Uncle Sam (comics)
Encyclopedia
Uncle Sam is a fictional character
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

, a DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...

 superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...

 based on national personification
National personification
A national personification is an anthropomorphization of a nation or its people; it can appear in both editorial cartoons and propaganda.Some early personifications in the Western world tended to be national manifestations of the majestic wisdom and war goddess Minerva/Athena, and often took the...

 of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam is a common national personification of the American government originally used during the War of 1812. He is depicted as a stern elderly man with white hair and a goatee beard...

. Uncle Sam first appeared in National Comics
National Comics (series)
National Comics was an anthology comic book series published by Quality Comics, from July, 1940 until November, 1949. It ran for 75 issues....

#1 (July, 1940) and was created by Will Eisner
Will Eisner
William Erwin "Will" Eisner was an American comics writer, artist and entrepreneur. He is considered one of the most important contributors to the development of the medium and is known for the cartooning studio he founded; for his highly influential series The Spirit; for his use of comics as an...

.

Quality Comics

Uncle Sam first appeared in National Comics
National Comics (series)
National Comics was an anthology comic book series published by Quality Comics, from July, 1940 until November, 1949. It ran for 75 issues....

#1 (July, 1940), which was published by Quality Comics
Quality Comics
Quality Comics was an American comic book publishing company that operated from 1939 to 1956 and was an influential creative force in what historians and fans call the Golden Age of comic books....

 during the Golden Age of Comic Books
Golden Age of Comic Books
The Golden Age of Comic Books was a period in the history of American comic books, generally thought of as lasting from the late 1930s until the late 1940s or early 1950s...

. He was depicted as a mystical being who was originally the spirit of a slain patriotic soldier from the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

, and who now appears in the world whenever his country needs him. The character was used for a few years from 1940 to 1944, briefly receiving its own series, Uncle Sam Quarterly. During this time, he had a non-costumed sidekick named Buddy (Buddy Smith).

DC Comics

DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...

 acquired the character as part of its acquisition of the Quality characters in the 1950s, and he was used as a supporting character in Justice League of America
Justice League
The Justice League, also called the Justice League of America or JLA, is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by DC Comics....

in the 1970s. This established Uncle Sam as the leader of the Freedom Fighters
Freedom Fighters (comics)
Freedom Fighters is a DC Comics comic book superhero team made up of characters acquired from the defunct company Quality Comics. Although the characters were created by Quality, they never were gathered in a group before acquired by DC...

, a team of former Quality characters that briefly received its own title. This team was initially based on a parallel world called Earth-X, where World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 had lasted into the 1970s.

Uncle Sam's origin was rewritten somewhat in The Spectre
Spectre (comics)
The Spectre is a fictional character and superhero who has appeared in numerous comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in a next issue ad in More Fun Comics #51 and received his first story the following month, #52...

, where Uncle Sam is described as a spiritual entity created through an occult ritual by the Founding Fathers
Founding Fathers of the United States
The Founding Fathers of the United States of America were political leaders and statesmen who participated in the American Revolution by signing the United States Declaration of Independence, taking part in the American Revolutionary War, establishing the United States Constitution, or by some...

. This "Spirit of America" was initially bound to a powerful talisman and would take physical form by merging with a dying patriot. The new origin states that the Spirit of America had taken human form as the Minute-Man
Minute-Man
Minute-Man is a fictional comic book superhero.-Publication history:Named after the minutemen of the American Revolution and sporting an American flag-inspired costume, he was originally published by Fawcett Comics...

 during the Revolutionary War, Brother Jonathan
Brother Jonathan
Brother Jonathan was a fictional character created to personify the entire United States, in the early days of the country's existence.In editorial cartoons and patriotic posters, Brother Jonathan was usually depicted as a typical American revolutionary, with tri-cornered hat and long military jacket...

 in later conflicts and, during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, had been split in two as Johnny Reb
Johnny Rebel
Johnny Reb or Johnny Rebel is the national personification of the Southern states of the United States. The latter part of his name is derived from Rebellion. Patriots used Johnny Reb and his Union counterpart Billy Yank to symbolize the lost souls in the American Civil War of the 1860s.Johnny Reb...

 and Billy Yank
Billy Yank
Billy Yank is the personification of the Northern states of the United States, or less generally, the Union during the American Civil War. The latter part of his name is derived from yankee, a slang term for New Englanders...

.

The Spirit first assumed its now familiar Uncle Sam incarnation in 1870, when it resurrected a political cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...

 who had been killed by Boss Tweed. The second host of Uncle Sam fought in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. A third (the character's Golden Age incarnation) was a superhero during World War II but vanished at the end of the war, erasing any subsequent appearances from the fictional history of the DC Universe
DC Universe
The DC Universe is the shared universe where most of the comic stories published by DC Comics take place. The fictional characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are well-known superheroes from this universe. Note that in context, "DC Universe" is usually used to refer to the main DC continuity...

 (although most of them had already been erased by the Crisis on Infinite Earths
Crisis on Infinite Earths
Crisis on Infinite Earths is a 12-issue American comic book limited series and crossover event, produced by DC Comics in 1985 to simplify its then 50-year-old continuity...

). In The Spectre, the Spirit is resurrected in a new costumed form called the Patriot, but later reverts to Uncle Sam in a Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...

issue.

In Infinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis is a 2005 - 2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, and a number of tie-in books...

#1, the Freedom Fighters are attacked by the Secret Society of Super Villains
Secret Society of Super Villains
The Secret Society of Super Villains is a group of comic book supervillains that exist in the DC Universe...

. Three of the Freedom Fighters, Human Bomb, Phantom Lady, and Black Condor are killed in the battle. Uncle Sam himself seemingly dies at the hands of Sinestro
Sinestro
Thaal Sinestro is a fictional character, an alien supervillain in the DC Comics Universe. Created by John Broome and Gil Kane, Sinestro is the former mentor of Hal Jordan and the arch-nemesis of the entire Green Lantern Corps. Sinestro first appears in Green Lantern #7 . In 2009, Sinestro was...

. The other team members are brutally injured but survive. Uncle Sam is seen face down in rainwater.

However, when the dead heroes are found strung up on the Washington Monument
Washington Monument
The Washington Monument is an obelisk near the west end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate the first U.S. president, General George Washington...

 in Infinite Crisis #2, Uncle Sam is missing.

The character's latest incarnation appeared in the first issue of Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters, and spends the first few issues of this new series attempting to form a new version of the Freedom Fighters. This new Uncle Sam emerges from the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

 at the same time as Father Time
Father Time (DC Comics)
Father Time is a fictional character, a supervillain in publications from DC Comics. The character first appeared in Seven Soldiers: Frankenstein #3 , and was created by Grant Morrison and Doug Mahnke.-Fictional character biography:...

 is elsewhere planning the future of S.H.A.D.E. with new incarnations of the Freedom Fighters members. Uncle Sam, disturbed by the deadly force used by the new versions of Phantom Lady, The Human Bomb, Doll Man, and others, successfully recruits these metahuman
Metahuman
Metahuman is a term to describe superhumans in DC Comics' shared universe, the DC Universe. It is roughly synonymous with both mutant and mutate and posthuman in the Wildstorm and Ultimate Marvel Universes. Use of the term in reference to superheroes was coined in 1986 by author George R. R...

s into his new Freedom Fighters team, which results in Father Time ordering his remaining S.H.A.D.E. personnel to pursue and kill Uncle Sam and his team. Although Uncle Sam is shown to be against killing, particularly rebuking Doll Man for murdering a crime lord in front of the man's young grandson (in issue #1), Uncle Sam is not against using deadly force when necessary.

He is also seen in Final Crisis #4 and classified as Corrupted when Alan Scott
Alan Scott
Alan Scott is a fictional character, a superhero in the and the first superhero to bear the name Green Lantern.-Publication history:The original Green Lantern was created by young struggling artist Martin Nodell, who was inspired by the sight of a New York Subway employee waving a red lantern to...

 is looking for remaining superhumans to fight Darkseid's forces.

Uncle Sam shows up in the Blackest Night crossover, helping many other superheroes fight the returning dead. This includes the slaughtered incarnation of the Freedom Fighters.

  • Freedom Fighters (vol. 2) #2
  • Freedom Fighters (vol. 2) #3
  • Freedom Fighters (vol. 2) #7
  • Freedom Fighters (vol. 2) #8

Powers and abilities

Uncle Sam has demonstrated various powers, including super strength, invulnerability, the ability to alter his size, enhanced speed, and some degree of clairvoyance
Clairvoyance
The term clairvoyance is used to refer to the ability to gain information about an object, person, location or physical event through means other than the known human senses, a form of extra-sensory perception...

. He is also shown to be able to transport himself and others to a pocket dimension called The Heartland; he does this to Doll Man in issue #2 of Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters. The Pre-Crisis version of Uncle Sam could at one point travel to parallel universes
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...

, as he did with the Freedom Fighters to travel to Earth-X from Earth-Two
Earth-Two
Earth-Two is a fictional universe appearing in American comic book stories published by DC Comics. First appearing in The Flash #123 , Earth-Two was created to explain how Silver-Age versions of characters such as the Flash could appear in stories with their Golden Age counterparts...

 (All-Star Squadron
All-Star Squadron
The All-Star Squadron is a DC Comics superhero team that debuted in a special insert in Justice League of America #193 . Created by Roy Thomas, Rich Buckler and Jerry Ordway.-The concept:...

 #36), however in Freedom Fighters #1, Uncle Sam and the other Freedom Fighters require the help of a scientist's machine to travel to Earth-One
Earth-One
Earth-One is a name given to two fictional universes that have appeared in American comic book stories published by DC Comics...

. His power is said to be in direct proportion of the belief people have in the idea of America, therefore his powers are presumably malleable to some degree. In Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters, Father Time states that tests indicate Sam is not a human, meta-, or magical being, and the question of what he is can be considered inconclusive. In issue #3 of Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters, he states that he does not have the ability to fly.

Vertigo

In 1998, DC published under its adult imprint
Imprint
In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...

 Vertigo a two-issue prestige format
Prestige format
Prestige format is a term coined by DC Comics and later came into wider use to refer to a square-bound comic book with cardstock covers. A prestige format comic book is usually longer than a normal, stapled 32-page comic...

 comic simply titled Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam (Vertigo)
Uncle Sam is a two-part prestige format comic book mini-series published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint in 1997. It was written by Steve Darnall with art by Alex Ross.- Story :...

, written by Steve Darnall with painted artwork by Alex Ross
Alex Ross
Nelson Alexander "Alex" Ross is an American comic book painter, illustrator, and plotter. He is praised for his realistic, human depictions of classic comic book characters. Since the 1990s he has done work for Marvel Comics and DC Comics Nelson Alexander "Alex" Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an...

. The book does not appear to be set in the standard DC Universe
DC Universe
The DC Universe is the shared universe where most of the comic stories published by DC Comics take place. The fictional characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are well-known superheroes from this universe. Note that in context, "DC Universe" is usually used to refer to the main DC continuity...

 (though a picture of Superman can be seen when Uncle Sam discovers the shop in the middle of nowhere), and depicts Uncle Sam as a ragged old man who is tormented by visions of historical episodes and modern aspects of the United States at its worst. Uncle Sam is forced to battle a dark doppelganger of himself based on corruption, deceit, and oppression, with the identity of the United States at stake.

Superman/Batman

In an alternate DC timeline appearing in Superman/Batman
Superman/Batman
Superman/Batman was a monthly comic book series published by DC Comics that features the publisher's two most popular characters: Batman and Superman...

, Superman and Batman have been raised by Cosmic King
Cosmic King
Cosmic King is a fictional supervillain published by DC Comics. He debuted in Superman #147 , and was created by Jerry Siegel and Curt Swan.-Fictional character biography:...

, Lightning Lord
Lightning Lord
Lightning Lord is a fictional supervillain published by DC Comics. The older brother of Lightning Lad and Lightning Lass of the Legion of Super-Heroes, he first appeared in Superman #147 , and was created by Jerry Siegel and Curt Swan....

, and Saturn Queen
Saturn Queen
Saturn Queen is a fictional comic book character owned by DC Comics. She debuted in Superman #147 , and was created by Jerry Siegel and Curt Swan.-Fictional character biography:...

, the three original members of the Legion of Super-Villains
Legion of Super-Villains
The Legion of Super-Villains is a team of fictional supervillains that appear in comic books published by DC Comics. They are adversaries of the Legion of Super-Heroes in the future...

, and have turned the Earth into a totalitarian state. Uncle Sam becomes Green Lantern
Green Lantern
The Green Lantern is the shared primary alias of several fictional characters, superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The first Green Lantern was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Martin Nodell in All-American Comics #16 .Each Green Lantern possesses a power ring and...

 when Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....

 gives him Abin Sur
Abin Sur
Abin Sur is a fictional character and a superhero from the DC Comics universe. He first appeared in Showcase #22 : "SOS Green Lantern". He was a member of the Green Lantern Corps and is best known as the predecessor of Green Lantern Hal Jordan, whom Abin Sur's power ring chose as his replacement...

's ring, as Hal Jordan
Hal Jordan
Harold "Hal" Jordan is a DC Comics superhero known as Green Lantern, the first human shown to join the Green Lantern Corps and a founding member of the Justice League of America. Jordan is the second DC Comics character to adopt the Green Lantern moniker...

 is dead in this reality. When Wonder Woman first encounters this Uncle Sam, he is visually very similar to the Uncle Sam from Alex Ross' miniseries
Uncle Sam (Vertigo)
Uncle Sam is a two-part prestige format comic book mini-series published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint in 1997. It was written by Steve Darnall with art by Alex Ross.- Story :...

; once she uses her magic lasso to reveal the truth to him, he reverts to his classic persona and costume.

52

In the final issue of 52
52 (comic book)
52 was a weekly American comic book limited series published by DC Comics that debuted on May 10, 2006, one week after the conclusion of the seven-issue Infinite Crisis. The series was written by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, and Mark Waid with layouts by Keith Giffen...

, a new Multiverse is revealed, originally consisting of 52 identical realities. Among the parallel realities shown is one designated "Earth-10". As a result of Mister Mind
Mister Mind and the Monster Society of Evil
Mister Mind is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain created for Fawcett Comics, and now owned and published by DC Comics. Created by Otto Binder and C. C...

 "eating" aspects of this reality, it takes on visual aspects similar to the pre-Crisis Earth-X, including the Quality characters.

Based on comments by Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer, playwright and occultist. He is known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings, as well as his successful runs on titles like Animal Man, Doom Patrol, JLA, The Invisibles, New X-Men, Fantastic Four, All-Star Superman, and...

 and the fact that a Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...

 version of Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...

 is depicted in the scene, this alternate universe is not the pre-Crisis Earth-X.

On Earth-11, a world of reversed genders, a female version of Sam called Columbia leads the Freedom Fighters.

Television

  • Uncle Sam appears in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold
    Batman: The Brave and the Bold
    Batman: The Brave and the Bold is an American animated television series based in part on the DC Comics series The Brave and the Bold which features two or more super heroes coming together to solve a crime or foil a super villain...

    episode "Cry Freedom Fighters!" voiced by Peter Renaday
    Peter Renaday
    Peter Renaday is an American voice actor.-Film:*The Aristocats as the truck driver*Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost as Mr.McKnight-TV series:*Angel as The Beast's Master...

    .

External links

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