Will Eisner’s Uncle Sam in National Comics #3 in the Philippines

National Comics was an anthology comic book series published by Quality Comics, from 1940 for nine years and is best known for Will Eisner‘s Uncle Sam character that appeared in the first issue, as well as later introducing Wonder Boy, The Barker, and Quicksilver. All were eventually taken in by DC Comics, and Alex Ross would later do his own version of Uncle Sam decades later. Part of an interventionist move by certain comic books, National Comics would later include a prophetic attack by Nazis against Pearl Harbour, published a month before the attack that would finally draw the USA into World War II.

Uncle Sam was a superheroic version of the US propaganda personification of the government, and was heavily used in World War II in recruitment and morale. Bleeding Cool’s Mark Seifert reminds us that “there were theories about the origin of the name as a personification of the U.S. government as early as 1816. But such origin stories changed with the times.  Fifteen years later, a completely different explanation of the name made the rounds, and these were certainly not the only theories.  It’s unlikely that the 1830 era version of the matter is correct — even though it has largely come to be the accepted history in recent decades. … Uncle Sam has long been a figure used in cartoon and illustrative art.  Legendary artists like Thomas Nast and James Montgomery Flagg have made their marks on this iconic figure, and they were far from the only ones to do so.”

And now, up for auction from Heritage Auctions this weekend is an early example, Uncle Sam #3 from 1940, the last feature Uncle Sam story drawn by Will Eisner in this comic, in which Uncle Sam intervenes to aid a newly-independent Philippines against an expansionist Asiastic (and most importantly, unnamed) power led by Chancellor Mias and his brute general Yiffendi. The Moros are stirred up, to create a pretext for their forces to step in and restore order, villages are massacred, and thousands die. Uncle Sam rallies locals and sets up an ambush with two Filipino soldiers and two machine guns. He is captured but escapes, flinging rocks at the Moros pursuing him. Yiffendi sends a larger force, and Uncle Sam’s team attacks the fort while the two soldiers hold off Yiffendi’s troops. Uncle Sam intercepts an amphibious landing, throws off the invaders, and blows up the enemy warship. The two soldiers eventually perish in a dynamite trap with the Moros. Whether that’s the legend or reality of American intervention is yours to decide. Bids currently total $174.

National Comics #3 (Quality, 1940) Condition: VG+. Uncle Sam cover by Lou Fine. Last Uncle Sam feature by Will Eisner. Eisner and Klaus Nordling stories and art. George Tuska, John Celardo, and Dan Zolnerowich art. Chew damage. Overstreet 2022 VG 4.0 value = $464.

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