| Uncle Sam | |
|---|---|
 Promotional artwork fromDCU Brave New World #1 (August 2006) byDaniel Acuña. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Quality Comics (1940–1944) DC Comics (1973–present) |
| First appearance | National Comics #1 (July 1940) |
| Created by | Will Eisner (writer/artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Team affiliations | Freedom Fighters All-Star Squadron S.H.A.D.E. Council of Immortals |
| Notable aliases | Spirit of America,Minuteman,Brother Jonathan,Johnny Reb,Billy Yank, Patriot, Taylor Samuel Hawke, Samuel Augustus Adams,Samuel Wilson |
| Abilities | Superhuman strength Enhanced speed Invulnerability Limited clairvoyance Size alteration Ability to transport himself and others to The Heartland |
Uncle Sam is asuperhero appearing inAmerican comic books published byDC Comics. Based on thenational personification of theUnited States,Uncle Sam, the character first appeared inNational Comics #1 (July 1940) and was created byWill Eisner.[1]
Uncle Sam first appeared inNational Comics #1 (July 1940), which was published byQuality Comics during theGolden Age of Comic Books.[2] He is depicted as a mystical being who was originally the spirit of a slain patriotic soldier from theAmerican Revolutionary War and appears whenever his country needs him.[3] The character was used for a few years from 1940 to 1944, briefly receiving a solo series,Uncle Sam Quarterly.[4] During this time, he had asidekick named Buddy Smith.
According toJess Nevins' Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes, "he fights a variety ofAxis agents, human and superhuman, from the Black Legion to the shrink-ray-wielding Professor Nakajima. Uncle Sam also fights the mad scientist Dr. Dirge, the King Killer, and the insanity-causing Mad Poet".[5]
DC Comics acquired the character as part of its acquisition of the Quality characters in the 1950s, and he was used as a supporting character inJustice League of America in the 1970s. This established Uncle Sam as the leader of theFreedom Fighters, a team of former Quality characters that briefly received its own title.[6] This team was initially based on a parallel world calledEarth-X, whereWorld War II had lasted into the 1970s.
Uncle Sam's origin wasrewritten inThe Spectre,[7] where Sam is described as a spiritual entity created through an occult ritual by theFounding Fathers. This "Spirit of America" was initially bound to a talisman and would take physical form by merging with a dying patriot. The new origin states that the Spirit of America had taken human form as theMinute-Man during the Revolutionary War andBrother Jonathan in later conflicts. During theAmerican Civil War, the Spirit of America was split in two and becameJohnny Reb andBilly Yank.
The Spirit first assumed its now-familiar Uncle Sam incarnation in 1870, when it resurrected a politicalcartoonist who had been killed byBoss Tweed. The second host of Uncle Sam fought inWorld War I. A third (the character's Golden Age incarnation) was a superhero during World War II but vanished at the end of the war, erasing any subsequent appearances from the fictional history of theDC Universe (although most of them had already been erased by theCrisis on Infinite Earths). InThe Spectre, the Spirit is resurrected in a new costumed form called thePatriot, but later reverts to Uncle Sam in aSuperman issue.[volume & issue needed]
A 1997 Vertigo series features the character with the persona of a street person.[8] A similar notion was suggested byAlan Moore in his 1980s crossover proposalTwilight of the Superheroes; this interpretation was inspired by the satirical novelThe Public Burning byRobert Coover, which also features a superheroic version of Uncle Sam.
InInfinite Crisis, the Freedom Fighters are attacked by theSecret Society of Super Villains. Three of the Freedom Fighters,Human Bomb,Phantom Lady, andBlack Condor are killed in the battle. Uncle Sam himself seemingly dies at the hands ofSinestro.[9]
The character's latest incarnation appeared in the first issue ofUncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters, and spends the first few issues of this new series attempting to form a new version of the Freedom Fighters. This new Uncle Sam emerges from theMississippi River at the same time asFather Time is elsewhere planning the future ofS.H.A.D.E. with new incarnations of the Freedom Fighters members. Uncle Sam, disturbed by the deadly force used by the new versions ofPhantom Lady,Human Bomb,Doll Man, and others, successfully recruits thesemetahumans into his new Freedom Fighters team, which results in Father Time ordering his remaining S.H.A.D.E. personnel to pursue and kill Uncle Sam and his team.[10]
InThe New 52 rebooted DC's continuity, a human African-American version appears in the comic seriesHuman Bomb. One of the S.H.A.D.E leaders he calls delivers an order to captureMichael Taylor.[11]
Uncle Sam has demonstrated various powers, including super strength, invulnerability, the ability to alter his size, enhanced speed, and some degree ofclairvoyance.[citation needed] He is also shown to be able to transport himself and others to apocket dimension called The Heartland and travel between universes.[12][13] Furthermore, Sam's abilities are dependent on the United States' patriotism.[14]
The comic character, just like the original poster image it was based on (designed byJames Montgomery Flagg forWorld War I recruitment), served asUnited States propaganda, although due to the necessity of embedding him in the story, it was less explicit and more complex.[19]
