The Spirit of '76 is a fictional

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

character published by

Harvey Comics Harvey Comics (also known as Harvey World Famous Comics, Harvey Publications, Harvey Comics Entertainment, Harvey Hits, Harvey Illustrated Humor, and Harvey Picture Magazines) was an American comic book publisher, founded in New York City by Alf ...

, who debuted in ''Pocket Comics'' in 1941, and became a long-running feature in '' Green Hornet Comics''.

Publication history

Patriotic

Gary Blakely, the Spirit of '76, was created by writer

Joe Simon Joseph Henry Simon (born Hymie Simon; October 11, 1913 – December 14, 2011) was an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s–1940s Golden Age of Comic Books ...

and artist Bob Powell. The personification of

American folklore American folklore encompasses the folklore that has evolved in the present-day United States mostly since the European colonization of the Americas. It also contains folklore that dates back to the Pre-Columbian era, Pre-Columbian era. Folklor ...

's Spirit of '76, the character appeared in Harvey's ''Pocket Comics'' from #1 to 4 (August 1941 - January 1942). In his first appearance, the character, a student at

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

, fought Nazi fifth columnists on the campus. ''Pocket Comics'' #1 also introduced fellow cadet Tubby Reynolds, who figures out Gary's secret and serves as his sidekick. Tubby's sister Susan, a WAC lieutenant serves as love interest. By issue #2, the character was fighting

Satan Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or ' ...

himself, along with a recurring foe,

femme fatale A ( , ; ), sometimes called a maneater, Mata Hari, or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and Seduction, seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype ...

Satana. After ''Pocket Comics'' folded, the Spirit of '76 moved to a backup feature in '' Green Hornet Comics''. Issue #7 (June 1942) was a reworking of the character's origin story, partially a paste-up from ''Pocket'' #1. Later ''Green Hornet'' backup stories were produced by Harry Fisk, Arturo Cazenueve and Ernie Schroeder. The character last appeared in ''Green Hornet'' #37 (Dec 1947-Jan 1948).

Fictional character biography

Gary Blakely is the latest in a long line of patriotic Americans, one of his ancestors having served with General Washington. Educated abroad, he excels in his studies as well as various sports like boxing, fencing, rowing and rugby. Convinced that

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

wants to take over the world, he tries to become an Air Cadet, but his application is blocked by his family, who want him to instead be regular army and enroll in

, which he does. Coming across a group of fifth columnists, he puts on his great, great grandfather's uniform and a mask as a costume and captures them as the Spirit of '76."Spirit of 76". Mystery Men & Mystery Women. Golden-Age Comic Book Superheroes & Villains Encyclopedia. http://www.herogoggles.com/Heroes/S_heroes.htm According to

Jess Nevins Jess Nevins (born 1966) is an American author and research librarian best known for annotated guides and encyclopedias covering Victoriana, comic books, genre fiction and pulp fiction.femme fatale A ( , ; ), sometimes called a maneater, Mata Hari, or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and Seduction, seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype ...

mesmerist Satana, traitorous cadets, and a monster ape". In '' Green Hornet'' #35, Blakely helps out Tommy Downes, a newsboy kid who's framed for murder by the crook Dapper Duke using Downes' run-ins with a kid gang called The Society of the Black Skull, led by Kip Roland. While Blakely reconciles Tommy with the gang, his civilian identity gets in trouble for being AWOL and is threatened with expulsion. Tubby tells the kids Gary's identity and they vouch for him, giving him an alibi and form a new gang, The Spirit of '76 Boys Club.

Reception

In ''Secondary Superheroes of the Golden Age'', Lou Mougin lauds the Spirit of '76, writing that Bob Powell "returned to the feature n ''Green Hornet''both as artist and writer, and did a bang-up job with his rapidly developed talent. The stories never skimped on the action, but Powell's talent for humor, his penchant for sending the characters to foreign locales, and the backup characters Tubby and Gary's girlfriend Susan, helped things along considerably. On special assignment, Gary and Tubby racked up an impressive series of adventures. The Spirit of '76 survived the war... For his quality, we salute him".

References

{{GoldenAge, Spirit of '76 (Harvey Comics) Golden Age superheroes Harvey Comics superheroes Comics characters introduced in 1941