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 !