Saturday, April 28, 2018

WINGS COMICS "Captain WIngs Meets the Commie Korean called 'The Fanatic'!"

Ten-Hut!
Though you leathernecks and dogfaces may not realize it from this cover...
...this was, arguably, the first Korean War comic book!
Yes, behind this cover from Fiction House's Wings Comics #105 (1949) lurked the first comic book story featuring Americans battling Communist North Koreans...a year before the war broke out!
Note: May be NSFW/NSFS due to racial stereotypes common to the era!
To go a bit "meta" for a second, I'd suspect a Commie told the Fanatic that his name meant "Patriot" or "Hero" in English!
Otherwise why use such an obvious villainous name?
Cover/interior artist Bob Lubbers was also the Art Director and primary cover artist of Fiction House's comic line.
So if his interior artwork seems a little loose, or rushed, remember he was dealing with a humongous workload encompassing a dozen books at any one time!
Note, BTW, that the Koreans are wearing modified WWII Japanese uniforms and flying Japanese aircraft.
Even the precognitive unknown writer didn't know the Chinese and Russians were supplying uniforms and aircraft to the NKs!
Captain Wings was a black-ops operator in the vein of Blackhawk or Captain Midnight, going wherever his country needed him.
Whaever the current threat was, from Nazis to Commies to flying saucer-piloting aliens, Captain Wings fought them all...usually with a beautiful woman at his side...and always won!
Unfortunately, the ultimate villain, cancellation, caught up with him and Wings Comics in 1954!
Until next time...
Dis-missed!

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