Spy Smasher Lives a Second Life in the Public Domain
Spy Smasher is one of the Fawcett Comics heroes whose Golden Age incarnation is available for public-domain reuse, and several publishers have taken advantage of that.
AC Comics has reprinted original Fawcett Spy Smasher stories in collections of Golden Age material.
Gwandanaland Comics and Retro Comic Reprints have also published large collections of the original public-domain material, including stories from Whiz Comics and Spy Smasher’s own Fawcett title.
Image Comics used Spy Smasher in a cameo in the first issue of its Next Issue Project, which revived obscure Golden Age characters by continuing public domain comic books with new issues.
A more ambitious modern reuse comes from Public Domain Super Heroes, which publishes new Spy Smasher stories. Its version keeps Alan Armstrong as a rogue anti-spy operative but gives him a grim and gritty modern history. The publisher says its version is based only on public-domain material.
DC still uses its own version of Spy Smasher purchased from Fawcett Publications, so public-domain publishers have to avoid copying its changes to the character.