Top 10 Underrated American Patriotic Super Heroes

6. Star-Spangled Kid

Sylvester Pemberton eventually overcame his unfortunate civilian name to wield the powers of Starman’s cosmic rod, lead Infinity Inc. and take on the more grown-up code name Skyman. He eventually died in battle thanks to Mr. Bones, proving once and for all that having a teammate with a touch that can kill isn’t necessarily the greatest idea.

Prior to all that, Pemberton was merely a teenager in one of the most patriotic costumes anyone had ever seen. To complete the flag motif, his partner was named Stripesy, and the duo inverted the usual dynamic by having a young hero and an adult sidekick. They were sort of like a great pro wrestling tag team too in the sense that they used teamwork in combat against criminals and Nazis.

Since Stripesy was also a talented mechanic, he was able to devise the Star Rocket Racer, which was sort of a cross between a car, a rocket and a helicopter. Yet even that wasn’t enough to keep the Kid from fading into obscurity in the late 40s along with so many other patriotic heroes.

Like some of the other characters on this list, Pemberton was made to suffer through a great indignity, and I’m not even talking about his tragi-comic death. No, he had to stay in a cave 50,000 years in the past so that he wouldn’t destroy all mankind … because he had the flu. Sorry about that Kid!

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