The Master List of U.S. Flagsuit Characters (Second Draft)

[Lorendiac]

In June of 2007, on various forums, I requested help from my fellow fans in compiling a list of “Flagsuit Characters” who like to dress and act in a way that will make people see them as Particularly Patriotic American Heroes. I thought it would be appropriate to post the full list on the Fourth of July of that year, and I did. On that occasion, the list had 155 entries. Afterwards more suggestions came in from various fans, and of course I somehow ended up putting off any updating of my master copy until July 3, 2008. (Such procrastination is trickier than it looks -- don't try this at home, kids!) I now have 205 entries on the list, and I’m still open to suggestions for future additions!

Here were my original guidelines:

To make it onto my final list, a character has to meet a few basic criteria:

1. He (or she) wears a costume that includes red, white, and blue. (The presence of other colors is also acceptable as long as all three of those are included. But if the costume only has two out of three -- red and blue without any white, for instance -- then that doesn't count!)

2. The character obviously wants to be viewed (by the general public) as an exceptionally patriotic American hero. I'm not saying the person must "really" be a hero, or even has to be a citizen or legal resident of the USA, for that matter! I'm just saying that this is the image the character obviously wants to project! If there have been any villains who put on red-white-and-blue outfits in order to fool people into thinking they were heroes for awhile, I'm perfectly willing to count that! (But not if they were just impersonating Captain America, for instance -- only if they invented a fresh identity for the occasion.)

3. He (or she) must have appeared in at least one published comic book story. (I don't want costumed characters who only existed in movies, TV shows, videogames or whatever.

I then offered examples of what I didn’t want – Superman was disqualified by both Rule #1 and Rule #2, as I saw it; Spider-Man was also disqualified by Rule #2.

Those rules still apply, if you're thinking of mentioning someone I've still managed to overlook!

I try to keep the listings as short and sweet as possible; I'm not writing an entire book here. I don’t usually mention what a hero’s secret identity was, nor what powers he had (if any), nor (in most cases) what comic book series he first appeared in.

In cases where I personally have not been able to double-check such details as the exact physical appearance of the character (did the costume include red, white, and blue, all three colors at once?) I have typed Unconfirmed at the end of the listing to remind myself of the need to do further research, when there’s time, for the Third Draft.

And I only list each “character concept” or “role” once, even if the same alias and costume have been used by multiple characters all belonging to the same company. There is only one listing for “Captain America,” for instance. I figure Steve Rogers was the original and any other “Captain America” has just been a shameless knockoff of the same concept, one way or another, by the company that owns him.

It’s not perfect, but I need to post it while I can, and I promised to post it today. Happy Fourth of July!

(Someday I may do a more elaborate version of this list – perhaps with each character’s name linking to an image of him or her, and some details on secret identities and first appearances and whatnot; perhaps even turning it into a webpage with dozens of scanned images embedded in it. I don’t know. But don't hold your breath!)

THE MASTER LIST OF U.S. FLAGSUIT CHARACTERS (SECOND DRAFT)

Aerobica (Catfish Comics) [Unconfirmed]

Agent Liberty (DC)

All-American (Homage. Astro City?) [Unconfirmed]

All-American (Marvel, New Universe timeline)

Amazon (Amalgam, a combo of Wonder Woman and Storm)

America Man (Cyclone Comics. He debuted in a black-and-white story, but his costume was obviously based on the U.S. flag)

The American (Dark Horse)

The American Crusader (Thrilling Publications)

American Dream (Marvel, the MC2 timeline)

American Eagle (DC. An actual eagle (anthropomorphic) who joined the Zoo Crew)

American Eagle (Henchman Publishing; the character is a student in the “P.S. 238” series)

American Eagle (Marvel)

American Eagle (Nedor)

American Icon (Image. Appeared in a “Wildguard” miniseries)

American Knight (appeared in a comic called ActionFolksinger) [Unconfirmed]

American Liberty (from “The Moth” miniseries by Steve Rude, published by Dark Horse)]

American Maid (Tick) [details unclear – may have been in comics, may only have been in illustrated books of some other type?]

The American Powerhouse (Malibu’s Bravura imprint, the “Power & Glory” miniseries)

American Star (Superdupeheroes or Superduperheroes) [Unconfirmed]

American Woman (Antarctic Press)

The Americano (Cyclone Comics. She debuted in a black-and-white story, but her costume was obviously based on the U.S. flag)

The Americommando (formerly Mr. America) (DC)

Banner (DC. Fought Batman while wrapped up in a U.S. flag)

Battlestar (Marvel)

Battlin' American (Fantagraphics, a regular in the series "The Astonishing Lloyd Llewellyn") [Unconfirmed]

Billy Yank (DC) (Civil War era) [Unconfirmed]

Bloodtype (also known as Mister America II) (DC) [Unconfirmed]

Blue Eagle (Marvel, Squadron Supreme universe)

Bobby Bell (Archie. Only existed in a few Public Service Announcements in their comics)

The Buckies, or Bold Urban Commandos (Marvel) [unconfirmed]

Buckley [Former partner of First American, ABC/Wildstorm] [Unconfirmed]

Buckskin Blake, Defender of America's Liberty (Periodical House) [Unconfirmed]

Buddy (Fox. Juvenile sidekick to Fox's "The Eagle")

Captain America Jr. of the X-League II (merger of Captain America plus Captain Marvel Jr.) (Amalgam)

Captain America (Timely, later Marvel)

Captain Americat (the funny-animal version of Captain America in the same Marvel timeline that featured Peter Porker, Spider-Ham)

Captain Battle Jr. (Lev Gleaman)

Captain Battle (Lev Gleaman)

Captain Commando (MLJ)

Captain Constitution the Premier Patriot (Ace) [Unconfirmed]

Captain Courageous (Ace)

Captain Curtis (Full Bleed Studios) [Unconfirmed]

Captain Fight (Fiction House) [Unconfirmed]

Captain Flag (MLJ)

Captain Freedom (Harvey)

Captain From Texas (Marvel -- apparently a wild-west version of their Captain America concept)

Captain Glory (Harry A. Chesler) [Unconfirmed]

Captain Guts (The Print Mint)

Captain Star (Superheroes/Ace Books) [Unconfirmed]

Captain Terror (Timely)

Captain V (Published by either Fox Features or William H. Wise. Different online resources list one or the other as the publisher of the Captain's first appearance in "All Top Comics #1." Apparently this was a later alias of a Golden Age character who was originally called The Puppeteer)

Captain Victory (Ace) [Unconfirmed]

Casey Jones from “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” has reportedly worn a red-white-and-blue mask at times (I am not an expert on TMNT continuity so I don’t know if he was trying to pass himself off as a “very patriotic hero” at the time, or what?)[Unconfirmed, with the character’s patriotic fervor quite dubious]

Citizen Steel (DC)

Citizen V (Marvel – the original Golden Age character apparently didn’t wear red and white and blue in his costume, but various “successors” using the same name in modern continuity have definitely done so)

Civilian Justice (BeyondComics)

Colonel America (Marvel Zombieverse) [Unconfirmed]

The Comedian (DC, the “Watchmen” timeline)

Commander America of the Cosmic Avengers (Marvel) [Unconfirmed]

Commander Liberty (Quantum Comics) [Unconfirmed]

Commander Steel (DC)

Commando Yank (Fawcett)

Commie Smasher (Appeared in the "Danger Unlimited" mini, published by Dark Horse, but is probably owned by John Byrne)

The Conqueror (Hillman)

Cowboy (Marvel, part of “Team America”)

Dandy (Harry A. Chesler. Juvenile sidekick to Yankee Doodle Jones)

Deathlok (Marvel)

The Defender (Timely)

Dicky (Ace Periodicals. Golden Age hero; he was the kid sidekick of The Lone Warrior)

Diehard (A Liefeld-owned character who debuted at Image as part of "Youngblood")

Doctor Tomorrow (Acclaim)

Dollar Bill (DC, the "Watchmen" timeline)

Doodle (Prize Publications. He and his twin brother were the Golden Age duo called "Yank and Doodle")

Dr. Stellar (Image, their “Big Bang” stories)

Dynaman (DC. He only existed as “Dynaman” in an Elseworlds timeline in the 4-part miniseries “The Golden Age”)

The Eagle (Fox Features Syndicate) [Unconfirmed]

The Eagle (Wildstorm, a “Red Menace” miniseries]

Eaglet (Nedor) (Sidekick of their American Eagle)

The Fighting American (published by various companies)

The Fighting Yank (Nedor)

First American (ABC/Wildstorm, which later became part of DC)

The Flag (Ace Periodicals)

Flag Boy (Superheroes/Ace Books) [Unconfirmed]

Flagg (“Rising Stars” universe, published by Image) (This character also known as “Patriot”)

Flagman, or possibly Flag-Man, or Flag Man -- online sources differ on how it was written (Holyoke, later AC) [Details are unconfirmed]

Freckled American (ABC/Wildstorm) [unconfirmed]

Free Spirit (Marvel)

Furious American (Chaos!) [Unconfirmed]

General Glory (DC)

The Ghost of Flanders (Quality. Apparently later bought by DC, but never used by them)

Glitter (Marvel, New Universe)

The Great Defender (Quality, presumably now belongs to DC)

Homelander (from “The Boys” series, published by ABC/Wildstorm and then by Dynamite Entertainment) [Unconfirmed]

Honcho (Marvel, part of “Team America”)

Jack Flag (Marvel)

Joe Public (DC)

Justice (Image)

Justice (Marvel, First Line, previously “Kid Justice”) [Unconfirmed]

Kid America (sidekick to The American) (Dark Horse)

Kid Justice (Marvel, First Line, later “Justice”) [Unconfirmed]

Kid Quick (Nedor, later AC?) [Unconfirmed]

The Last American (Marvel, published by Epic) [Unconfirmed]

The Liberator (Nedor)

Liberty Belle (Charlton character originally; later acquired by DC; this one's name was "Caroline Dean," with no connection to the Liberty Belle from the Golden Age who eventually married Johnny Quick)

Liberty Belle (DC)

Liberty Girl (Existed in Marvel's past in Byrne's "Lost Generation" mini)

Liberty Girl (Heroic Publishing)

Liberty Lad (Image, their “Freedom Force” comic book based on the video game)

Liberty (Image)

Lightning (Image, a name used by Rapture during her time in red-white-and-blue as part of the Special Operations Strikeforce)

Lodestar (DC) [Unconfirmed]

The Lone Warrior (Ace Periodicals)

 

[Lorendiac]

Maiden USA (Image, the “Chix” comics)

Major Battle (Image) [Unconfirmed]

Major Liberty (Marvel) [Unconfirmed]

Major Victory (DC)

Man of War (Centaur published him in the Golden Age. Malibu later revived the concept in the 1990s after it was apparently in the public domain)

Minute Maid (ABC/Wildstorm) [mother of First American, colors Unconfirmed]

Minute Man (DC, Revolutionary War) [Unconfirmed]

Minute Man (Image, their “Freedom Force” comic book based on the video game)

Minute-Man (Fawcett, later bought by DC)

Miss America (Quality Comics, later bought by DC)

Miss America (Timely, later Marvel)

Miss Liberty (DC, Revolutionary War era) [Unconfirmed]

Miss Patriot (Timely. Sidekick to The Patriot (Jeff Mace) in one Golden Age story)

Miss Victory (Holyoke. Later AC Comics)

Mister America (Endeavor Comics)

Mister U.S. (Image, the “Big Bang” stories)

Mr. America (DC. Character later became The Americommando)

Ms. Victory (AC Comics)

NFL Superpro (Marvel)

Nuke (Marvel)

The Old Soldier (part of the universe of “Kurt Busiek’s Astro City” – published by ABC/Wildstorm)

Number 9 (from Daredevil, late 80s? maybe) (Marvel) [Unconfirmed]

Pandemic (Image) [Flag tattoo on back – don’t know what he said he was doing – Unconfirmed]

Pat Patriot (Lev Gleaman) [Unconfirmed]

The Patriot (DC. One-time secret identity of Steve Trevor) [Unconfirmed]

Patriot and The Patriot (Marvel has used both versions of that name for characters)

Patriot (“Rising Stars” universe, published by Image) (This character also known as Flagg)

Pistolfist, Revolutionary Warrior (Alias)

Private Strong (Archie)

Public Spirit (Owned by creators Pat Mills and Kevin O'Neill, in the comic book "Marshal Law" which was first published through Marvel's Epic imprint)

The Puppeteer (Fox Features. Character was also known as Captain V)

R.U. Reddy (Marvel, part of “Team America&#8221

Rad (Femforce, AC)

Radio Girl (Dark Horse; Torch of Liberty’s 1950s sidekick)

Real American of the Phantom Empire (DC) [Unconfirmed]

Red Blazer -- sometimes known as "Captain Red Blazer" (Harvey)

Rock (Image. This character wore a red-white-and-blue combo while serving with the Special Operations Strikeforce in “Savage Dragon” continuity)

Roughneck (Image, villain) [Unconfirmed – I need to find out if he made any effort to pass himself off as patriotic]

Rusty Ryan (Quality) [Unconfirmed]

Rusty (Holyoke. Juvenile sidekick to the hero whose name was either Flagman or Flag Man or Flag-Man -- I've never read any of those stories, but I gather Rusty did in fact wear a "flagsuit," as did his mentor)

Rusty (Timely. Golden Age juvenile sidekick to The Defender)

S.P.I.C.E. (Image)

S.T.R.I.P.E. (DC. The same guy formerly known as Stripesy)

Savage Dragon (Image. This character wore a red-white-and-blue combo while serving with the Special Operations Strikeforce in “Savage Dragon” continuity)

Secret Stamp (Timely) [Unconfirmed]

Sergeant States (from the “Jack Staff” comics from Dancing Elephant Press) [hard to tell because the art is black-and-white, but it sure looks like he’s wearing a variation of the American Flag design]

The Shield (MJL, later Archie Comics)

Skyman (DC) (formerly known as Star-Spangled Kid)

Skyrocket (DC)

Slugger (ABC/Wildstorm, “Kurt Busiek’s Astro City&#8221 [Unconfirmed]

Smasher (Image)

Sons of Liberty (A group who fought “The Authority” of ABC/Wildstorm) [Unconfirmed – I know nothing about their names and costumes at this moment]

Sparky -- sometimes known as "Spark," I'm told (Harvey. He was the sidekick to Red Blazer)

Speedboy the Wonder Kid (Crestwood, and possible other publishers later – sidekick to the original Fighting American)

Spirit of '76 (Harvey. A Golden Age character with no connection to the Marvel character created by Roy Thomas in the 70s)

The Spirit of ’76 (Marvel)

Star Spangled Adventurer (Superheroes/Ace Books) [Unconfirmed]

The Star-Spangled Kid (DC)

Stargirl (DC)

The Stars and Stripes (A trio of escapees from a German concentration camp who, I am told, decided to spend the rest of the war wearing red-white-and-blue outfits in honor of the American flag while collectively calling themselves "the Stars & Stripes" as they fought the Nazis)

Statesman (“City of Heroes” universe; comics published by Image)

Steel (DC) (not John Henry Irons, but a previous hero (the grandson of Commander Steel) who served in the JLA in their mid-80s Detroit Era)

Stripesy (DC)

Super-American (Fiction House)

Superpatriot (Image)

Super-Patriot (Marvel)

Super-Soldier (sometimes Supersoldier or Super Soldier, Wikipedia says) (merger of Superman and Captain America) (Amalgam)

The Torch of Liberty (Dark Horse, the “Danger Unlimited” continuity)

U.S. Jones (Fox Features) [Unconfirmed]

U.S.A. (Image, the 1963 universe created by Alan Moore)

Uncle Sam (Quality Comics, later DC)

Union Maid (Served as the official “National Hero” of the USA in the universe of “Captain Confederacy” – she first appeared in a miniseries published in Marvel’s Epic line)

USA Patriot (Henchman Publishing; the character is a student in the “P.S. 238” series)

USA, the Spirit of Old Glory (Quality, later bought by DC)

USAgent (Marvel)

USAngel (ABC/Wildstorm)

Vagabond (Marvel)

Venus (Image, the Big Bang universe)

V-Man (Fox Features. At least one online source claims this was the same guy as the Fox hero variously known as The Puppeteer and Captain V; at least one other source claims that V-Man merely bore a noteworthy resemblance to that other guy; I am not in a position to say who's right and who's wrong) [Unconfirmed]

War Eagle (Lev Gleason)

War Nurse (Harvey)

Wolf (Marvel, part of “Team America&#8221

Wonder Wabbit (DC, the pre-COIE “Earth-C-Minus” timeline)

Wonder Woman (National Periodical Publications, later DC. See Comment below)

Wrench (Marvel, part of “Team America&#8221

Yank (Prize Publications. He and his twin brother were the Golden Age duo called "Yank and Doodle")

Yankee Boy (Harry A. Chesler)

Yankee Clipper (Marvel)

Yankee Doodle Dandy (Marvel) [Possibly an alternate alias for Captain America, 1776 version, story by Roger Stern? Need to confirm]

Yankee Doodle Jones (Harry A. Chesler)

Yankee Girl (Harry A. Chesler. Revived by AC)

Yankee Poodle (DC, the Earth-C universe)

Yeoman America of the Sons of Liberty (alternate-reality version of Captain America) (Marvel)

That’s the end of the main list. Now for a few words of explanation on various matters!

Comments on Wonder Woman's Qualifications:

I am told that the Golden Age Wonder Woman explicitly stated that her costume was meant to honor the American flag and show solidarity with the USA’s part in World War II. This has been heavily retconned in the Post-COIE era so that the modern WW’s costume was not specifically intended to show solidarity with the U.S. flag at all. But the way I figure it, belated retcons in the 1980s don’t change the fact that the character concept was originally meant to be a “Flagsuit Character” within the scope of my definition!

Comments on a few characters who didn't make it:

The American Avenger was on the first draft of this list. He was cut from this draft because someone called my attention to the fact that his red-white-and-blue outfit was actually supposed to modeled on that of a previous hero in Argentina (El Gaucho), rather than being intended in dialogue as a tribute to the United States flag.

Marvel's Shooting Star has been suggested, but I strongly suspect her costume is actually meant to reflect the state flag of Texas, which is also red, white, and blue. If anyone can show me that she's ever stated for the record that her costume is deliberately a tribute to the USA's flag, I'll add her to the list.

Howard Chaykin's character Reuben Flagg (protagonist of the old comic book series "American Flagg") was nominated for this list by various people last year. On the other hand, Fanboy Stranger on the CBR forums, who evidently has a much broader knowledge of “American Flagg” lore than I do (I never read more than one issue), has assured me that, in the future timeline Reuben Flagg lived in, there was no longer any such thing as the “United States of America,” although his trademark apparel just happened to show strong influences from both the flag of that former nation and the flag of the equally defunct Soviet Union. He also states that Flagg was never in the habit of identifying himself as an American (despite the title of the series, I gather). Thus, I conclude that Chaykin’s character does not qualify under my Rule #2, quoted earlier in this post!



Self-Serving Digressive Footnote: As long as I’m on the subject, I’ll just toot my own horn for a moment by mentioning that I probably was inspired to compile this list by my monthly effort to write new chapters in a serial fanfic about Free Spirit (Cathy Webster, a former apprentice of Captain America’s). If, after slogging through that incredibly long list of red-white-and-blue heroes (or characters who seem to think they’re heroes, in some cases), you feel like reading some fairly light-hearted fanfic to relax, then you might follow this link to see the first five chapters of a strange day in her life (set in the Marvel continuity of the mid-90s, when she was still a rookie). Although come to think of it, the fact that she's intensely patriotic is not really vital to the "plot" (such as it is). I didn't elect to have her spend all her time fighting rabid Anti-American characters, after all.

Free Spirit: Safer to Be in Chains