# What did Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman do during WWII, anyway? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 29, 2015, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-superman-batman-and-wonder-woman-do-during-wwii-anyway/738981 "2015-11-29T22:27:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-superman-batman-and-wonder-woman-do-during-wwii-anyway/738981/21 "2015-11-30T15:52:03Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > To [Geneva](http://images.sequart.org/images/How-Superman-Would-End-the-War-Look-magazine.gif), where they were judged by a League of Nations tribunal. Note that this comic was from 1940, predating the USA’s entry into the war, and ran in Look magazine, not a regular comic book. Comic Book Guy: “That was an imaginary story. That never really happened.” Bart: “None of this _really_ happened.” Comic Book Guy: “Get out of my store.” ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-superman-batman-and-wonder-woman-do-during-wwii-anyway/738981/22 "2015-11-30T16:58:50Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Comic Book Guy: “That was an imaginary story. That never really happened.” > Bart: “None of this _really_ happened.” > Comic Book Guy: “Get out of my store.” That used to puzzle me in my comic-book buying days. They would bill certain out-of-character stories as “Imaginary Stories,” when even a seven-year-old kid knows that \*all \*Superman stories are imaginary. I didn’t quite get the concept that there was supposed to be a consistent “canon” to Superman. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-superman-batman-and-wonder-woman-do-during-wwii-anyway/738981/23 "2015-11-30T17:38:09Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > That used to puzzle me in my comic-book buying days. They would bill certain out-of-character stories as “Imaginary Stories,” when even a seven-year-old kid knows that \*all \*Superman stories are imaginary. I didn’t quite get the concept that there was supposed to be a consistent “canon” to Superman. As Alan Moore put it: “This is an imaginary story. Aren’t they all?” Believe it or not, that was a very controversial line within the comic book industry in those days. Many people felt it was too cynical and too much “looking behind the curtain.” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-superman-batman-and-wonder-woman-do-during-wwii-anyway/738981/24 "2015-11-30T17:55:01Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > To [Geneva](http://images.sequart.org/images/How-Superman-Would-End-the-War-Look-magazine.gif), where they were judged by a League of Nations tribunal. Note that this comic was from 1940, predating the USA’s entry into the war, and ran in Look magazine, not a regular comic book. Interesting - thanks. I’m glad the League of Nations finally did _something_ right. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-superman-batman-and-wonder-woman-do-during-wwii-anyway/738981/25 "2015-11-30T20:50:52Z")
One group of heroes specialized in battling the Axis powers: The Blackhawk Squadron. According to Wikipedia: “Led by a mysterious man known as Blackhawk, the Blackhawks (or more formally, the Blackhawk Squadron) are a small team of World War II-era ace pilots of varied nationalities, each typically known under a single name, either their given name or their surname. Though the membership roster has undergone changes over the years, the team has been portrayed most consistently as having seven core members.” In their most well-known incarnation, the Blackhawks operate from a hidden base known only as Blackhawk Island, fly Grumman XF5F Skyrocket planes, and shout their battle cry of “Hawk-a-a-a!” as they descend from the skies to fight tyranny and oppression. Clad in matching blue and black uniforms (with Blackhawk himself boasting a hawk insignia on his chest), early stories pitted the team against the Axis powers, but they would also come to battle recurring foes such as King Condor and Killer Shark, as well as encounter an array of gorgeous and deadly femme fatales. They also frequently squared off against fantastical war machines ranging from amphibious “shark planes” and flying tanks, to the aptly-named War Wheel, a gigantic rolling behemoth adorned with spikes and machine guns." At the height of his popularity in the early-1940s, Blackhawk titles routinely outsold every other comic book but Superman.[2] Blackhawk also shares the unique distinction of being just one of four comic book characters to be published continuously from the 1940s through the 1960s (the others being Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman).[citation needed] The comic series has spawned a film serial, a radio series and a novel." ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-superman-batman-and-wonder-woman-do-during-wwii-anyway/738981/26 "2015-11-30T21:04:50Z")
> [@TV time's cite](#): > > “Blackhawk also shares the unique distinction of being just one of four comic book characters to be published continuously from the 1940s through the 1960s (the others being Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman).[citation needed] The comic series has spawned a film serial, a radio series and a novel.” In fairness, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are notable because they’ve been in constant publication _under their own titles_ and not just to the 1960s, but to the present. There are significant gaps in the publication of the _Blackhawks_ series (i.e. 1968-75, 1978-81) while the SBW “trinity” has been steadier. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2015, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-superman-batman-and-wonder-woman-do-during-wwii-anyway/738981/27 "2015-12-01T00:14:32Z")
On further research, I submit that Archie Andrews can be grouped with SBW for being in constant publication under his own title since World War 2. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2015, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-superman-batman-and-wonder-woman-do-during-wwii-anyway/738981/28 "2015-12-01T00:27:48Z")
The Phantom’s newspaper comic, which started years before Superman and Batman and Wonder Woman debuted, ran during the war years – when he of course fought enemy soldiers – and is still running uninterrupted as we speak; what’s more, as far as I can tell his comic _book_ got continuously published throughout likewise. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2015, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-superman-batman-and-wonder-woman-do-during-wwii-anyway/738981/29 "2015-12-01T05:36:07Z")
Huh - thanks. Never heard of Blackhawk before. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2015, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-superman-batman-and-wonder-woman-do-during-wwii-anyway/738981/30 "2015-12-01T23:36:41Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > \*cough. Post #2. You should see a medical professional about that cough aka I sometimes don’t read a whole topic if a thought comes to me from the OP or even just the title (like in this case) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2015, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-superman-batman-and-wonder-woman-do-during-wwii-anyway/738981/31 "2015-12-01T23:58:00Z")
You’re welcome for bringing it to your attention. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-superman-batman-and-wonder-woman-do-during-wwii-anyway/738981/32 "2015-12-02T03:55:53Z")
In the Superman cartoon _The Eleventh Hour,_ Lois and Clark are in jail in Yokohama; Superman, around 11:00 p.m., goes around the Yokohama shipyard destroying Japanese ships under construction. The Japanese print signs warning Superman that if he continues Lois will be executed, but by the time he sees a sign she is already being led to a firing squad. Of course, Superman rescues her in the nick of time. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-superman-batman-and-wonder-woman-do-during-wwii-anyway/738981/33 "2015-12-02T04:09:39Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > There was one story in which Clark Kent goes to take the physical exam for his draft board. During the eye exam, he accidentally uses his X-ray vision, and ends up reading letters from the wrong eye chart. He is declared 4F, and remains a civilian. But there was another story where Clark goes through officer training and gets a commission. It ends with him in uniform, returning a salute from an enlisted man and handing him the traditional dollar, while explaining the tradition to Lois. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-superman-batman-and-wonder-woman-do-during-wwii-anyway/738981/34 "2015-12-02T15:42:51Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > But there was another story where Clark goes through officer training and gets a commission. It ends with him in uniform, returning a salute from an enlisted man and handing him the traditional dollar, while explaining the tradition to Lois. The traditional dollar? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-superman-batman-and-wonder-woman-do-during-wwii-anyway/738981/35 "2015-12-02T15:48:10Z")
A newly-commissioned officer carries a silver dollar, and gives it to the first enlisted person who salutes him. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-superman-batman-and-wonder-woman-do-during-wwii-anyway/738981/36 "2015-12-02T16:22:37Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > A newly-commissioned officer carries a silver dollar, and gives it to the first enlisted person who salutes him. This is incidentally what is happening at the end of _An Officer and a Gentlemen_ as each Navy OCS graduate gets saluted by, gives something to, and then says farewell to Lou Gossett jr., who had portrayed their lead drill instructor. It was quite some time before I found out what they were handing him. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-superman-batman-and-wonder-woman-do-during-wwii-anyway/738981/37 "2015-12-02T16:54:23Z")
Interesting. Where do they get silver dollars these days? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-superman-batman-and-wonder-woman-do-during-wwii-anyway/738981/38 "2015-12-02T20:37:57Z")
At a silver dollar store, I presume. To the extent the tradition is still practiced, probably any dollar coin will do. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-superman-batman-and-wonder-woman-do-during-wwii-anyway/738981/39 "2015-12-02T23:17:36Z")
Heck, to do that all they need to do is make a comparatively large transaction in a stamp machine in the lobby of a post office. Those machines actually dispense dollar coins in your change ( instead of paper money)! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-superman-batman-and-wonder-woman-do-during-wwii-anyway/738981/40 "2015-12-02T23:55:08Z")
I have a single volume collection of Wonder Woman reprint comics from 1942. The first is her origin, but in the next she’s battling an American gang trying to extort money from a circus, which has Japanese spies in it too. In the next she’s battling a female German spy, again on the home front, and then it’s Japanese saboteurs in Texas. (Lotsa racism in these stories.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-superman-batman-and-wonder-woman-do-during-wwii-anyway/738981.md?page=1)