Calling the Kid Commandos!

Book: The Invaders

Issue No.: 28

Published: February 2, 1978

Title: “Calling the Kid Commandos!”

The Invaders is a 1970s comic series that tells new (at the time) stories about the 1940s World War II exploits of old-school Marvel heroes Captain America, the Sub-Mariner (AKA Namor, prince of Atlantis), and the original Human Torch (this is an android, not the more famous second Human Torch of the Fantastic Four). 

The main bad guy (sort of) is Agent Axis who has multiple personalities with different slang from different fascist (as of WWII) countries — he’s three master spies merged into one. And he has the strength and speed of three fascists. Also, he has an iron mole, just like in At the Earth’s Core! 

The book also features the Torch’s and Cap’s kid sidekicks Toro and Bucky. And this issue introduces a couple of new young superheroes (Golden Girl and the Human Top), so the four of them comprise the titular Kid Commandos. Golden Girl is Japanese-American, and the Japanese-American internment camps are featured — another bad guy in this story is Captain Simms, who runs the Sandy Flat Relocation Center (a fictional internment camp based on the real ones). So this book isn’t afraid to point out the United States’ fascism at home. The issue ends with the Kid Commandos staying in the United States to deal with domestic threats while the adult Invaders return to Europe to fight there. And there’s a tease that the next issue will reveal the “Untold Origin of the Invaders!”

Bonus: Lettering by John Costanza!

Next time — The Thing (from the Fantastic Four, not the scary monster from the John Carpenter movie) teams up with some Avengers (the superhero group, not Emma Peel and John Steed from the quirky British TV show)!