Fightin' Five #40
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeFightin' Five #40 is the birth certificate of Peacemaker — Christopher Smith, the pacifist diplomat who suits up in a dove-emblazoned helmet and fights for peace by any means necessary — making it one of the most consequential Silver Age Charlton issues in terms of long-term influence. The character's philosophical paradox (a peace-lover who wages war) proved resonant enough that when DC acquired the Charlton library in 1983, Peacemaker was folded directly into DC continuity; more significantly, Alan Moore drew on him as the primary template for the Comedian when devising Watchmen, one of the most studied works in the history of the medium. The debut's impact thus reverberates far beyond Charlton's print run: without this backup story, the Comedian — and arguably the entire moral architecture of Watchmen — takes a different shape. The issue also marks a pivotal structural moment for the Fightin' Five series itself, as the new backup feature proved so compelling that the title effectively handed its own masthead to the newcomer within two issues.
Hank Hennessey has been turned by the villainous organization D.E.A.T.H. (Dedicated Enemies of And Traitors to Humanity) and fights against his former Fightin' Five teammates. Lady Dawn and the D.E.A.T.H. agents plot to steal nuclear submarine plans and designs from a London boatyard, with the submarines to be transported via the East River in New York Harbor. The Fightin' Five must infiltrate D.E.A.T.H.'s operation, navigate a submarine, and stop the theft of the submarine plans while dealing with their traitorous former comrade.
When Hank Hennessy and the rest of the Fightin' Five arrive on Cape Cod for some well-deserved rest, they're intercepted by the mysterious Lady Dawn—leader of D.E.A.T.H., a criminal organization of wealthy, vengeful masterminds. Using a toxin-tipped weapon, Lady Dawn renders Hennessy helpless and forces him to join her sinister crew, leaving Irv "the Nerve" Haganah, Granite Gallero, Frenchy the Fox, and Tom-Tom to face an impossible situation. Now under D.E.A.T.H.'s control, Hennessy becomes a weapon against his own team as the agents prepare their most dangerous operation yet.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The issue was written by prolific Charlton workhorse Joe Gill — whose output at the Derby, Connecticut publisher was staggering — with the lead Fightin' Five story illustrated by Bill Montes and Ernie Bache, and the Peacemaker backup both written by Gill and drawn by Pat Boyette, a San Antonio-based artist and former TV news director who brought a distinctive, textured linework to the character. The cover was produced by Montes and Rocco 'Rocke' Mastroserio, and Pat Masulli served as editor. Charlton published the issue on a bi-monthly schedule under Comics Code Authority approval, with a cover price of twelve cents; the series itself had been running since 1964 by continuing the numbering of Charlton's earlier Space War anthology, which is why it opens at issue #28 rather than #1.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance and origin of Peacemaker (Christopher Smith), created by writer Joe Gill and artist Pat Boyette, published as a backup story in November 1966.
- Peacemaker's civilian identity is Christopher Smith, depicted as a pacifist diplomat and envoy to the Geneva Arms Conference who constructs an armory at his Swiss chalet, the 'Peace Palace,' and ultimately resolves to use violence to enforce peace.
- The lead story, 'The Agents of D.E.A.T.H.,' features the Fightin' Five team — Hank Hennessy, Irv 'the Nerve' Haganah, Granite Gallero, Frenchy the Fox, and Tom-Tom — battling a terrorist organization; cover and interior art on that story is by Bill Montes and Ernie Bache, with Rocke Mastroserio co-credited on the cover.
- Peacemaker's debut was popular enough that after just one more issue (#41), the Fightin' Five series was cancelled and the Fightin' Five were demoted to backup status in Peacemaker's own solo title, which launched in early 1967 and ran for five issues.
- DC Comics acquired Peacemaker (along with Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, the Question, and other Charlton 'Action Hero' characters) from Charlton in 1983, and the character was subsequently introduced into DC continuity during Crisis on Infinite Earths.
- Peacemaker served as the direct creative prototype for the Comedian in Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons's Watchmen (1986); Moore's original pitch was reportedly even titled 'Who Killed the Peacemaker?' before DC asked him to use original characters instead of the newly acquired Charlton heroes.
- The Peacemaker backup from this issue has been reprinted multiple times, including in Gwandanaland Comics' Peacemaker Readers Collection, a Pat Boyette Treasury (2019), and DC Finest: Peacemaker: Kill for Peace (DC, June 2025).
- The Fightin' Five series itself continued the numbering from Charlton's Space War anthology (hence starting at #28 in 1964), ran through #41 in January 1967, and was later partially reprinted by Charlton in issues #42–49 (1981–1982).
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Reprints
Reprinted in Gwandanaland Comics #2297 (2019), DC Finest: Peacemaker: Kill for Peace #[nn] (2025), Gwandanaland Comics #1678-A, Gwandanaland Comics #408-A
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