Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: fiction house, Fight Comics

The Genesis of Fiction House's Super-American, at Auction

Fight Comics #15 introduces its fictional patriotic superhero Super-American with a cover blurb explaining his arrival from the future.

Fight Comics #15 wastes no time in introducing its fictional patriotic superhero with a cover blurb on that issue:  "Super-American answers his nation's zero hour S.O.S. Washington invaded, fifth columnists run wild, the skies rain parachute troops. Then into the midst of the dictator-spawned violence zooms a future U.S. Soldier summoned by a despairing scientist from the advanced year 2350. Super-American — shot back through time to battle the hordes of the secret dictator."

With America's entry into World War II still five months in the future when Fight Comics #15 hit the newsstands the week of July 15, 1941, the country's public opinion on the conflict was still balanced on a knife's edge.  Even with much of the rest of the world at war and fears of Fifth Column activity rising in the United States, much of the country was still anti-war through most of that year.  But as was noted even in the media of that time, it was a different matter in comics.  While MLJ's the Shield was ahead of the curve with his January 1940 cover-dated debut, 1941 unleashed a veritable army of patriotic American heroes, including the likes of Captain America, Fighting Yank, U.S. Jones and quite a few others, including Fiction House's Super-American.  An underappreciated Fiction House superhero, there's a copy of the debut of Super-American in Fight Comics #15 (Fiction House, 1941) CBCS VG- 3.5 Slightly brittle pages up for auction in the 2022 October 13 The Fiction House Showcase Auction #40199 at Heritage Auctions.

House ads in other Fiction House comics that month paint a daunting picture of America's near-future as they explain the debut storyline of their new patriotic superhero character: "Blitz! Invasion by sea, land and air. Thousands of paratroops pock the sky. Swarms of dust-gray tanks rumble into the capital. Traitors riot. Factors, trains, and dams explode. Loyal citizens everywhere fall before the legions of the secret dictator. Abruptly, amid this totalitarian harvest, explodes a glistening, star-spangled figure — a strong-thewed godly youth in a futuristic uniform. Super-American! Citizens halt their desperate rout to stand amazed. Super-American? This must be the soldier summoned out of the future-year 2350 by Bruce, the USA's scientific genius. This must be the strange, lone fighter come to save the Nation in its hour of wild despair."

"Everywhere U.S. citizens rally, gripping their shattered weapons with new, ferocious strength. Fighting-light flares in their defeated eyes. 'Advance!' orders the future-sent soldier. 'Advance!' And he blasts into the steel-toothed ranks. Turning, the battered human tided follows their flashing leader. Super-American has saved the USA."

Despite that rousing introduction, Super-American's battle against the totalitarian harvest was short-lived.  Like his patriotic costumed-hero counterparts in Rangers Comics, the original Rangers of Freedom, Super-American disappeared after four issues, to be replaced by more traditional war-themed comic stories.  The character was drawn by Fiction House regular Dan Zolnerowich, and remains a unique example of the patriotic Golden Age superheroes of his time, and there's a copy of the debut of Super-American in Fight Comics #15 (Fiction House, 1941) CBCS VG- 3.5 Slightly brittle pages up for auction in the 2022 October 13 The Fiction House Showcase Auction #40199 at Heritage Auctions. In addition to the items listed in this post, you can check out Fiction House titles such as Planet Comics, Jumbo Comics, Jungle Comics, Fight Comics, Rangers Comics, Wings Comics and much more. New to collecting Fiction House or want to learn more?  Bleeding Cool is doing an ongoing deep dive into the history behind Fiction House in the run-up to this auction. If you've never bid at Heritage Auctions before, you can get further information, you can check out their FAQ on the bidding process and related matters.

Fight Comics #15 (Fiction House, 1941) CBCS VG- 3.5 Slightly brittle pages. First appearance of Super-American, who gets the cover. Shark Brodie and Power Man appearances. CBCS notes, "2 center wraps detached." Overstreet 2022 VG 4.0 value = $580.

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