TRULY GONE AND FORGOTTEN : SUPER GREEN BERET

When young, “pure” Tod Holton – that’s not me being creepy, the book makes a point of repeatedly mentioning his purity – is given a gift of a magic beret, he finds that he can tap its tremendous power to transform into the powerful adult body of Super Green Beret, a strapping soldier with the power of magic on his side, and who is also unable to come up with a better name.

Tod’s uncle Roger was made a gift of the magical beret by a South Vietnamese monk who blessed the headgear as thanks for Roger having saved him and his monastery from villainous Viet Cong soldiers but mostly from wild pigs (true! Moppin up the Viet Cong was almost an afterthought). Now, having given the enchanted hat to a young boy, “pure” (geez), the monk is able to communicate with the heroic Super Green Beret and telepathically alert him to trouble spots around the world.

Tod's a real whiz at history.

Although he proves early on that he has the power to turn men to stone (or, at least by way of demonstration, to turn tree trunks that he pretends are men into stone, thereby proving that the greatest power is imagination), Super Green Beret primarily uses his amazing powers on the order of pranks; he turn grenades into fresh fruit, bombs into bouquets, and tanks into tank parts – although primarily he likes to use branches, guns and planks as clubs and beat the livin’ tar out of people. A “salute” allows him to caress the magic badge which powers his supernatural headgear, and whatever Tod can imagine is made to happen.

Created by Otto Binder, inspired maestro of the silver age, Super Green Beret shares much in common with company-mate Fatman The Human Flying Saucer, in that he bears more than a passing resemblance to the original Captain Marvel; Tod owns a magic beret instead of a magic word, and Super G-B’s powers exceed even those of Cap, but the aged wizard shepherding the young hero who changes from boy to man by way of magic seems a little familiar. Tod even bears more than a passing resemblance to Billy Batson, particularly by way of a red sweater and blue jean being his go-to look. I like to assume a Super Green Beret Jr and a Mary Green Beret were in the works.

Over the course of his two issues, Super Green Bean only spends a little time in South Vietnam, findin himself called to trouble spots in a South American nation (stopping the would-be revolution of a Fidel Castro-a-like), a volcano-plagued African kingdom and, um, Nazis and then Valley Forge. He got around, that Super Green Beret.

Besides the thought-waves pouring into his mind, of course.