VIRUS VIGILANTE (7)
By:
November 22, 2020
One in a series of posts about the Antiviral Alliance, a now-forgotten squad of comic-book vigilantes who during the years leading up to (and through) WWII worked tirelessly to prevent another Spanish Flu-like pandemic. Fun fact: The original intercompany crossover, this “event” would inspire National Comics and All-American Publications to form the Justice Society of America in 1940–1941.
In 1940, after the sudden defeat of France by Germany, the ranks of the Alliance were swelled by a new crop of properly masked heroes. One of these was Brenda Banks, a young Irish-American heiress who rejected her vapid debutante circle, trained in martial arts (and, as we can see here, fencing), and — as Lady Luck — dedicated herself to the cause of preventing the spread of airborne diseases. To that end, her costume included a green veil. As a mask, this wasn’t particularly effective at either preventing disease transmission or concealing her identity.
PS: While a member of the Antiviral Alliance, Lady Luck also led the all-female Lady Luck Patrol.
Publisher: A namesake, four-page weekly feature (published in a Sunday newspaper comics insert colloquially called “The Spirit Section”), which ran from June 2, 1940 to November 3, 1946.
Creators: Will Eisner with Chuck Mazoujian.
INTRODUCING… THE ANTIVIRAL ALLIANCE. PRE-COMICS: THE MOON MAN (1933). ORIGINAL TRIO (joined forces in 1939): THE CLOCK | SANDMAN | FANTOM OF THE FAIR. AND THEN THERE WERE SEVEN (joined 1940): THE SHADOW | LADY LUCK | THE LAUGHING MASK | KINKS MASON. SECOND-WAVE SIX (joined 1941): BLAZING SKULL | THE CHALLENGER | THE THUNDERER | DOCTOR NEMESIS | HUMAN BOMB | THE VIGILANTE. LATE TO THE PARTY (joined post-1941): MICRO-FACE | THE DESERT EAGLE.
SIMILAR HILOBROW SERIES: MEET THE L.I.S. | 4CP FRIDAY — themed comic-book detail galleries | CHESS MATCH — a gallery | COMICALLY VINTAGE | DC — THE NEW 52 | FILE X — a gallery | KIRB YOUR ENTHUSIASM — 25 writers on 25 Jack Kirby panels | SECRET PANEL —Silver Age comics’ double entendres | SKRULLICISM