A private Axis army – Our Flag Comics #3, December 1941

Earlier this year, the Big Blog o’Fun examined four comic book adventures starring The Flag, published in Our Flag Comics in 1941 and 1942; you can easily find these by going to the “search” box near the bottom of this page’s right-hand side bar and typing “Our Flag” (including the quotes). A “missing” issue of Our Flag surfaced a few days ago at the Digital Comic Museum: issue 3 from December 1941. After blogging about Our Flag Comics #4 back in March I’d intended to leave The Flag alone and not comment on any more of his adventures, but the second of two Flag stories in issue #3 is so entertainingly bizarre that I just can’t resist it. There’s also an additional (though admittedly minor) historical component to the tale which I also found interesting.

Fraud at the polls! – Our Flag Comics #4, February 1942

In regard to one of my Golden Age Comic recaps a few posts back, my friend Scott Casper asked me why I’d not drawn an arguably apt parallel between one of the story’s characters and a highly political present-day TV network. Let me tell you a little story…

Nazis in drag – Our Flag Comics #4, February 1942

That’s right, you heard me. Nazis. In drag.

This particular Golden Age Comics story is pretty weird even by this blog’s standards. It features as its key element Nazis dressed as elderly ladies in what is possibly the most convoluted anarchist plot to topple a government in world history.

To save the Bill of Rights we had to destroy it – Our Flag Comics #2, October 1941

I haven’t posted to this blog for a while now, and it’s been for a couple of reasons. First, I’ve been very busy with my work for Chess King – a really cool new PC chess program that “bridges the gap” between beginner and master, as Chess King contains features that every chessplayer, regardless of skill level, will find useful. The second reason is because I’ve been thinking about one particular Golden Age comic book story for literally weeks now, the very story we’re going to consider in this post. I’ve spent way too much time trying to decide what to make of this tale, and the damned thing still baffles me.

Three Cheers for the Red, White, and Blue – Our Flag Comics #2, October 1941

Over the past year or so that this blog’s been around, I’ve been arguing the point that many Golden Age comics of the late 1930’s and early 1940’s were more sophisticated than credited by most present day readers (and whether I’ve argued it successfully is a matter of debate). But some comics and characters of that period were admittedly pretty cheesy, though in many such cases the writers’ and artists’ hearts were definitely in the right place. One such character made his star-spangled debut in the fall of 1941 in the pages of Our Flag Comics, namely a patriotic fighter for freedom and justice called (rather unimaginatively) The Flag. I’ve recently been introduced to this character courtesy of the Digital Comic Museum, and I’ve decided to devote a blog post or three to his adventures.