Whatever Happened to? The Boy Buddies?

One of the greatest mysteries on Earth-MLJ, home of the Mighty Crusaders, is what became of the Boy Buddies. Who were they? The Dynamic Duo of Dusty the Boy Detective and Roy the original Super-Boy, who themselves were the teenage sidekicks of two of their world's greatest heroes, the Shield and the Wizard respectively. Each was an orphan, who were taken under the protective care of Joe Higgins and Blane Whitney, inventive individuals that devised techniques granting them invulnerability and other powers beyond those of mortal men. And so, Dustin Simmons and Roy Rossman followed their mentors' example both side-by-side with their foster dads and together with one another, becoming life long best buddies.

 

Still, when a new wave of heroes debuted decades after World War II when these titanic teenaged played the part of mystery men, both Dusty and Roy were missing. For Roy, it was simply due to the Wizard's turn to villainy, or at least one who had usurped his identity when Whitney vanished from the public eye for a time. Meanwhile, the loss of the Shield to the malevolent machinations of the Eraser... transforming the costumed crusader into an immobile statue for several years... caused Dusty to leave behind his colorful costume and assume a different crime crusading role. Although the Shield would one day be revived by his own fleshly son, who for a time assumed his mantle, Dusty remained a missing person until he finally revealed himself as the head of MLJ, the Military Logistics and Jurisdiction Bureau, which monitored meta-human activities and provided the needed support for the Mighty Crusaders in their greatest hour of need. At  least, up until that point!

 

So when, after a decade of peace had been usurped by the reemergence of the Brain Emperor who seemingly eliminated the Crusaders, the heroic team's offspring remained behind. Saved by the Shield who adopted the six young lads and ladies, Dusty and Roy latter reappeared to lend support to the aspiring teen team in the making who would become... the New Crusaders!

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While on Earth-Four, Tiger would assume a mentor role similar to that of Dusty, only several years early... which led to the creation of the heroine known as Nightshade! Alas, Tiger's path would eventually lead to a darker place, consumed by jealously over never attaining the citizenship of his foster father Judomaster's home company, and so becoming a supervillain himself for a time!.