When it comes to the heroes of Fawcett Comics, Captain Marvel was obviously number one, with Bulletman as a close second. But for my money, you can’t beat their number three guy, the hero called Minute-Man!  Your Major Spoilers Retro Review of Master Comics #11 awaits!

MASTER COMICS #11

Writer:  Charles Sultan
Penciler: Charles Sultan
Inker: Charles Sultan
Colorist: Uncredited
Letterer: Uncredited
Editor: Bill Parker
Publisher: Fawcett Comics
Cover Price: 10 Cents
Current Near-Mint Pricing:
Release Date: January 3, 1941

Previously in Master Comics: Initially named for its lead feature, Master Man (whose career was reputedly cut short due to the threat of legal action from National Periodical Publications, Inc., an event that was ominous in the most classical sense of the word), Master Comics pivoted to become a second book for Nickel Comics‘ lead hero, Bulletman. If Captain Marvel was the Superman of Fawcett Comics, then Bulletman was their Batman. In issue number eleven, we meet the man who would be their… I dunno, Aquaman, probably?

Yeah, let’s go with Aquaman. We begin as Private Jack Weston is called to General Milton’s office to prepare for his new mission.

Now, you may be thinking this all seems familiar, or that Weston is about to become another in the army of patriotic red-white-and-blue fellers that cropped up in the early months of WWII… but you’d be wrong. Weston is about to become only the THIRD patriotic red-white-and-blue feller, cropping up nearly a year BEFORE the United States entered the war, and mere DAYS after Captain America’s debut. That also means we’re very early in the Golden Age of Comics, a time before modern conventions like “origin stories” and “plots that make a lot of sense.” Thus, as Weston ships off, his train is hijacked by a masked man, leading him to leap into action as Minute-Man, despite only having just gotten his mission and purview a few hours ago.

His speed and strength aren’t quite superhuman in these pages, but they will be, soon enough. No explanation for them is ever given, but they are sufficient to punch the masked attacker off the locomotive, over the edge of a bridge, and to his inevitable death with one good right hook. He did take the time to plant a “Courtesy of Minute-Man” card on the plummeting body, leading the would-be spy/murderer’s colleagues to target him in retaliation. Fortunately, the sharp-eyed Private Weston realizes that one of the non-commissioned officers is wearing his insignia wrong, giving him a slight edge.

The only known creator of this story, Charles Sultan, is capable of intricate figurework in the small panels of the page, but weirdly never seems to try and open up the page layout or go big. I’m not sure whether that’s the influence of comic strips or just Sultan’s preference, but given the detail in Minute-Man’s stars-and-stripes outfit, it’s certainly interesting. The story implies more than once that he’s wearing the costume of a Revolutionary War minuteman, which is impressively wrong even by the loose standards of comic books in 1941.

As mentioned earlier, Minute-Man’s early genesis means that the expectation that superheroes operated in a non-lethal manner wasn’t yet set in stone, allowing him to fight crime with the power of murder. Case in point, when he finds a bomb planted by the would-be spies, he literally plants it on the door of their own headquarters.

The story itself suffers a bit from time dilation and is, frankly, by-the-numbers, but it’s interesting to see Sultan (who may have plotted as well, though no records remain to confirm) doing such intricate linework in the comic pages. Master Comics #11 provides no real explanation for Minute-Man and his awesome star-spangled bell sleeves, but it does remind us that the modern superhero was once a work-in-progress, and sometimes the work isn’t always memorable stuff, earning 2.5 out of 5 stars overall. The #3 patriotic guy was last meaningfully seen in the pages of The Power of Shazam circa 1996, in a story that made great use of his military background, and I’ll be honest: If you want a good Minute-Man tale, that’s actually where I’d start.

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MASTER COMICS #11

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A Weirdie From The Vaults

The first appearance of Minute-Man is visually interesting, but it's also clear why his solo series lasted only three issues, and why he has appeared maybe five times since becoming part of the DC Comics stable decades ago.

• Writing

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• Art

  6
• Coloring

  5
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