Wing

Creation

Wing first appeared in Detective Comics #20 dated October of 1938 created by Jim Chambers.

History

Before he came to the United States, to avoid persecution by the Japanese, the man known only as Wing lived in Hankow, China. In New York in 1938, Wing became the chauffeur of Lee Travis, the young publisher of the Globe Leader newspaper. Wing was greatly concerned about the recent conquest of much of China, including Hankow by imperialist Japan, in which 3 million of his fellow Chinese had died. As a result of his conversations with Wing on this subject, Travis began to feel he ought to do more about the war in Asia.

On Sunday, October 30, 1938, Wing drove Travis to a Halloween costume party in New Jersey that was being held to raise funds for Chinese victims of war. Travis was dressed as a masked highwayman for the occasion. The party was interrupted by costumed thieves, one of whom murdered Claudia Barker, an acquaintance of Travis and reporter for Downtowner magazine. The thieves then made off with the proceeds of the evening. Travis, still in costume, and Wing, driving Travis’ limo, went in pursuit of the criminals. With the aid of a farmer, the duo overcame the thieves and left them to the police.

Travis decided not to reveal that he was the masked man who had caught the crooks, rather he decided he would go on fighting crime as the Crimson Avenger. Wing, who continued to be his valet, was also now his confidante. The Crimson Avenger finally adopted a new costume and Wing had a costume of his own, too – which he wore when going into action as the Crimson Avenger’s partner. Wing became the unofficial 8th member of the 7 Soldiers of Victory.

Finally, Wing sacrificed his life heroically – using a powerful weapon to overcome the threat to the world that was posed by the Nebula Man.

The New 52: Earth 2

A new, less-stereotypical version of Wing appears in the rebooted Earth 2 New 52 continuity. Here he is known as James Wing, a young Asian American cameraman who works with female reporter Lee Travis, now an African-American woman, at the GBC station.

Skills and Abilities

Wing is skilled in hand-to-hand combat, which includes karate and judo.