Minutemen

## Membership

### Current Members

Silk Spectre II, Nite-Owl II, Captain Metropolis II, Silhouette II, Dollar Bill II, Hooded Justice II, Mothman II, Rorschach II

### Former Members

The Comedian, Silk Spectre I, Nite-Owl I, Hooded Justice I, Captain Metropolis, Silhouette, Mothman, Dollar Bill

## Overview

The Minutemen are a team of World War 2 era heroes. A new team emerged later.

### History

In 1938 a masked vigilante known as Hooded Justice stopped a gang who attempted to rob and abuse a couple. This event inspired others to become costumed heroes.

Nelson Gardner had been contracted to advise the New York City Police Department on urban warfare strategies when he became aware of the actions of Hooded Justice. After Nelson convinced the politicians to give these sorts of masked vigilantes a chance, Nelson decided to become a masked vigilante himself, adopting the guise of Captain Metropolis. This was originally meant as a way to oversee this movement and shape it to suit his needs.

Using the skills he acquired in the military, he meticulously shaped his Captain Metropolis persona and attempted to eradicate organized crime in urban areas. He purchased an old malting factory from the Canadian government, who were happy to unload it from their books. He turned it into his secret headquarters, finding the company's logo, "C.M." (originally intended as Canadian Malt) and adopted it as his own. Once he had made a few public appearances, stopped a couple crimes, and finished renovating his lair, Nelson decided to form a team of crimefighters for the publicity boost.

Nelson, realizing that sex sells, wrote a letter to Larry Schexnayder, a talent agent representing Sally Jupiter, informing him that he devised codes, passwords, and strategic exercises for the "The New Minute Men of America" and asked for his cooperation. He signed as "Captain Metropolis" and left the name of "Nelson Gardner" as his representative. He also worked diligently to secure the mysterious Silhouette's placement on his team. Once Gardner collaborated with Larry on forming the superhero team (by putting an advertisement in the New York Gazette that asked all other masked adventurers to step forward), the Minutemen were born: consisting of Silk Spectre, Silhouette, Nite-Owl, The Comedian, Mothman, and Dollar Bill.

The group formed in 1939 after the outbreak of the Second World War. But Captain Metropolis was not ready to take the Minutemen public yet. He needed Hooded Justice and he worked diligently to find that vigilante and recruit him to the team. Once Hooded Justice, the masked vigilante who had started the movement, was recruited Nelson felt secured in his decision and he introduced the Minutemen to the press as their "fearless leader".

In 1940 the group had a photoshoot to commemorate the one year anniversary of the founding. After this photoshoot, Edward Blake came on to Sally Jupiter and then tried to rape her. Hooded Justice interrupted the assault and savagely attacked Blake. After this Blake was quietly expelled at Sally's insistence from the team (Laurence Schexnayder persuaded her not to press charges for fear of what it would do to the group's image).

One team member - Silhouette - was expelled in 1946 after she was outed as a lesbian by the media. She was later killed by a minor foe called the Liquidator.

The Minutemen stopped Japanese saboteurs from destroying the Statue of Liberty.

The group disbanded in 1949.

The group was forced to testify in the House of Unamerican Activities hearings.

A new, modern team was formed many years later.

## Trivia and Notes

### Trivia

* Ursula Zandt was voted out 4 to 2. Silk Spectre, Captain Metropolis, Hooded Justice, and Dollar Bill voted for Ursula's removal while Mothman and Nite-Owl voted against.
* They are considered the "first generation of costumed vigilantes", operating in the 1940s.

### Notes

* The team comes from the *Watchmen* comic.
* History of the organization and its members are nods to *Before Watchmen: Minutemen*.

## Links and References

* Appearances of the Minutemen
* Team Gallery: Minutemen
* Membership of the Minutemen

1. ↑ NFX: Nelson Gardner
2. ↑ Deluxe Oracle File: Eddie Blake
3. ↑ NFX: Byron Lewis
4. ↑ Earth-27's Alternate History and Ongoing Mystery
5. ↑ NFX: Ursula Zandt