Samson, the strong man: 1905, New York Evening Telegram (New York Herald Co.). Samson is an early prototype of the comic hero along the lines of the even earlier Hugo Hercules. He appears to be married to a blonde who simply calls him Sammy (and she has a sister who calls him Sam). He does various good deeds and feats of strength. NOTE: Like Hugo Hercules and the Handyman from Timbuctoo, copies of his strip can be found at Barnacle Press.

"Rip" Sawyer: 1940, Masked Marvel #2 (Centaur). Rip appears to be the head lumberjack of the Thompson concern. Thompson is in competition with "Doc" Coon over the Apex contract and Coon's men are not above bribery and violence to delay Thompson's men. However, Rip is able to rally the men and fight off Coon's men. Coon himself is apparently killed falling off a cliff when attacking Rip.

Sheena: 1937, Wags (British Tabloid)/1938, Jumbo Comics #1 (Fiction). Like many GA characters, Sheena has inconsistant origins. In the first, she was a child when her explorer father Cardwell Rivington is accidentally killed by Koba, a native witch doctor. To make amends, Koba raises Sheena as his own daughter and she grew to be a female-Tarzan and queen of the tribe. As her "Jane" she chose Bob Reynolds. Her back story would change to being the orphan of missionary parents, Bob would sometimes be called Rick Thorne and Koba into a witch woman named N'bid Ela. NOTE: In addition to having as one of her creators the legendary Will Eisner, she is also one of the contenders for the first female comic book superhero, IS the first female character to get her own book named after her and one of the few heroes to make a transition TO pulps (though only one issue). While DC would like you to think it's Wonder Woman, Sheena was one of the first and most influential female comic book characters, spawning a whole genre of imitators much as Superman and Mandrake.

Shock Gibson: 1939, Speed Comics #1 (Harvey). Stop me if you have heard this one before. A blonde haired scientist is working in his lab when a lightning bolt strikes the room, spilling chemicals all over him. He discovers that instead of dying, he's been super-charged and can run at great speeds. So, he designs a red and yellow costume with a lightning bolt emblem and ventures forth to fight crime as ... Shock Gibson! In scientist Charles Gibson's case, he gains other electric based powers as well such as strength, invulnerability, and later flying, generating electric bolts and great heat. During the early stories, Shock Gibson doesn't wear a mask and he's not really trying to hide his identity. In issue 12, he's recognized as the hero as he walks around in his civilian garb. Around the same time that he completely overhauls his costume, he gets a slightly different back story. He's Robert "Shock" Gibson, a wealthy scientist who discovers a way to give himself various electrical abilities and depending on the story, he has to recharge at times. At this point, his identity is secret. He gains sometimes sidekicks in the eskimo Ike and the elder scientist Dr. Bright who keeps a lab in Alaska. Shock pines for Bright's daughter Beautee.

For some reason, Shock chooses to use his real last name which no one catches onto, putting him into the similar category of Bob Phantom, Mary Marvel, and all those teen sidekicks ala Bucky, Sandy, Rusty, etc.. He started out wearing a helmet, giving him a decidedly goofy appearance. He must've eventually caught himself in a mirror because after several issues, he dropped the helmet. Guess he also found crimefighting sweaty work, because after awhile he also switched to a bare legs and t-shirt costume. Or maybe he was just trying to show up his compatriot Black Cat as to who had the best legs in the book.

Gibson is one of the few heroes who enlisted in the service once the War started and spent his time mostly in the South Pacific foiling various Japanese plots but went wherever the action was. And of course, no one still could figure out that the US soldier and super-hero who shared the same last name are the same person.

There are some neat things to recommend SPEED COMICS. One, around the middle of the run, you get some neato Simon & Kirby covers. Two, around the same time after Captain Freedom debuted, you started having covers showcasing the various stars of the book in action together with a behind the cover text story inside.

Shock stayed with Speed for its entire run, which ended in issue #44 in 1947, and in a couple of other Harvey titles here and there. But, 1948 was the end for him. His name appears as one of Dr. Weir's Vault heroes in AC's FEM FORCE but makes no appearance on panel. In 1995, the publisher Recollections (formed by one of the Harveys) tried to bring back some of the characters in ALFRED HARVEY'S BLACK CAT and Shock was one of them who got updated story.

Spirit of '76: 1941, Pocket Comics #1 (Harvey). In his origin story, Gary Blakely is the latest in a long line of patriotic Americans, his ancestor serving with General Washington. Educated abroad, he excels in his studies as well as various sports like boxing, fencing, rowing and rugby. Convinced of Hitler wanting to take over the world he tries to become an Air Cadet but his application is blocked by his family who want him to instead be regular army and enroll in West Point which he does. Coming across a group of fifth columnists, he puts on his great, great grandfather's uniform and a mask as a costume and captures them as the Spirit of '76. In his second outing, he had to go up against no less than Satan, master of all evil. Fellow cadet Tubby Reynolds figures out his secret and serves as capable sidekick.Tubby's sister Susan, a WAC lieutenant serves as love interest. In Green Hornet #35, he helps out Tommy Downes, a newsboy kid who's framed for murder by the crook Dapper Duke using Downes run-ins with a kid gang called The Society of the Black Skull, lead by kid Kip Roland. While Blakely reconciles Tommy with the gang, his civilian identity gets in trouble for being AWOL and is threatened with expulsion. Tubby tells the kids Gary's identity and they vouch for him, giving him an alibi and form a new gang, The Spirit of '76 Boys Club. Chubby kid of the club has a father who's a uniform cop. NOTE: An interesting note, the early stories are supposedly written by "Major Ralston" the name of Blakely's ancestors. In later years the character was wonderfully rendered by Bob Powell. Other sources list him having a bulletproof costume but this is absent from the stories I've read. The idea of the bulletproof costume was "borrowed" by Roy Thomas when he created his own character Spirit of '76, though the look was based on the Fighting Yank, another GA hero who got powers through his cloak. It's possible that reports confuse the two Spirits of '76. See Fighting Yank, Captain Fearless, and Citizen Smith for other heroes carrying on a family legacy of patriotism.

Spark Stevens: 1939, Wonderworld # 3 (Fox). Spark and his pal Chuck are wireless operators on the U.S.S. Dragon and fight villains like the Scourge.

The Super-Sleuths: 1944, Wonder Comics #2 (Better). Stan and Sam McGillicuddy are detectives of the Neversleep Detective agency. Stan is the brains, a cool head and good shot while Sam is the strong scrapper.

Supersnipe: 1942, Shadow Comics #15/vol 2 #3 (Street & Smith). Koppy McFad is "the boy with the most comic books in America" who dreams of being a hero like the characters in his book. In addition to his daydreams as being the "Man of 1953", he'd put on a cape and red long-johns to fight petty crimes in his neighbrohood.