The Coming of the Liberty Legion Part Eight..... Meet The Whizzer

The next person to catch the eye of both The Patriot and Bucky was that of a man who goes by the name THE WHIZZER.

Born in St Louis Missouri , Robert L Frank had been part of an expedition into the African Bush lead by his father Dr Emil Frank.  Emil Frank was a notable scientist who had many scientific interests included the study of wild life and exotic  fauna & flora.   His health was not good, so he had asked his son Robert (Bob) to  come along to help him. Whilst exploring alone Robert was bitten by a deadly cobra, as Dr Emil Frank had no antidote to treat his son he watched as Robert life seemed to fade away.   The Cobra then returned and as it was about to attack Dr Frank also,  all of a sudden a mongoose sprang out of the vegetation and fought the deadly snake. The Mongoose managed to kill the Cobra but had been bitten itself in the process.

Dr Frank realised that the mongoose had some resistance to cobra venom and thought it he gave his son a transfusion of the creatures blood this may help the situation. He had nothing to loose, as he knew Robert was close to death.

Surprisingly the transfusion stabilised  Robert and when he awoke he found his fathers dead body kneeling over him. The old man had died and it was assumed it was the shock of the whole incident that had affect on his own health.

Soon thereafter Robert realised that he had developed super speed.  He had originally put it down to the transfusion.


Robert Frank decided to use his new found powers to help continue the good his father had done during his life.   Robert chose the name The Whizzer as he super speed allowed his to Whizz about.


The FBI Files could not rule out the story about the Mongoose Blood, but FBI Scientists had no other explanation at this point.   The Subject had been seen to travel at speeds over 100 mph and had the ability to run over water. but much later on in life Robert Frank would learn that this was not the whole story, the blood transfusion was not the main cause only the catalyst .

The FBI file said that they believed Robert Frank was of good character and would be ideal  as a special  agent for the FBI.

Bucky believed this super speedster who be ideal to take on the likes of the brain washed Invaders.


When The Whizzer first burst onto the pages of USA Comics No 1# from 1941 he looked a lot different to what he does today.

The First Costume had no elements that you could compare to later looks. The Cape, helmet and short sleeves were very like most "super Heroes" at that time. However the Yellow and Blue colouring would stay constant.

The Original look of The Whizzer from USA Comics 1# 1941

Unlike some of the other members of what would be a called t The Liberty Legion, the Whizzer had a much longer life back in the war years.  And over the time his uniform adapted.  As his look seemed to change from issue to issue in the early months here are a few of the best looks.

Soon was gone the cape and the short sleeves, but in came the winged Helmet.  It was a nod to the Roman and Greek Gods Mercury and Hermes who in classical paintings had wings on the heads.  This looks more like an angry chicken. The trade mark W was first seen around this time too.

The Look nearly complete.

This Cleaner look was what was used in the 1970's when the Liberty Legion was introduced. 

The liberty legion was not the last stop for this speedster, he would like on much longer in the Marvel world. Bod Frank who see life again after the 2nd World War, and intro the modern world when he became part of the Mighty Avengers of the late 1970's -early 80's. (But more about that later )

Back to the War years, The Whizzer would later join the Invaders as part of the team, but again that's another tale for another time.

By the time he joined the Invaders his look was finalised. The Helmet was now a cowl with wings, and the bird head just a small feature on the forehead.

Next time we meet a Super Powered lady who would come to mean a lot to both The Liberty Legion, The Invaders and The Whizzer himself

Until then ENJOY !

The Coming of the Liberty Legion Part Seven Meet The Thin Man

As Bucky and the Patriot continued looking through the Secret FBI Files, both found the people and information contained inside more and more amazing.

The Next Hero  that was considered was that of  Dr Bruce Dickson PHD
AKA The Thin Man

The story of Bruce Dickson was a very simple one, but was fantastic in its contents.

Some time in the 1930's a scientist and part time explorer Dr Bruce Dickson attempted to climb Mount Kalpurthia that was located in the Himalayas.  Becoming lost from his party in a freak snow storm and near to death, Bruce found a cave. Entering into the cave a strange green light lead him to discover a hidden city. This city he would learn was the lost civilisation of the Kalahia.  The Kalahian's were an advanced race of humans who had become exposed over time to a mutagenic  substance that occurred in the rocks surrounding the city.  This had an effect that allowed them to stretch and become very flat and thin.  Almost 2 dimensional  Also it had given the people a form of eternal youth.  Entering the city had exposed Bruce to the substance and he quickly learnt he too had developed the Thin - Stretchy ability too. Bruce remained with the Kalahian's for many years , even falling in love and marrying  Olalla, who was the daughter of  the chief elder of the city.

Bruce realised that if he stayed too long in the city he would lose control of his ageing and would or could live forever. But his lust to learn and discover new adventures eventually lead him to leave the hidden city with his wife Olalla and return to the real world. He found that he soon developed his powers further in ways that the peaceful Kalahia had never needed to. 

On entering the real world again he discovers that since he has been gone the world has moved on the the rise of The Nazi's has brought the World into the Brink of another World War.

For a while he and his wife worked as adventures and undercover operatives for the US government, but fearing for his wife's safety  Bruce told her to return to her home whilst he continued to fight alone.

Bruce Dickson called him self The Thin Man and would aid the fight against fascism were and when he could.  His knowledge of the  advanced science of the Kalahia would allow him to use this to make improvements to existing technology which included his own private air craft. 

The Thin Man foil;s yet another threat of terror  from  Nazi sympathisers in New York City 

Bucky added the Thin Man's name to his list when he made the next call for help broadcast to the nation.

Like many of the heroes used again in the Liberty Legion their original look was some what altered, 

The original look was overall the same design but different in colour.  Also as the swash buckler look was in at the time, a head scarf sash was added.

The 1940's hero as seen in Mystic Comics issue 4#

The re use of the character in the 1970's gave the Thin Man a more green and yellow look.   Better I think. 

The Thin Man a hero from the 1940's shown as he was then and later re imagined for the 1970's

Over the next few years the Thin Man stayed in the new classic Green and Yellow look.   Later on he would again get a make over....... but that's another story for another time .

Next time its the turn of a very fast hero indeed. 

Rush Back Sooon.... and until then    ENJOY !!!

The Coming of the Liberty Legion Part Six Meet The RED RAVEN

Last time I told how Bucky Barnes had forced his way into the main Radio broadcasting station in New York City and after a bit of convincing on his part was allowed to broadcast to the American Networks a plea for to any near by Hero who could help him.

As Bucky  continued his broadcasts every 30 minutes non stop throughout the Evening into the early hours, it allowed Bucky's new found partner , The Patriot to use his Presidential contacts and obtain some very  secret files that may help.

Bucky Broadcasting from the Gallery with the NCA staff now willing to help 

These files held details of most of the So Called Masked Heroes that the FBI had heard about and had started to investigate. Many of the individuals information was sketchy to say the least, but sorting through the files both The Patriot and Bucky discovered a few who may be ideal for  next stage of Bucky's plan.

Secrets that may Help

The first file that the new "super friends" decided on was about The RED RAVEN

Bucky had never heard of him, but the Patriot had done some digging on this high flying marvel.

From information obtained it appeared that the man calling himself The Red Raven had been the sole survivor of an Aeroplane accident  in the Atlantic. The plane had entered a mysterious fog bank at high altitude and had then collided with a floating Island in the Sky.  All the  crew and passengers had been  killed apart from a young baby, who the people on the floating island raised. The people of the Sky Island were kind and they called the infant RED RAVEN mostly in part to the baby having flaming red hair.

Although Red Raven enjoyed his time with his new family he grew up and realised that he was different from them. The sky people had wings, whilst he didn't. Red Raven wanted to find out more about his real heritage.

The King of the Sky people at first refused to let Red Raven leave, but later relented and gifted Red Raven with a pair of artificial wings to aide him in both leaving the island and finding his past and future.

Although some of the information given by Red Raven freely to the America Government over the time, he kept secrets about the exact location of the floating island.  It was apparent that Red Raven had yet to discover his real identity as the Bird People had disposed of all useful artifacts and information contained in the wreckage of the plan crash.  Was this an oversight or a bigger secret ?The final notes added that as Red Raven  identified more with the Bird Race than with the Human race, and such so his  loyalty could not be guaranteed.

The character of the Red Raven had first appeared in Red Raven Comics 1# published in 1940, he would not be seen again until 1968 when he popped up in the Original run of the X-Men issue 44# when he ended up having a run in with The Angel.

He like a lot of the Liberty Legion were old Timely Comics Heroes, so when Marvel Comics looked at trying to do what DC had done with the Justice Society and All-Stars, using existing characters made sense.

The original 1940's Red Raven looked more "Bat-Man-ish" with very strange looking wings. The 1970's redesign made a better marriage of the hero and his costume.

Here is may version of the 1940's original look Red Raven.

The Original Red Raven Look from 1940

Continuity of costume  for Red Raven was good, with only a few changes during the Liberty Legion outings. This was more to artist own view than over all concept.

Here are a few other versions of the Wing Hero.

The Re vamped look from Marvel Premiere issue 29# from 1976

Small changes as the story continued in The Invaders Comic in May 1976 

Now Back to our Story........................    As Bucky and the Patriot reviewed the files Bucky would add each name to his next radio broadcast.

Next time another Legion Member


Until Then ENJOY !