Secret Origins #19

 Secret Origins #19 (Oct 1987)
title: "The Coming of Uncle Sam"
writer: Len Wein
pencils & inks: Murphy Anderson
letterer: Milt Snapinn
colorist: Shelley Eiber
editors: Greg Weisman & Roy Thomas
cover: Brent Anderson & Jack Kirby

Order of Appearance: Uncle Sam is the only Freedom Fighter to appear in this story

Supporting Character(s): Buddy, Sam's would-be side-kick

Opponents: The Black Legion

Overall Summary: 
Uncle Sam is created when a colonist gives his life during the US Revolutionary War. Uncle Sam wakes up 150 years later and is "reincarnated" against home-ground terrorists!     

Plot Summary:
In 1777, somewhere in the Pennsylvania woods, a supply caravan on the way to General George Washington at Valley Forge is threated by Hessian soldiers working for the British. They need to get their supplies to Washington, but they are moving too slowly and are sure to be caught. One of the rebels, an older man named Samuel, decides to stay behind and distract and confuse the pursuing soldiers so that the caravan can get away. He does this successfully, and the supplies arrive at Valley Forge intact. However, Samuel is killed by the Hessians. 

Then, the living Spirit of America comes to Samuel and they merge into the first "super-hero" ever, Uncle Sam! 

Over the next 150 years, Sam is eyewitness to the various conflicts in the United States. After the World War, he falls asleep for several years until a madman's ravings in Germany wakes him up. 

Then, something leads Uncle Sam to the midwestern town of Glen Valley. It turns out that it is being terrorized by a group of political terrorists named the Black Legion. He overhears a merchant who wants to lead the fight against them, even though the majority of the town is too afraid to fight. 

Later that night Uncle Sam talks to the man, also named Samuel, and they magically merge. The next morning, a renewed Uncle Sam heads out to the Black Legion rally that is being held outside of town. 

That night at the rally, another local man named Ezra speaks up against the Black Legion, too, and two terrorists decide that they must silence him. Later, they go to his tent and shoot him in the back. They burn down his tent, but his grand-son, Buddy, escapes. Alone and desperate in the dessert, he meets up with Uncle Sam. 

As they chat, one of the Black Legionnaires try to kill them, but Uncle Sam catches him and together he and Buddy knock him out. Immediately after, they head off to confront the Black Legion together. 

While Uncle Sam and Buddy are returning to town, the Black Legion attacks Glen Valley with tanks. The two heroes confront the tanks, but Uncle Sam catches the shells and throws them back at them. As he beats on the would-be Nazis, the towns' people begin to convert to his side. 

The people of Glen Valley finally join in the fight, and Uncle Sam captures the leader of the Black Legion. Basking in the appreciation of the town, Uncle Sam promises to continue to embody the real Spirit of America. 

Review: 

First things first, the cover by Brent Anderson is wonderful! If you are familiar with the source material, Anderson REALLY nails the likeness. Great job! 

Likewise, the art inside by the one-and-only Murphy Anderson (no relation!) is also wonderful! Roy Thomas mentions in his text piece that Murphy Anderson had requested any or all of the Quality Comics heroes' origins, so this is his second time out (after already having drawn Doll Man, as we saw last week). He of course does a bang-up job.   

Unfortunately, this is the secret origin of the embodiment of the American Spirit, so it's not really much of a story. I think Quality Comics (Uncle Sam's initial publishers) should have just stopped with the story of the patriot giving his life during the Revolutionary War, because that was cool enough as it was. We didn't really need Uncle Sam to reincarnate himself in 1940 small-town America. In fact, the latter part of this story is just another Uncle Sam adventure, and really has nothing to do with any "origin" per se. We don't learn anything about Samuel or Buddy, for example, and we don't get to see how Uncle Sam gets the spotlight among America's Mystery Men after USA enters World War II. 

What we do get is sort of muddled. Uncle Sam fights against a German resistance group....in the middle of small-town America!? Besides the oddness of them being there at all, what could possibly have been their agenda in trying to take over little ole Glen Valley?!? Also, these are Nazis, but not with official swastikas; instead they have odd Xs or something on their uniforms. (Check out the detailed panels below.) Maybe Quality Comics didn't want to use actual Nazis in 1941 if we were not actually at war with Germany at the time; okay, I get that. But then in 1987 why didn't DC improve this story by using actual Nazis and moving it to, say, Poland, or Central America, or even the East Coast?  There were plenty of German-American families at the beginning of the war who were torn between loyalties. That would have made a better story. 

In fact, the plot of the last part of this story, along with the pacing, is the biggest gripe I have with it. If we had gone from the Revolutionary War, through the various other conflicts, and then gotten a tired but determined Uncle Sam getting up to take on the threat of Fascism, that would have been great. Then maybe more about who the two Samuels were, who Buddy is and what ends up happening to him, and something about Uncle Sam's leadership role in the "mystery man" world would have been a much better spectacle, in my opinion.  

For another review of this story, please check out my friend Ryan Daly's blog Secret Origins. He and his guest Jeff Nettleton talk about this story in a very entertaining way! 

Check it out! Secret Origins Podcast #19: Uncle Sam

Best Moment

Because there isn't much plot to this story, I think the best part of this issue is Uncle Sam

remembering his time between the Revolutionary War and World War II. 

Worst Moment

As mentioned earlier, I am not a fan of the ending of this story. 

I was hoping for a more of a "hoorah" than we get....

Freedom of Information

• The cover illustration of Uncle Sam, ala the JM Flagg US Army recruitment poster, is drawn by Brent Anderson. The figure of The Guardian is by Jack Kirby, who co-created him with Joe Simon in 1942. 
• This story is based on stories that appeared in National Comics #1, #5, and Uncle Sam #1 by Will Eisner and Lou Fine. 
• The most famous image of Uncle Sam is by JM Flagg, who painted him saying "I want YOU for the US Army!" in 1917. For more information about the legendary Uncle Sam character, start at the Wikipedia article on him. 

The Freedom Fighters

assembled by Len Wein