Even though I have been a comic book reader for the better part of my life I am still learning about new characters, ideas, settings, and situations.  Below are some classics and some quirky ones that I haven’t gotten around to just yet.

Balloon Buster is a World War I flying ace named Steven Savage.  On his very first mission this fledgling top gunner flew out of formation and took down several German Zeppelins, earning him his nickname of Balloon Buster.

Michael and Lance Gallant are twins, but as a bonus they are practically inseparable throughout their lives.  When Michael was landing his plane during World War II, he fell victim to sabotage as the hangar he parked his plane in blew up.  Horrified, Lance went into the structure to save his twin, only to have Michael die in his arms after his brother attempted to save him.

When Lance would touch his T shaped birthmark after his brother’s death, Lance drew the strength and fortitude of his deceased brother back to him as the two brothers were still very strongly linked and Lance fought with the strength of two men, not just one.

Johnny Peril is a man on a mission, and that mission is peril!  Johnny seems to constantly find himself in the midst of abnormal metaphysical trouble though he is just an average private eye.    Getting into trouble as often as he does, you think he would have Doctor Fate on speed dial?

Kong the Untamed is one of Anthro’s many descendants and because cave boys and dinosaurs are cool, he got his own book for a little bit.  How many of us have not wished for us to be back in so called simpler days?

Lady Cop is Liza Warner who survived a massacre of all her friends by the “Killer in Boots” and decided that she would join the police force.  Settling in Ivy Town she eventually brought the killer to justice and rose to the rank of Chief of Police in Ivy Town, frequently assisting The Atom.

Miss Arrowette is Bonnie King, a young woman pushed to excel in the sport of archery by her overbearing mother.  Bonnie became quite adept at archery but at the Olympic games fell short of collecting the gold.  Her mother was disgusted with her daughter’s failure and Bonnie left home immediately after, never returning back home again.

Bonnie found herself in Star City where she became one of Green Arrow’s first girlfriends and where she could actually use her skill for a greater purpose than fame and glory.  She gave up superhero work because she felt she wasn’t athletic enough and hated to wear a mask.

Neptune Perkins is a mutant born with an insufficient amount of sodium in his body and as a result his parents moved to a houseboat so that the child could survive.  Neptune became quite adept to swimming in the oceans and as a result was a very effective hero in the underwater realm.

Nightwing & Flamebird are originally Superman and Jimmy Olsen in disguise to stop an evil look-a-like, but eventually the name would be taken by two Kandorians.  Kandor, a city that survived the explosion of Krypton because the villainous Brainiac had shrunk the city and bottled it for safe keeping.  Superman had saved the Kandroians from the clutches of Brainiac and kept the city in his Fortress of Solitude for safe keeping.  Once in a while, a few Kandorians would emerge to assist Superman with protecting the Earth.

In this case Nightwing is Van-Zee and Flamebird is Ak-Var.

The Son of Vulcan rounds up our look at heroes in this section.  Jonathan Mann was a victim of war when he wound up without the use of his legs.  The Roman God Vulcan came to Jonathan and as the old myth will tell, Vulcan is the one God who isn’t physically perfect and he walks with a pronounced limp.

Vulcan imbued Jonathan with powers as his avatar on Earth in order to do good deeds.  When Jonathan says “Vulcan” he transforms into this good avatar of the Roman God and goes about doing the good deeds.

Next Up:  The New Gods!  Highfather!  Orion!  Mister Miracle!  Big Barda!  Lightray!  Forager!  Oberon!  Metron!  The Forever People!