Friday, April 29, 2016

Dogwood City A to Z: Yank Wilson

Wow...we're really nearing the end of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge!  I think I'm going to use the last couple of entries to cover archetypes that deserve inclusion in Dogwood City but haven't been hit so far.  For today, how about a little espionage action?  Here's Yank Wilson, Super Spy Q-4:


What can I really tell you about him?  His title pretty much says it all.  Oh, he's also a really good pilot!  And...he apparently has some cool spy gadgets:


But you probably already knew that.

One aspect of Yank Wilson that's definitely worth mentioning is the reason I chose the images above for him, from Fantastic Comics #6.  He's one of a select few characters to be written and drawn at some point by Fletcher Hanks.  Hanks is the creator behind such Golden Age gems as Fantomah and Stardust the Super Wizard.  His work has grown in popularity over the past several years with the publication of the collections I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets! and You Shall Die by Your Own Evil Creation! (which also give some insight into the rather tragic life of the artist).

If you've never read Hanks' stuff, I strongly recommend you work to correct that.  He's become a must-read author of the no-holds-barred insanity that was sprinkled throughout the Golden Age of comics.  His Yank Wilson story is easily one of the tamest Fletcher Hanks works you could read (and is probably one of the tamer Yank Wilson tales).  I'd recommend heading over to Fantastic Comics #1 and reading the Stardust story that starts on page 16 for a pretty good intro to the mind of Fletcher Hanks.

Okay, so back to Super Spy Q-4.  Here he is at the PDSH wiki, and here he is in generic gaming form:


Q-4
aka Super Spy Q-4
Real name:  Yank Wilson
Level 5
4 Hit Dice
Defense 13

Handgun (ranged) +4 (2D damage)
OR
2 fists (melee) +4 (1D damage)

Mastery:  Espionage, Piloting aircraft



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