WINGS WENDALL

Wings Wendall is an agent with American Army Intelligence.

As was not uncommon, his organization is often refered to as Military Intelligence but he is most definitely an Army man. More accurately, he was an Army Air Corps man because in every one of the 37 adventures we have of him, he is flying something. Again more than once he simplifies things by saying he is "of the Intelligence Service".

One many an occasion he is called by one senior officer or another as the Army's, or America's, leading ace intelligence officer. At the same time he is also proclaimed on many instances the country's ace pilot. His impressive number of successful missions, usually entailing shooting down enemy planes or dropping bombs on enemy submarines, would attest to his skill at hunting down foreign agitators and dispatching them as needed.

Talking about what people call him, one thing they do not call him is any first name .. at all. Wings is obviously a nickname and it is the only name people use with him, excepting Captain Wendall or just his last name alone. What his mom might have called him is never mentioned. Whether he had a mom, or a dad, or anything about him before he was Captain Wendall is also a mystery.

For all his heroic actions and multiple deeds of incredible bravery and skill, Wendall gets a ton of plaudits and back pats and handshakes but no promotions. He has the rank of Captain in the army (O-3) when he is introduced and he has the same rank several years and many hair-raising adventures later.

Halfway through the series Wendall acquires a "flying companion" in a young man named Spinner Benson, who is fond of [what looks like] ivy caps (he has several of different colors). Benson is a multi-talented partner, being an ace mechanic, good fist fighter, excellent tailgunner and a sounding board. He takes part in a handful of highly dangerous cases before disappearing.

Again halfway through the series, Wendall acquires a nifty aircraft called the "bullet-plane", a fighter-bomber capable of going over 1000 mph. It is an unattractive vehicle but highly maneuverable and versatile. It plays a vital role in several missions and is obviously something Wendall loves to fly but after a while, it, too, goes away.

The tall, good-looking Wendall with his wavy black hair and solid jaw is a loner for the most part in his saga. He has a run in or two with the opposite sex but they tend to be on the other side, more inclined to shoot him or blow him up than to hug him. There are a couple of females who take notice of him, though.

The first is a reported named Jean whose life is saved by him and is the only one who is seen kissing him. About this lovely woman, Wendall is seen remarking "That girl is a pest! But --- not bad!"

The other is Diane Westcott who might be considered possibly Wendall's girl friend, if the man ever took the time to have one being so constantly busy fighting the nation's enemies. She is first mentioned in adventure #15 when almost in passing he is shown out on a date dancing with her in a rare glimpse into a personal life. A couple stories later we learn that her father is the country's leading industrialist, making her quite wealthy. Still, duty calls and the lovely Diane is left behind for quite a few months. She does reappear for a couple of very hair-raising escapades towards the end of the series, including on in which Wendall is certain they are dying so he gives her a big kiss "in case we never get back".

One thing that is very common for comicbook spy adventures in late 30's, leading up to America's actual entry in the Second World War, the enemy nations wanting to destroy America, purposely given fake names, are often way over the top and those many of the Wendall stories keep that track going. In several adventures, a country will decide to invade the US and wholesale destruction ensues. Cities are virtually destroyed and on an occasion or two the US seems ready to fold. It never does, though, because Wings Wendall is there to save the day.

Then again, in between the wholesale holocausts and rampant destruction, there are many other tales far less all-encompassing; stories that fit far better with the idea of one very talented and resourceful agent going up against a handful of bad guys (or gals).

Uneven is a good word for the mixture.

However, this series is definitely not without a considerable value. Seeing as it was written at the time about the time, it definitely represents the time. The thoughts about the upcoming War and the desire to a) stay the heck out of it if possible and b) be more than ready to get into it and win it should 'a' be not possible.

And the mission where the Red Menace actually wipes out San Francisco with an atomic bomb three years before ones were dropped on Japan is sobering. This is not the first reference to nuclear weapons I've seen in writings of this period but this was a major plot point.

Another point about the Red Menace is that the stories were published starting the month after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Print lead time had to have made the tales prepared before the attack so the Red Menace was likely in essence "pre-war". The tales that came after, however, are no longer dealing with fictionous nations, just as they should not have been. The enemies were now clearly Germany and Japan. The stories were still fiction but the foes were not.