Star Spangled Comics
Entry updated 6 April 2026. Tagged: Comics, Publication.
US Comic (1941-1952). DC Comics. 130 issues. Artists include Henry Boltinoff, Jack Kirby, Jim Mooney, Fred Ray, Jimmy Thompson and Chuck Winter. Script writers include Otto Binder, Henry Boltinoff, Don C Cameron, Jack Kirby, Fred Ray, Jerry Siegel and Manly Wade Wellman. Initially 68 pages, typically with six long strips; eventually down to 36 pages with four long strips, with short strips and text pieces as filler throughout its run.
Though Star Spangled Comics was mostly dominated by Superhero strips – though in Newsboy Legion the superhero was only one of five leads – they mostly fought mundane, or at best eccentric, villains; genre elements were infrequent after the early issues. During the war years occasional plots involved an Invention or formula of military importance, which would be stolen or attempts made to do so, but these tended to be McGuffins. The most memorable strips were The Star Spangled Kid and The Ghost-Breaker; Robotman was of some interest, but later suffered from being too flippant; whilst Kirby and Simon were involved, The Newsboy Legion was often lively; other strips were generally unremarkable, but had their moments.
"Spoiled young Sylvester Pemberton and his brow-beaten chauffeur Pat Dugan" are The Star Spangled Kid and sidekick Stripesey (reversing the Cliché of the adult superhero and teenaged sidekick), whose costumes patriotically match their names. They had 2-3 strips in each of #1-#6, then one per issue. Sylvester's role-playing as a petty intellectual brat – urging the firing of staff or complaining of being interrupted whilst reading the treatise "pathological studies of a goldfish" – torments his father; though this is to ensure no one suspects his alias, it seems a little sadistic. #1's stories see the pair fight "saboteurs ... who seek to spike the mighty efforts of America to rearm itself" using a giant spiked piloted wheel, and then an evil Scientist who can become Mad Scientist Dr Weerd by drinking a formula; he builds a Mecha and becomes a recurring villain in the early issues. #5 has a scientist realizing "by concentrating the Moon's rays on a human brain I could create a super brain" (see Intelligence), trying it on himself: it works, but a side-effect has his head turning into a glowing sphere, to become the criminal madman Moonglow whenever the moon is out. In #6 the Germans build an earthquake machine, intending to destroy the Statue of Liberty – mainly, it seems, to demoralize the French (when a Nazi radio broadcast precipitately announces its destruction they are "crushed, bewildered", crying out "the symbol of our hope ... gone"). #17 reveals the Germans have constructed an Underground city in the Arizona desert to build planes and weapons for an imminent Invasion. #25's antagonist is Mr Gadget, creator of small Inventions. #81 has Sylvester's parents decide he needs a sister, so adopt Merry from the local orphanage. Learning her new brother's secret, she decides to become a superhero too, despite his opposition, and arms herself with gimmicks such as a bulletproof baseball glove and a gun that fires a mini-tornado; they appear together for several issues, until the Star Spangled Kid goes deep-sea fishing in #84 and she becomes the lead. The title remained "The Star Spangled Kid featuring Merry, the Girl of a Thousand Gimmicks" for #85 and #86, becoming "Merry, the Girl of a Thousand Gimmicks" for #87-#90, then ending. In #86 Merry helps some Native Americans, the strip informing its readers of how in the past they "lived a rugged existence, struggling against nature. The Indian of today, living on reservations, often strikes gold or oil and reaps the benefit of civilization!" #89 has her foiling an invasion from Mars.
Captain X is an American journalist working in London during World War Two, who – as Captain X and a member of the RAF – has "harnessed the tremendous power of U237 – Uranium power!" (see Nuclear Energy) enabling him to build Inventions that help him to foil German plans – such as their attempt to dam the English Channel using "Viscid" a liquid which becomes metal when coming into contact with water (#1). (Last appearance, #7). Another superhero has a gun which fires a strong, sticky web and at one point is referred to as "spider man" by the radio; but he calls himself the Tarantula. In #13 he defeats Supervillain The Fly. (Last appearance, #19)
#7 introduces three new series: Robotman is Paul Dennis: after being killed by criminals, a scientist encases his brain in a mechanical body powered by cosmic rays (see Cyborgs); when necessary he wears plastic flesh to pass as human. Occasionally he faces Robots (for example, in #17, #24 and #81); in #29, wanting a pet, he builds Robbie the Robotdog - who can talk, is intelligent and becomes his sidekick. In #77 they face Rubberman who has stretching superpowers. (last issue #82, then moves to Detective Comics). TNT and Dan the Dyna-Mite are a chemistry teacher and pupil who discover radioactive salts charge them with atomic energy which, aside from generic Superpowers, enables them to generate heat (TNT) and electricity (Dan), and so become superheroes. They activate their powers with a handshake and can make dramatic entrances, wearing clothes doused in a chemical which causes their spontaneous combustion in a cloud of smoke, to expose the costumes beneath. (Last issue #23.) The Newsboy Legion, created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, comprises four orphans from the Suicide Slum who sell newspapers and act as vigilantes, guided by The Guardian, a costumed superhero without superpowers but with a bullet-proof shield; out of costume, he is the local policeman, though the Legion is unaware of this. (Last issue #64.)
#20 brings in Liberty Bell, whose debut was in Boy Commandos #1 (1942). She has no superpowers (though owning a small bell that rings whenever the actual Liberty Bell is struck), but is costumed, intelligent and athletic. Here she rescues a politician who called for the disbanding of the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps, arguing that war is man's business and women belong in the home. His mind is changed (see Feminism). (last issue #68). #65 brought in Robin, the Boy Wonder to star in his own strip, which ran for the remainder of the comic's life. At first Batman is largely absent; he becomes more prominent for a while (the most interesting period), before returning to the background. In #71 Professor Carter Nichols Hypnotizes Robin to send him into the Stone Age (see Prehistoric SF; Time Travel) where "cave men" (see Origin of Man) are interacting with Dinosaurs (see Scientific Errors); Nichols had first used this technique in Batman #24 (1944) and would use it on Robin again in Star Spangled Comics #73. #102 has a boy for whom an accident had caused superlative hearing (when blindfolded): criminals kidnap him to hear tumblers clicking in safes and suchlike. Though many of the Robin strips are signed "Bob Kane" he seems to have been involved in only a couple.
From #91, save for Robin, the strips were non-genre adventures; a partial exception was The Ghost-Breaker (#122-#130) featuring Dr Thirteen, who on learning his ancestors were repeatedly persecuted for possessing supernatural powers because they were engaged in scientific investigation, dedicates himself to debunking reports of ghosts (see Supernatural Creatures) and other examples of superstition. However, in #130, a horticulturalist who falsely claims to have grown human/orchid hybrids has successfully created an "octopus cactus which can devour a whole steer" (and in the end, himself), plus a prehensile vine.
After #130 Star Spangled Comics was renamed Star Spangled War Stories (1952-1977, 205 issues), continuing the numbering for a few issues before restarting from #1. It was a completely different comic, featuring war stories as indicated; reusing an existing title rather than a new one reduced postage costs, so this was a not uncommon practice (see Moon Girl). [SP]
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