Here is the archive of the lists Lorendiac posts here, and here is his latest, nicely timed for the Fourth of July!- BC.
In June of 2007, on various forums, I requested help from my fellow fans in compiling a list of “Flagsuit Characters”; those who like to dress and act in a way which will presumably 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. The First Draft had 155 entries. Then more suggestions came in from various readers, and a year later I posted a Second Draft with 205 entries. Now it’s time for the Third Draft, with 237 entries. (It has actually gained a bit more than 32 new listings, because I saw fit to delete a few of the previous ones.)
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 other media.
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) in which title he first appeared. I do mention who first published his adventures, though.
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, in a way which resembled the U.S. flag?) I have typed Unconfirmed at the end of the listing.
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; so and any other “Captain America” published by Marvel has just been a shameless knockoff of the basic concept!
On the other hand: There are four listings which each begin with the name “American Eagle,” because four different companies have each created at least one character apiece who wore a flagsuit while using that patriotic alias!
There’s always room for improvement, but this is the best I’ve got at the moment. 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 (THIRD 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)
Amber Waves (Appears in the miniseries “The American Way” from DC’s Wildstorm)
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)
American Ace (Valiant)
American Beauty (Briefly appeared in Alan Moore's "1963" miniseries. Member of the Victory Vanguard in the WWII era) (Image)
American Champion (from the "Capes" series from Image) [Unconfirmed]
The American Crusader (Thrilling Publications)
American Dream (Marvel, the MC2 timeline)
American Eagle (DC. Anthropomorphic eagle 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 (DC)
Archie the Gruesome (Timely)
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)
Bravado (Acclaim)
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 Americana (He wore a standard business suit, but also carried a shield which resembled Captain America's original, non-circular model. He only appeared in one black-and-white story; I’ve seen scans of a few panels. Given the name “Captain Americana” and his reportedly excessive patriotic fervor, it seems a safe bet that his shield was red-white-and-blue!) (Marvel)
Captain Americat (the funny-animal version of Captain America in the same timeline as Peter Porker, Spider-Ham) (Marvel)
Captain Battle (Lev Gleason)
Captain Commando (MLJ)
Captain Constitution the Premier Patriot (Ace) [Unconfirmed]
Captain Courageous (Ace)
Captain Curtis (Full Bleed Studios) [Unconfirmed]
Captain Dash (Made a single Golden Age appearance which established that he lived in the 31st Century) (Timely) [Unconfirmed]
Captain Fight (Fiction House)
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 Red Blazer (Apparently he should not be confused with the Golden Age character “Red Blazer”) (Harvey)
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 originally called himself The Puppeteer)
Captain USA (Hero who appeared in at least one Charlton comic in the late 60s, long before DC acquired the rights to their characters)
Captain USA (Ultraverse character; probably just appeared once)(Marvel)
Captain Victory (Ace) [Unconfirmed]
Captain Wonder (DC character who fought the Earth-1 Wonder Woman; probably out of continuity now)
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]
Caspar Weinberger (When handled satirically in "Reagan's Raiders") (Solson)
Celeste (Superpowered character in the world of "Marshall Law"; wore red-white-and-blue costume. Marvel's Epic line) [Unconfirmed]
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)
The Commander (Appears in the "I Hate Gallant Girl" miniseries) (Image)
Commander America of the Cosmic Avengers (Marvel) [Unconfirmed]
Commander Capitalism (Image)
Commander Liberty (Quantum Comics) [Unconfirmed]
Commander Steel (DC)
Commando Yank (Fawcett)
Commie Smasher (Appeared in the "Danger Unlimited" mini, published by Dark Horse, but 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. Justice (from the "Capes series from Image) [Unconfirmed]
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)
The Eagle (Wildstorm, a “Red Menace” miniseries]
Eaglet (Sidekick of Nedor’s American Eagle)
Enemy (created by Steven Grant; published by Dark Horse)
Father Patriot (A Golden Age character who claimed to be a spirit born in 1776. Fat, white-bearded, wore a flagsuit. I gather that his major accomplishment—possibly his only recorded deed!—was to be part of the Golden Age Major Victory's origin story, by bringing an ordinary American soldier back from the dead and providing him with a flagsuit costume (different from the design Father Patriot already wore!) and a nifty alias.) (Harry A. Chesler)
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 even Flag Man—online sources differ on how it was written, and it may have varied (Holyoke, later revived by AC)
Fortress America (Lone Star Press, the "Pantheon" series)
Freckled American (ABC/Wildstorm) [unconfirmed]
Free Spirit (Marvel)
Furious American (Chaos!) [Unconfirmed]
General Glory (DC)
George Bush (The one who was Reagan’s Vice President for 8 years and then was elected President in 1988—a fictional version of him wore a flagsuit when handled satirically in "Reagan's Raiders") (Solson)
George P. Schultz (when handled satirically in "Reagan's Raiders") (Solson)
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)
Hale Battle (The first sidekick of Captain Battle; apparently wore a flagsuit modeled on his mentor’s)
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 used by AC) [Unconfirmed]
The Last American (Marvel, published by Epic)
Left-Winger (Marvel)
The Liberator (Nedor)
Liberty (Image)
Liberty Belle (Charlton character originally; later acquired by DC; this one's name was "Caroline Dean," with no connection to DC’s Liberty Belle from the Golden Age who eventually married Johnny Quick)
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)
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)
Maiden USA (Image, the “Chix” comics)
Major Battle (Image) [Unconfirmed]
Major Liberty (Marvel)
Major Victory (DC)
Major Victory (Harry A. Chesler)
Man of War (Centaur published him in the Golden Age. Malibu later revived the concept 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 acquired by DC)
Miss America (Timely, later Marvel)
Miss Liberty (DC, Revolutionary War era)
Miss Patriot (Timely. Sidekick to The Patriot (Jeff Mace) in one Golden Age story)
Miss Victory (Holyoke. Later published by AC Comics)
Mister America (Endeavor Comics)
Mister U.S. (Image, the “Big Bang” stories)
Mr. America (DC)
Ms. Liberty (granddaughter of Statesman in the City of Heroes universe, in comics published by Top Cow)
Ms. Victory (AC Comics)
The New American (Appears in the world of the miniseries “The American Way” from DC’s Wildstorm)
NFL Superpro (Marvel)
Nuke (Marvel)
The Old Soldier (Part of the universe of “Kurt Busiek’s Astro City”—published by ABC/Wildstorm, which is now under DC’s umbrella)
Pandemic (Image) [Flag tattoo on back—don’t know what he said he was doing – Unconfirmed]
Pat Patriot (Lev Gleason)
The Patriot (Two users, no connection between them. DC)
Patriot and The Patriot (Marvel has used both versions of that name for characters)
Patriot (“Rising Stars” universe, published by Image. This character also was known as Flagg)
Pistolfist, Revolutionary Warrior (Alias)
Princess Power (Basically a Wonder Woman parody; the mother of Dumb Bunny of the Inferior Five at DC)
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”)
Rad (Femforce, AC)
Radio Girl (Dark Horse; Torch of Liberty’s 1950s sidekick)
Real American of the Phantom Empire (DC) [Unconfirmed]
Right-Winger (Marvel)
Rock (Image. This character wore a red-white-and-blue combo while serving with the Special Operations Strikeforce in “Savage Dragon” continuity)
Ronald Reagan (when handled satirically in "Reagan's Raiders") (Solson)
Roughneck (Image, villain) [Unconfirmed – I need to find out if he made any effort to pass himself off as patriotic]
Rusty Ryan (Quality)
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. 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)
Skyrocket (DC)
Slugger (ABC/Wildstorm, “Kurt Busiek’s Astro City”) [Unconfirmed]
Smasher (Image)
Soldier American (In the world of the "End League" title from Dark Horse)
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]
Star-Spangled Lass (Temporary "Dial H for Hero" identity) (DC) [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 written Supersoldier or Super Soldier, Wikipedia says—a merger of Superman and Captain America, from Amalgam)
The Symbol ("Test Drive #1" from M.A.I.N. has a flagsuit guy on the cover who is allegedly “The Symbol” according to a single comment I received from a reader of a previous draft of this list) [Unconfirmed, just barely—I have seen a scan of the cover, and that’s definitely a flagsuit he’s wearing, but I don't know for sure that the guy is called The Symbol]
The Torch of Liberty (Dark Horse, the “Danger Unlimited” continuity)
U.S. Jones (Fox Features)
U.S.A. (Image, the 1963 universe created by Alan Moore)
Uncle Sam (Quality Comics, later DC)
Uncle Slam (Action Planet)
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”)
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”)
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 Doodle Kid (Temporary "Dial H for Hero" identity at DC)
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! :)
Incidentally, I’m still not clear on whether or not the Pre-COIE, Earth-1 version of Diana was specifically thinking “I want to show special respect for the USA’s best traditions” when she first put on a Wonder Woman costume. I’m told that the details of her origin story, including such points as when and by whom the costume was designed, seemed to fluctuate over the years. However, last year someone reminded me that Wonder Wabbit, the funny-animal analog of Earth-1’s Wonder Woman in the early 1980s, was explicitly praised by Yankee Poodle on the patriotic nature of her costume, and didn’t disagree with that interpretation! Whether or not the attitude of Earth-C-Minus’s Wonder Wabbit can be taken as strong evidence of the attitude of her Earth-1 counterpart is an open question.
Comments on a few who didn't make it:
The American Avenger was on the first draft of this list. He was cut from the second 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.
Captain Battle Jr. was previously on this list, but I’ve been persuaded that this name was only used by Captain Battle’s son William, who did not wear a copy of his daddy’s flagsuit when operating as Captain Battle Jr. However, Nathan Hale (known as Hale Battle, I gather, when he was serving in combat) did wear such a suit, so I have added a listing for him and removed the listing for Captain Battle Jr.
Number Nine, a genetically-modified girl who appeared in the “Daredevil” title during Ann Nocenti’s run, was listed in a previous draft after someone pointed out to me that she wore a flagsuit design for awhile.
However, in researching this new draft I finally took the trouble to reexamine the relevant issues. (I had read Nocenti’s full run on Daredevil once before, but it had been so long that I remembered almost nothing about Number Nine’s behavior.) After refreshing my memory, I note that Number Nine wore a flagsuit for awhile, but never offered any reason for doing so! It is not even clear how she acquired those clothes in the first place. Her memories of her past life as a normal girl had been nearly erased when a secret lab modified her genes and her looks and her personality and gave her a healing factor which apparently worked even faster than Wolverine’s. She never said anything to suggest that she even realized she wearing a “flagsuit,” nor do I see that she mentioned the “United States of America” in any context, good or bad. So I’ve deleted her from this list, since all the evidence suggests she had no interest in making any sort of “statement” with her colorful outfit.
DC’s Golden Age heroine Liberty Belle was on this list previously, but I finally removed her from it. Her costume included red, blue, and a little bit of white, and her choice of alias showed she wanted to be viewed as a patriotic American hero, so she seemed to meet the demands of Rules 1 and 2 as I had phrased them. However, given that the actual design of her costume is not likely to remind anyone of the U.S. flag, I finally decided to erase her from the list.
Marvel's Shooting Star has been nominated, 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 in 2007. On the other hand, FanboyStranger on the CBR forums, who evidently has a much broader knowledge of “American Flagg” lore than I do (I never read more than the first 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!
On a similar note: In 2008, the name Judge Dredd was suggested, but I rejected it. I have read very few of Dredd’s stories, but I am told that he lives in a future where there is no longer any such political entity as “the United States of America.” Therefore, his usual wardrobe presumably was not intended as a statement of patriotic loyalty such as would belong on this list. (If anyone knows of a story in which Dredd said he was trying to demonstrate patriotic loyalty to the USA, despite the awkward fact that the USA per se no long existed, then please let me know.)