afl 01 holy five
afl 01 holy five
Print Mint February 1972
When I first got this comic and paged through it, I thought, “Ah, bunch a war shit, I’ll read this later.” Well I did read it later and was very pleasantly surprised. Yeah, there’s some outer space war shit, but it’s good, underground-style outer space war shit.
American Flyer #1 primarily features Larry Welz, who provides the 19-page epic “The Holy Five,” a three-chapter story about five human-like beings with supernatural powers. The Holy Five try to help people, but they get caught up in the machinations of the wicked secret world government, which tries to harness one of the Holy Five’s psychic powers for their own evil purposes. Fortunately, the Holy Five are aided in their struggle by a group of militant hippies who want to take the government down by force.
Welz also contributes a science-fiction fantasy adventure with the 14-page “Wyatt Winghead in Outer Space,” which features a character Welz memorably introduced in Captain Guts #3. This story has Winghead hurtling through space before being captured by a space ship with cops, but he easily overpowers the cops with his extraordinary brain power and escapes with a beautiful woman, who was also being held captive. Winghead helps her pursue freedom for her tribe of people, but the story ends as if it were a first chapter…and never resumes, though Winghead appears in another tale in American Flyer #2.
American Flyer #1 also features Larry Sutherland (with Bill Go, who I’ve never heard of before or since), who provides “The Right-On Squad,” which spoofs the type of hard-core hippies who don’t take shit from “the man” or anyone else. This is a solid underground comic that is highly recommended.
High on a lonely mountain top • Holy Five • Right-on Squad • Deep in the reeking bowels of the city • Wyatt Winghead in Outer Space • Wyatt Winghead • Below — the bay glistens with tranquil serenity • Holy Five