Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd president of the United States from 1945 to 1953, succeeding upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt after serving as vice president, he implemented the Marshall Plan to rebuild the economy of Western Europe, established the Truman Doctrine and NATO. Truman was elected to the United States Senate in 1934 and gained national prominence as chairman of the Truman Committee aimed at waste and inefficiency in wartime contracts. Soon after succeeding to the presidency he authorized the first and only use of nuclear weapons in war. Truman's administration renounced isolationism, he rallied his New Deal coalition during the 1948 presidential election and won a surprise victory that secured his own presidential term. Truman oversaw the Berlin Airlift of 1948; when Communist North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, he gained United Nations approval for the large policy action known as the Korean War. It saved South Korea but the Chinese intervened, driving back the UN/US forces and preventing a rollback of Communism in North Korea.
On domestic issues, bills endorsed by Truman faced opposition from a conservative Congress, but his administration guided the U. S. economy through the post-war economic challenges. In 1948 he submitted the first comprehensive civil rights legislation and issued Executive Orders to start racial integration in the military and federal agencies. Allegations of corruption in the Truman administration became a central campaign issue in the 1952 presidential election and accounted for Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower's electoral victory against Democrat Adlai Stevenson II. Truman's financially difficult retirement was marked by the founding of his presidential library and the publication of his memoirs; when he left office, Truman's presidency was criticized, but scholars rehabilitated his image in the 1960s and he is ranked as one of the best presidents. Truman was born in Lamar, Missouri, on May 8, 1884, the oldest child of John Anderson Truman and Martha Ellen Young Truman, his namesake was Harrison "Harry" Young.
His middle initial "S" honors Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young. A brother, John Vivian, was born soon followed by sister Mary Jane. Truman's ancestry is English and less Scotch-Irish, German or French. John Truman was a livestock dealer; the family lived in Lamar until Harry was ten months old, when they moved to a farm near Harrisonville, Missouri. The family next moved to Belton, in 1887 to his grandparents' 600-acre farm in Grandview; when Truman was six, his parents moved to Independence, so he could attend the Presbyterian Church Sunday School. He did not attend a traditional school. While living in Independence, he served as a Shabbos goy for Jewish neighbors, doing tasks for them on Shabbat that their religion prevented them from doing on that day. Truman was interested in music and history, all encouraged by his mother, with whom he was close; as president, he solicited political as well as personal advice from her. He rose at five every morning to practice the piano, which he studied more than twice a week until he was fifteen.
Truman worked as a page at the 1900 Democratic National Convention in Kansas City. After graduating from Independence High School in 1901, Truman enrolled in Spalding's Commercial College, a Kansas City business school, he made use of his business college experience to obtain a job as a timekeeper on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, sleeping in hobo camps near the rail lines. He took on a series of clerical jobs, was employed in the mail room of The Kansas City Star. Truman and his brother Vivian worked as clerks at the National Bank of Commerce in Kansas City, he returned to the Grandview farm in 1906, where he lived until entering the army in 1917 after the beginning of the Great War. During this period, he courted Bess Wallace. Truman said he intended to propose again, but he wanted to have a better income than that earned by a farmer. To that end, during his years on the farm and after World War I, he became active in several business ventures, including a lead and zinc mine near Commerce, Oklahoma, a company that bought land and leased the oil drilling rights to prospectors, speculation in Kansas City real estate.
Truman derived some income from these enterprises, but none proved successful in the long term. Truman is the only president since William McKinley not to earn a college degree. In addition to having attended business college, from 1923 to 1925 he took night courses toward an LL. B. at the Kansas City Law dropped out after losing reelection as county judge. He was informed by attorneys in the Kansas City area that his education and experience were sufficient to receive a license to practice law. However, he did not pursue it. While serving as president in 1947, Truman applied for a license to practice law. A friend, an attorney began working out the arrangements, informed Truman that his application had to be notarized. By the time Truman received this information he had changed his mind, so he never sought notarization. After rediscovery of Truman's application, in 1996 the Missour
Liberty Legion
The Liberty Legion is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team was first created in 1976 and set during World War II. Composed of existing heroes from Marvel's 1940s Golden Age of Comic Books predecessor, Timely Comics, the team was assembled and named by writer Roy Thomas in a story arc running through The Invaders #5–6 and Marvel Premiere #29–30. Inspired by the Liberty Legion, a second fictional team called the Liberteens was published in 2007 as part of the Avengers Initiative; the genesis of the Marvel Comics superhero team the Liberty Legion came in the 1970s' World War II-set The Invaders, starring a team composed of Captain America, the Sub-Mariner, the original Human Torch, plus sidekicks Bucky and Toro, all characters that had appeared in Marvel's 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics. The Invaders #5 featured cameo appearances by fellow Timely characters Miss America, the Patriot, the Whizzer, who would go on to the Liberty Legion, the Fin, who would not.
The team was formally assembled and named the following month in Marvel Premiere #29, with additional Timely superheroes the Blue Diamond, Jack Frost, Red Raven and the Thin Man joining. The team went on to star in two more installments of this four-story arc, in The Invaders #6 and Marvel Premiere #30, all written by Roy Thomas and illustrated by various artists. A new, unrelated version of the Liberty Legion, known as the Liberteens, based in modern-day Pennsylvania, debuted in Avengers: The Initiative Annual #1. "America's Homefront Heroes of World War II", the Liberty Legion differed from the Invaders by confronting Axis plots and influence in and around the United States as well as fifth columnists, rather than in the overseas theaters of war. It differed by consisting of obscure Timely Comics superheroes, rather than stars Captain America, the Sub-Mariner, the original Human Torch, sidekicks; the Liberty Legion, included only two of the company's secondary tier – the Whizzer and Miss America, who in late-1940s comics were members of Timely's first superteam, the All-Winners Squad.
In the team's modern-day retcon origin, the Liberty Legion was assembled in 1942 by Captain America sidekick Bucky, the only Invaders member to escape a brainwashing trap by the Red Skull. To rescue his teammates, he gathered: The Blue Diamond Jack Frost Miss America The Patriot Red Raven The Thin Man The Whizzer The Blue Diamond, Jack Frost, the Thin Man were here reintroduced into Marvel continuity, appearing for the first time since the Golden Age. Unofficial team leader the Patriot had appeared as a simulacrum projected from the mind of Rick Jones in The Avengers #97, but was otherwise reintroduced here; the winged Red Raven, who'd starred in the single issue of a namesake title in 1940, had re-entered the modern Marvel universe with The X-Men #44. The Whizzer had returned as an older character in Giant-Size Avengers #1, relating how he and the since-deceased Miss America had married each other years before; the Liberteens, whose name is a homophone of "libertine", is a young group of superhumans inspired by the Liberty Legion and formed as part of the Fifty State Initiative of government-sanctioned superhero teams.
The group is first seen as the Pennsylvania-based Initiative team. The team consists of: Revolutionary - A swordsman, inspired by the Patriot and is the leader of the Liberteens, he was replaced by a Skrull. Blue Eagle - He is inspired by Red Raven and possesses artificial blue wings that grand him flight, he wears goggles to protect his eyes from high velocities and carries two handguns. Hope - Inspired by Blue Diamond, Hope has a diamond body that grants her super-strength, enhanced durability, speed and agility, indestructibility and space vacuum adaption. However, she does have a weak point similar to diamonds. Iceberg - Inspired by Jack Frost, his icy body provides him with super-strength and enhanced durability. Ms. America - Inspired by Miss America, she has superhuman strength, stamina, durability and high-speed flight. Whiz Kid - He was inspired by the Whizzer; the character had appeared as the super-speedster courier for the law firm Goodman, Kurtzberg & Holliway in She-Hulk vol. 2 2-D - Inspired by Thin Man, he has a flat malleable body.
In public, the Liberteens use "liberty"- and "America"-based puns. In private, the group is shown celebrating victory with debauchery, with the exception of the straitlaced leader, the Revolutionary, revealed to be a Skrull sleeper agent involved in preparations for that shape-shifting alien race's Secret Invasion. During the invasion, upon the beginning of overt hostilities, a loosely organized band of Initiative members including the Liberteens join forces with the Skrull Kill Krew to identify and defeat the Skrulls within their own ranks, the Revolutionary among them. Afterward, Whiz Kid saves her fellow Initiative members from the Skrulls' poisonous gas, before succumbing to it herself. During the "Fear Itself" storyline, representative of the Liberteens are called by Prodigy when the Initiative is restarted and briefed on the hammers that the Serpent summoned to Earth. Ms. America, 2-D, Iceberg leave the Liberteens an
Stan Lee
Stan Lee was an American comic book writer, editor and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business to become Marvel Comics' primary creative leader for two decades, leading its expansion from a small division of a publishing house to a multimedia corporation that dominated the comics industry. In collaboration with others at Marvel—particularly co-writer/artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko—he co-created numerous popular fictional characters, including superheroes Spider-Man, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Scarlet Witch and Ant-Man. In doing so, he pioneered a more naturalistic approach to writing superhero comics in the 1960s, in the 1970s he challenged the restrictions of the Comics Code Authority, indirectly leading to changes in its policies. In the 1980s he pursued development of Marvel properties with mixed results. Following his retirement from Marvel in the 1990s, he remained a public figurehead for the company, made cameo appearances in films and television shows based on Marvel characters, on which he received an executive producer credit.
Meanwhile, he continued independent creative ventures into his 90s, until his death in 2018. Lee was inducted into the comic book industry's Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1995, he received the NEA's National Medal of Arts in 2008. Lee was raised in a Jewish family. In a 2002 survey of whether he believed in God, he stated, "Well, let me put it this way... No, I'm not going to try to be clever. I don't know. I just don't know."From 1945 to 1947, Lee lived in the rented top floor of a brownstone in the East 90s in Manhattan. He married Joan Clayton Boocock from Newcastle, England, on December 5, 1947, in 1949, the couple bought a house in Woodmere, New York, on Long Island, living there through 1952, their daughter Joan Celia "J. C." Lee was born in 1950. Another daughter, Jan Lee, died three days after delivery in 1953; the Lees resided in the Long Island town of Hewlett Harbor, New York, from 1952 to 1980. They owned a condominium on East 63rd Street in Manhattan from 1975 to 1980, during the 1970s owned a vacation home in Remsenburg, New York.
For their move to the West Coast in 1981, they bought a home in West Hollywood, California owned by comedian Jack Benny's radio announcer Don Wilson. In September 2012, Lee underwent an operation to insert a pacemaker, which required cancelling planned appearances at conventions. On July 6, 2017, his wife of 69 years, died of complications from a stroke, she was 95 years old. In April 2018, The Hollywood Reporter published a report that claimed Lee was a victim of elder abuse. In August 2018, Morgan was issued a restraining order to stay away from Lee, his daughter, or his associates for three years. Stanley Martin Lieber was born on December 28, 1922, in Manhattan, New York City, in the apartment of his Romanian-born Jewish immigrant parents and Jack Lieber, at the corner of West 98th Street and West End Avenue in Manhattan, his father, trained as a dress cutter, worked only sporadically after the Great Depression, the family moved further uptown to Fort Washington Avenue, in Washington Heights, Manhattan.
Lee had one younger brother named Larry Lieber. He said in 2006 that as a child he was influenced by books and movies those with Errol Flynn playing heroic roles. By the time Lee was in his teens, the family was living in an apartment at 1720 University Avenue in The Bronx. Lee described it as "a third-floor apartment facing out back". Lee and his brother shared the bedroom. Lee attended DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx. In his youth, Lee enjoyed writing and entertained dreams of writing the "Great American Novel" one day, he said that in his youth he worked such part-time jobs as writing obituaries for a news service and press releases for the National Tuberculosis Center. At fifteen, Lee entered a high school essay competition sponsored by the New York Herald Tribune, called "The Biggest News of the Week Contest." Lee claimed to have won the prize for three straight weeks, goading the newspaper to write him and ask him to let someone else win. The paper suggested he look into writing professionally, which Lee claimed "probably changed my life."
He graduated from high school early, aged sixteen and a half, in 1939 and joined the WPA Federal Theatre Project. The Stan Lee Foundation was founded in 2010 to focus on literacy and the arts, its stated goals include supporting programs and ideas that improve access to literacy resources, as well as promoting diversity, national literacy and the arts. Lee donated portions of his personal effects to the University of Wyoming at various times, between 1981 and 2001. Lee died at the age of 95 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, on November 12, 2018, after being rushed there in a medical emergency earlier in the day. Earlier that year, Lee revealed to the public that he had been battling pneumonia and in February was rushed to the hospital for worsening conditions at around the same time; the immediate cause
Golden Age of Comic Books
The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era of American comic books from the late 1930s to circa 1950. During this time, modern comic books were first published and increased in popularity; the superhero archetype was created and many well-known characters were introduced, including Superman, Captain Marvel, Captain America, Wonder Woman. The first recorded use of the term "Golden Age" was by Richard A. Lupoff in an article, "Re-Birth", published in issue one of the fanzine Comic Art in April 1960. An event cited by many as marking the beginning of the Golden Age was the 1938 debut of Superman in Action Comics #1, published by Detective Comics. Superman's popularity helped make comic books a major arm of publishing, which led rival companies to create superheroes of their own to emulate Superman's success. Between 1939 and 1941 Detective Comics and its sister company, All-American Publications, introduced popular superheroes such as Batman and Robin, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Doctor Fate, the Atom, Green Arrow and Aquaman.
Timely Comics, the 1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics, had million-selling titles featuring the Human Torch, the Sub-Mariner, Captain America. Although DC and Timely characters are well-remembered today, circulation figures suggest that the best-selling superhero title of the era was Fawcett Comics' Captain Marvel with sales of about 1.4 million copies per issue. The comic was published biweekly at one point to capitalize on its popularity. Patriotic heroes donning red and blue were popular during the time of the second World War following The Shield's debut in 1940. Many heroes of this time period battled the Axis powers, with covers such as Captain America Comics #1 showing the title character punching Nazi leader Adolf Hitler; as comic books grew in popularity, publishers began launching titles that expanded into a variety of genres. Dell Comics' non-superhero characters outsold the superhero comics of the day; the publisher featured licensed movie and literary characters such as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Roy Rogers and Tarzan.
It was during this era. Additionally, MLJ's introduction of Archie Andrews in Pep Comics #22 gave rise to teen humor comics, with the Archie Andrews character remaining in print well into the 21st century. At the same time in Canada, American comic books were prohibited importation under the War Exchange Conservation Act which restricted the importation of non-essential goods; as a result, a domestic publishing industry flourished during the duration of the war which were collectively informally called the Canadian Whites. The educational comic book Dagwood Splits. According to historian Michael A. Amundson, appealing comic-book characters helped ease young readers' fear of nuclear war and neutralize anxiety about the questions posed by atomic power, it was during this period that long-running humor comics debuted, including EC's Mad and Carl Barks' Uncle Scrooge in Dell's Four Color Comics. In 1953, the comic book industry hit a setback when the United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency was created in order to investigate the problem of juvenile delinquency.
After the publication of Fredric Wertham's Seduction of the Innocent the following year that claimed comics sparked illegal behavior among minors, comic book publishers such as EC's William Gaines were subpoenaed to testify in public hearings. As a result, the Comics Code Authority was created by the Association of Comics Magazine Publishers to enact self-censorship by comic book publishers. At this time, EC canceled its crime and horror titles and focused on Mad. During the late 1940s, the popularity of superhero comics waned. To retain reader interest, comic publishers diversified into other genres, such as war, science fiction, romance and horror. Many superhero titles were converted to other genres. In 1946, DC Comics' Superboy and Green Arrow were switched from More Fun Comics into Adventure Comics so More Fun could focus on humor. In 1948 All-American Comics, featuring Green Lantern, Johnny Thunder and Dr. Mid-Nite, was replaced with All-American Western; the following year, Flash Comics and Green Lantern were cancelled.
In 1951 All Star Comics, featuring the Justice Society of America, became All-Star Western. The next year Star Spangled Comics, featuring Robin, was retitled Star Spangled War Stories. Sensation Comics, featuring Wonder Woman, was cancelled in 1953; the only DC superhero comics to continue publishing through the 1950s were Action Comics, Adventure Comics, Detective Comics, Superboy, Wonder Woman and World's Finest Comics. Plastic Man appeared in Quality Comics' Police Comics until 1950, when its focus switched to detective stories but his solo title continued bimonthly until issue 64, cover dated November 1956. Timely Comics' The Human Torch was canceled with issue #35 and Marvel Mystery Comics, featuring the Human Torch, with issue #93 became the horror comic Marvel Tales. Sub-Mariner Comics was cancelled with issue #42 and Captain America Comics, by Captain America's Weird Tales, with #75. Harvey Comics' Black Cat was cancelled in 1951 and rebooted as a horror comic that year—the title would change to Black Cat Mystery, Black Cat Mystic, Black Cat Western for the final two issues, which included Black Cat stories.
Lev Gleason Publications' Daredevil was edged out of his title by the Little Wise Guys in 1950. Fawcett Comics' Whiz Comics, Master Comics and Captain Marvel Adventure
Al Gabriele
Albert Gabriele, or Alfred Gabriele, better known as Al Gabriele, was an American comic book artist during the 1940s period fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books. He is known for his work on some of Marvel Comics' earliest Captain America and Sub-Mariner stories, for co-creating the company's superheroes Black Marvel, Miss America, the Whizzer, his last name is given erroneously in at least some standard references as "Al Gabrielle", with two "L"s, though other references and the vast majority of his credits spell his name with one "L". Writer and artist credits were not given during the 1930s–1940s period fans and historians refer to as the Golden Age of comic books, making full bibliographies difficult for many of the medium's pioneering creators. Al Gabriele's first confirmed credit is as one of three inkers over penciler and future industry legend Jack Kirby on the lead story in Blue Bolt Comics #4, from the publisher Novelty Press. Gabriele would continue to work on that character while freelancing for Fiction House, Harvey Comics, Prize Comics, most notably Timely Comics, the 1930s–1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics.
There Gabriele helped provide art for the hit characters Captain America and the Sub-Mariner, as well as for the popular second-tier characters the Angel and the Destroyer. Gabriele's first confirmed work for Timely was both penciling and inking the "Mantor the Magician" feature in The Human Torch #2. Circa 1941–1942, Gabriele freelanced through the Jerry Iger Studio. Gabriele's other early work, some of it reprinted in the 1960s Silver Age of comic books and in the modern era, includes penciling and inking the debut of the Black Marvel, an early creation of future Marvel editor Stan Lee, in Mystic Comics #5. On Captain America, Gabriele inked pencil art by co-creator and future industry legend Jack Kirby on some stories in Captain America Comics #3–4 and All Winners Comics #1, on the cover and in all three of the hero's stories in Captain America Comics #8, he would continue contributing to that series and to Sub-Mariner Comics through 1949 and the ends of their respective runs. Gabriele and fellow artist Al Avison, plus an unknown writer, crafted the debut of Timely's super-speedster the Whizzer in USA Comics #1, though precise creator credits for the character are difficult to confirm.
The Whizzer would go to appear in most issues of USA Comics and was part of Timely/Marvel's first superhero team, the All-Winners Squad. The character returned, much older, in 1970s Marvel Comics stories, as well as in flashback stories set during World War II. With writer Otto Binder, penciler-inker Gabriele created the superheroine Miss America in Marvel Mystery Comics #49. Throughout the decade, Gabriele provided art as well to Timely's Blonde Phantom Comics, Comedy Comics, Kid Comics, Young Allies Comics, he worked as well for Quality Comics and inking covers and stories both of the spirit-of-America character Uncle Sam in National Comics and Uncle Sam Quarterly. Gabriele penciled and inked the character Yankee Eagle in Quality's Smash Comics. Gabriele's last confirmed comics work is inking the eight-page Captain America story "The Man Who Wouldn't Give Up", penciled by Carl Burgos in Marvel Mystery Comics #92, the final issue of that title; the Grand Comics Database lists a tentative Gabriele credit as the cover artist of the following month's Captain America Comics #73.
As inker, unless otherwise specified for penciler, or for penciler & inker Marvel Super-Heroes #15 Mystic Comics #5 "Origin of the Black Marvel" The Invaders #10 Captain America #22 "The Wrath of the Reaper"The Original Black Cat #6 Pocket Comics #1 "Origin of the Black Cat" Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Captain America Captain America Comics #2 Tuk, Caveboy: "The Valley of the Mist" Captain America Comics #3 "The Return of the Red Skull" Captain America Comics #4 "The Unholy Legion" Captain America Comics #8: "The Strange Mystery of The Ruby of the Nile... And its Heritage of Horror" "Murder Stalks The Maneuvers" "Case Of The Black Witch"Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Sub-Mariner Sub-Mariner Comics #4 "The Horror That Walked"Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age All-Winners Comics All Winners Comics #1 Black Marvel: "The Order of the Hood" Captain America: "The Case of the Hollow Men" Marvel Milestones: Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate X-Men, Microman & Mantor the Magician The Human Torch #2 Mantor the Magician: "Hidden Treasure Means Death" Al Gabrielle at Lambiek Comiclopedia.
Archived 2009-11-26
Miss America (Madeline Joyce)
Miss America is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She first appeared in Marvel Mystery Comics #49, was created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Gabriele for Timely Comics, the 1940s precursor of Marvel, in the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books; as superheroes began to fade out of fashion in the post-World War II era, comic-book publishers scrambled to explore new types of stories and audiences. In an attempt to appeal to young female readers, comics companies began introducing some of the first significant female superheroes since Wonder Woman in 1941; these new female leads would include Timely's Blonde Phantom, Golden Girl, Sun Girl, Venus, its teen-humor star Millie the Model. Quality Comics had featured an unrelated character called Miss America in Military Comics in 1941 and 1942. In 1943, Timely Comics published Marvel Mystery Comics #49, featuring a new character by the name "Miss America". Following two appearances in Marvel Mystery, Timely's Miss America received her own book, Miss America Comics in early 1944.
Some sources list Ken Bald as the cover and interior artist, though Vincent Fago, Timely's interim editor for the drafted Stan Lee, recalled, "I hired a friend from the animation business, Pauline Loth, she did the art for the first Miss America book". The series, changed format with its second issue to become the larger, magazine-sized Miss America, though with the conventional comic book combination of glossy covers and newsprint interior. Initiating this format as vol. 1, #2, the publication relegated its superhero to a secondary role and began focusing on teen-romance comics stories plus articles on such topics as cooking and makeup. This second issue—which featured a photo-cover of an unknown model dressed in the Miss America costume—also introduced the long-running, teen-humor comics feature "Patsy Walker". Together with the single superhero comic, Miss America ran 126 issues in a complicated numbering that continued through vol. 7, #50, the 83rd issue. It reverted to comic book format as Miss America vol.
1, #51–93. The magazine format had used photo covers of everyday teens. In 1951, starting with vol. #7, #42, the logo changed to Patsy Walker Starring in Miss America, with covers now depicting high schooler, boyfriend, Buzz Baxter, romantic-rival, Hedy Wolfe, in cartoon art by, variously, Al Jaffee or Morris Weiss. Aware teenaged heiress Madeline Joyce was born in Washington, D. C. and was the niece and ward of radio mogul James Bennet, sponsoring a Professor Lawson, a scientist claiming to have gotten superpowers through a device, struck by lightning. Joyce, secretly tampering with the contraption during a thunderstorm that night, herself gained the ability to fly and great strength after lightning struck, knocking her unconscious; the panicky scientist, seeing the dead young woman, destroyed the device and killed himself. Joyce survived to fight crime as the patriotically garbed Miss America, appearing in Marvel Mystery Comics and All Winners Comics. In the latter, she was a member of Timely's superhero team the All-Winners Squad, fighting alongside Captain America and Bucky, the original Human Torch and Toro, the Sub-Mariner, the Whizzer in the group's two Golden Age adventures.
In the second of these, she wore glasses, one of the few superheroes to require them. Miss America made her final Golden Age appearance in Marvel Mystery Comics #85. Joyce was revealed to have married fellow Golden Age superhero Robert Frank; because the two had been exposed to radiation, their first child was the radioactive mutant Nuklo. However, Joyce died of complications stemming from childbirth with her second, stillborn child due to radiation poisoning from her first offspring while at Wundagore Mountain, Transia, it was suggested during this time that Joyce and Frank were the parents of Avengers members Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, although this was refuted when it was revealed that Magneto and his wife Magda were those twins' biological parents. Miss America was retconned in 1976 as a member of the World War II super-team the Liberty Legion, set between the creation of the Invaders and the post-war All-Winners Squad; as a member of the Liberty Legion, she battled the Red Skull, alongside the Liberty Legion and Invaders she batted the Nazi super-team Super-Axis.
Miss America returned from the dead for 24 hours in the 2006 miniseries X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl, where she was revealed to be spending an eternity in Hell. However, in the All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z, select entries of characters featured in that miniseries, including that of the Ancient One, state that the characters in hell were impostors. Miss America's reanimated corpse appears as a cyborg resident of the Core, a subterranean city populated by advanced robots; the cyborg does battle with Miss America's former teammate, the Human Torch, attempts to lull him into a false sense of security. The Torch however, realizes that the cyborg is not his old friend a puppet using her body. An electrical discharge from an unknown experimental piece of equipment gave Madeline Joyce the ability to levitate herself through psionic means. By using her levitation ability in connection with planned leaps, Miss America could use her power to fly, she could attain any height at which she could
Charles Nicholas
"Charles Nicholas" is the pseudonymous house name of three early creators of American comic books for the Fox Feature Syndicate and Fox Comics: Chuck Cuidera, Jack Kirby, Charles Wojtkoski. The name originated at Eisner & Iger, one of the first comic-book "packagers" that created comics on demand for publishers entering the new medium during the 1930s–1940s Golden Age of comic books; the three creators are listed in order of birth year, below. Will Eisner, co-principal of the comic-book packager Eisner & Iger during the 1930s–1940s Golden Age of comic books, himself a comics creator, recalled in 1999 that at his company, We had a whole bunch of phony names like Chuck's. We just handed them out with the salary. There was a period in comics beginning with the middle- to late-'30s when none of the artists owned their own drawings, they were hired by the publishers... used what the pulp magazines used – a thing called a house name. A fake name. So the publishers not only owned the comic strip, they owned the name, therefore the guy working for them couldn't lay a claim.
That's. Charles Nicholas Cuidera known as Chuck Cuidera, was an American comic book artist best known as the first illustrator of the Quality Comics aviator character Blackhawk, in Military Comics #1–11. Cuidera was an early artist of the superhero Blue Beetle, yet though he claimed, in his late years, that he was the Charles Nicholas who created that character, comics historians credit Charles Wojtkowski, who used the Charles Nicholas pseudonym. Cuidera grew up in Newark, New Jersey, after earning art scholarships graduated from Pratt Institute in 1939. Breaking into comic books at Fox Feature Syndicate, where he drew Blue Beetle stories, he shortly afterward migrated to the Eisner & Iger shop. There he drew the first 11 stories of Blackhawk, the creation of, vaguely recorded from the early days of comics, when proper writer-artist credits were not a standard feature. Though reference sources list Eisner as scripter of the first four Blackhawk stories and Dick French beginning with issue #5, Cuidera said he created the character, that Bob Powell scripted the debut story before turning the feature over to him: "I never drew a script by French.
Powell wrote the first one and I wrote the rest until I went into the service". Eisner, who has said he was involved in Blackhawk's initial writing, hedged the issue, saying, "Whether or not Chuck Cuidera created or thought of Blackhawk to begin with is unimportant the fact that Chuck Cuidera made Blackhawk what it was is the important thing, therefore, he should get the credit"; as the debut artist who designed the characters, Cuidera is confirmably at least the co-creator. During Cuidera's absence, Reed Crandall had become established on Blackhawk, which would become one of Crandall's signature features. Cuidera segued to work on the Quality character Captain Triumph and became the company's art director; when Quality sold DC Comics the rights of Blackhawk in 1956, the penciler by Dick Dillin, inker Cuidera continued to work on the character for the new owner. Cuidera became the regular inker on a number of DC features and series, including Hawkman and The Brave and the Bold, before leaving comics in 1970.
Cuidera, an avid scuba diver and sold a quick-release diver's weight belt, taught scuba in New Jersey YMCAs. He retired, was a guest of honor at the 1999 Comic-Con International. Future industry legend Jack Kirby used the name Charles Nicholas during his fledgling days, in 1940, adopting that house pseudonym during his three-month run as artist of the Fox Feature Syndicate comic strip version of the Blue Beetle. Charles Nicholas Wojtkoski was an American comic book writer-artist best known as the credited creator of the Fox Comics character Blue Beetle, which in various incarnations has continued through three comics companies and into the 21st century; the Blue Beetle first appeared in Fox Comics' superhero anthology series Mystery Men Comics #1, with art by Wojtkoski, though the Grand Comics Database tentatively credits Will Eisner as the scripter. His family has said Wojtkowski "decided in the late 1930s to sell the rights to the character to raise money"; as Charles Nicholas, Wojtkoski variously penciled and inked stories for Timely Comics, the 1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics, where his credits include the character The Defender in USA Comics #1, stories in Young Allies Comics #1, Tough Kid Squad Comics #1, Comedy Comics.
Following World War II military service, he returned to Timely, beginning with comics cover-dated Spring 1946, he worked on a variety of stories and covers for Captain America Comics, Human Torch Comics, Marvel Mystery Comics, Sub-Mariner Comics, the landmark All Winners Comics #21, featuring Timely/Marvel's first superhero team, the All-Winners Squad. Wojtkoski worked on the Fawcett Comics jungle character Nyoka, spent the remainder of his career in-house at Charlton Comics in Derby, Connecticut. There he enjoyed a remarkable 23-year run as penciler on a single creative team, with inker Vince Alascia and writer Joe Gill; the art team would sometimes sign its work Alascia, as in the panel at left. In 1978–79, Wojtkoski drew comics for editor Vincent Fago on Pendulum Press's Contemporary Motivators series, a li
