At least it’s clear that Lou Fine did the artwork. The Ray’s origin is typically comic book strange...caused by a trip in a stratospheric balloon by reporter Happy Terrill, who then becomes a super being. GCD points out that the origin story is the only one in which the Ray’s legs are bare, rather than in tights.
Maybe I have asked this before, but have you ever noticed that superheroes, even before they are superheroes, look like superheroes? Happy is handsome, tall, and muscular. Wow, lucky guy! No wonder he became a super being. Physique and movie star looks aside, the Ray only lasted until 1943. Maybe good-looking Happy Terrill got drafted? Question mark means I don’t know.
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Some notable exceptions to proposition that those characters who become superheroes first look like superheroes would be Steve Rogers, Donald Blake, and Bruce Banner (though it might be argued that the Hulk, however super he might be, isn't clearly a hero). But, while Blake was depicted fragile, he was an otherwise good-looking fellow; and Banner, though not athletically built, was also a reasonably good-looking man. (The first depiction of Rogers was a bit ambiguous, in that the art of Simon and Kirby was … uhm … unpolished. In larger depictions, he's analogous to Blake.)
I think that most of the characters who become superheroes are drawn to be attractive for two reasons. First, on the demand side, the reader who likes to imagine himself as somehow someday becoming a superhero doesn't enjoy regarding his present self as repulsive. Second, on the supply side, would-be illustrators often begin with an aspiration to depict human beauty, and certainly much of their training is usually in such depiction. (The latter will be true even if they are self-taught, working from books, and looking at the work of established illustrators.)
Perhaps the Ray was concerned that relatives or old friends might be targetted; otherwise, there doesn't seem to be good reason for him to have hidden the fact that he was once [Slap-]Happy Terrill.
Amongst those opposed to war, munitions producers have often been seen as villainous. This perception would have been especially strong during episodes in which some of these producers sold to both sides in an impending or on-going conflict. Of course, once the US overtly entered World War II, American depictions of domestic munitions producers would generally change, as their sales would be restricted to the US and to its allies, and as attacking these producers would be seen as counter-productive to the war effort. (Now-a-days, the US Federal state itself determines sales of munitions to foreign buyers, so naturally they go to some of the very worst people and in any case to people who are soon thereafter in violent conflict with our military.)
The Rays origin suggest divine intervention.
The most curious aspect of this story though is the apparent death of Happy Terrill. The newspaper article's headline declares him missing and that he'd fallen into space. The word death even appears in that article which I presume refers to Happy. In the final panels he goes so far as to tell Styne to forget Happy Terrill and that from now on he's the Ray.
I've read a couple of other reprinted stories of the Ray in DC anthologies and in those Happy Terrill is alive and well and back to his duties as a newspaper reporter. I'd be curious to know how he explained his apparent resurrection and why he changed his mind about being only "the Ray from now on." Characters like these obviously work better having a secret identity and not just showing up when needed so there's that. But you have to wonder how this issue got resolved. If in fact it did. Stories of those times often paid little attention to their own continuity.
At least he wasn't orphaned and raised by a family of sunlamps.
DC rebooted the Ray in the '90s, centering on Happy's son, Ray Terrill, who was literally kept in the dark about his abilities, until he finds out and of course becomes the new Ray. It was quite well done.
Rick, I'm not slighting continuity, but unless each character has some sort of "bible," which explains their continuity/powers/weaknesses, then the writers might just fit whatever they think might move the story along. If an editor has to fill pages under deadline he might let some inconsistencies slip. Did the readers of the era notice? Maybe.
Smurfsmacker, ha! Good one! Not like Black Condor, who as a baby was fed by a mama condor the old-fashioned way, by regurgitating into his mouth.
Daniel, I well understand adolescent power fantasies. Those of us whose bodies did not fit into the heroic proportions mode definitely wanted to look like a god while kicking the asses of our enemies. As a pre-teen I remember fantasies of being Batman, then Superboy/Superman, and then in my early teens being Spider-Man. I also remember wanting to look like Conan or John Carter with muscles and hot women clinging to my legs. Besides good looks, having wealth like Batman seemed worth fantasizing about...but I knew I didn't need to be a heroic type to have money, at least. As I matured I understood the place that those types of fantastic characters have on readers. Ultimately it was easier to write about superheroes than to be one.
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