I bought Blackjacked and Pistol-Whipped: A Crime Does Not Pay Primer (a tpb collecting the best of the infamous 1950s crime-themed anthology comic book) a while ago, and though I had a pretty good idea of what to expect from CDNP Archives volume one. One thing I did not expect, though, was the debut of a superhero feature in issue #1! The War Eagle looks for all the world to me to be a cross between Captain America and Hawkman. I’m surprised Timely and/or National didn’t sue the pants off Lev Gleason, but then again, the character did not re-appear in issues #2-3 (or ever again, as far as I know), so perhaps a “cease and desist” letter was delivered. Either that or the decision was made that a superhero didn’t fit the “true crime” nature of the title itself. Still, if the latter had been the case, one might expect the character to have turned up in another publication such as Silver Streak.
Although derivative of two other characters, the mix is unique. But you needn’t take my word for it; the entire story is available online here if you’re interested:
http://fourcolorshadows.blogspot.com/2011/03/war-eagle-alan-mandel-1942.html
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