This week I’m going to go on about Timely Comics’ Destroyer until I’m…blue in the face.
But first- some housekeeping. I didn’t have space to respond to readers’ comments in my last installment, so I’ve got some catching up to do. You didn’t think I forgot about you sweethearts, did you? For any pantywaists out there who get rattled at the sight of an internet flamewar – you might want to just scroll down to the main article now.
It seems I’ve got more than just the usual Fwoosh-beciles to respond to today. I’m now getting heckled by ignoramuses from all over the World Wide Web.
Richard J. Marcej @ComicBookResources: You know, I work in the Toy Industry. I have for years…it’s guys like Cliff Francis, that frankly we could do without.
I think that one really says it all, doesn’t it folks? It finally validates what I’ve been saying for years: The toy companies DO NOT CARE about the fans. They are out for one thing and one thing only: chasing a buck. Not only could they not care less about what we want from our superhero toys, they’d willingly degrade and defile our hallowed heroes if they could profit from it. Thank you for finally being honest with us Mr. Marcej. Although I despise everything you stand for, I have to respect your candor.
John-Locke @AintItCoolNews: Jeebus do people really care about such trivial sh*t?
Nice language! Do you kiss your mother with that mouth? Mr. Locke, you are the perfect example of the “fan” that inspires my crusade: The Casual Fan. Perfectly happy with whatever slop the toy companies foist on us. Sitting around watching children’s cartoons; too lazy to actually read about our heroes from comic books. Ready to dismiss it all as “trivial sh*t” if the going gets at all rough. Mr. Marcej is everything that is wrong with the toy companies, and you are everything that is wrong with the collecting community.
Marc Buxton @Fwoosh: learn another language…other cultures should be able to be tortured by you entitled ranting.
Oh I’m sorry. Do you not speak English? I’m fluent in three languages. Was there another one in particular you wanted me to write in? I’d be happy to translate this for you:
Rich @Fwoosh:
Too Funny
Too True
You are half right my friend. It would be funny if it wasn’t so true.
measle @CriticalMess: You truly are doing the Lord’s work Cliff. we’re all about the Cliff Francis. I pinky swear.
You sir, are a gentleman and a scholar. Look for a friend request from me on Facebook.
18thstreet-Geppetto @Fwoosh: the vato has a point
Odelay, homes.
Now let’s get to what we all came here for.
Last year Hasbro’s Marvel Universe exclusive for Comic Con was an Invaders set including Captain America, Sub-Mariner, Human Torch, and the Red Skull. Subsequently, they have announced Union Jack, Bucky, and “Golden Age” Captain America in the regular retail line. They seem to be showing a healthy interest in Marvel’s historic characters from the World War II era. Commendable, right? Leave it to a toy company to blow it. Instead of continuing this trend with any number of worthy characters, Hasbro has disregarded good sense, and chosen instead to play to the unwashed mass of Fwoosh-beciles and fanboys. They are giving us the Winter Soldier. And not only in the 4 3/16” scale, but in 6” Marvel Legends as well. It’s enough to make a true comic fan want to set his entire toy collection on fire and breathe the smoke until the toxic fumes overcome him and set him free from a world gone mad.
If Hasbro had truly wanted to honor Marvel’s WWII history, rather than just try to turn a quick buck, they could have done no better than to choose the mighty Destroyer as their next figure offering.
By 1940, the extraordinary success of Superman, Batman, Captain Marvel, The Blue Beetle, and Captain America had led to innumerable imitators. At Timely Comics, publisher Martin Goodman had a standing order for as many new heroes as his writers could provide. This resulted in many, shall we say…not-so-classic heroes. Mystic Comics began in 1940 with a feeble lineup of characters. They included the Blue Blaze, a blatant Blue Beetle rip-off, and Flexo the rubber man, a robot made entirely of rubber. Yes. Really.
The title was deservedly about to be cancelled because of poor sales. In a last ditch effort to save the title, a new lineup of characters began with #5, and in #6 a new lead feature graced the cover: The Destroyer.
The Destroyer was the first creation of young writer Stan Lee. Eighteen year old Lee had joined Timely as an errand boy two years earlier. He had since written a couple of filler scripts, and now he was getting to try his hand at an original character. He introduced The Destroyer with a quintessential bit of the hucksterism that would later become his hallmark. In a page from Mystic #6, Lee conducts an interview with the “editor” of Mystic Comics (himself) who in turn discusses the writer of the Destroyer (again, Lee). The editor says that when “they” were selecting new characters, they settled on the “already famous” Destroyer (this, of course, was the Destroyer’s first appearance). The Destroyer would prove to be a great success. Mystic Comics was given a reprieve and the Destroyer would also appear in All Winners Comics, USA Comics, Daring Comics, and others.
Keen Marlowe was an American journalist, sent to report from inside Nazi Germany. Arrested as a spy, he was held and tortured by the Nazis. Meanwhile, Dr. Eric Schmidt, a German patriot, refuses to give the Nazis his formula for a kind of super-soldier serum. When Schmidt meets Marlowe in the Nazi prison he gives the serum to him, endowing Marlowe with enhanced strength, speed, and mental acuity. Marlowe then escapes the camp but decides to remain in Germany to fight the Nazis as The Destroyer.
With his strange blue, full-face mask (yes, it’s a mask-not make up), dun colored tights and broad striped pants, the Destroyer stood out from the brightly colored heroes of the age. But his costume wasn’t the only thing unique among the superheroes of World War II. The many other costumed heroes, both at Timely and other publishers, regularly fought Axis powers on the front lines, domestically, and in Allied countries like Britain and China. The Destroyer, however, worked exclusively behind enemy lines as a saboteur and fifth columnist, often working in disguise (donning German uniforms to infiltrate bases was a regular scenario) and employing convincing foreign accents. In the earlier stories, Marlowe seemed to see as much fighting action out of his Destroyer garb as in it.
In Destroyer stories, there is also a subtle difference in the attitude toward the villains. Whereas in most stories that starred Captain America or other war heroes, there is either a central villain (usually a Nazi general or grotesque scientist) that meets his end through circumstances created by himself. When there is a battle with enemy soldiers, more often than not they are taken prisoner or at least not explicitly killed on panel.
However, the Destroyer is not only shown to wipe out enemy soldiers, but often gloats about it unabashedly. Certainly a darker tone for a darker type of warrior.
Another aspect that singled out the Destroyer from his counterparts of the era was his lack of a supporting cast. He had no young ally, goofy sidekick, or love interest; which makes sense given his situation of living “underground”. His only ally to appear with any regularity was a young German woman named Florence Von Banger. Her father killed by the Nazis, she joined the German Underground as a resistance fighter. But even this one relationship was somewhat singular in that the Destroyer never hid his secret identity from Florence and theirs was, to all appearances, a completely platonic relationship.
In 1944, The Destroyer decided that the German Underground had things well in hand, and that his services would be put to better use in Japan. So, he picked up and moved to Tokyo where he continued his work of disrupting the enemy on their home turf.
In these later stories, the tone of the strip changed somewhat. Florence remaining in Germany, Marlowe now had no companion or allies whatever, aside from the reader; whom he seems to address directly from time to time. He is almost never seen without his mask, and his adventures become even more brutal as he revels in killing “hundreds of Nips” with regularity.
Monstrously grotesque racist depictions of Japanese abound. Sadly, these were common at the time.
In 1945, the War was coming to an end in both theaters and so The Destroyer is stateside in his last two appearances. Suddenly, and without any explanation, The Destroyer is employed at the Jerry Crane Private Detective Agency. Jerry Crane himself never appears but Marlowe takes on the cases, in full Destroyer garb.
After his final appearance in All Select Comics #10 (1946) The Destroyer is sadly never heard from again.
Or is he?
In the 1970s series The Invaders (which took place during WWII), it was ret-conned that there never was a Keen Marlowe. Instead, English aristocrat Brian Falsworth (the son of the original WWI era Union Jack) had travelled to Germany with his best friend Roger Aubrey, for the purpose of appeasement. They were taken prisoner by the Nazis to be experimented on. The rest of the Destroyer origin remained the same, but it was Falsworth that receives the serum from Dr. Schmid, becoming the Destroyer.
Not long after this is revealed, Falsworth casts aside the Destroyer identity to become the new Union Jack, following in his father’s footsteps.
Shortly after that, Aubrey becomes the new Destroyer.
Falsworth is a principal member of the Invaders throughout the war, and dies in a car crash in 1953. Aubrey goes on to lead the V Battalion, still donning the Destroyer costume on occasion.
In a final retcon, the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Golden Age (2004) restores the origin of Keen Marlowe and states that he and Falsworth shared the identity of the Destroyer, so as to confuse the Nazi regime. It has also revealed that Falsworth and Aubrey were not merely best friends, but life partners. This did not appear to have any impact on the Invaders’ morale or unit cohesion.
In 2009 Marvel published a new Destroyer story in the one-shot “70th Anniversary” USA Comics #1, as well as an eponymous Destroyer mini-series under the MAX imprint.
The mini-series follows a now ninety-something year old Marlowe (extremely well preserved for his age by the serum), still crusading as the Destroyer under the auspices of the U.S. Government.
The series ends with Marlowe retiring and passing on the mantle to his son-in-law. As with most books under the MAX imprint, it is unclear whether it’s meant to be considered “canon”.
Lastly, I must mention that the Destroyer was featured on Spider-Man: The Animated Series in a story arch spanning five episodes. Does this perhaps pique the interest of all you Toon-Tots out there?
Let it be noted that if Hasbro ever dares to make a cartoon style Destroyer over his comic design, I will personally do everything in my power to make sure heads roll for it.
So there you have it.
Which character do you think is a more essential keystone in the canon of Marvel’s WWII heroes? A Communist traitor, spawned from a 21st century ret-con? Or the very first creation of the most important comic book writer of all time?
The Destroyer is a seminal character with a legacy touching every age of comic history – a character unique among the dozens of cookie cutter war heroes. Yet, the Hassenfeld (Hassle-filled?) Brothers chose to immortalize a character whose entire history spans barely two whole years, and will certainly never appear again. Way to go, ‘Bro!
It’s high time that Hasbro (and all the companies like them) stopped catering to the every whim of the Casual Fan and started paying attention to what the core fans are dying for. Because the Casual Fans may be numerous, but in the end they are transient. The core fans are the ones that will keep the line going for the long haul. It’s time we got a little more respect.
Cliff
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To read previous installments of Costume Contumely, click here.
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