A while back, I wrote up an entry on Hyperion, thinking I would cover more of the Squadron Supreme’s different members, and there are multiple versions of these characters running around as it is. But then I got to thinking it was weird that the Squadron’s Flash stand-in had the same name as a Golden Age Marvel hero, the Whizzer. Granted, the “Supreme Power” version of this character was renamed the Blur because, well, what self-respecting man calls himself “the Whizzer.” But then checking Wikipedia tells me that the Blur might have been the Squadron member’s original name. That didn’t seem right, but there was still the original Whizzer. Checking again later showed I was right the first time, that Wikipedia only lists “Blur” among the members of the team in one place, and so forth.
In the end, I think I’ll just cover the original Whizzer.
The Whizzer, AKA Robert Frank, first appeared in USA Comics #1 in August of 1941. Created by penciler Al Avison and a forgotten writer, he appeared in both USA Comics and All Winners Comics from 1941 to 1946 and possessed superspeed powers caused by, somehow, an infusion of mongoose blood.
You can’t make this stuff up because someone else already has.
But yes, mongoose blood. Robert and his father were framed for murder by a mobster and fled to Africa where Robert developed a fever. His father developed a cure using, you guessed it, mongoose blood, but the elder Frank died from the stress before his son regained consciousness, complete with superhuman speed, and he clears his name, defeats the mobster, and decides to fight crime, further joining the Invaders or the Liberty Legion or whatever the name of the team was. Honestly, Marvel’s Golden Age hero team had like, four or five names.
Anyway, the Whizzer’s time on whatever that team’s name was was probably when he married his teammate Miss America.
Like a lot of Golden Age heroes, the Whizzer was forgotten about, as any guy in a yellow suit called “the Whizzer” probably should be. And like a lot of Golden Age heroes, he was revived in the 70s by Roy Thomas, where he joined the Avengers and seemed to be prone to heart attacks. I’m guessing that’s something that should happen if someone injects you with mongoose blood. In fact, he’d eventually have a fatal one.
Now, the Whizzer did have a son, Nuklo, about whom I know nothing. He could even be Jimmy. There was a time when it was supposed he was a latent mutant and the father of Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. OK, Quicksilver makes sense there, I suppose, but the Scarlet Witch? Then again, it later came out they were actually Magneto’s kids until the whole “Fox has the rights to mutants” thing had Marvel decide that not only weren’t they Magneto’s kids, but they weren’t even mutants!
Man, there isn’t much on this guy. I could point out that actor Jay Klaitz played a variation of this character on the Jessica Jones streaming series, but I don’t really remember that guy very well.
Huh, I think I remember why I forgot that guy. Then again, he could have been the Blur.
Do I have to cover other Whizzers next?
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