The country needs me and I need you. It is an urgent matter of national security... — Uncle Sam src

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History

Origin

is the Spirit of America. The patriotic hero lives as long as America will. He leads the Freedom Fighters

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.

Freedom Fighters

The Spirit first assumed its now familiar Uncle Sam incarnation in 1870, when it resurrected a political cartoonist who had been killed by Boss Tweed. The second host of Uncle Sam fought in World War I. A third (the character's Golden Age incarnation) was a superhero during World War II, fighting alongside young Buddy Smith. After the Japanese attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii brought his country into the war, Sam organized and led the Freedom Fighters and was a member of the All-Star Squadron but vanished at the end of the war. The Spirit was resurrected in a new costumed form called the Patriot during the Imperiex War, but later reverts to Uncle Sam.[1] A new incarnation of the Freedom Fighters was formed at this time.

During the Infinite Crisis, the Freedom Fighters were attacked by the Secret Society of Super-Villains. Uncle Sam was shown easily standing up to Black Adam, even knocking him away with one punch. Three of the Freedom Fighters, Human Bomb, Phantom Lady and Black Condor were killed in the battle. Uncle Sam himself seemingly dies at the hands of Deathstroke while the other team members are brutally injured but survive. Sam was not seen among the dead Freedom Fighters after they were found strung up on the Washington Monument.[2]

One Year Later

By the end of the "Lost Year", the spirit of Uncle Sam was reincarnated and attempting to form a new version of the Freedom Fighters. This new incarnation of Uncle Sam emerged from the Mississippi River [3] while Father Time, the leader of S.H.A.D.E., was elsewhere planning the future of his organization by using new incarnations of Freedom Fighters members as recruits. 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 metahumans 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, Uncle Sam is not against using deadly force when necessary.

Due to circumstances, Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters came into an alliance with S.H.A.D.E. against the evil entity Gonzo the Mechanical Bastard, which resulted in Sam becoming, briefly, the director of S.H.A.D.E. before control was of the organization was regained by Father Time, while under the watch of Checkmate.

During the Final Crisis, Uncle Sam was among the many super heroes that were corrupted by the Anti-Life Equation.[4]



Powers and Abilities

Powers

Abilities

Weaknesses

Spiritual Dependency: Uncle Sam's powers are grounded by the strength of the American consciousness. When the overarching spirit of America falters, Sam's strength and stamina decline. During the American Civil War, the country's faith was sundered completely, and Sam was split into two composite forms, Johnny Reb and Billy Yank.





Notes

In 1956, DC Comics obtained the rights to the Quality Comics characters, and re-introduced them 17 years later as the Freedom Fighters in Justice League of America #107 (October 1973).

The Freedom Fighters were relocated to a parallel world, one called "Earth-X", where Nazi Germany had won World War II. The team was featured in its own series for 15 issues (1976–1978), in which it temporarily left Earth-X for "Earth-One" (where most DC titles are set).

In 1981, some Quality Characters became recurring guest-stars of All-Star Squadron, a superhero-team title set on "Earth-Two", the locale for DC's WWII-era superheroes, and at a time prior to when the Freedom Fighters were supposed to have left for Earth-X. They later appeared with the rest of DC's superheroes in Crisis on Infinite Earths, a story that was intended to eliminate the confusing histories that DC had attached to its characters by retroactively merging the various parallel worlds into one. The Freedom Fighters became a mere splinter group of the All-Star Squadron.

Many Quality Comics characters had counterparts on Earth-Two, who migrated, in three groups, from that world to Earth-X. Their adventures diverged, (in Summer 1941, on 23 February 1942, and on 1 April 1942), from those of the Quality Universe versions of these characters. Pearl Harbor migration, Summer 1941: Hourman (later returned to Earth-Two) Invisible Hood Magno Miss America Neon Red Torpedo Uncle Sam (later returned to Earth-Two) The first team was mostly apparently killed by Japanese warplanes on December 7th 1941. Santa Barbara migration, February 1942: Black Condor Doll Man Human Bomb Phantom Lady The Ray Red Bee Uncle Sam (later returned to Earth-Two) The second team fought all the way through WWII, which on Earth-X dragged on until 1973. This team later migrated from Earth-X to Earth-One. Final migration, April 1942: Black Condor (again) Blackhawk Squadron Doll Man (again) Firebrand Human Bomb (again) Jester Manhunter Midnight Phantom Lady (again) Plastic Man Quicksilver Ray (again) Spider Uncle Sam (again)

Uncle Sam on New Earth vanished at the end of WWII, in 1945, for several decades.

Uncle Sam in the Quality Universe appeared from National Comics #1, July 1940, to National Comics #45, Dec 1944.



Trivia

Uncle Sam is also known as Brother Jonathan, Johnny Reb, Billy Yank.

Related









Freedom Fighters member

This character is or was a member of the Freedom Fighters, a team of American super-heroes who fight threats to the nation and its ideals under the leadership of Uncle Sam. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the "Freedom Fighters members" category.