I’m working up a longer post on this important subject. But, in the face of a certain natural skepticism, expressed in comments to my previous post, I have decided to seed discussion with a pair of frames from All Star Comics #24 (Spring, 1945):
If you happen to be at a scholarly institution with access to All Star Comics archives, vol. 6
TONIGHT: Wildcat explains five fifteen centuries of German perfidy.
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David 04.15.07 at 1:11 am
To begin with–Is Hawkman aware that the Treaty of Versailles was imposed on the Weimar Republic, not on the Third Reich? And that Hitler’s attitude toward treaties is irrelevant to whether Versailles was fair? You didn’t have to be Hitler to hate Versailles, after all.
John Holbo 04.15.07 at 1:13 am
I wonder, David. Haven’t you been duped by persistent propaganda? Have you considered that option?
Matt McIrvin 04.15.07 at 1:18 am
This reminds me of the argument for the defense in a Kids in the Hall sketch: “Yes, but… aren’t you lying? Aren’t you, in fact, A LIAR???”
franck 04.15.07 at 1:32 am
What does five centuries of German perfidy mean anyway? Were the Prussians perfidious at Waterloo? Do they mean the German state, which didn’t exist until 1871, or the Holy Roman Empire, or the Austrians, or what?
Michael 04.15.07 at 1:32 am
Interesting, I just ran across the whole thing on the LJ community “Scans Daily”.
Slithy Tove 04.15.07 at 1:35 am
It’s so hard to main proper gravitas in a political discussion when one of the participants is a furry.
Ben Alpers 04.15.07 at 1:43 am
What does five centuries of German perfidy mean anyway?
Rather than waiting to hear from Wildcat, perhaps we should just ask Lord Vansittart.
Rich B. 04.15.07 at 1:58 am
TONIGHT: Wildcat explains five centuries of German perfidy.
If you consult the text, you will see that Wildcat is, in fact, seeking to explain FIFTEEN centuries of German perfidy.
Kelly 04.15.07 at 2:03 am
*laughs*
And I didn’t even have to wait until Sunday! (But I still want the longer post!)
Rich B. 04.15.07 at 2:04 am
Also, in light of your previous post on Jimmy Olsen’s brain in a jar, it is only fair to point on in context that Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen WAS, in fact, a well-known Nazi, once rising as high as Hitler’s sidekick.
http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3841/751/1600/906707/DDayAdventure06.jpg
Ben Alpers 04.15.07 at 2:11 am
But then again, it should also be pointed out that Superman is a dick.
Michael 04.15.07 at 2:27 am
The entire JSA story, complete with Wonder Woman’s one-page bit on the importance of recycling during wartime is here (the link goes to the finale (Johnny Thunder’s segment), which lists all of the individual storyline posts.
John Emerson 04.15.07 at 2:49 am
In fact, Arminius (“Herman the German”), a Roman auxiliary of German descent, treacherously led three Roman Legions into an ambush at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD., and has been admired for this ever since!
http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=Battle%20of%20the%20Teutoburg%20Forest
(Oddly,the Wiki article on Arminius does not mention his treachery).
John Holbo 04.15.07 at 3:16 am
Michael, where’s the LJ scans daily thing?
Thanks for the crucial update, rich. I had my facts wrong.
eleanor 04.15.07 at 5:45 am
Yah-yah. And Hitler was Austrian. What’s for supper, honey?
Carlos 04.15.07 at 1:25 pm
JH, you’re not getting these from the scans_daily site? they just ran a seven-part series, including Mr. Terrific (the honky one) punching out the minions of Frederick the Great.
(Yo, wingnuts. Even your jingo sucks. Stick with your MMORPGs.)
franck 04.15.07 at 1:44 pm
It’s unclear what Irmin or Hermann’s real German name actually was. Martin Luther equated Arminius (which may have just been a nickname) to Hermann.
Hermann became a touchstone for German resistance to invaders and a symbol of German nationalism in the 19th century.
But if you look at the actual events, I say good for Hermann. He prevented the conquest and enslavement of his people and threw back the slave-holding Roman empire. Fighting off imperialistic invaders is the right thing to do.
Michael 04.15.07 at 2:46 pm
John, The link in my comment (http://community.livejournal.com/scans_daily/3340024.html) is to the last part, which contains further links to parts 1-6. Carlos’ commant @ #16 links to the Justice Society Tag on Scans_Daily. The March 29-April 14 posts contain all 7 parts.
John Emerson 04.15.07 at 3:16 pm
Franck, you Nazi! Human sacrifice is not worse than slavery? Also, without Arminius we probably wouldn’t have had Wagner.
New Ulm, Minnesota has a large copper Arminius statue which survived both world wars. How, I don’t know, but it probably helped that the surrounding area is about 95% German-American.
Katherine 04.16.07 at 10:07 am
I feel as if I have stumbled upon one huge inside joke.
PS Superman is most certainly a super dick.
C. L. Ball 04.16.07 at 7:24 pm
No one ever talks about the nice Nazis, the ones who cared.
Ken Houghton 04.20.07 at 6:53 pm
Off-joke, I note for the record that “everybody” in 1928 specifically did not include France, which was the most proximate, large country to feel the brunt of Germany in The War to End All Wars.
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