Uncle Sam is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Based on the national personification of the United States, Uncle Sam, the character first appeared in National Comics #1 (July 1940) and was created by Will Eisner.

Publication history

Quality Comics

Uncle Sam first appeared in National Comics #1 (July 1940), which was published by Quality Comics during the Golden Age of Comic Books. He is depicted as a mystical being who was originally the spirit of a slain patriotic soldier from the American Revolutionary War and appears whenever his country needs him. The character was used for a few years from 1940 to 1944, briefly receiving a solo series, Uncle Sam Quarterly. During this time, he had a sidekick named Buddy Smith. According to Jess Nevins' Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes, "he fights a variety of Axis agents, human and superhuman, from the Black Legion to the shrink-ray-wielding Professor Nakajima. Uncle Sam also fights the mad scientist Dr. Dirge, the King Killer, and the insanity-causing Mad Poet".

DC Comics

Following DC Comics' acquisition of Quality Comics, Uncle Sam is reimagined as the leader of the Freedom Fighters on Earth-X, where the Nazis won World War II. In The Spectre, Uncle Sam is reimagined as a spirit created by the Founding Fathers who is bound to a talisman and assumes a physical form by possessing others. In Infinite Crisis, Uncle Sam is killed by Sinestro. He is later resurrected and makes subsequent appearances in Final Crisis, Blackest Night, and The New 52 continuity reboot.

Powers and abilities

Uncle Sam has demonstrated various powers, including super strength, invulnerability, the ability to alter his size, enhanced speed, and some degree of clairvoyance. He is also shown to be able to transport himself and others to a pocket dimension called The Heartland and travel between universes. Furthermore, Sam's abilities are dependent on the United States' patriotism.

Other versions

Based on comments by Grant Morrison and the fact that a Nazi version of Superman is depicted in the scene, this alternate universe is not the pre-Crisis Earth-X.

In other media