Tomorrow, September 25 is National Comic Book Day so in honor of the holiday, throughout the week, I’ll be looking back at some “classic” comics that relate to Asian and/or Asian American subject matter.

You would think that trying to find an Asian American superhero of any kind in mainstream American comics during the 1930s/40s might be a losing proposition, but DC Comics (home to Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, among others) had not one, but two of them. Granted, they were sidekicks to white superheroes and had their share of stereotypical traits, but they’re also worthy of being re-discovered; having been all but forgotten except by a handful of comic aficionados.

I start off with Stuff, the Chinatown Kid. First appearing in Action Comics #45 (Feb 1942), Stuff was the young Chinese American sidekick to Vigilante, a superhero who dressed up like a cowboy.

Jimmy Leong was Stuff’s civilian name. He was born and bred in New York’s Chinatown and first helped the Vigilante track down a Japanese spy trying to frame Jimmy’s grandfather in order to start a Chinatown tong war. Donning a red and green costume (similar to that of Batman sidekick Robin), Jimmy became “Stuff, the Chinatown Kid” and partnered with Vigilante as his boy sidekick.

Years later, Jimmy was killed either by a villain known as the Dummy in World’s Finest #246 (Aug-Sept 1977) or by mobster Bugsy Siegel in the miniseries Vigilante: City Lights, Prairie Justice (1995-1996). Jimmy’s brother Victor became the new Chinatown Kid after his death.

What’s most interesting about Stuff was how non-stereotypical he was. It was rare for a truly all-American Asian character to appear in any comic book in the 1940s, but that’s what Stuff was. As you can see from the following pages, Stuff didn’t have an accent, didn’t wear a “chinky” outfit and, for the most part, could hold his own against the bad guys.

The Vigilante was also a member of a group of superheroes who called themselves the Seven Soldiers of Victory. They were a sort of a poor man’s version of the better-known Justice Society of America, which boasted the big names like the Flash, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman.

One of the Vigilante’s fellow Soldiers was the Crimson Avenger who also had his own young Chinese American sidekick named Wing (full name Wing How). First appearing in Detective Comics #20 (Oct 1938), Wing mostly appeared at the Crimson Avenger’s side fighting alongside the Seven Soldiers although he was technically not one of the seven (neither was Stuff although white sidekicks like the Green Arrow’s Speedy and the Star Spangled Kid’s Stripesy both were). That’s Wing in the yellow costume (of course) at the bottom of this image:

Wing was a Chinese immigrant who came to America to escape Japanese persecution before WWII. He began his career as the Crimson Avenger’s chauffeur before becoming his costumed sidekick. But unlike Stuff, Wing possessed more stereotypical characteristics. It was most notable in his “chinky” way of talking, especially how he got his “l”s and “r”s mixed up (he called his boss “Climson” as opposed to “Crimson”).

Check out one of the Crimson Avenger and Wing’s original adventures:

But during the more politically correct ‘70s, DC Comics would try to atone for its past transgressions by honoring Wing in the pages of the popular Justice League of America issue #100 (August 1972) as the Unknown Soldier of Victory (finally acknowledging that Wing should have properly been the 8th Soldier of Victory).

In this issue, DC’s greatest superheroes from both the Justice League and Justice Society team up to find out which of the original Seven Soldiers of Victory had sacrificed himself to save Earth from a cosmic being known as the Nebula Man. They manage to find all seven soldiers alive before realizing the true fallen hero was the 8th “unknown” soldier…Wing.

Like Stuff, Wing was another Asian American sidekick who unfortunately had to die, but at least the Justice League writers chose to give him a heroic and worthy send-off. So long live Wing and Stuff!

(Thanks to Michael H. for his research aide)