted by the Spirit of America, a ghost from the American Revolution who gets on him when he's not being useful enough. Basically, he's haunted by the spirit of my dad.

*eagle tear*
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 3:22 PM on July 4, 2010 [4 favorites]

According to the link highlighting, I have, without any memory of it, visited the "punching Adolf Hitler in the jaw" link before, on my work computer. That's pretty awesome.
posted by maqsarian at 3:23 PM on July 4, 2010

Everone should visit it regularly, like a shrine.
posted by Artw at 3:28 PM on July 4, 2010 [2 favorites]

Man I forgot Bucky went all the way back to Cap No. 1. I always think of him as one of those Silver Age '...and then this happened!' guys.
posted by shakespeherian at 3:45 PM on July 4, 2010

Thanks for the post. I can't stand sites where half the comments are worth reading and the other half make me want to light my face on fire. I never know what to do and wind up reading around the smoke.
posted by yerfatma at 3:46 PM on July 4, 2010

Man I forgot Bucky went all the way back to Cap No. 1. I always think of him as one of those Silver Age '...and then this happened!' guys.

The best part is that while Bucky is old-school for real, his death is a total Silver Age ret-con, a fact that Brubaker uses to awesome effect in the current Cap ongoing.
posted by Amanojaku at 4:14 PM on July 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

American Maid is #2! Did anyone figure out just exactly what happened between her and Die Fledermaus?
posted by JHarris at 4:17 PM on July 4, 2010

Minute Man is no Minuteman.
posted by christopherious at 4:30 PM on July 4, 2010

This thread fills me with patriotism.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 4:43 PM on July 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

Um, it seems Hitler is actually being punched in the vicinity of his apparently highly explosive left nipple, causing a large wad of cotton wool to burst from his jacket.

Neat-o!
posted by Sys Rq at 4:44 PM on July 4, 2010

Minuteman is no Minuteman...
posted by Ron Thanagar at 4:51 PM on July 4, 2010

What about The Comedian?
posted by delmoi at 4:56 PM on July 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

"Whatever happened to the American Dream?"
"It came true. You're looking at it"
posted by Artw at 5:01 PM on July 4, 2010 [4 favorites]

What about The Force of July...
posted by Alexandra Kitty at 5:07 PM on July 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

FLAG BOY
posted by The Whelk at 5:10 PM on July 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

Of course, assides from a bit of costume flair and working for the CIA The Comedian isn't all that patriotism themed. As for the Charlton character he's based on...

do you think this toilet seat on my head stands for Switzerland?
posted by Artw at 5:16 PM on July 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

If you like your Captain America-style patriots in Scythian headgear, there's always The Statesman.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 5:32 PM on July 4, 2010

Hey, that Hitler-punching blog has the most iconic Hitler punch of all.
posted by ormondsacker at 5:41 PM on July 4, 2010

Although it does say Captain Marvel was too soft on Hitler.

Absolutely not the case. (self-link because I can't find it anywhere else)
posted by ormondsacker at 5:57 PM on July 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

Argh. And I really wanted to see Captain America punching Hitler – but with Wiki down for the count, I can't...
posted by koeselitz at 6:23 PM on July 4, 2010

Ormondslacker - er, does that mean Hitler married an 8 year old boy? Shazam!?!
posted by Artw at 6:28 PM on July 4, 2010

Argh. And I really wanted to see Captain America punching Hitler – but with Wiki down for the count, I can't...

NO ONE will be denied that image.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 6:31 PM on July 4, 2010 [3 favorites]

Don't forget Patriot Cat.
posted by jimmythefish at 10:55 PM on July 4, 2010

Note that the cover date of the iconic Captain America issue is March 1941--nine months before Pearl Harbor and America's entry into World War II. So that cover is basically Joe Simon and Jack Kirby giving the finger to all the America-Firsters.

Suck it, Lindbergh!
posted by Rangeboy at 11:33 PM on July 4, 2010 [4 favorites]

Where's Wonder Woman?
posted by Carol Anne at 6:01 AM on July 5, 2010

Great timing on this; I just finished reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon, which is a fantastic novel that is set in the early years of comic books. The author borrows that Captain America cover, having the hero of a fictional comic book punching Hitler.
posted by JMOZ at 6:06 AM on July 5, 2010 [1 favorite]

Kavalier and Clay is great for that sort of thing - I'd highly recommend Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book as follow up reading.
posted by Artw at 7:55 AM on July 5, 2010

Where's Wonder Woman?

She's Greek!
posted by Artw at 7:56 AM on July 5, 2010

I particularly like the pad of post-it notes in the "Captain America lays Hitler Out" image that has "Sabotage Plans for USA" clearly written in English on it.

I like to think about what lies beneath the first page of that particular note pad -

"Build Atlantic Wall"

"Phone Deutsche Telecom about bill"

"Get Eva to collect dry cleaning"

"Exterminate untermenschen"

"Phone Henry Ford and say thanks for all the trucks"
posted by longbaugh at 10:04 AM on July 5, 2010 [1 favorite]

"Flag every Downfall parody video on YouTube as copyrighted content."
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 10:54 AM on July 5, 2010 [2 favorites]

Let's not forget the greatest heros of them all, The Time Haters, punching Hitler in the face.
posted by electroboy at 6:51 AM on July 6, 2010