Jimmy Woo

This profile is the first in a series, since Mr. Woo’s adventures are still published to this day. It is followed by Jimmy Woo, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., then Jimmy Woo, Agent of Atlas.

Note that this first profile does not uses additional information and retcons  from later appearances, with the exception of some data from Files of Nick Fury – Secret War. Each profile in the series only covers that version of Jimmy.

Advertisement

Background

Powers and Abilities

Agent Woo is the traditional two-fisted, heat-packing, hard-detecting G-man of the 1940s and 1950s. He’s sharp, very courageous, persuasive and an excellent fighter.

He has repeatedly demonstrated the ability to take on four or even five trained and experienced men unarmed. He also seems to have some form of military training – perhaps he served in Korea.

Jimmy always knows about the latest developments in scientific research. At the very least he’s an attentive reader of popular science magazines. In the 1950s, the hero is always knowledgeable about science.

Advertisement

Hail to the G

Woo supposedly works for the FBI. Yet he is routinely sent on missions that have very little to do with the Bureau’s responsibilities, such as investigating seismic disturbances on uncharted islands deep in the Pacific.

It is thus possible that he was transferred to an inter-agencies task force working on the Yellow Claw case, then transferred back when the Claw vanished. His Connection with US intelligence agencies in our game stats is based on this hypothesis. If it existed it probably only lasted from 1956 to 1958/59.

History

Jimmy Woo’s youth wasn’t depicted. It is possible that he was born in the US of Chinese parents, perhaps traditionalists who fled China during the overthrown of the Qing dynasty  and the warlords years that ensued. But this is just a guess.

As his adventures begin he’s a crack FBI agent. He graduated valedictorian at the Academy and seems to be 25 or so. Neither his youth nor his ethnicity seem to bother anyone – which is remarkable in the 1950s.

In 1956, the Director of the Bureau informs Agent Woo that the Red Chinese made a Fu Manchu-like figure, known as the Yellow Claw, their main agent. The Claw’s goal is to destabilise the US and thus facilitate an invasion of Taiwan. The Claw is thought to already be in the US, presumably in the San Francisco Chinatown.

(For a scholarly — but short — history of the “Yellow Peril” in genre stories, see Jess Nevins’ blog article ).

Su Wan

Woo having contacts in the area, he’s assigned to the case. The ace agent soon locates the Claw and his Nazi ally, former death camp commandant Fritz Voltzmann.

This investigation also leads Jimmy to encounter the Claw’s grand-niece, Su Wan. The lass openly objects to the mastermind’s horrible schemes. The two youths instantly develop a strong but unspoken attraction. During the following years Su Wan would often convey inside information to Jimmy, or even help him escape from death traps set by the Yellow Claw.

Being Su Wan’s guardian, the Yellow Claw never harmed her or even detained her over this. Her welfare was his responsibility. However decades later, Su Wan noted that he did use hypnosis against her when her opposition to his plans was too overt.

The Claw took his familial duties so seriously that he did not want to kill Agent Woo. He realised that his grand-niece was in love with him and did not want to break her heart. He thus preferred deathtraps in which the G-Man would have a fighting chance.

Further complicating the situation, Jimmy Woo’s patriotic duty sometimes forced him to abuse Su Wan’s trust to arrest the Claw. However she understood his obligations and seemingly never resented Jimmy for long over these incidents.

The Devil Doctor

The stories about the Yellow Claw were short and formulaic, as was the style of the day. They included little plot or character development. Woo’s exploits against his fiendish nemesis include:

• Convincing a hardcase American prisoner, whom the Claw had busted out of prison to become his agent, not to betray his country in service of the mastermind.
• Helping disperse a group of six powerful psychic mutants, whom the Claw coerced into randomly warping reality all around the US.
• Narrowly preventing the Claw and his ally from kidnapping two key American ambassadors.
• Nearly arresting the Claw but getting captured and dropped into a rushing underground stream while trapped in a transparent plastic bubble.
• Helping wreck a plan, somewhere in Asia, which revolved around a “giant god” called Temujai (actually a robot).
• Discovering that the Claw employed half a fire team of miniaturised, one-inch-tall soldiers as assassins. Woo got himself shrunk so as to single-handedly capture them.
• Helping convince the alien Ufo, who had been duped into becoming an ally of the Claw, that he had been lied to.
• Discovering that the recently-captured Yellow Claw was actually a sophisticated robot with a nuclear bomb in its torso, and disposing of it in time.

• Stopping the Claw from using a mysterious snow which could be turned into clouds of sleeping gas. That came after the villain’s first attempt was thwarted through sheer luck by the military.
• Being a stowaway on a flying sphere made of living shadow people fetched from another universe by the Claw to bust his grand-niece free from the Federal prison holding her.
• Turning intelligent mutant seagulls hired by the Claw against their employer.
• Convincing master hypnotist “Sleepy Eyes” to double-cross his employer the Claw to foil a scheme that turned an entire town into sleepwalkers via TV-relayed hypnosis.
• Surviving being ambushed in his own apartment by a mentally-created lion.
• Rescuing the powerful mentalist whom the Claw had convinced to dream up and create a small army of invincible soldiers.
• … and presumably other cases.

Though Agent Woo kept thwarting the Claw in the nick of time, he apparently never stopped him for long.

Swingin’ sixties here he comes

Circa 1960 the Claw vanished from the scene. The FBI reassigned star agent Jimmy Woo to other cases. It would seem that he met with Captain America during one such unchronicled investigation.

In 1967, Captain America consulted Woo about a case he and Nick Fury had handled two years prior. After Cap and Fury finished explaining the encounter, Woo drew the correct conclusion. Only the Yellow Claw could be behind such a weird and formidable plan.

This is how Mr. Woo became acquainted with Mr. Fury, who would soon play an important role in his life.

Description

During the 1950s Woo is a chain smoker, as was common back then. He is rarely seen without a cigarette.

His skin tone has been through many odd changes over the decades. It went from that weird pale yellow often used for Asian characters in 1940s comic books and anti-Japanese propaganda, to the same skin tone used for Caucasian characters.

Personality

Not really. The only thing distinguishing Jimmy Woo from the archetypal 1950s two-fisted, sharp-eyed G-Man is the colour of his skin. And that is simply *never* mentioned or even alluded to during the course of Yellow Claw.

He’s thus a very serious, sharp, utterly dedicated and professional agent, always ready to serve and protect the United States of America.

Quotes

“I’m sorry, Su Wan ! I had my duty to perform !”

“That’s professor Knute Lindstrom, the world-famous chemist ! He’s been missing for months !”

“This is all I’ll need, sir ! I’m ready !”

“I’ve got a theory of my own about this whole business ! But you give me the facts, Su Wan !”

“I’m on my way, chief !”

(Struggling underwater with a crocodile) “If only I can subdue the beast with my tie…”

DC Universe History

The likeliest niche is to have him accompany King Faraday during the gap between the original Danger Trail comics and the Showcase features.

By Sébastien Andrivet.

Source of Character: Yellow Claw (1956-1957) and his Marvel Universe appearances.

Helper(s): Gareth Lewis.