Captain Fearless #1

Captain Fearless #1 (1941)
written by unknown
pencils by Charles Quinlan

As we have already seen with Miss America, some very minor Golden Age heroes can have a surprisingly long-lasting history. This is another one of those, from the little known publisher “Helnit Publishing”.
Not the titular Captain Fearless, who only lasts a couple of unremarkable issues…

…because we’re here to talk about Miss Victory.

We’re in Washington D.C, at the Foreign Trade Committee, where this guy is in charge of an important deal about importing rubber.

Until he’s kidnapped by foreign agents, who modify the agreement.

I don’t know much about Helnit Publishing, but it looks like lettering isn’t their strongest point.

Before the modified document can be signed, Miss Victory shows up!

And immediately MURDERS A GUY.

This doesn’t seem to upset too much Mr. Axis, the leader of the foreign agents.

Until a woman shows up at his door…

…showcasing the power to make her mask appear beneath her veil between panels.

What was the point of showing up with the disguise if you’re going to IMMEDIATELY change into your superhero costume?

Especially since he’s absolutely no threat to her.

This is 95% of what we learn about Miss Victory in this story.

She then frees the kidnapped guy. Later stories will clarify she has super-strength, so her reaction to knocking down the door is weird.

And that’s it! The remaining 5% of what we learn about Miss Victory is that she’s actually the secretary from the first scene… Joan Wayne.
Yes.
That is her actual name.

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Historical significance: 6/10
You’d expect this random 5 page story from a lesser known publisher to be an easy 0/10.

Silver Age-ness: 0/10
Too basic.

Does it stand the test of time? 0/10
This might be the most meh story I have ever covered. What do you want me to say, there’s NOTHING here!

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How close is this to the modern character? 2/10
I’m sure that at this point you’re wondering: why the heck am I covering this?
Let’s see the rest of her history.

Miss Victory appears next in Captain Fearless #2, with MUCH better artwork, fighting Nazis.

The character is then passed to Holyoke Publishing, mostly known for publishing the original Blue Beetle after Fox Publications went bankrupt.
Miss Victory finds herself a spot in Captain Aero Comics, starting with #6. Her costume gets a few tweaks here and there…

…but it’s radically updated in #17. The attention shifts to fanservice, something that will become vital to the character’s survival.

She lasts until the very last issue: Captain Aero Comics #26 from 1946.
Which isn’t a lot, because the book had a very sporadic schedule.

And that was it for the Golden Age. She would’ve remained just a minor footprint in comic book history… one of the dozens of superheroes who couldn’t make it past the Golden Age… if it wasn’t for an unlikely revival.

Because in 1984… 38 years after her last appearance… AC Comics created its flagship franchise with FemForce.

This black&white special is a team-up between Miss Victory and other superheroines who, like her, had slipped into the public domain.
You can probably tell what’s the focus of this team-up. 

After a second special, it was successful enough to launch a regular FemForce series in 1985.

In her 80s revival, she ended up wearing all sorts of costumes that even the pre-Comics Code Golden Age would never have allowed.

 She finally received an origin: she wasn’t just a secretary anymore, but a scientist working on a super-soldier serum.
Together with the secret identity of fellow public domain hero Black Terror.

Turns out that the formula wouldn’t work on anyone except her…

…and it basically made her immortal. She CAN sometimes turn back into her real age, but she tends to stay in her Miss Victory form for obvious reasons.

The serum works for another person: her daughter Jennifer, who unsurprisingly looks exactly like her. She debuts as the supervillain Rad

… but eventually she becomes the second Miss Victory.

Considering the various costume changes, it’s not always easy to keep track of who is the mother and who is the daughter since, again, they look exactly the same!

 At first glance, FemForce might just look like unabashed T&A fanservice.
Which… I mean, that’s the UNDENIABLE focus, but it’s also the place where A LOT of public domain characters found a home for a long time.
And I do mean a long time: the series is STILL ONGOING, having passed 200 issues in 2023.

That’s right, this comic book that almost nobody has heard of and is by an independent publisher has been running for the past FORTY YEARS featuring Golden Age characters that nobody has ever heard of.

I will definitely mention FemForce again because if a female character is in the public domain, there’s a VERY HIGH CHANCE that she shows up in this series.
Where she’ll have a DDD chest and at some point will turn into a giant, because this series is NOT subtle about its fetishes.

 I’ve read a dozen or so FemForce comics and while I can’t exactly say they’re great, there’s definitely more than just fanservice… honestly, if they could tone it down to less ridiculous levels, I’d say that most of them are good.

Still, you have to respect the fact that a throwaway character that debuted in a 5 page story on a publisher that failed the following issue eventually managed a respectable 40 year run: Miss Victory must have SOMETHING that grabs the reader’s attention.
Besides the two most obvious ones, of course.