imported>Raydann: /* top */ fixing redundant title parameter from Category:Redundant infobox title param, removed: | title = Wizard (Archie Comics)

2025-02-20T09:47:36Z

top: fixing redundant title parameter from Category:Redundant infobox title param, removed: | title = Wizard (Archie Comics)

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{{Infobox comics character
| character_name = Wizard
| publisher = [[Archie Comics|MLJ Comics]]
| debut = ''[[Top-Notch Comics]]'' #1 (December 1939)
| creators = Will Harr Edd Ashe Jr.
| alter_ego = Blane Whitney
| partners = Roy the Super Boy, Grover Whitney (brother)
| aliases = The Man With The Super Brain
| powers = [[clairvoyance|Supersensory perception]] [[Photographic memory]] Genius intellect that allows him to invent fantastic gadgets, weapons and vehicles as well as bulletproof costume that grants him limited invulnerability [[Telepathy]] [[Hypnosis]] Superhuman strength and acrobatic agility
| module = {{infobox comic book title | subbox = yes | italic title = no

}}
}}

'''The Wizard''' is a [[superhero]] created by Will Harr and Edd Ashe Jr. for [[Archie Comics|MLJ Comics]], which later became Archie Comics. He first appeared in ''[[Top-Notch Comics]]'' #1 in December 1939, and was one of the headliners of that title until its cancellation in 1944.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Benton |first1=Mike |title=Superhero Comics of the Golden Age: The Illustrated History |date=1992 |publisher=Taylor Publishing Company |location=Dallas |isbn=0-87833-808-X |url=https://archive.org/details/superherocomicso0000bent |url-access=registration |access-date=8 April 2020 |page=[https://archive.org/details/superherocomicso0000bent/page/188 188]}}</ref> He was one of the earliest superhero characters to appear after the debut of [[Superman]] in 1938.

== Fictional character biography ==
'''Blane Whitney''', a highly intelligent man, descends from a long line of men who fought for America in its wars. This includes General Steven Whitney, who was [[George Washington|General Washington]]'s chief aide in the [[American Revolution|Revolutionary War]]. It was later retroactively revealed that Blane was not the first Whitney to defend his country wearing the red mask and cloak of the Wizard during key events in early U.S. history.<ref>''Shield-Wizard Comics'' #1-2, MLJ Comics, Summer 1940-Winter 1940.</ref> At age 14, Blane met President [[Woodrow Wilson]], who told him to use his brain only for good and not for evil. While in college, he was a superb athlete and student. His brother, Grover, was chief of the Naval Intelligence Service and usually informed him of enemy plots against America.<ref name=Chronicles>{{cite book |last1=Mitchell |first1=Kurt |last2=Thomas |first2=Roy |title=American Comic Book Chronicles: 1940-1944 |date=2019 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |isbn=978-1605490892 |page=46}}</ref> To aid him in his fight against these enemies, the Wizard had various contraptions and machines of his own design available to him, like a vibra-ray gun and a car that could reach up to 500 mph. He had several devices that enabled him to fly. Coming from a wealthy family, he also had airplanes and submarines at his disposal.<ref>''Top-Notch Comics'' #1, MLJ Comics, December 1939</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Mougin |first1=Lou |title=Secondary Superheroes of Golden Age Comics |date=2020 |publisher=McFarland & Co |isbn=9781476638607|pages=90–91}}</ref>

At first, the Wizard, similar to other MLJ superheroes like the [[The Black Hood|Black Hood]] and the [[Firefly (Archie)|Firefly]], did not possess superpowers but was merely a man with excellent physical and mental prowess. He eventually started to exhibit superhuman strength and a "Super Brain" that gave him a [[photographic memory]] and "[[extrasensory perception|supersensory perception]]" that enabled him to psychically "see" distant places, people and events, as well as a talent for [[hypnosis]] and [[telepathy]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Markstein |first1=Don |title=The Wizard |url=http://www.toonopedia.com/wizard.htm |website=Don Markstein's Toonopedia |access-date=23 April 2020}}</ref> He also started consuming capsules containing secret formula F22X that replenished his super-strength.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nevins |first1=Jess |title=Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes |date=2013 |publisher=High Rock Press |isbn=978-1-61318-023-5 |page=295}}</ref> In his final appearances, however, he had no powers other than his clairvoyant visions.

In his early appearances, the Wizard wore a tuxedo and cape, thus he was similar in appearance to [[Mandrake the Magician]] (a resemblance made even more obvious by his dashing [[moustache|pencil thin moustache]]). At first, his cape and mask were white, but they were soon switched to a more striking red. During the ''Mosconia Invasion'' crossover storyline (which featured the Shield) where he was briefly blinded by an enemy attack, he developed a bullet-proof, explosion-resistant costume that consisted of blue tights with red trunks, cape, and mask. He wore this costume for the remainder of his Golden Age appearances.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Offenberger |first1=Rik |last2=Cooke |first2=Jon B. |last3=Castiglia |first3=Paul |title=The MLJ Companion |date=2016 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |isbn=9781605490670 |page=84}}</ref>

The enemies of America that the Wizard faced in each adventure were usually from a fictitious country, like Jatsonia (in his first appearance) and Bundonia, but due to facial features or accents made apparent in [[speech balloon]]s, these enemies were obvious, unflattering caricatures of Germans, Soviets, or Japanese.

Usually, after each adventure, the last panel would feature a note from the Wizard that read: "''Our country / right or wrong / our country / The Wizard.''"

After several months of publication, the Wizard was given a kid sidekick named Roy Carter. Admiring the lad's courage when he saw the blond [[orphan]] [[bootblack]] leap to defend a mugging victim from several thugs, Blane took him in, clad him in a red and white striped [[polo shirt]] with a large blue-collar, blue trunks, white [[sneakers (footwear)|sneakers]], and a red mask, and dubbed him Roy the Super Boy, training him until he had the strength of ten men.<ref name=Chronicles/><ref name="ReferenceA">''Top-Notch Comics'' #8, MLJ Publications, Sept. 1940</ref> Roy would later join the Shield's sidekick Dusty in the super-duo known as the Boy Buddies.<ref>''Special Comics'' #1, MLJ Comics, Winter 1941.</ref>

Blane Whitney also had a girlfriend named Jane Barlowe who was a reporter at the ''Daily Citizen'', a newspaper Blane had inherited from a murdered friend.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> She was often disgusted with his [[polo]]-playing playboy lifestyle but developed an attraction to his superheroic alter-ego, creating an odd [[love triangle]] that is quite common in comic books (for example, [[Superman]]/[[Lois Lane]]/[[Clark Kent]], [[Hal Jordan]]/[[Carol Ferris]]/[[Green Lantern]]).

== Analysis ==
The Wizard was popular enough to receive a second publication alongside another MLJ superhero, [[The Shield (Archie)|The Shield]]. ''[[Shield-Wizard Comics]]'' first appeared with a Summer, 1940 cover date.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Benton |first1=Mike |title=Superhero Comics of the Golden Age: The Illustrated History |date=1992 |publisher=Taylor Publishing Company |location=Dallas |isbn=0-87833-808-X |url=https://archive.org/details/superherocomicso0000bent |url-access=registration |access-date=8 April 2020 |page=[https://archive.org/details/superherocomicso0000bent/page/181 181]}}</ref> He started sharing cover appearances of ''Top-Notch Comics'' with the [[The Black Hood|Black Hood]], an indication of waning popularity. ''Top-Notch'' was converted into a humorous publication in 1942, but the Wizard continued to appear in ''Shield-Wizard Comics'' until its cancellation in Spring, 1944.

[[Archie Comics]], formerly known as MLJ Comics, revived its superhero line in the 1960s, but the Wizard, now with actual magical powers and corrupted by greed, returned as a villain with a long white beard and a new maskless and capeless outfit that befitted the evil sorcerer he had become.<ref>"Fly-Man's Treacherous Team-Mates", ''Fly Man'' #33, Archie Comics, September 1965.</ref> He fought [[The Mighty Crusaders]], a team consisting of many old MLJ heroes, and at one point was confronted by both his former sidekick Roy (now re-dubbed "the Mighty Boy" for [[Superboy|obvious reasons]]) and his heroic younger self who had been magically brought forward in time to stop him.<ref>"Two Many Super Heroes", ''Mighty Crusaders'' #4, Archie Comics, April 1966.</ref> In the 1980s revival, however, he returned as a red-caped and masked hero with no mention of his villainous period, although now with a purple skintight bodysuit rather than his original blue. Since then, the Wizard has been appearing sporadically throughout the Archie Comics titles on irregular bases.

The Wizard was apparently popular enough during [[World War II]] to have inspired a similar caped and cowled Canadian superhero called [[The Brain (Bell comics)|The Brain]] who had exactly the same moustache, superhuman strength and ability to visualize faraway happenings.<ref>''[[The Great Canadian Comic Books]]'', [[Michael Hirsh (producer)|Michael Hirsh]] and [[Patrick Loubert]], [[P. Martin Associates]], 1971</ref>

==References==
<references/>

{{Archie Comics characters}}
{{GoldenAge}}

[[Category:Golden Age superheroes]]
[[Category:Archie Comics superheroes|Wizard, The]]
[[Category:Comics characters introduced in 1939]]
[[Category:Male characters in comics]]

Wizard (Archie Comics) - Revision history

imported>Raydann: /* top */ fixing redundant title parameter from Category:Redundant infobox title param, removed: | title = Wizard (Archie Comics)