Public Domain Superheroes

[shooshoomanjoe]

Malibu had their version as well, as well as other Centaur characters:

Protectors belong to Marvel now (not sure if Miss Fury is owned by Marvel though).. I wish they would bring them to the 616 universe.

[Electricmastro]

Yank & Doodle. LOL

There’s also Yankee Doodle Jones, which, to quote https://pdsh.fandom.com/wiki/Yankee_Doodle_Jones

“was an American artificial man created by an unnamed scientist using body parts taken from three crippled American World War I veterans who volunteered to give up their lives for the sake of creating "an American champion." After the resulting being was brought to life, the scientist injected him with a "secret fluid" that gave him heightened strength and speed as well as near-invulnerability. The scientist's unnamed son watched it all from the sidelines. He marveled at the secret fluid's effects and wished that he, too, would get a shot of it.

Shortly afterward, a group of Nazi agents broke into the scientist's lab and mortally wounded him. The artificial man rushed to stop the assailant. The scientist's son was eager to help, so he injected himself with the secret fluid. The two managed to stop them, but it was too late for the scientist. With his last breath, he dubbed the artificial man "Yankee Doodle Jones" and his son Dandy and urged them to use their powers to defend their country.”

[Zero Hunter]

The ones that make me laugh are THE BLACK TERROR and Tim. Fear the mighty Tim criminals.

[Electricmastro]

The ones that make me laugh are THE BLACK TERROR and Tim. Fear the mighty Tim criminals.

He did have the hero name of Kid Terror, though he apparently wasn’t called that until his last public domain appearance:

[Kai "the spy"]

That may have partially have to do with how they’re all drawn by the same person. I felt that when Bill Everett drew Amazing-Man for example, he seemed to draw him similarly to the Sub-Mariner, which I feel Alex Ross’ drawing is distinct from:

Minimidget?!

[Electricmastro]

Minimidget?!

Yep, one of Centaur’s weird heroes, and was likely the first shrinking comic book hero actually. He also used a midget plane (Stars and Stripes Comics #2, May 1941):

[PaulBullion]

He did have the hero name of Kid Terror, though he apparently wasn’t called that until his last public domain appearance:

To me, that reads more like when they call Robin the Boy Wonder.
Tim the Kid Terror.

[Electricmastro]

Protectors belong to Marvel now (not sure if Miss Fury is owned by Marvel though).. I wish they would bring them to the 616 universe.

Yeah it would be cool see Malibu’s Protectors in 616. Not sure about the status of Miss Fury since I think Marvel just reprinted her old material. I think she made a guest appearance in a more recent story set in the 40s though.

[Sharkerbob]

Would be cool to see the Magician From Mars make a comeback.

[PaulBullion]

Would be cool to see the Magician From Mars make a comeback.

Maybe Dynamite could team her up with John Carter, Warlord of Mars.

[Jack Dracula]

The ones that make me laugh are THE BLACK TERROR and Tim. Fear the mighty Tim criminals.

I caught that too. It seems most of the sidekicks weren't worthy of actual codenames.

I have always liked the Black Terror costume though. It's bad-ass.

[Electricmastro]

Would be cool to see the Magician From Mars make a comeback.

Yeah, she deserves more attention at the very least for likely being the first comic book superheroine. Centaur Comics had some rather interesting origins for their heroes in general, including:

Dr. Synthe - an enormous energy-based alien from another planet

The Eye - a flaming eyeball in the sky who acted as sort of conscience for others when fighting crime

Iron Skull - a cyborg who fights in an alternate timeline where World War II lasted into the 1950s

Nightshade - a scientist who studied “the mysteries of the East” and enhanced his shadow to physically fight others

The Shark - the son of Father Neptune who lived in an undersea kingdom

Solarman - an alien from Saturn

Speed Centaur - a genuine centaur from the Arctic who relocates to America after an earthquake

More here: http://internationalhero.co.uk/c/centaur.htm

[PaulBullion]

Yeah, she deserves more attention at the very least for likely being the first comic book superheroine. Centaur Comics had some rather interesting origins for their heroes in general, including:

Dr. Synthe - an enormous energy-based alien from another planet

The Eye - a flaming eyeball in the sky who acted as sort of conscience for others when fighting crime

Iron Skull - a cyborg who fights in an alternate timeline where World War II lasted into the 1950s

Nightshade - a scientist who studied “the mysteries of the East” and enhanced his shadow to physically fight others

The Shark - The son of Father Neptune who lived in an undersea kingdom

Solarman - an alien from Saturn

Speed Centaur - a genuine centaur from the Arctic who relocates to America after an earthquake

More here: http://internationalhero.co.uk/c/centaur.htm

I might download a few of those books for the weekend ahead.

[Electricmastro]

I might download a few of those books for the weekend ahead.

I read through some on public domain site Comicbookplus, and I think there’s some enjoyment to be had with them so long as people read them not necessarily expecting in-depth stories and just read them for some amusing art and humor, as I myself enjoyed them going in with that approach.

[Sharkerbob]

Yeah, as mentioned before in this thread, the Malibu Genesis universe/Protectors universe used a weird combination of Golden Age heroes, a few originals, and a couple rebooted indy comics properties, mashing them together in the same continuity. It was a nice effort, and certainly had one of the ballsiest endings for its setting (and it did come to a definitive end).

Unfortunately, the net result was a largely boring slog of mediocre comics; there were some good parts in the main Protectors comic, but most of the spin-offs were forgettable filler. It got especially lame after the Genesis crossover, which swapped characters around from the indy comic additions in a way that kinda just clunked. At least the ending was memorable!

Oh, well. Project: Superpowers seems to be a much better re-imagining for some of these. I haven't read much of it, though.