Star-Spangled Kid is a Patriotic Collectible
By Teresa Ambord
If you are interested in collectible comic books and you are an American patriot, you should check out The Star-Spangled Kid.
The Star-Spangled Kid was a kind of precursor to Batman. Like Batman, he did not have super powers. He was just an average student, Sylvester John Pemberton III, but he had many talents and interests in various fields of science. And, like Batman, he had a secret millionaire identity. Pemberton was a patriot who wanted to join the military and fight Nazi's in World War II, but he was too young.
The Star-Spangled Kid Appears on the Scene
Still, he found a way to fight America's enemies on his own. On July 4, 1941, while sitting in a movie theater, Pemberton became irritated by a group of Nazi sympathizers who were protesting America. He and another movie-goer, Pat Dugan, shouted them down, but the Nazis became violent and the two patriots had to fight.
After that, Pemberton convinced his father to hire Dugan to be his driver, and they became a crime-fighting duo. Together they developed Pat's ideas and turned an ordinary car into the Star Rocket Racer which could fly at 200 miles per hour and could fly for short periods of time.
Pemberton took on the new, secret persona of the Star-Spangled Kid, and Dugan became his sidekick, Stripesy. Unlike Batman, who had a younger sidekick (Robin) the Star- Spangled Kid was the younger member of the duo. Both wore costumes based on the American flag.
The Bund Saboteurs
The first task of the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy as American heroes was to halt the Bund Saboteurs, a group of Nazis who were targeting American munitions plants.
Together the duo fought the enemy through many, many volumes of comics. The Star-Spangled Kid ran in the Star Spangled-Comics for 86 volumes, from 1941 through 1948. They became charter members of the Seven Soldiers of Victory, appearing in the Leading Comics. They also appeared in the World's Finest Comics.
