Stars and Stripes Primer
Series Overview
Stars and Stripes Comics was a series published by Centaur Publications in the 1940s. It was an anthology series that printed stories about characters who already appeared in Amazing-Man Comics as well as introducing new characters who call themselves Stars and Stripes (although they were late to the game only making their debut in issue #4) Why is this series here on my Index? Well that’s because years after Centaur Publications went out of business their stable of characters entered into the public domain. One character in particular, the Amazing-Man, was adopted by Marvel. You may know the character better as the Prince of Orphans who has appeared in both Iron Fist, Secret Avengers. and the Defenders.
This series only lasted 5 issues and has no issue #1. Why? I couldn’t tell you. My speculation is that Centaur Publications was as bad at numbering as they were at writing stories.
Are these stories considered part of Marvel Continuity? Well the only entry on the character can be found in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update #5, that story glosses over his origins in a vague way possible so it cannot be said with any certainty. Confusing matters further is the fact that Malibu Comics made an earlier attempt to revive Centaur’s characters in the 1990s. The Centaur revival was a flop, but Malibu (and all it’s original materials) were bought by Marvel Comics. Per the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #2 the Malibu/Centaur universe exists as part of the Marvel Multiverse and is designated Earth-1136. So at the very least, those stories could be considered part of that universe.
As Centaur Publications have entered into the public domain you can legally download every issue of Amazing-Man Comics for free. They are available on he Digital Comic Museum.
The scope of this index will only cover the Amazing-Man stories in these issues and nothing else. If you want to know more, go and read those other comics on your own time.
