Green Turtle (comics)

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Green Turtle
Blazing Comics, July 1944, No. 2 featuring The Green Turtle, by Chu F. Hing
Publication information
Publisher
First appearance #1 (1944)
Created by[1]
In-story information
Full nameHank Chu
PartnershipsBurma Boy
AbilitiesNone

The Green Turtle is a superhero published by . He first appeared in (1944), and was created by Chinese-American cartoonist .[2]

Character history[]

The Green Turtle aided the Chinese in guerrilla warfare against the Japanese invaders in World War II. He wore a green cowl and a cloak with a turtle-shell design.[3] Most origin stories around the comic say that Hing initially wanted to make him an overtly Chinese hero, but his publisher would not allow this, believing there would not be a sufficient market for an Asian superhero, so Hing never drew the character without his mask. He had a sidekick, Burma Boy, a young beggar whom the Green Turtle rescued from execution by the Japanese army.[4] He also had a manservant, Wun Too.[2]

The Green Turtle's secret identity was never revealed, and readers never saw the character's face without a mask,[5] until a reboot presented Hank Chu's face, identity, and origin story.

Powers and abilities[]

The Green Turtle as originally written has no special powers but is a skilled fighter and flies a high-tech Turtle Plane.[6] He wears a large, flowing cape with a green turtle emblem, and is occasionally depicted with a huge, shadowy, black turtle silhouette rearing behind him, though the significance of this is never established in the original series.

Reboot[]

In 2014, Gene Luen Yang and Sonny Liew created a six-issue miniseries The Shadow Hero to revive the Green Turtle, with a retcon explaining the turtle silhouette as a spirit who keeps the Green Turtle from getting shot. A trade paperback collecting all six issues was published by First Second Books in 2014.[7]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Chu is the family name: see Gene Luen Yang, A Mistake in The Shadow Hero, Diversity in YA (2015)
  2. ^ a b Mitchell, Kurt; Thomas, Roy (2019). American Comic Book Chronicles: 1940-1944. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 245. ISBN 978-1605490892.
  3. ^ Yoe, Craig (2016). Super Weird Heroes:Outrageous But Real!. Yoe Books/IDW. p. 154. ISBN 978-1631407451.
  4. ^ Nevins, Jess (2013). Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes. High Rock Press. p. 42. ISBN 978-1-61318-023-5.
  5. ^ Benton, Mike (1992). Superhero Comics of the Golden Age: The Illustrated History. Dallas: Taylor Publishing Company. p. 153. ISBN 0-87833-808-X. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  6. ^ Nevins, Jess (2013). Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes. High Rock Press. p. 118. ISBN 978-1-61318-023-5.
  7. ^ Yu, Phil (2014-02-20). "The Heroic Return of the Green Turtle". Retrieved 2014-03-14.

External links[]

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