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Green Hornet
These best stories of the comic books are preceded by their issue number.
Origin of Mr. Q (1943). Writer: ? Art: Harry Sahle. FBI agents investigating sabotage at a shipyards are aided by the mysterious Mr. Q. The origin of Mr. Q. Mr. Q has no super powers. He is another costumed crime fighter with a secret identity, in the tradition of Batman. This is the first of two stories about this short lived character. It is notable for the original way Mr. Q. is introduced. The story can be considered experimental. Mr. Q emerges only gradually during the course of the tale. And his secret identity is not revealed till the end of the story. It has an element of mystery: who is Mr. Q behind his mask and costume? The story also shows us Mr. Q's costume disassembled, something that is atypical of comic book stories of the period. The question marks on Mr. Q's costume are both his hero logo, and symbolic of the mystery of his secret identity during this origin story.
The shipyard setting here is typical of comic books, that loved construction and building sites. Such locales are pictorial. And they allow for lots of machinery, and grand scale construction of glamorous objects.
The second and last Mr. Q tale, in the next issue of Green Hornet, is routine.