The Liberty League
America and the world’s premier team of heroes in the Golden Age was the Liberty League, assembled by the intervention of Dr. Tomorrow and the order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The League inspired generations of heroes to come, but during World War II they were just starting their own careers, taking part in the adventures that became so famous.
Although the Liberty League was formed by Presidential order and served the cause of America, the team was not beholden to the government. Its members were patriotic and gladly followed the directives of their President, but later years clearly showed that the Liberty League didn’t answer to either him or the U.S. government—something that caused concern in the U.S. Congress and other departments. Patriot was a government agent because of the way in which he acquired his powers, but other members of the League were not.
As one example of its independence from government control, the Liberty League met not in a government or military facility, but primarily in Freedom City, in a downtown mansion “donated” to them by wealthy publisher Fletcher Beaumont (secretly the Bowman). The three-story turn-of-the-century home provided the League with all the material comforts they needed, along with a central place to gather when the call went out for action.
Unlike later superhero headquarters, Liberty League HQ didn’t feature much in the way of technical sophistication. The team’s crime files were literal filing cabinets with manila folders holding written and typed notes and photos. The mansion did have a large basement laboratory and workshop used by members like Bowman, Freedom Eagle, and Dr. Tomorrow to maintain and improve their equipment. The sitting room also had a radio and one of the few television sets in Freedom City in the 1940s.
The first-floor drawing room of the mansion had been converted over into the Liberty League’s main meeting room, including the round table where the group conducted business. Dr. Tomorrow, as chairman, presided over meetings, and Lady Liberty routinely took minutes for the team’s files. The Liberty League tried to meet at least once each month, but frequently did so more often, particularly during the war.
After Dr. Tomorrow’s departure in 1945, Freedom Eagle assumed the role of chairman until the team disbanded in 1955
Structure
The Liberty League was the world’s first true superhero team and the premier team during the 1940s and ‘50s. A number of heroes banded together under orders from President Roosevelt and the guidance of Dr. Tomorrow, the Man from the Future.
• Dr. Tomorrow (Tom Morgan/Tomas Morgen): A time-traveler from a future world where the Axis won World War II.
• Beacon (Langston Albright): A later addition to the League, wielder of a mystic white light.
• Bowman & Arrow (Fletcher Beaumont & Tim Quinn): A crusading newspaperman and his young ward, they used their archery expertise and an arsenal of trick arrows to fight crime.
• The Centurion (Mark Leeds): Strange visitor from another Earth with powers of super-strength and endurance.
• Dr. Atom (Alexander Atom): Brilliant scientist and explorer who more often worked in an advisory capacity with the League.
• Adrian Eldrich: Mysterious master of the arcane arts who advised the League in mystic matters, but otherwise operated largely on his own.
• Envoy (Sarlyn): Envoy from Utopia, sent to better understand humanity and, later, to prevent the Axis from threatening his homeland.
• Freedom Eagle (Michael O’Connor): Engineer who designed a winged flight suit the Nazis attempted to steal.
• Johnny Rocket (Johnny Wade): Young lab assistant exposed to chemicals that gave him super-human speed.
• Lady Liberty II (Donna Mason): FBI secretary invested with the power of the Spirit of Liberty after she uncovered a Nazi sabotage plot. Lady Liberty possessed super-strength and wielded “the Light of Liberty.”
• Midnight (Travis Hunter): Dark-clad crimefighter and peerless detective with a “midnight mist” able to black out an area.
• The Patriot (Jack Simmons): Subject of a government super-soldier program, possessing near-perfect physical abilities and combat training.
• Siren (Lynn Sidon): Torch singer lost overboard in a Nazi U-boat attack. Rescued by Prince Thallor of Atlantis and granted mystic sonic and aquatic powers in accordance with an Atlantean prophecy.
Disbandment
The HUAC hearings force the conscientious disbanding of the Liberty League. Most of its members choose to retire their costumed identities and quietly return to civilian life.
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