Boy Comics 3 3

[frozentundraguy]

I think the writing from Charles Biro is top notch in the Crimebuster strip, particularly from around #31-60 or so. The early issues for me aren't as interesting, as it's kind of more generic superhero stuff until Iron Jaw is killed off in #15 (spoilers!). After that point, though, Biro seems to slowly gain momentum as he turns the strip into a true crime series that happens to have a teenage "superhero" as the main character. By around #31, Crimebuster is in many cases almost more of a narrator than an actual player in the stories, and these are some great issues.

 

Once Iron Jaw comes back from the dead, things go downhill again for me, with the nadir being the issues where Crimebuster loses the cover spot to Iron Jaw and Sniffer, one of the most boring and unfunny strips I think I have ever read. Luckily, Crimebuster still managed to hang on long enough to finally return to prominence for the boy's adventure stuff in the early to mid 1950's; though these are a far cry from the hard boiled crime stories in the #31-60 range, the last dozen issues of the strip have their own charm in a Hardy boys kind of way.

 

I also want to mention that the art in many of these stories is very, very solid, with strong draftsmanship and storytelling; there's rarely anything flashy or eye-catching, but the artists, particularly Norman Maurer and later Joe Kubert, really know what they are doing.

 

 

 

Apparently Stan Lee also thought quite highly of Charles Biro. Per the article in CBM #102, Stan would sometimes call Mr. Biro and ask him what's the secret for high comic book sales each month.

 

Comic Book Marketplace issue 102 has pages 33 through 61 devoted to Crime Does Not Pay, Boy Comics, Daredevil, and Silver Streak comics, plus quite

an extensive section on both Lev Gleason and Charles Biro.

 

 

[vaillant]

Must be a very interesting issue. Is it all in black and white?

[frozentundraguy]

Must be a very interesting issue. Is it all in black and white?

 

Interesting that you should ask that. Only two Boy Comics are in color in the magazine, but nearly every other cover related to Gleason & Biro is in color. From page 49 to the end of the articles on Gleason and Biro, every cover and reprinted page is in black and white.

Edited August 28, 2012 by frozentundraguy

[vaillant]

I just asked because I recalled The Comic Book Marketplace was all in B/W when I used to buy it (early 1990s). Very nice they turned to color. I have to look for this issue.

[frozentundraguy]

I have a few of the later issues of Boy Comics. This splash page is from issue #87.

 

 

 

 

[Moondog]

DAFUQ?

 

Never seen that cover before. Even in the 40's I didn't think it was funny to smack down on the cripples.

 

 

 

Well, with most of the major league baseball players fighting overseas, pushing cripples in front of trains was one of the only sports the people on the home front really had left.

 

Seriously, though, while I certainly support the handicapped community, I don't think pushing a double amputee in front of a train is necessarily worse than, say, feeding a live woman to caged rats:

 

Actually the amputee is fleeing. He's the bad guy in the story.

 

Hmm. I don't think so, though there are two amputees in this story, so it's a little hard to say. But since the first amputee gets shoved in front of a train at the beginning of the story, I assumed that was the scene being depicted on the cover. The second amputee is the guy that dies by being tossed around the room like a football.

 

Or maybe this is just a third hard luck amputee!

 

I think you're right. I never thought the cover depicted this as a murder. I always looked at it as the amputee is trying to escape or he's committing suicide. But now see your interpretation makes more sense.

Edited August 31, 2012 by Moondog

[Straw-Man]

yeah, if he was the bad guy he wouldn't have a leg to stand on in court.

[vaillant]

@Moondog: I agree the drawing is a little ambiguous, but if you look with attention the two crooks are pushing the amputee on the rail tracks. Ugh!

[frozentundraguy]

Girls in red dresses seem to have been a theme on at least a few of these covers.

 

[Moondog]

@Moondog: I agree the drawing is a little ambiguous, but if you look with attention the two crooks are pushing the amputee on the rail tracks. Ugh!

 

Well, that's the source of my confusion. I don't see anyone pushing the amputee. I actually thought the guy was trying to stop him.

[Moondog]

yeah, if he was the bad guy he wouldn't have a leg to stand on in court.

 

!

 

I knew that was coming sooner or later.

[Crimebuster]

Chalk this up to Biro just not being a very strong draftsman. The guy "pushing" him actually looks more like he's bowling the guy or maybe pitching him underhand like a softball. Which, judging by how the bad guy dies in this story, might very well be the case.

[Crimebuster]

Girls in red dresses seem to have been a theme on at least a few of these covers.

 

 

One of my favorite covers of the run! of course, most of the covers after #31 or so are pretty boring, so there's not a ton of competition. But as far as the later series goes, this is one of the best.

 

Those red dresses do really pop:

 

[vaillant]

Chalk this up to Biro just not being a very strong draftsman. The guy "pushing" him actually looks more like he's bowling the guy or maybe pitching him underhand like a softball. Which, judging by how the bad guy dies in this story, might very well be the case.

 

Nonetheless you agree that somewhat the two crooks are hurling the guy on the train tracks, right?

I think Biro knew how to represent a scene. He’s somewhat inconsistent, but when needed he knows how to illustrate clearly, and with impact, the various scenes.

I’m more of the opinion that he kept the poses unusual to give the cover a sense of "unreality" if you see what I mean…

[Crimebuster]

A couple of Boy Comics questions for those who might know:

 

a) Does anyone know if Allen Bellman ever worked on Boy Comics or the Crimebuster strip specifically? The new Alter Ego has an interview with him where he mentions working for Biro and Gleason, but it doesn't mention what titles he was on. I've looked around the internet and apparently he worked on Boy Meets Girl and a couple others, but I haven't found any mention of Boy Comics; it's not listed on Bellman's official website. But he also says he doesn't remember everything and some of the listings on his site were provided by readers and collectors who are filling in the gaps, so I thought there might be a chance. If he did work on the Crimebuster strip, I am thinking about commissioning something but I'm not sure he worked on it.

 

b) If anybody has a copy of Boy Comics #11, can you tell me what the centerfold looks like? Specifically, my copy has only one half of the centerfold, with the other page missing. But it appears to be production related, like they just stapled in half a wrap. I've been told this was not uncommon at the time period, but I haven't been able to verify if Boy Comics #11 did this or if my copy is just missing a page that someone really, really carefully cut out with a razor or something.

 

Thanks. (thumbs u

[Timely]

A couple of Boy Comics questions for those who might know:

 

a) Does anyone know if Allen Bellman ever worked on Boy Comics or the Crimebuster strip specifically? The new Alter Ego has an interview with him where he mentions working for Biro and Gleason, but it doesn't mention what titles he was on. I've looked around the internet and apparently he worked on Boy Meets Girl and a couple others, but I haven't found any mention of Boy Comics; it's not listed on Bellman's official website. But he also says he doesn't remember everything and some of the listings on his site were provided by readers and collectors who are filling in the gaps, so I thought there might be a chance. If he did work on the Crimebuster strip, I am thinking about commissioning something but I'm not sure he worked on it.

 

b) If anybody has a copy of Boy Comics #11, can you tell me what the centerfold looks like? Specifically, my copy has only one half of the centerfold, with the other page missing. But it appears to be production related, like they just stapled in half a wrap. I've been told this was not uncommon at the time period, but I haven't been able to verify if Boy Comics #11 did this or if my copy is just missing a page that someone really, really carefully cut out with a razor or something.

 

Thanks. (thumbs u

 

It's best just to do a page count. If 1 page was cut out, there will be an odd number of pages. There should always be an even amount of pages.

 

Not counting the cover, how many page leafs are to the left of the staples and how many page leafs are to the right of the staples?

[rjpb]

A couple of Boy Comics questions for those who might know:

 

a) Does anyone know if Allen Bellman ever worked on Boy Comics or the Crimebuster strip specifically? The new Alter Ego has an interview with him where he mentions working for Biro and Gleason, but it doesn't mention what titles he was on. I've looked around the internet and apparently he worked on Boy Meets Girl and a couple others, but I haven't found any mention of Boy Comics; it's not listed on Bellman's official website. But he also says he doesn't remember everything and some of the listings on his site were provided by readers and collectors who are filling in the gaps, so I thought there might be a chance. If he did work on the Crimebuster strip, I am thinking about commissioning something but I'm not sure he worked on it.

 

b) If anybody has a copy of Boy Comics #11, can you tell me what the centerfold looks like? Specifically, my copy has only one half of the centerfold, with the other page missing. But it appears to be production related, like they just stapled in half a wrap. I've been told this was not uncommon at the time period, but I haven't been able to verify if Boy Comics #11 did this or if my copy is just missing a page that someone really, really carefully cut out with a razor or something.

 

Thanks. (thumbs u

 

It's best just to do a page count. If 1 page was cut out, there will be an odd number of pages. There should always be an even amount of pages.

 

Not counting the cover, how many page leafs are to the left of the staples and how many page leafs are to the right of the staples?

 

According to GCD there should be 60 pages ( or 30 leaves) between the covers.

 

Should be easy enough to count. My guess is if both text pages are there along with the splash for "Boy Comics Hero of the Month" then the book is probably complete.

[Crimebuster]

It looks as though my copy is missing the text story. The splash for "Hero of the Month" is there but the page facing it in the centerfold has apparently been very carefully cut out.

 

I thought this was likely the case, but I have been told by a few Golden Age collectors that some GA books were produced like this, with only a half wrap, due to paper shortages, so I wasn't sure. But there's no text story there and the page count does appear to be off by one leaf - 58 and 29 instead of 60 and 30.

 

Thanks (thumbs u

[rjpb]

Ah well, if you are going to be missing pages, one could do worse than the text piece.

[Crimebuster]

Yeah, it's not a big deal. I bought it knowing there was a page missing. But when I mentioned the missing page to a few people they suggested it might be made that way, so I got excited briefly at the thought that I might have a complete copy after all.

 

But hell, I never read the text stories anyway.