December 7, 1941

In the weeks and days before that fateful attack on Pearl Harbor, rumors of war mingled with offsetting rumors of peace, while generals and diplomats conspired in marble halls as the spectre of war hovered ominously over an uneasy public.

Imagine, if you will, back on the mainland, an average American sipping their morning coffee and checking out the latest exploits of the Man of Steel, unaware that history was already unfolding midway across the ocean that would change the world forever.

Even Superman, it appears, muddled through that morn, oblivious to the great, impending danger fomenting in the Pacific. In the aftermath of those events, however, the comics responded swiftly, and with a single-minded fury impossible in today's politically-divided landscape. Theirs was an outburst of patriotism and propaganda like nothing previously unleashed in popular culture.

The very same heroes previously concerned with petty criminals and two-bit villains spearheaded a vigorous and gallant charge against the wartime enemies of America - a charge that would unfold equally in the Sunday comics as well as the comic books themselves. Some of those heroes defended the home-front; others worked to sabotage efforts behind enemy lines. Some fought on land, while others toiled at sea. But the greatest among them took to the skies to meet the oppressors head-on, and the effect on morale cannot be understated - after all, with Superman on our side, how could we possibly lose?