Caius has a woman in his life, Miss Tillbury, and she is tough on him. She insults him with her opinion that he lacks manhood. “If I were a man, I’d get that state witness back, to give crime a black eye!” He says he understands but then exclaims, “You don’t think Caius Martius Wheeler is a man!” Ouch! But he knows something she doesn’t, that he is the Dart, a costumed hero who is more than capable of taking care of the Black Spot Gang, but to do that he brings along his young sidekick, Ace the Amazing Boy.
The Grand Comics Database doesn’t list a writer or artist, but it is not the pseudonymous Jerry Arbo from the splash panel. The Dart was created by Louis Cazeneuve, an early comic book artist, according to the Public Domain Super Heroes website. They also tell us the Dart appeared in Fox Features’ Weird Comics numbers 5-20.
This story is from Weird Comics #7 (1940).
Ms Til[l]bury represents quite an extreme when it comes to unappreciative love interests. She doesn't just fantasize about the alter ego or get annoyed at an apparent display of ineptitude or of cowardice; she expects a history teacher to dash out and deal with the specific crime about which she reads in the paper.
ReplyDeleteThe boy sidekick is somewhat interesting, in that he doesn't seem to be much more than an ordinary kid, put in a costume. In lieu of peculiar abilities, he just comes-up behind the villains with a baseball bat.
Caius Martius Wheeler looks a lot like a certain mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper.
ReplyDeleteDaniel, I am still suspicious of heroes with underage partners like Ace, who, as you mention, seems to be an ordinary kid without abilities. What is going on that we are not seeing? As a youngster I would have been proud to have been chosen by a hero to be his partner, but as my adult imagination has been sullied by the criminal misbehavior of many men toward boys I am glad no one singled me out for such an honor. In the days these comics were being created and published maybe no one paid much attention, since man-boy relationships, especially illicit relationships, were not discussed. I can't help but wonder what some of the creators of such teams had in mind.
ReplyDeleteScott, yes, he does! Remember that Victor Fox, publisher of this comic, hired the Eisner-Iger shop to produce a character that was a close copy of Superman, and was sued for it. So, he wasn't above that sort of plagiarism.
ReplyDeleteIn panel 6 of the last page we see Caius Martius Wheeler declare that "There's no excitement in the world...at present. Not like ancient Rome." Wasn't there a little ruckus called World War II going on at the time this story was published? How much excitement does this guy want?
ReplyDeleteSidekicks usually went by names like Robin the Boy Wonder or Roy the Super Boy.
Ace the Bat Boy would seem appropriate for this character.