Freedom Fighters
Uncle Sam
Alter Ego: N/A
First Appearance: National Comics #1 (July, 1940)
Uncle Sam is described as a spiritual entity created through an occult ritual by the Founding Fathers of the United States. This "Spirit of America" was initially bound to a powerful talisman and would take physical form by merging with a dying patriot. The Spirit of America had taken human form as the Minute-Man during the Revolutionary War, Brother Jonathan in later conflicts and, during the American Civil War, had been split in two as Johnny Reb and Billy Yank.
- Anthropomorphic Personification: Uncle Sam is the "Spirit of America."
- Appearance Is in the Eye of the Beholder: Or voice, in Uncle Sam's case. To Emma Glenn, his voice sounds like "children singing". To Doll Man II, he sounds like a leader of great compassion and integrity (and a little like Ike Eisenhower). Doll Man II hypothesizes that this is because Sam is born of all the individual perceptions of America, and may sound different to everyone.
- Captain Patriotic: Uncle Sam, the Anthropomorphic Personification of the United States of America.
- Gods Need Prayer Badly: Uncle Sam's power is directly proportional to the American People's belief in freedom and liberty. Whether American protectorates like Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands' people's belief in freedom and liberty counts towards this is never specified.
- Nations as People: Uncle Sam is the literal embodiment of the Spirit of America, created by the Founding Fathers using a magical talisman. He originally took the form of a Minuteman, before becoming Brother Jonathan, then split into Billy Yank and Johnny Reb, before finally taking his current form (apart from a very brief
Audience-Alienating Era where he became some kind of star-spangled spaceman called the Patriot). - Patriotic Fervor: Uncle Sam, Anthropomorphic Personification of the American Spirit, is literally composed of this trope. No, really: his strength is directly proportional to the faith of the American people in America and its ideals, to the extent that if nobody had any such faith he'd cease to exist.
- Will Not Tell a Lie: Uncle Sam is very big on telling the truth and avoids lying.
- Wearing a Flag on Your Head: Uncle Sam wears an American-themed costume.
Black Condor
Alter Ego: Richard Grey Jr./Thomas Wright
First Appearance: Crack Comics #1 (May, 1940)
As an infant traveling with his parents on an archaeological expedition thorough Outer Mongolia, Richard Grey Jr. survived after his family was killed by the bandit Gali Kan and his men. Rescued by a condor who raised him as her own, he learned to fly, as the origin story stated, by "studying the movement of wings, the body motions, air currents, balance and levitation" of his avian siblings. Early in his crime-fighting career he obtained a "black ray" pistol, capable of producing a wide variety of powerful energy effects.
- Animalistic Abilities: The original version of the Black Condor gained the power of flight by studying the birds that raised him.
- Badass Boast: Black Condor rocks at these. Not just because they sound great, but because he can and will live up to them.Windstorm: I see the one in black, but what happened to the winged shaman?
Black Condor: I am no shaman! I am Black Condor! Empowered by the goddess Tocotl with the swiftness of the wind and the power of the ground! And I am a god killer! - Charles Atlas Superpower: Black Condor has the ability to fly. Nothing too out there for a superhero, right? Oh no, unlike other flying heroes like Hawkman, the Falcon, or the Angel (who all either rely on specialized flight suits or are Winged Humanoids), Black Condor learned to fly from years of studying vultures. Yes, apparently watching birds long enough will allow you to defy gravity and basic laws of physics. When the character was incorporated into The DCU, retroactive continuity was invoked to credit the power to irradiation by Magic Meteor.
- Clark Kenting: Black Condor wore no mask, but no one ever spotted him as being Senator Thomas Wright.
- Color Animal Codename: Black Condor.
- Identical Stranger: Richard Grey Jr. was a doppelganger for US Senator Thomas Wright, and adopted Wright's identity after Wright was murdered.
- Magic Meteor: In the DC Universe, his power was retconned to being caused by exposure to a radioactive meteor.
- Ray Gun: Early in his life he obtained a "black ray" pistol, capable of producing a wide variety of powerful energy effects.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Black Condor's costume has a cape and chest sash but no shirt.
- Wild Child: The Black Condor is a human man who was raised by condors. Who taught him to fly (yes, without wings). And then he became a US Senator. A later retcon gives him the power of flight naturally, which makes the character very slightly less loopy.
Doll Man
Alter Ego: Darrell Dane
First Appearance: Feature Comics #27 (December, 1939)
Using his scientific know how, research scientist Darrel Dane used a formula he discovered to became a super hero who had the power to will his body to reduce in size to six inches. In his origin he did this to save his fiance. Martha Roberts.
- Alliterative Name: Darrell Dane
- Incredible Shrinking Man: By willing himself, Doll Man can shrink to the height of six inches and a proportionate weight or return to his normal size.
- Mind over Matter: After migrating to Earth-One after bringing peace to Earth-X, Doll Man developed telekinetic abilities, which he refereed to as "mind over matter."
- Super-Strength: In some stories, at his six-inch height Doll Man is as strong as 20 full-sized men.
Human Bomb
Alter Ego: Roy Lincoln
First Appearance: Police Comics #1 (August, 1941)
Roy Lincoln was the son of a master chemist. In the late 1930s, his father, Professor Lincoln, perfected a super-effective explosive (“fifty times mightier than nitroglycerine”) that he named 27-QRX. When Axis agents tried to retrieve the formula, they killed Professor Lincoln. In order to protect the chemical from falling into the wrong hands, Roy Lincoln swallowed the only sample. Swallowing the sample caused the skin on Lincoln’s hands to become extremely explosive. He destroyed the lab and killed the Axis Agents He created a “Fibro-wax” lined protective suit that allowed him to easily remove his gloves. He fashioned gloves from the material for his everyday life, and a suit of it while fighting evil.
- Action Bomb: The Human Bomb, whose superpowers are exactly what you'd expect. They're superheroes who generate massive explosions. This dangerous condition requires them to constantly wear containment suits.
- Containment Clothing: He wears an 'fibro-wax' suit to keep his powers in check.
- Death By Origin Stories: Roy's father was murdered by Axis agents, leading Roy to swallow the explosive they were working on and gain his powers.
- Having a Blast: The Human Bomb is the original super-powered explosion maker. He literally could cause anything he touched to explode... the bigger the object, the bigger the explosion. When Quality Comics went out of business, DC Comics purchased the rights to its entire stable of characters, and the Human Bomb became a member of the Freedom Fighters.
- Hazmat Suit: The Human Bomb has worn one since the Golden Age.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: How the first Human Bomb died. See, Bizarro likes the lights he made, which were released every time the Bomb blew up, and Bizarro didn't know his own strength...
- Power Incontinence: The Human Bomb has to stay in his containment suit, or he'll blow up everything around him.
Firebrand
Alter Ego: Rod Reilly
First Appearance: Police Comics #1 (August, 1941)
Rod Reilly was the bored and wealthy socialite son of a steel tycoon, who decided to fight crime with his servant and friend, "Slugger" Dunn.
- Affirmative-Action Legacy: In Allstar Squadron, the Firebrand identity was taken over by Rod's sister Danette after Rod was wounded at Pear Harbor.
- Alliterative Name: Rod Reilly
- Older Sidekick: Slugger Dunn was a former heavyweight prize fighter during the 1930s. After retiring from boxing, he became the personal valet and trainer to adventurer/playboy Rod Reilly. Slugger was one of the few people who knew of Rod's dual identity as Firebrand.
- Secret Identity: Was originally a wealthy playboy in his secret identity.
- Secret-Keeper: Slugger Dunnn was one of the few people who knew of Rod's dual identity as Firebrand.
- The Team Normal: Was the only founding member without any powers.
