The Wizard is a fictional superhero character created by Will Harr and Edd Ashe, Jr. for
MLJ Comics
Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Top-Notch Comics #1'' in December 1939, and he was one of the headliners of that title until its cancellation in 1944. He was one of the earliest superhero characters to appear after the debut of Superman in 1938.
Fictional character biography
His real name is Blane Whitney, a man of high intelligence. He descends from a long line of men who fought for America in its wars. This includes General Steven Whitney who was
General Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the ...
's chief aide in the Revolutionary War. It was later retroactively revealed that Blane was not the first Whitney to defend his country wearing the red mask and cloak of the Wizard during key events in early U.S. history. At age 14, Blane met President
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
, who told him to use his brain only for good and not for evil. While in college, he was a superb athlete and student. His brother Grover, chief of the Naval Intelligence Service, usually informed him of enemy plots against America. To aid him in his fight against these enemies, the Wizard had various contraptions and machines of his own design available to him, like a vibra-ray gun and a car that could reach up to 500 mph. He had several devices that enabled him to fly. Coming from a wealthy family, he also had airplanes and submarines at his disposal.
At first, the Wizard, similar to other MLJ superheroes like the
Black Hood
The Black Hood is a fictional character created by MLJ Comics (later known as Archie Comics) during the period known as the "Golden Age of Comic Books". The Black Hood first appeared in ''Top-Notch Comics #9'', October 1940 and became one of MLJ ...
and the Firefly, did not possess superpowers but was merely a man with excellent physical and mental prowess. He eventually started to exhibit superhuman strength and a "Super Brain" that gave him a
photographic memory
Eidetic memory ( ; more commonly called photographic memory or total recall) is the ability to recall an image from memory with high precision—at least for a brief period of time—after seeing it only onceThe terms ''eidetic memory'' and ''pho ...
and " supersensory perception" that enabled him to psychically "see" distant places, people and events, as well as a talent for
hypnosis
Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention (the selective attention/selective inattention hypothesis, SASI), reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.In 2015, the American Psychologica ...
and telepathy. He also started consuming capsules containing secret formula F22X that replenished his super-strength. In his final appearances, however, he had no powers other than his clairvoyant visions.
In his early appearances, the Wizard wore a tuxedo and cape, thus he was similar in appearance to Mandrake the Magician (a resemblance made even more obvious by his dashing pencil thin moustache). At first, his cape and mask were white, but they were soon switched to a more striking red. During the ''Moskovia Invasion'' crossover storyline (which featured the Shield) where he was briefly blinded by an enemy attack, he developed a bullet-proof, explosion-resistant costume that consisted of blue tights with red trunks, cape, and mask. He wore this costume for the remainder of his Golden Age appearances.
The enemies of America that the Wizard faced in each adventure were usually from a fictitious country, like Jatsonia (in his first appearance) and Bundonia, but due to facial features or accents made apparent in speech balloons, these enemies were obvious, unflattering caricatures of Germans, Soviets, or Japanese.
Usually, after each adventure, the last panel would feature a note from the Wizard that read: "''Our country / right or wrong / our country / The Wizard.''"
After several months of publication, the Wizard was given a kid sidekick named Roy Carter. Admiring the lad's courage when he saw the blond
orphan
An orphan (from the el, ορφανός, orphanós) is a child whose parents have died.
In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usuall ...
bootblack
Shoeshiner or boot polisher is an occupation in which a person cleans and buffs shoes and then applies a waxy paste to give a shiny appearance and a protective coating. They are often known as shoeshine boys because the job was traditionally d ...
leap to defend a mugging victim from several thugs, Blane took him in, clad him in a red and white striped
polo shirt
A polo shirt, tennis shirt, golf shirt, or chukker shirt is a form of shirt with a collar. Polo shirts are usually short sleeved but can be long; they were used by Polo#Players, polo players originally in India in 1859 and in Great Britain durin ...
with a large blue collar, blue trunks, white sneakers, and a red mask, and dubbed him Roy the Super Boy, training him until he had the strength of ten men.''Top-Notch Comics #8'', MLJ Publications, Sept. 1940 Roy would later join the Shield's sidekick Dusty in the super-duo known as the Boy Buddies.
Blane Whitney also had a girlfriend named Jane Barlowe who was a reporter at the ''Daily Citizen'', a newspaper Blane had inherited from a murdered friend. She was often disgusted with his polo-playing playboy lifestyle but developed an attraction to his superheroic alter-ego, creating an odd love triangle that is quite common in comic books (for example, Superman/
Lois Lane
Lois Lane is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #1 (June 1938). Lois is an award-winning journalist for ...
Carol Ferris
Caroline "Carol" Ferris is a fictional character appearing in the . She is one of many characters who has used the name Star Sapphire (character), Star Sapphire, and was the long-time love interest of Hal Jordan, the Silver Age of Comics, Silver A ...
/
Green Lantern
Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...
).
Analysis
The Wizard was popular enough to receive a second publication alongside another MLJ superhero,
The Shield
''The Shield'' is an American crime drama television series starring Michael Chiklis that premiered on March 12, 2002, on FX in the United States, and concluded on November 25, 2008, after seven seasons. Known for its portrayal of corrupt pol ...
. '' Shield-Wizard Comics'' first appeared with a Summer, 1940 cover date. He started sharing cover appearances of ''Top-Notch Comics'' with the
Black Hood
The Black Hood is a fictional character created by MLJ Comics (later known as Archie Comics) during the period known as the "Golden Age of Comic Books". The Black Hood first appeared in ''Top-Notch Comics #9'', October 1940 and became one of MLJ ...
, an indication of waning popularity. ''Top-Notch'' was converted into a humorous publication in 1942, but the Wizard continued to appear in ''Shield-Wizard Comics'' until its cancellation in Spring, 1944.
Archie Comics, formerly known as MLJ Comics, revived its superhero line in the 1960s, but the Wizard, now with actual magical powers and corrupted by greed, returned as a villain with a long white beard and a new maskless and capeless outfit that befitted the evil sorcerer he had become. He fought The Mighty Crusaders, a team consisting of many old MLJ heroes, and at one point was confronted by both his former sidekick Roy (now re-dubbed "the Mighty Boy" for obvious reasons) and his heroic younger self who had been magically brought forward in time to stop him. In the 1980s revival, however, he returned as a red-caped and masked hero with no mention of his villainous period, although now with a purple skintight bodysuit rather than his original blue. Since then, the Wizard has been appearing sporadically throughout the Archie Comics titles on irregular bases.
The Wizard was apparently popular enough during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
to have inspired a similar caped and cowled Canadian superhero called
The Brain
A brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as vision. It is the most complex organ i ...
Patrick Loubert Patrick Loubert (born 1947 in Toronto, Ontario) is one of the founders of the Canadian animation studio, Nelvana Limited, along with Clive A. Smith and Michael Hirsh. He has produced, and executive-produced, much of the company's most memorable f ...