Real Name: Larry (last name unrevealed, see comments)
Identity/Class: Human (1940s era)
Occupation: Soldier/private, costumed adventurer
Group Membership: "Crazy SUES" (Specialized Unit, Enhanced Soldiers) - Archie the Gruesome, Blue Diamond (Elton Morrow), Captain Flame (Frank Cortez), Davey Drew and the Demon, Father Time (Larry Scott, see comments), Fighting Yank, Fin (Peter Noble), Robert "Flash" Foster, Invisible Man (Leonard Gade), Doug "Jap-Buster" Johnson, Albert "Slow-Motion" Jones, Merzah the Mystic, Captain Bob Strong, Jim "Taxi" Taylor and T-Mech, Vagabond, Young Avenger (Bill Bryon)
Affiliations: American Ace (Perry Webb), Bucky (James Barnes), Captain America (Steve Rogers), Sergeant Byrd, Victory Boys
Enemies: Nadia LaSanne, Boss McGool, McGool's henchmen, Axis soldiers (in general)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Moonman, Moon Man
Base of Operations: Mobile;
formerly an unidentified American city (see comments)
First Appearance: Mystic Comics I#5/6 (March, 1941)
Powers/Abilities: Said to be "a master of many sciences and independently wealthy," Moon-Man was endowed with "unusual athletic ability"; he was skilled at fisticuffs and climbing, but he demonstrated no paranormal abilities.
Moon-Man originally wore a dark costume with a brightly luminescent moon-symbol on his chest (see comments). When originally based in his high-rise secret headquarters in the city, Moon-Man used an automobile for transportation.
Height: 6' (by approximation)
Weight: 180 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Unrevealed
History:
(Mystic Comics I#5/6 (fb) - BTS) - The origin and past of Moon-Man is unrevealed (see comments), but at some point he established his costumed identity and a secret headquarters in a "teeming city". On nights when the full moon shone, the mysterious Moon-Man came to the aid of those who were oppressed and cheated by powers out of reach of the law, and he found himself hunted by both the criminal underworld and the police.
(Mystic Comics I#5/6) - One night, while in his penthouse, Moon-Men read a newspaper headline concerning thirty-five orphans getting sick from food poisoning during their Christmas dinner (see comments); thinking that Boss McGool and his secretary might know something about it (see comments), Moon-Man drove to the suburban home of McGool's secretary, Nadia LaSanne, then climbed to an upstairs window and sneaked into the house to surprise her. Upon seeing the costumed crime-fighter, Nadia fainted from the shock, so Moon-Man grabbed her handbag and drove back to his headquarters. He examined the purse and found incriminating evidence inside--a bill of sale for 100 pounds of cheap meat purchased by McGool. Moon-Man next went to the orphanage and examined the kitchen, where he discovered more evidence in the refrigerator--rank meat. Moon-Man figured that McGool had been buying tainted meat to feed the orphans because he could get it cheaper, and he was pocketing the savings for himself. Pausing by the orphanage's sick ward, the compassionate Moon-Man looked in on the "poor little tykes" who were ill, and the selenic sentinel swore to them that they would be avenged.
(Mystic Comics I#5/6 - BTS) - Moon-Man drove back to the city and parked near McGool's apartment, then used the fire-escape to climb inside an open window.
(Mystic Comics I#5/6) - Meanwhile, Nadia had recovered and went to McGool's apartment to report that Moon-Man had taken the bill of sale. Just then, Moon-Man stepped out of the shadows, and the lunar lawman advised Nadia to leave because he wanted to speak to McGool alone. McGool summoned reinforcements, but his two thugs were easily overcome by Moon-Man, who knocked them out with a punch apiece. Confiscating a gun from one of the thugs, Moon-Man held McGool at bay as he climbed back out the window, and he swore to the racketeer that he'd see him put in jail. Climbing up the fire-escape, Moon-Man ran across the rooftops and returned to his car. Thinking Nadia was the weak link in McGool's chain of command, Moon-Man drove to her home again. After coercing the secretary into signing a written confession of her involvement in the food poisoning, the night-time nemesis returned to McGool's apartment and found it empty, but he discovered a discarded railroad schedule on the floor.
Moon-Man deduced that McGool was making a break for it, so the iridescent investigator continued his relentless pursuit and raced to the train station--he jumped aboard the train just as it was pulling out. Running through the train-cars and causing a minor panic amongst the passengers, Moon-Man had the conductor direct him to McGool's seat. The crime-boss saw the hero approaching and drew his gun, but Moon-Man punched him and knocked him unconscious; using McGool as a shield, Moon-Man pointed McGool's gun at the two henchmen and warned them to stay back or he'd shoot. Carrying McGool over his shoulder, Moon-Man jumped out of the speeding train, relieved to find he had broken no bones as he landed. He carried the racketeer back to his car, then drove to the nearest police station, where he turned McGool and Nadia's confession over to the startled desk-sergeant.
Sometime later in his penthouse hideaway, Moon-Man was reading a newspaper headline that stated McGool had been jailed for the poisoned food and the sick children were recovering--Moon-Man figured the kids would have good food from now on.
(All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#2 (fb) - BTS) - Moon-Man's subsequent adventures (if any) are unrevealed, but he may have modified his costume somewhat (see comments).
(All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#2 (fb)) - By May 17th, 1942, Timely Comics had "introduced" Moon Man to its readers on the cover of an issue of "Boys' Hero Action Comic," where he was depicted in a different costume (see comments).
(All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#2 (fb)) - Moon-Man was recruited into the "Crazy SUES," a specialized military unit attached to the 101st Air Assault Division--these "super-soldiers" were minor heroes under the command of Sgt. Byrd and Captain America, and they would be sent on combat operations deep behind enemy lines. Moon-Man wore a standard-issue infantry uniform with a modified version of his cowl, and he was armed with a standard military rifle.
On August 7th, 1942, Moon-Man and the other Crazy SUES were aboard a transport plane flying over the South Pacific. During the flight, the racially bigoted Captain Strong was harassing "Slow-Motion" Jones, and Captain Flame warned Strong to leave Jones alone or else he'd make Strong's eyes boil from the inside out--Moon-Man asked the Young Avenger if Flame could really do that, and the Young Avenger admitted he didn't know, but he'd sure like to see him try it. When the plane reached the jump-zone, the Crazy SUES along with Captain America and Bucky parachuted down to Guadalcanal to take on the forces of the Imperial Japanese Army.
(All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#3 (fb)) - On August 13th, 1942, Moon-Man and the Crazy SUES were still fighting the Japanese at Guadalcanal. During a battle, Captain Flame was having trouble containing his powers, and he warned his teammates to stay back; Moon-Man called out to Captain Strong to get clear before Flame burned the entire area, but Strong told Moon-Man not to tell him what to do, then Strong ran off to pick up the wounded "Slow-Motion" Jones and carry him to safety.
(All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#4 (fb)) - At some point, Moon-Man and other Crazy SUES were aboard a transport plane headed to Europe--Moon-Man vomited into an air-sickness bag during the flight. After reaching the jump-zone, they all parachuted into the Normandy village of Sainte Mere Eglise.
(All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#5 (fb)) - On July 7th, 1944, Moon-Man and Crazy SUES were planning battle tactics with Sgt. Byrd in a barn on a farm near Bretteville-sur-Laise, France; by August 29th, 1944, Moon-Man and his teammates were celebrating their battlefield victories at an outdoor cafe in Paris, France.
Shortly afterward in a small town in Belgium, Captain America, Bucky, and the Crazy SUES were clearing the town of Nazis. Moon-Man was shot in the throat by a sniper and he fell wounded to the ground. "Slow-Motion" Jones called for a medic to help Moon-Man, but the Nazis suddenly attacked in force, and Moon-Man was hit several more times where he lay. The remaining Crazy SUES scattered for cover, but they were greatly outnumbered, and Moon-Man's body was seemingly reduced to pulp by a barrage of gunfire.
Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and Fred Guardineer (artist).
Moon-Man was never seen without his mask/cowl, and his real name wasn't revealed in his first appearance, but the Young Avenger addressed him once as "Larry" in All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#2.
(Just a stray thought: Although Father Time (Larry Scott) was mentioned as being a member of the Crazy SUES, he was never actually seen in the series. During his death-scene, Moon-Man had what looked like a pocket watch with its hands pointing to 12:00 o'clock strapped on the side of his helmet--a clock face was worn by Father Time as his symbol--could it perhaps have been planned to reveal that Moon-Man had been Father Time all along? (They both had the same first name)).
Moon-Man's origin was never revealed, either--perhaps he had some connection to the Egyptian moon-god Khonshu, and he was a prototype "Moon Knight"--perhaps his athletic abilities were amplified under the light of the Moon (...which would explain why he was uninjured after jumping from the speeding train).
Moon-Man, Boss McGool, and Nadia LaSanne seemed to be familiar with each other, so perhaps they had a previous encounter.
It was never mentioned in what city Moon-Man was based, so I initially assumed it to be New York City; however, the orphans got sick at Christmas dinner, which implies the story occurred in winter, yet there was no sign of snow, nor was anyone wearing a winter coat, so it must have been in some other city (...unless it was a really mild winter in New York).
Of course any resemblance of Moon-Man to Gotham City's Dark Knight is purely coincidental (...and probably intentional--but even Bob Kane was known to "borrow" from other publications when he created his character). But although Moon-Man was wealthy and had a car ("Moon-Mobile"?), he didn't have any throwing weapons ("Lunarangs"?) or a boy sidekick ("Lunar Lad"? "Kid Crescent"?)
Moon-Man made only one appearance in the Golden Age, and he wasn't seen again until the Band of Heroes mini-series seven decades later. Maybe the reason for his limited use in the 1940s was because at the time National Comics (aka DC) seemed to be sueing any competing comic-book companies that were publishing characters that were remotely similar to Superman (e.g. Fox Comics' Wonder Man, Fawcett Comics' "Shazam!" Captain Marvel), so maybe Timely decided not to press their luck with a potential lawsuit.
Moon-Man was one of the few male heroes (such as Captain Wonder) whose costume showed off his bare clean-shaven legs, so he didn't quite strike fear into the hearts of evil-doers (plus people may have confused him with the similarly attired Black Marvel).
I say Moon Man may have modified his costume because in the Band of Heroes series, when the Timely Comics of Earth-616 "introduced" him on the cover of "Boys' Hero Action Comic" (issue number unspecified--don't bother looking it up, because it wasn't a "real" comic-book), Moon-Man was depicted with a differently colored costume, and he also wore what looked to be a portable search-light mounted on his chest--maybe this was a piece of equipment he later invented that he used as a "passive weapon," to be flashed in the eyes of his opponents to temporarily blind them (his "Moon-Beam"? (at least it would be more useful than that "target" he originally wore on his chest).
Moon-Man played only a minor role in All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes--other than a few limited word-balloons, he was more or less just a background character.
All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes was supposed to be an 8-issue mini-series, but I was informed that it was cancelled with the fifth issue due to low sales, so unfortunately the story was never completed. Moon-Man's death appeared to be permanent, so unless they planned some miraculous resurrection for him by the last issue (Hey, it's a comic-book--stuff like that has been known to happen), I guess we can assume he's still dead.
And a THANK YOU goes out to Norvo, who provided some of the images and information, and without whose help this profile would not have been possible!
Moon-Man's first appearance in Mystic Comics I#5 is a rather blatant rip-off of the Face story drawn by Mart Bailey for Columbia Comics' Big Shot Comics #1 (1940). It looks as though Fred Guardineer traced much of the Face story, simply swapping the Face for Moon-Man. A great deal of the dialogue was also recycled! Those Golden Age creators were, perhaps, not being paid enough to afford placing their principles above getting their pages done. --Prime Eternal
Profile by Ron Fredricks
CLARIFICATIONS:
Moon-Man has no known connections to
A powerful automobile, it was driven by Moon-Man in his fight against crime. He used a large private elevator to carry it up from street-level, and stored it in his penthouse headquarters.
It was unrevealed what (if any) special modifications it may have had, but it seemed to be equipped with a remote-control that opened the secret street-level entrance to Moon-Man's headquarters.
--Mystic Comics I#5/6
Located in Moon-Man's penthouse in one of the skyscrapers of a "teeming city," it was tastefully furnished and had a small library of books.
It included a large private elevator that carried his roadster from a secret street-level entrance, which was hidden behind a sign.
--Mystic Comics I#5/6
A racketeer, he employed Nadia LaSanne as his secretary. The portly McGool purchased food for an orphanage--he had been buying cheap tainted meat from the butcher, then pocketing the savings for himself. But McGool's scheme ran afoul when a newspaper reported about the orphans getting sick from food poisoning--Moon-Man happened to read the article and surmised that McGool was somehow involved.
After the mysterious crime-fighter confronted McGool in his apartment and swore to him that he'd see him put in jail, McGool made a break for it--he made arrangements to get out of the city by train, but he had dropped the train schedule on the floor of his home, which Moon-Man later discovered. McGool and his henchmen were seated aboard the train as it was pulling out, then McGool saw Moon-Man approaching him and tried to pull his gun, but Moon-Man punched him in the jaw and rendered him unconscious. Carrying McGool over his shoulder, Moon-Man jumped off the speeding train, then drove him to the nearest police station and turned the crime-boss over to the custody of the police.
A newspaper headline later reported that McGool had been jailed for the food poisoning.
--Mystic Comics I#5/6
The administrative assistant of Boss McGool, she was privy to his shady business dealings, including his scheme of buying cheap spoiled meat to feed to orphans while McGool pocketed the savings. When the orphans became ill from food poisoning, the mysterious Moon-Man thought Nadia and McGool were behind it, so he went to Nadia's suburban home and took her purse which held the incriminating evidence.
Later, Moon-Man forced Nadia to sign a written confession which detailed her part in McGool's scheme--the confession was turned over to the police, and McGool was jailed for the crime, but Nadia's fate was unrevealed.
--Mystic Comics I#5/6
Two unidentified underlings of Boss McGool, the smaller mustached one carried a handgun, while the larger one seemed to be "hired muscle". They were easily overcome by Moon-Man, who knocked them both out with one punch apiece.
Later, they accompanied McGool aboard a train when he tried to make a break for it, but Moon-Man arrived and captured McGool, then used McGool's gun to hold the two henchmen off while he jumped from the train with McGool.
--Mystic Comics I#5/6
images: (without ads)
Mystic Comics I#5/6, p7, pan4 (main image, Moon-Man running through passenger train, panicking passengers)
Mystic Comics I#5/6, p1, pan4 (headshot, Moon-Man)
Mystic Comics I#5/6, p1, pan2 (Moon-Man reading newspaper in his headquarters)
All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#5, p14, pan4 (Moon-Man shot in throat)
All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#5, p15, pan2 (Moon-Man (in military uniform) laying wounded on ground, as Slo-Mo Jones calls for medic)
All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#3, p6, pan1 (Moon-Man's introduction on cover of an issue of Earth-616 Timely Comics' "Boys' Action Hero Comic")
All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#3, p10, pan9 (presumably a panel from an Earth-616 Timely Comics comic-book Moon-Man story)
Mystic Comics I#5/6, p3, pan3 (unidentified building with Moon-Man's headquarters in penthouse)
Mystic Comics I#5/6, p3, pan4 (Moon-Man standing in headquarters, car in secret elevator in background)
Mystic Comics I#5/6, p2 pan1 (Moon-Man climbs out of roadster outside Nadia LaSanne's house)
Mystic Comics I#5/6, p3, pan2 (Moon-Man drives roadster into secret elevator entrance)
Mystic Comics I#5/6, p4, pan2 (Boss McGool)
Mystic Comics I#5/6, p5, pan6 (Moon-Man grabs Nadia LaSanne)
Mystic Comics I#5/6, p4, pan6 (Boss McGool, Moon-Man, McGool's two thugs)
Mystic Comics I#5/6, p4, pan7 (McGool's two thugs getting punched by Moon-Man)
Appearances:
Mystic Comics I#5/6 (March, 1941) - unidentified writer, Fred Guardineer (artist)
All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#2 (September, 2011) - Paul Jenkins (script), Carmine Di Giandomenico (pencils and inks), Andy Troy (colors), Dave Lanphear (letters)
All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#3 (October, 2011) - Paul Jenkins (writer), Carmine Di Giandomenico (pencils and inks), Andy Troy (colors), Dave Lanphear (letters)
All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#4 (November, 2011) - Paul Jenkins (writer), Carmine Di Giandomenico (pencils and inks), Andy Troy (colors), Dave Lanphear (letters)
All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes#5 (December, 2011) - Paul Jenkins (writer), Carmine Di Giandomenico (pencils and inks), Andy Troy (colors), Dave Lanphear (letters)
First Posted: 02/06/2017
Last updated: 02/06/2017
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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