The Great Defender (Stormy Foster)

Despite the feature’s title, which was “Stormy Foster,” the hero’s public referred to him as “the Great Defender,” and Stormy Foster’s identity was a secret. His “mask” was naught but a fake moustache, but his creator, Max Elkan, did a great job at making the two appear different. Stormy Foster ran later than most of Quality’s costumed heroes and starred on the cover of Hit Comics from #18–23.

During the day, Stormy Foster was a shy, bespectacled drug clerk—but the Great Defender in times of need. When thieves came to pillage Doc Vaughan’s drugstore, Stormy applied a false moustache and popped a super-vitamin which imbued him with the strength of ten men. His escapades were sometimes aided by the Chinese delivery boy named Ah Choo. (Hit #19) Ah Choo didn’t have a stereotypical accent at first, but in time he unfortunately began speaking like the Blackhawks’ Chop Chop—with ‘L’s for ‘R’s.  

You wouldn’t think it, but Stormy’s day job often led to intrigue. On a delivery to nearby Death Valley, Foster and Ah Choo found a dying man and trailed his murderers. Even though Ah Choo took part in many of his cases, Foster never disclosed his secret to the youngster, (#21) but Doc Vaughan did later disclose it to Ah Choo. (#29)

Foster was sweet on Miss Jean Dale, a member of the Motor Corps who preferred humble Stormy to the Great Defender. Jean was genuinely concerned for Stormy’s safety when he disappeared (to become the Defender). (#24) 

He was more than a mere clerk at the pharmacy; he was also the inventor of his super-vitamin formula. He continued to improve the drug, but when he succeeded in making it five times stronger, it was stolen by a crook whose heart couldn’t handle it; he died. His cohorts weren’t so unlucky and they gave the Great Defender a good run. Stormy’s cunning saved him in the end. (#26)

The Great Defender’s only costumed adversary was the evil Archer, Joseph Villard, who fell out a window to his death. (#27)

The featured rather degraded when it began attempting to emulate the humor of other popular strips. Ah Choo met a new friend, a black boy named Asbestos (#30) and Ah Choo tried to woo the pretty young Ah Mee. Ah Choo thought a vitamin regimen would impress her and he wound up taking Stormy’s super-vitamins! Naturally, when the lad’s exploits made the papers, Ah Mee was interested, but it was too late. Other girls were now swooning left and right. To prevent any more outings by the “Chinese Great Defender,” Stormy vowed to keep his vitamins better hidden. (#33)

In his last recorded adventure, the Great Defender came to the aid of the Clovis Construction Company, only to find the person who’d been sabotaging their skyscraper was Mr. Clovis himself. (#34)

DC/Legacy

From the afterlife, Foster’s contemporary, the Red Bee, characterized him by saying “I was one of the jokes … But Johnny Thunder, Stormy Foster… I bet all of them are more regarded than I am.” (Starman vol. 2 #37) 

Foster fathered at least one child. The hero Mon-El once met a man named Von Hammer in Germany, who had inherited a bit of invulnerability from his mother, whose grandfather was Stormy Foster. (Superman #689)

Notes

Stormy’s penchant for vitamins might have been inspired by his fictional predecessors. At DC, Hourman took “Miraclo” from the start (Adventure #48, 1940). And though the popular Blue Beetle didn’t take “vitamin 2X” when he first debuted, he did in Mystery Men Comics #13 (July 1941), several months before Stormy’s first appearance. 

The name “Stormy” is usually a nickname, but in this feature, Foster’s name is never used in quotation marks, so it’s assumed to be his real name. These days, “Stormy” is more commonly a girl’s name.

Powers

After taking a super-vitamin, the Great Defender could make great leaps, bend bars, and was speedy enough to dodge bullets. He sometimes used a “paralysis gas” that issued from a gun stored in his cape.

DC Legacy: Von Hammer

Foster apparently fathered at least one child. The hero Mon-El once met a German hero named William Von Hammer who had inherited a bit of invulnerability from his mother, whose grandfather was Stormy Foster. (Superman #689)

More was revealed about Von Hammer when he went in search of the anti-hero called the Shade. This, in response to an encounter in Europe with a gang of enhanced Belgian assassins called Les Diaboliques. After Von Hammer killed most of his oppenents, and continued on his mission to find the Shade. (The Shade v.2 #1) He did this via a mutual acquaintance, Bobo Benetti. It was something to do with a man named Caldecott, which lit a fire under the Shade, and the two met during an attack by the shadow villain, Bete Noire. Von Hammer then revelaed that he was hired by someone in Caldecott Industries (actually descendants of the Shade) to find sample of Shade’s blood. The Shade turned the tables and rehired Von Hammer to investigate the family in England. (#2)

Powers

Von Hammer seems to have some measure of invulnerability or vitality that was passed down genetically.