CODEX OMNIVERSA

Overseas, Adolf Hitler planned Operation Sea Lion, an assault on England, for September of 1940. However, it was indefinitely postponed when the German Luftwaffe failed to defeat the Royal Air Force in the Battle of Britain. This set-back occurred for Hitler even though he had in his possession… the magical and evil Spear of Destiny.

Minute-Man

When Captain Robert Weston died during WWI, General Milton became guardian for his son, Jack. Jack was an exceptional athlete and perfect candidate for a special detail Milton was organizing:

Jack took the effort further by donning a patriotic costume to fight espionage and sabotage in the United States.

Flashback: 1776

After a young girl was so awed and excited by watching Betsy Ross sew the American flag, she wanted to tell Uncle Sam. However, she ran out into the rain and became seriously ill. On her deathbed, Ross gave her a locket containing threads from the flag, a divine voice spoke:

Sleep my child, for in many years you shall awake as USA, the spirit of Old Glory, to watch and defend it!

USA, The Spirit of Old Glory

On the eve of World War II…

USA immediately set out to instill the values of the flag, foiling Nazi plots and preventing assassination attempts.

Flashback: Charles McNider

When we last saw Dr. Charles McNider, he was a blind man “watching” Elektro’s debut with his nurse/assistant, Myra Mason. How exactly did he become blind?

Charles and Myra had been collaborating on a new anti-viral serum when a police officer told Charles that a gangster (“Killer” Maroni) had seriously wounded a witness who was going to testify against him. While Charles was attempting to save him, one of Maroni’s thugs tossed a hand grenade into the hospital window. The explosion killed everyone but Charles; however, he was blinded by shards of glass.

Dr. Mid-Nite

No longer able to perform as a doctor, Charles began writing…

I was torturing myself by thinking that just writing stories about men like Maroni wasn’t enough – that someone ought to actually mete out justice to people like that, who’d found ways to place themselves above the law. But I’d also pretty much come to terms with the fact that I wasn’t exactly the guy who was going to do that –

Charles could see only at night, although he developed a pair of infrared glasses that temporarily allowed him to see during the day. He acquired a black and red costume, and as Doctor Mid-Nite, used “blackout bombs” that only he could see through, to actively strike back at the criminal world.

Flashback: The Ruby of Life

When Nommo, the king of the African empire of Kor. Created the “Ruby of Life,” it was guarded by priests for nearly 4,000 years in the temple of Asyreth.

The next time history records its existence was when the gem was among the treasures brought to the Aztecs of old Mexico. It disappeared again until 1917, when archeologist Richard Biddle Sargent discovered it, smuggled it into the United States, and gave it to his fiancée.

Sargon the Sorcerer

When Richard and his wife had their first child, the first thing little John Sargent saw was the Ruby of Life around his mother’s neck… and he touched it.

When he was grown…

Suppose I were such a baby… now that I’m grown, I place my hand upon the stone, like this and I mutter the old incantation!

To whom doth the ruby belong?

‘tis mine…

Sing the song of the strong, leonine…

Fight the forces of wrong, malign…

Sing the song of the strong.

John learned that he now had control of inanimate objects. He donned a cape and turban and started a vaudeville act, presenting his tricks as mere sleight of hand. However, he also used his abilities to fight crime during the 1940s.

---

---

---

1940: The Nazi Juggernaut sweeps across Europe, but “World War Two” has not officially begun. For America has not entered the war… yet. Franklin Delano Roosevelt has just been elected for an unprecedented third term as President, and he has promised America peace… a promise he is hard-pressed to keep.