Fletcher Hanks was a cartoonist working from 1939 to 1941. He worked under a number of pseudonyms - "Henry Fletcher", "Barclay Flagg", "Bob Jordan", and "Hank Christy" – but his crude style is easily recognisable. But to call it crude is to overlook the power of his strips where powerful heroes visit terrible punishment on various wrongdoers, fifth columnists, spies and criminals (though often not before they have caused a great deal of “magnificently drawn” death and destruction).

His most famous, if that is the word, creations are Stardust the Super Wizard, Tabu the Wizard of the Jungle, and Fantomah (a beautiful blonde female superheroes who can turn into a skeleton).

His work has appeared in Art Spiegleman's “Raw 5 ” as well as “Art Out Of Time”. An anthology of his work has now been published called “I Shall Destroy All The Civilized Planets”.

Little is known of Hanks life. He is reputed (by his son) to have been an alcoholic abusive father and husband who abandoned his family around 1930. He died sometime around 1970 when his frozen body was found by police on a park bench in New York City.

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