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!.

 

Sidekicks: Possibilities and Potential

When the Boy Wonder debuted in 1940 as the costumed crusader, Robin, he set a new trend that would be replicated with virtually every comicbook company and many major heroes, from then till today. Although a sidekick was always a component in the mystery men mythos, having one so young and eager to dress up like his mentor was revolutionary. And, in fact, MLJ Comics replicated this success by giving two of its premier protectors... the Shield and Wizard... their own teen titans in Dusty and Roy. Not only did these lads work well with their surrogate papas, but also as partners with one another in a short-lived series of their own during that time period.

They were even given prominent nicknames, with Dusty being the Boy Detective and Roy as the Superboy (Dusty's was evident in his solo adventures as a young sleuth, Roy's affectation was not so much evident, considering he couldn't fly like another Superboy who came later). Decades after these two lads disppeared in the mists of time, only to be brought back in a mid-1960s cameo in the Mighty Crusaders as time-lost teens with no explanation where they have been in the intervening years, another would take up the mantle at Charlton Comics.

With the strong series lead of Judomastser, himself also from the same 1940s era as Robin, Dusty and Roy, working solo versus various villains... there was a need for a partner in his never-ending battle. Enter Tiger, who in his short tenure alongside his mentor showed that he too lived up to the examples of is forebearers. And at least his story as an adult, both as Nightshade's tutor and as supervillains even later, had a sense of completion unlike his MLJ peers.

Friday Fiends: Dusty Trails of Mystery

Alas, if only that were true, Dusty. Instead, what became of you all those decades remains a mystery still to be revealed. While your mentor, the Shield, was zapped by a ray by the underworld assassin known as the Eraser and transformed into a statue of iron for over twenty years, the fiend that found you kept you for twice as long. When your partner finally reunited with you in the early twenty-first century, he was now a member of the Mighty Crusaders battling that same foe alongside Pureheart and his super teen pals of Riverdale from a parallel universe. Perhaps it was the same criminal that vanguish both surrogate father and son, given you haven't aged any since the waning days of World War II?

As for Tiger, what became of him depends on what continuity you follow. On Earth-Four, his original plane of existence, he eventually became the mentor of Eve Eden aka the future Nightshade. On that world, at least, he honored his missing partner's legend by training a new generation of hero to take up the call of the costumed crusader.

Sadly, in the reconstituted Earth created following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Tiger was a disgruntled young man unwelcomed in the country of his mentor, Judomaster. While the duo traveled the globe for years, eventually resentment began to develop between the pair causing and irrepairable split leading them from caring colleagues to aggressive adversaries.

Gaining abilities from ancient devices, Tiger became Avatar, vowing to destroy all those that would implement the tools of war on youths such as he was. However, his misguided attempt led to his path towards supervillany instead of heroism he had aspired to in his early years, although it did lead to the drawing together of Charlton's finest for one final teamup together.

Friday Fiends: The Tiger Shows His Teeth

Notable former sidekicks that turn on their mentors, at least temporarily, have grown in this modern age of comics. Previously, a boy hero was loyal to his mentor throughout his career from youth to adulthood. Yet now, such characters as Jason Todd (the former Robin II) and Bucky Barnes (original ward of a certain Steve Rogers) became fueled with a rage spawned in part from living in the shadow of their earlier rolemodel.

Add to the list Tiger, a lad whose career actually started in emnity as he soured on a Rip Dagger until learning that this seemingly cocky caucasian was secretly Judomaster a man more honorable then the Japanese warrior known as Cat, who earlier held sway to the affections of the kid.

Thankfully over at MLJ Mighty, the premier  prepubescent partner, Dusty remained tried-and-true to his guardian, the Shield. Although there is the never explained mysterious decades long disappearence of the Boy Detective, hinted at when the time-lost lad was pulled from the 40's into the 60's during a Mighty Crusaders case. Upon seeing the colorfully clad lad, the Shield's son felt a tinge of guilt when his identity was called into question by the boy despite the second Shield's similar appearance to his legendary father. This was later reinforced by internal monologue of the original crusader, who retruned from decades of suspended animation, pondering on what became of Dusty. If he did not turn to the dark side, did the dark side somehow claim him instead?

Further developments would shed some light into what became of Tiger and Dusty from then until now...

Team-Up Tuesdays: Shield and Dusty vs the Fang! Part Two

And now we conclude the *ahem* epic battle between Team Shield and the Fang. How will our colorful crusader fair against this mammoth menace? Will he get any closer to solving the mystery of his missing superpowers? Let's take a look under the cover...of Pep Comics #29

Okay, that was cheating! Dusty's patented hop-on-the-neck move distracted the Fang long enough to cause the Shield to out maneuver his foe! Well at least the threat was taken care of... for now... but that is not the end of the Fang. Nor of the Shield, who persists in his attempts to restore his phenomenal physique. Will his uber-science finally work? Continue to watch these pages for further golden age exploits of Joe Higgins and Dusty Simmons.

And just to show that Shield's cross-dimensional contemporary didn't have things easy, this bad guy was adept at sneaking up on sidekicks.

Of course, Charlton had a golden age villain names Yellow Fang that bothered that era's Blue Beetle on a couple occasions. But not big like Mountain Storm. In fact, he was Judo-G.I.'s most persistent adversary as he matched muscle for muscle (though not much mental might, having to be directed by Japanese supervisors on how to corner a diminutive foe).

Tiger found himself alongside his mentor with the upper hand against their obese opponent. During his initial trial by fire, he showed that pure grit and determination made up for lack of mass. Something that Storm and Fang would've done well to consider during their campaigns of chaos.

Team-Up Tuesdays: Shield and Dusty vs the Fang! Part One

The Shield had a modestly numbered but colorful rogues gallery, and this week we focus in on one vicious villain... The Fang! An agent from Japan, his impressive physique is more than a match for a fully powered Shield... so what happens when Joe Higgins discovers that his powers are waning? In what was one of the innovative features of MLJ's golden age comics, we see a character arc continuing through several issues whereby Joe must learn how to reacquire his powers.

So sit back on enjoy part one of our featured presentation:

You may remember that Charlton's colorfully clad super-soldier, Judomaster, also had a crisis involving loss of his vision... and hence an inability to fight well. As in the Shield's case, it was up to Rip Dagger's sidekick Tiger to kick start his mentor back onto the road of heroics:

Part two will be posted later today with the stunning conclusion!

The Fox and The Feline Part 1: Animal Avengers

The Canine and the cat or, if you will, the Fox and the feline. Two superior warriors masked from head to toe in clothing that exhibits their bestial natures. Disciplined in the combat styles of the far-East, they bring their own spin on time honed techniques to a western society. One for good, the other for evil. And they are not alone as others orbit their own careers originating during the dark days of World War II.

The Fox first appeared in Blue Ribbon Comics #4, published in 1940. He was photo journalist Paul Patton, who felt that adopting a costumed identity would help his career. He had a modest career, appearing in that comic title until issue #22. His son first appeared in Mighty Crusaders #4 under the title "Too Many Heroes" and then returned the next issue as a member (alongside the Web and Captain Flag) of the Ultra-Men in issue #5. It was in Mighty Comics #49 that we learned of the unmasked life of the second Fox. He was also named Paul Patton (Jr) and was also a photo-journalist and also decided to adopt the Fox alias from dad!

Introduced in this issue were two key figures in the Fox mythos, his arch-enemy the Gasser, and the alluring Delilah Monaco. The former was a gimmick villain with a gang which was all in vogue past in the 60's, while the latter was the love interest of Paul and the scorned object of Fox's affection. Obviously the Fox had some serious issues to work out if he gets hung up on her NOT liking him in costume when she ADORES him as normal old' Paul. More on them tomorrow in Team-Up Tuesdays.

The Cat was an adversary of Judomaster who first appeared in  that hero's 91 issue. He then reappeared (inexplicably, you will note towards the end of this blog posting) in issue #95 alongside fellow Imperial Japanese agents Mountain Storm and Acrobat (with Smiling Skull) thrown in for good measure. This cat didn't care about honor as had his countrymen, only about being top dog. But his bark was far worse than his bite, as you will see below as he faces the Judo G.I. in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming:

 Meanwhile, Judomaster resumed his life in the Pacific theatre after this conflict while training the young lad who would soon become his sidekick Tiger). He had other members of his extended social circle that were of a similar heritage...not temperament....to the Cat. Tomorrow we investigate these two sets of fighting friends and foes of our featured ferals.

Sideline Sundays: Sidekicks Assemble!

When last we considered the colorful crusaders of World War II, the Shield and Judomaster, we briefly touched on their junior sidekicks. Dusty and Tiger had motivated the two senior members of their duets to continue their careers despite some adversities that came along the way. How did these two lads themselves become embroiled in costumed conflicts, and what became of them decades later? Let's briefly review their histories:

As happened surprisingly often in the golden age of comics, a young boy loses his parents due to tragic circumstances, arranged by a criminal, and inevitably run into a superhero! This occurred in Pep Comics #11. And the hero in question was the first patriotic clad hero in comics.

Sweet! Shield quickly stitched up a handy-dandy new costume for his little buddy. In an odd twist, he felt it necessary to saddle the kid with a cape which the Shield himself never bothered to wear. Anyway, in yet another coinkydink, Dusty already had full Olympic-level training in judo and acrobatics. Apparently the physical education program in schools back then was exceptional! Oh, and fear not, the gaudy yellow on red-and-blue suit was quickly swapped out for something more aesthetically pleasing.

Dusty quickly made friends with the Wizard's own sidekick, Roy the Super-Boy (yep that was is name!). Now the Boy Detective could swap notes with a fellow lad taken under the wing of a major hero, in Roy's case the Wizard. They had an eleven issue run in Special/Hangman/Black Hood Comics #1-11. And met the Hangman along the way, at least on covers.

When the Shield's lengthy run of appearances petered out in December 1945, so had Dusty's. He next appeared in Mighty Crusaders #4, in the oft quoted (here) tale "Too Many Super-Heroes", which reintroduced several heroes. Dusty was brought back to the future by Zambini's powers for some unspecified reason (Jerry Siegel's wacky plotting, perhaps).Then...

Bye bye, old chum. The perpetual-pup was zapped back to his own time where, according to the Original Shield #2, he "mysteriously disappeared". The operating theory around here is that he was kidnapped by a master criminal named the Keeper, a foe of Thunder Bunny, who had a propensity to keep just upright nuisances of gangland in suspended animation for decades. Dusty reappeared in Archie's Weird Mysteries #14 in April 2001, unaffected by the ravages of time alongside other World War II mystery men turned Mighty Crusaders who (aside for the Shield) inexplicably retained their youthful vigor. Until anexplanation is provided, we'll take it.

Tiger's first appearance was a bit more...unorthodox. While himself an orphan, he resided in a Japanese internment camp...in Wyoming! Even more bizarre, he was the secret servant of the sword wielding assassin know as the Cat who himself was attempting to cause a revolt within the camp. Cat lived right under the noses of the soldiers, and rather than lock him in solitary confinement the military brass send their star agent, Judomaster, to challenge his Oriental opponent in a definitive duel.

Despite some initial reservation of Judomaster's valor and worthiness, Tiger is soon swayed to the Allied side during these turbulent war years. And as seen in the last panel (originally on a later page), Tiger stowed away on board the plane of Rip Jagger (Judomaster), and ends up donning his costumed! The cat is out of the bag (well actually he was thrown off a cliff, but we digress). What next will become of this curious cub?

In the aforementioned adversity that had struck Rip, a blindness keeping him temporarily disoriented, the General devised as scheme whereby Tiger would assume Judomaster's role as a secret agent with the judo skill set. This motivated Rip to resume his alias, and the two decided to join forces in the last panel  that would give the Japs a one-two-punch.

Judomaster's team of Bushiri, Suzikawa and Tiger continued to assist him on several cases, including the last recorded in Judomaster #89.  The kid quickly earned his street cred using his mind as well as his physical attributes. While his training was extensive he had something more, something intrinsic in his nature that could be harnessed...perhaps..to train others. In fact, he did just that decades later with surprising results...

That lass that a much older Tiger is training is wealthy Senatorial daughter Eve Eden, wishing to train herself with the necessary skills to save her brother from another dimension. She would become Nightshade, and whether or not Tiger later became aware of her own dual identity, he would no doubt have been pleased with the good she accomplished thanks in-part to his own mentoring of her. As would his own mentor.

Two adventurous boys added to the long list of superhero sidekicks, using their wits and abilities, each only standing on the sidelines for a short time before jumping into their own legends.

Colorful Crusaders of World War II

The Shield was introduced in Pep Comics #1 in 1940, while his counterpart was introduced in 1965 yet existing fictionally in the 1940's. One was G-Man Joe Higgins, an aspiring scientist seeking to avenge the death of his father and discovering a process that gave him super-strength and an invulnerable costume. The other was G.I Rip Jagger, an aspiring ninja seeking to avenge his comrades whom he saw die and discovering a secret society of ninjas on a Pacific Island, gaining super-human skills and a special costume. While looking like walking posters for America and Japan, their costumes gained their color scheme due to a special chemical process (in the Shield's case) and the style-sense of the ninja society (in the Judomaster's case). Both picked up kids sidekicks, Dusty and Tiger.

Due to sabotage on the part of an adversary,  Shield lost his powers for the duration of the war yet continued to fight against evil agents from overseas, while Judomaster himself had to struggle to overcome a handicap of his own imposed on him by a foe, blindness. Both persisted in their heroic careers, thanks to proddings from the boys' own courage.

They faced rogues galleries which challenged their physical dexterity.  The Hun, the Strangler and the Fang plagued Shield; while the Smiling Skull, the Acrobat, and Mountain Storm. None matched the heroes in battle!

 

Each also had other assisting them. For Judomaster, it was Sensei, Bushiri, and his beloved Suzikawa. For the Shield, it was the Wizard, Steel Sterling, Hangman, Black Hood, Captain Flag, Sgt Boyle and Shield's wife Ellie.

Both of our red-haired heroes found themselves lost in time during the 40's, arriving in the 1980's to find individuals clad like them. Both obviously had different reactions given how they were reintroduced into the modern age. Each man stands as a paragon of power in comics.