Back when the Marvel universe first came to be, the Angel was on the job. Debuting in 1939 alongside Timely Comics' Human Torch in Marvel Comics No. 1, the Angel beat Captain America to the crime-fighting scene by a good two years. But it is the star-and-stripes-clad Captain America, not the Angel, whom people remember. The Angel, a.k.a. Tom Hallowav, didn't have powers to speak of, apart from a cape that allowed him to fly when he bothered to use it. Raised in prison by his warden father after his mother died, and trained in everything a growing boy needs to become a crime-fighter, Halloway became a detective. Then he strangely donned a snazzy red, yellow, and blue costume with wings emblazoned on his chest. Sporting an atypical (for a superhero) Errol Flvnn-like mustache, with no mask to hide his identity, the Angel turned up in numerous series and had a few significant WWII exploits. One of the Angel's most bizarre war adventures came in Human Torch No. 5 in the fall of 1941, when he teamed up with the Sub-Mariner to battle Nazi operatives disguised as zombies. The "Nazombies" were infiltrating Bermuda and striking fear into everyone's heart. But the two heroes uncovered the subterfuge— after the Angel temporarily became the Nazombies' captive—and sent the fake undead soldiers packing. The Angel crusaded for the Allied cause throughout the war, with the help of other heroes or solo, even falling prey to a Japanese brainwasher who nearly turned him into an Axis assassin. He appeared more than 100 times in multiple titles and was retroactively considered a member of the wartime All- Winners Squad.
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