Early Black Comic Book Heroes: Butterfly (II)

Tucked away in the interior of Skywald's Hell-Rider 2 (Oct 1971) is an 11-page complete story that is the second and last appearance of The Butterfly, the first ever African American super-heroine in comics. Written by Gary Friedrich, with plot and art by Rich Buckler, whose concept Butterfly was, we read the tale of "The Butterfly Against the Brothers of the Crimson Cross". We are introduced to Tony Morris, FBI special investigator, who looks like he was going to be the romantic interest for Marian Michaels, alias The Butterfly, but the corporate power of the big guys in the comic book industry at the time made sure Skywald would fold, so we never found out. In this issue Butterfly's opponents are a Ku Klux Klan-type white supremacist secret society with a leader who's penetrated the upper levels of power in Washington. The mission of the Brothers of the Crimson Cross is nothing less than the total eradication of non-white races in America - Nazi racism reborn in the USA. 11 pages wasn't a lot to tell this tale, but Friedrich and Buckler manage it, even if it is a little succinct in places, especially towards the end. So here it is:

 

Marian and Tony don't fit any negative stereotypes. They've each made a decent career for themselves in their own spheres of activity. Both are really upstanding, principled people, from what we've managed to learn about them. It's a really positive image of African Americans, but their mere presence in the comic wasn't achieved without some difficulty. BrittReid connected me with an interview on another blog, with Rich Buckler, that reveals just how front line this Butterfly character was, even in 1971 - it's well worth a read. As for Hell-Rider 2, just need to say that the great painted cover was again by Harry Rosenbaum. Readers whose letters were published in issue 2 raved about the mag, and one rightly identified Hell-Rider as a new type of hero that was going to change comics - well he did, conceptually, but as Ghost Rider in Marvel!

Many thanks again to Jodyanimator for the scans. BrittReid has also presented the Butterfly stories from Hell-Rider 1 & 2, with more of the Hell-Rider pages from issue 1 than have been provided here on Out Of This World. So if you'd like to take a look at BrittReid's Blog, and check out his shop with Butterfly products, here's some links:

http://heroheroinehistory.blogspot.com/2011/02/butterflythe-first-black-superheroines.html

http://heroheroinehistory.blogspot.com/2011/02/butterflythe-first-black-superheroines_16.html

http://heroheroinehistory.blogspot.com/2011/02/butterflythe-first-black-superheroines_17.html

http://heroheroinehistory.blogspot.com/2011/02/butterflyagainst-brothers-of-crimson.html

http://heroheroinehistory.blogspot.com/2011/02/butterflyagainst-brothers-of-crimson_21.html

Early Black Comic Book Heroes: Butterfly (I)

Hell-Rider was a black and white magazine published by Skywald (Sol Brodsky and Herschel Waldman) in the early 1970s, and it ran for just two issues, thanks to brutal competition from Marvel. Issue #1 features the origin of Hell-Rider, by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito, and the way the book is put together is interesting as a concept. There are two other features in the book - The Butterfly, and The Wild Bunch - but rather than be separate entities, their stories are part of the bigger Hell-Rider story.The book has a painted cover by Harry Rosenbaum.



We're going to pick up the story at the Butterfly chapter, because she happens to be the first African American female superhero in comics, that little piece of important comic book historical knowledge courtesy of fellow blogger Britt Reid. So far in the story we've been treated to Hell-Rider's origin, and introduced to the bad guys, a bunch of heroin smugglers dressed up as cats. Gary Friedrich's involvement in this script, and subsequently in the creation of Ghost Rider at Marvel, is no coincidence - there are a lot of similarities. Anyway, the story so far is that Brick Reese, upon graduating Harvard Law School, doesn't want to follow his dad's footsteps into his law firm. Instead he goes out to the West Coast, and starts riding with a gang of Hell's Angels known as The Wild Bunch, living a debauched lifestyle. Then he gets called up, and ships out to Vietnam. His tour of duty is just about over when he's caught in an ambush and badly wounded. He recovers after surgery, but still has a bullet lodged near his brain. He agrees to be a guinea pig for a new shot that it is hoped will dissolve the bullet, and it's working, only the side effects are similar to the super-soldier serum used on Steve Rogers to turn him into Captain America. Brick has superhuman strength. Back in the States he gets a call from his Uncle Richard, telling him he's inherited some dough from his grandfather. Brick buys himself a nice home and throws a lot of parties. He also gets himself a cool Harley chopper. But boredom, and dwindling financial resources, prompt Brick to get a job with his uncle's law firm. He's just started when this happens:

Brick goes to the party, wary of Julie Storm's previous addiction to hard drugs. He keeps an eye on her, and notices her being bundled away by a guy dressed in a cat suit. It turns out that the boss of the cat gang, The Claw, wants to see her. He was the one who pushed the heavy drugs onto her in the first place, but although he's not pleased that she's managed to kick her smack habit, what he really wants are the boots she wears on her performances. For some reason he's hidden lots of heroin in those boots, and he wants it back!! Julie's happy to give him the boots, except she already gave them away to a singer friend of hers, Marian Michaels, who works in Las Vegas, which is where The Butterfly comes in. You'll note that she combines the use of an Adam Strange-style jet pack with sucker-tipped fingers like the Beetle, as well as the power to use blinding light that preempts the eventual appearance of the Dazzler in the X-Men years later:

So this leads the reader into The Wild Bunch chapter of the story. The Wild Bunch has an African American member, Deke:

Without really asking any questions, The Wild Bunch accept the task of taking the boots to Brick Reese in LA, but on the road they begin to have doubts.

The Wild Bunch stop to talk, and right then The Claw and his goons speed past in a limo. The Claw spots the boots on the back of a bike, pulls up, and sets his men loose to recover the drugs. The Wild Bunch win the fight, but while they're engaged in the melee, the Claw swipes the boots and escapes, leaving his men behind. Cut to Vegas and Marian, alias Butterfly, along with Ruby of The Wild Bunch:

Meanwhile the Wild Bunch catch up with The Claw and retrieve the boots, but are then outnumbered by The Claw's reinforcements, parachuting in from choppers. Slink, however, escapes with the boots, and makes it to Vegas and to Marian and Ruby's room. The rest of the Wild Bunch are tied to stakes in the desert and left to die. In Vegas Ruby examines the boots, discovers the heroin, and they put in a call to Brick:

It turns out, meanwhile, that The Claw and his men have some kind of fascist commune out in the desert, and they're funding the build up of a private army by selling drugs. The Wild Bunch manage to escape to freedom, jumping a chasm on their bikes (this was in the age of Evel Knievel!). Claw, however, had already flown off in his chopper to get the boots from Slink and the girls in Vegas. He gets there, but Ruby and the others stall him, in the hope that Brick will arrive in time to help. Brick is on his way okay, as Hell-Rider. The story actually started with this great double-paged splash...

...which is reprised by another spectacular entrance from Hell-Rider:

And so it's all over, for now, until the next, and what turns out to be the last issue. Here's some background on the book that was printed at the beginning of the magazine, and also some biographic info on Andru & Esposito.

In the next Out Of This World post, we'll take a look at the second issue of Hell-Rider, and The Butterfly's part in that. We'll also attempt to analyze the image presented by Marian Michaels, alias The Butterfly, the first female African American super-heroine. Thanks to Jodyanimator for the scans.

Social History in Comics: Sgt. Fury 56 - "Gabriel, Blow Your Horn!"

While the entire series of Sgt. Fury showcases racial integration, several issues take an active, outspoken stance against racism. Sgt. Fury 56 is one such issue. Written and drawn by the creative team that made the book an award-winner, "Gabriel, Blow Your Horn" focuses on Gabriel Jones, the Howlers' African American member. The story picks up from the previous issue when Gabe was captured by the Nazis, and starts with his escape and the beginning of his trek to re-connect with the Howlers. A sub-plot that gets going early on is Rebel Ralston's anger at Gabe's capture. He blames Fury and tries to start a fight. What Friedrich is doing here, as others before him had done, is to dispel the stereotype that Southerners are all racists. This will return at the story's conclusion. After five pages Gabe has managed to contact the French Resistance, and in exchange for their assistance, he receives orders to rescue an African American female jazz singer whom the Nazis have enslaved.

The Resistance sell Gabe, in the guise of jazz trumpeter Lips Norton, to the Nazis, thus allowing Gabe access to the female singer. The Howlers, also being aided by the Resistance, split up with a plan to rendezvous for their boat trip over to England. It's now that Rebel happens to pass by the club where Gabe is playing, and he recognizes his comrade's style. Rebel gets spotted by the Nazis, however, and has to make himself scarce. By page 10 we see that Gabe is beginning to wonder about the lady he's supposed to be rescuing - she seems happy with her lot and not at all hankering for freedom.

After the show, Gabe takes care of the guard and is able to chat with Carla, the jazz singer. Gabe expects her to be glad to have a rescuer, only to find that she prefers her lot with the Nazis. True for WWII, and unfortunately a situation not fully resolved in the late 60s, African Americans returned home from war to be treated as second class citizens in their own country. Carla reckons she has it better right where she is, where at least the Nazis appreciate her talent. Carla maintains that the situation for African Americans back home in the States is hopeless. Gabe tries persuading her by saying that famous African Americans like herself need to engage in the struggle if equality is ever to be achieved. She's not convinced, but Gabe has his orders - he's going to try and get her out of there anyway. By page 15 Gabe has sprung Carla, Fury and the rest of the Howlers minus Rebel have been captured by the Nazis, and both Gabe and, separately, Rebel are about to discover where they're being held.

When Gabe sees the Howlers prisoners, naturally he wants to mount a rescue. Carla, however, disagrees with Gabe's plan. She sees that none of the Howlers (except for Gabe) are African American, and believes that none of them would risk their lives to save Gabe if their positions were reversed. Gabe isn't interested in her racist views of whites - he sees both black and white as American, and he's going in to help the guys he knows would do the same for him. This sparks a revolt by the Howlers, and a melee ensues.

The Howlers have just about made good their escape, when the Nazi leader returns holding the scared Carla as a hostage. Much to Carla's astonishment, Fury and his men couldn't care less about her skin color, they'll put down their guns and surrender to save her - she's one of them - an American!

The Howlers have gone from the frying pan into the fire, but just when everything looks hopeless Rebel makes his entrance, and that good old Southern boy saves the day. Carla's had a complete change of heart, and is going back to the USA with a revised outlook - not all whites are racists after all, not even all Southerners!

So ends Friedrich's anti-racist tale, one that denounces racism whatever form it takes. It can't have been easy to write and publish such material, racism being such a sensitive topic, especially since it was a comic that featured an African American person in a position of power that resulted in the great EC closing down due to a Comics Code judge's decision in the mid-50s. This story acknowledges the paradox of the United States and the principles of equality and freedom enshrined in its founding documents juxtaposed to the irony of African Americans who risked and in many cases gave their lives fighting the ultimate racists in WWII to defend that freedom, only to return home to discrimination because of the color of their skin. Yet not everyone with white skin was or is a racist, just as not everyone with colored skin is free from racism. It's not one particular race that is the enemy of freedom, its the divisive racist mentality that tears society apart and sets human against human.