The Unknown
Created by Ted Udall and Bernard Klein
+ History
The Unknown's origin, from National #29.
The Unknown was an American man whose true name is lost to time. His story begins in France, June 7, 1940, after the Nazi invasion. As a civilian, this unknown man found himself allied with the French forces. Although America hadn't entered the war, he sided with the French and survived a gunshot wound. But his injuries threw him into amnesia—he no longer remembered his own name or country. The man made his way to the histroric battle of Dunkirk, where he donned a costume and fought the Nazis alongside the British and French as The Unknown. The Unknown refused an offer by the British miliatry to return to England. He vowed instead to remain in Europe to fight the Nazis head-on. As he put it "I have forgotten much… but I will never forget cruelty and injustice!" (#29)
Though he never fought a masked opponent, he once met a a German commander who took a dose of cocaine for additional "courage." The Colonel gained super-human strength from the drug. Still, he was no match for the Unkown's own manly strength. (#25)
At Vichy, the Unknown broke up a state rally aiming to prop up support for the German occupation. There he condoned mowing down the Nazis. (#26)
In Russia, he took the alias "Pete Walker" while undercover and feign drunkenness to plant misinformation. There a German femme fatale, the spy called X-19 wasworking undercover as a Russian. Naturally, he triumphed over her, stating "I wish women, especially beautiful women, would keep out of this war mess." (#28)
the Unknown was fearless within Europe, and went so far as to infiltrate the Dachau concentration camp, where he managed to free a train-full of prisoners. (#30)
He eventually found a shirt to wear, as shown in his battle against AdolfHitler himself. After Mars, the god of war had appeared to the Fuhrer in his dreams, The Unknown received a message from the goddess of Victory. She broke him out of his jail cell and turned the tables on the Nazis. (#34)
Next he uncovered a trio of criminals called the Murderous Three—Piano Charlie, Marion Wells and The Dutchman. They ran a powerful ring responsible for many atrocities across the globe. The Three went down in flames when the Unknown shot their plane. (#36)
Well into 1943, the Unknown felt that he was "needed more in the
Pacific area," and so begin by helping Koreans battle the Japanese. (#37) Though victory
in Europe was a ways off, 1943 was a pivotal year. The Allies successfully
invaded Italy and began heavier bombing of Germany.
When he returned to Europe, he was aided by the German Dr. Stussborg, who sheltered the hero by dying his hair black to fool the Nazis. (#40)
The Unknown was last seen in late 1943. By that time, the word had spread that he was the savior to freedom fighters across the continent. When people were being shipped of to camps, they looked to him for salvation. He managed to stop another Nazi train and freed its prisoners. Once empty, he continued to ram the train into its destination station. (#41)
A true soldier, the Unknown never hesitated to use whatever means necessary to win a battle—including the use of firearms or the killing of enemy troops.
Notes
I found a note that the Unknown began as a narrator of "mystery tales" in National #21??
It's clear that the Unknown's first several appearances were drawn by several different artists. His costume changed slightly with every issue. He began with a shirtless costume but later developed a sense of propriety, donning a white shirt in National #32-34??. How strange, the decision to make a hero bare-chested. Some artists drew a "U" on his belt.
The Unknown's costume was similar to other Quality heroes'. Hercules was also bare-chested, Capain Triumph wore johdpurs, and Magno shared his color scheme.
There was another Quality hero called "Neon the Unknown." Neon's strip was cancelled before the Unknown's began, in Hit Comics #17 (November 1941). The last Unknown strip (National Comics #41) promised a new adventure the following month. Alas, no. Coincidentally, the same month the Unknown was discontinued (#42, May 1944), a non-super-hero, the Barker, also took over the cover from Uncle Sam.
The Unknown inspired a character in the Elseworlds series JLA: Destiny.
+ Powers
The Unknown had no super-human powers. He was a superb hand-to-hand combatant, and fearless in battle.
Appearances + References
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