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Uncle Sam is described as a spiritual entity created through an occult ritual by the Founding Fathers. 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.
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 but vanished at the end of the war. In The Spectre the Spirit is resurrected in a new costumed form called the Patriot, but later reverts to Uncle Sam [1].
During Infinite Crisis, the Freedom Fighters are attacked by the Secret Society of Super-Villains. Uncle Sam is 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 are killed in the battle. Uncle Sam himself seemingly dies at the hands of Deathstroke. The other team members are brutally injured but survive. Uncle Sam is seen face down in rainwater.
However, when the dead heroes are found strung up on the Washington Monument, Uncle Sam is missing. [2]
The Spirit's latest incarnation reappeared attempting to form a new version of the Freedom Fighters. This new Uncle Sam emerges from the Mississippi River at the same time as Father Time is elsewhere planning the future of S.H.A.D.E. with new incarnations of the Freedom Fighters members. 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 using deadly force when necessary.
In the wake of the Anti-Life Equation being broadcast on every electronic medium, Uncle Sam has become corrupted.[3]American Idealism: Uncle Sam's powers are proportionate to the country's faith in the ideals of liberty and freedom.
American Idealism: Uncle Sam's powers are grounded by the strength of the American consciousness. When the overwhelming spirit of America falters, Sam's strength and stamina declines. During the American Civil War, the country's faith was sundered and Sam was split into two composite forms, Johnny Reb and Billy Yank.
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 (Oct. 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.
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This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Uncle Sam (comics). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with DC Database, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. |
Uncle Sam is the fictional embodiment of the United States of America, heavily used in political cartoons, propaganda, and other anthropomorphic depictions of the country. The term "Uncle Sam" dates to the War of 1812, and the earliest depiction to 1852. It was primarily in the post-Civil War era, however, particularly in the illustrations of Thomas Nast, that the familiar image of the tall, goateed Uncle Sam (borrowing aspects of Abraham Lincoln) completely supplanted earlier anthropomorphizations of America (such as Columbia and Brother Jonathan).
Uncle Sam became particularly iconic in World War I, through a series of famous recruitment posters in which, finger outstretched, he encouraged citizens to join the military.
Uncle Sam has been portrayed in various Muppet productions and merchandise through the years, most often via Sam the Eagle donning the familiar costume.
![]() Sam, from The Muppet Show Fan Club Newsletter |
![]() Hal Linden, from The Muppet Show episode 517 |
![]() Baby Rowlf, from the Muppet Babies episode "What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?" |
![]() Animal, on the Great Muppets in American History coloring book |
![]() Sam in the Great Muppets in American History coloring book |
![]() Cookie Monster, from the Universal Studios Japan Halloween parade |
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Captain America met Uncle Sam while pursuing Father Time, though it remains to be seen if the events actually happened or were part of an illusion Cap experienced.
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Uncle Sam cheered on Cap as he fought Father Time, shouting, "Give 'em what for, my most valiant of sons!"
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