Miss America and the Laziest Superhero Origin Story Ever

I’ve talked quite a bit about patriot-heroes before. Between seeing how they stack up against Captain America and diving deep into some of the odder heroes to defend American values during World War II, I thought I’d gained a certain measure of immunity against how bonkers these characters could be. Well, you can guess the punchline here: I found someone with a whole new brand of weirdness that caught me off guard. And she’s a woman this time! Miss America was one of the many backup features that appeared in Quality Comics’ Military Comics. From 1941 to 1942, reporter (later “FBI assistant” or “FBI girl,” whatever that means) Joan Dale would use her powers to protect America against saboteurs, saboteurs, and did I mention saboteurs? It all started when she visited the Statue of Liberty one day and started making conversation with the statue, as one does. What powers does she think the giant statue possesses, exactly? Did everyone back in the 1940s think the Statue of Liberty had powers that I, in my millennial ignorance, am not privy to? The Stack Sign up to The Stack to receive Book Riot Comic’s best posts, picked for you. Joan falls asleep on the bench and dreams that Lady Libert...