How many patriotic costumed heroes were there in the early days of comics? Well, quite a few, anyway. Some characters that came after the staggering, roof-raising sales of Captain America Comics (by Simon and Kirby) their publishers of the patriotic goodguys wanting to have lightning strike twice. That is where I think Flag Man fits in. I like his non-Flag Man name (Captain Hornet...maybe he stung his opponents.) The Public Domain Super Heroes page on Flag Man has this information:
“Captain (later Major) Hornet, Aide to the President, became a costumed, super-strong, killer vigilante known as Flagman [sic]. He fought the enemies who could not be dealt with by military regulations or the law. He was active both on the home-front as well as in the South Pacific against the Japanese.”
They go on to explain his bona fides for being a super hero, without super powers:
“Flagman was an agile and skilled fighter and capable of feats of strength, being able to bend prison bars with little effort. He was assisted by his sidekick, Rusty. Flagman drove a green ‘super-car,’ which was capable of high speeds.”
Flag-Man lasted in the first 14 issues of Captain Aero, and then got in his green super car and left the comic book business.
This is the first Flag Man story from Holyoke’s Captain Aero Comics #1 (1941), drawn by Allen Ulmer and Ray Willner.
