Number 2399: “You don’t think Caius Martius Wheeler is a man!”

The Dart is an ancient Roman, a “racket buster” named Caius Martius. He had been trapped by a sorcerer in a block of stone until he worked his way out in this modern era, taking the surname “Wheeler.” He became a teacher. And who better to teach about ancient Rome than a Roman imprisoned by magic in a block for 2000 years?

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).

Number 2124: TNT and Dan the Dyna-Mite give us a charge!

Tex N. Thomas, a teacher, and Dan Dunlop, a student, are a team of superheroes whose powers are brought out by touching their rings together. The feature, which appeared in Star-Spangled Comics from DC, didn’t have a long lifespan, just 17 episodes during the early days of World War II. It's filler. What is interesting to me is the cliché of having a grown man running around with a young (very young) boy. Tex is a teacher, for cryin' out loud. Maybe that sort of relationship didn’t set off alarm bells nearly 80 years ago as it does today. I am not sure if Robin was the first kid sidekick, but I understood the reason for attaching him to Batman (as a “ward” no less) was so kids could identify. Jules Feiffer, in The Great Comic Book Heroes, made a point of saying as a kid how much he hated Robin. Robin was what he, Jules, should be like. The better fantasy for Feiffer was allowing himself to grow to adulthood and become Batman, rather than have to immediately become the young, athletic Robin. And Dr Wertham had something to say about Batman and Robin, also, that he saw the relationship as being kinky.

There is also the element of danger kid sidekicks were subjected to in superhero comics. The idea was common in comic books. I was interested to read what the late Don Markstein had to say of TNT and Dan in his Toonopedia listing for the pair. He mentions that Star-Spangled Comics #23 was the last appearance, and: “TNT and Dan weren't seen again for decades, and even then, underwent only a slight revival. The fact that they got included in the '80s All-Star Squadron scarcely counts, since practically every DC-owned 1940s costumed character did that. Of slightly more significance is that Dan subsequently allied himself with Merry, the Girl of 1,000 Gimmicks, and several other former young superheroes, to form Old Justice — an activist group, devoted to keeping children from being endangered by superhero work, as Dan had allowed himself to be endangered during his own youth.”

This is a tale of Tex and Dan, exposed to danger, in the world of sandhogs, from Star-Spangled Comics #13 (1942), artwork credited to Louis Cazeneuve.

Number 1849: Boy Commandos in Davy Jones’ Locker

Death comes to us all. As the caption on page 3 of “Davy Jones’ Uninvited Guests” reminds us, “The brave, the weak, the rich, the poor — all must go...” Gulp! Thanks for reminding me!

This fantasy comes to us from the Simon and Kirby studio, and features the Boy Commandos. They have survived the war only to succumb to a mine on the International Date Line, and find themselves fighting the souls of dead pirates. Holy Pirates of the Caribbean.

It is from Boy Commandos #14 (1946). The Grand Comics Database attributes the art to Louis Cazeneuve, and the writing to Joe Samachson, both with question marks because the GCD isn’t sure.

It has been a few years since I last showed a Boy Commandos story. Click the thumbnail:

Number 1357: Boyoboy! The Boy Heroes

We’re beginning another theme week, “Boyoboy! Week,” where we’ll see some of the kid gangs of the Golden Age. I’ve got posts featuring Boy Commandos, the Newsboy Legion, and the Little Wise Guys following up today’s posting of a Boy Heroes strip from Harvey Comics' All-New Comics. A group I won’t be showing is Young Allies, because that bunch included Toro and Bucky, two superhero sidekicks. Our kid gangs are strictly from the streets, and while they might be heroes, they aren’t super.

The Boy Heroes were created by Louis Cazeneuve. The group mainly operated in Europe during the war years, making eight appearances in All-New. To begin this adventure in Transylvania they seem confident, boasting as they motor along, “Boy, we sure took care of them dratted Nazis back in Rumania, eh, kids?”

“Sure, we did! Dey’re duck soup!”

But of course the boys soon end up in the soup, and being in Transylvania they are fighting, of all things, a werewolf. I assume the idea behind having young boys behind enemy lines fighting Nazis was to feed into the fantasy of the young readers back home that even those too young to enlist could accomplish heroics during the war. In real life American kids were urged to collect scrap and buy savings stamps to aid in the war effort, but in the comics they could do what they really wanted to do — kick butt!

I’ve shown this story before back in the early days of this blog, but I’ve re-scanned the pages. Art attributed to Louis Cazeneuve, from All-New Comics #10 (1944):