Erik Larsen's The Next Issue Project & Savage Dragon

Check out several images of him (including his FIRST appearance) on shirts, messenger bags, mousepads, mugs & other kool kollectibles by clicking here or on the cover!

Described as "the oldest and best comic character" on the cover of Crack Comics #17, he predates The BatMan and all the other "mystery men" as the FIRST masked hero created for comic books, appearing in 1936, two years BEFORE Superman or The BatMan!
Check out several images of him on shirts, messenger bags, mousepads, mugs & other kool kollectibles by clicking here or on the cover!

Silver Streak Comics was unique in two respects;
1) It wasn't named after it's lead character, like Flash Comics or Blue Bolt Comics.
(In fact, the hero known as The Silver Streak didn't even come along until issue #3, and then he was just a backup strip!)
2) The lead character was a villain!
And what a villain he was!
The Claw was the first great villain of the Golden Age!
He was a, literally, inhuman scientific genius with powers of size-changing, hypnotism, and numerous other abilities depending on the needs of the story! (In the Golden Age, these things tended to be a little...well...loose.)
In his first few appearances he was barely defeated by various international secret agents who would stumble upon his various operations, but The Claw himself would always escape to plot again!
While the foul fiend dominated the front of the book, several heroes made their debuts in backup features in the first few issues, among them a mute fellow in a weird half-yellow / half-blue costume who used a boomerang!
His name was DareDevil, and he would not only finally defeat The Claw, but steal the lead slot away from him!
But that's a story for another time...

Choose from several designs on shirts, messenger bags, mousepads, mugs & other kool kollectibles by clicking here or on the cover!

The comic book was named after the publisher's automobile...a Pontiac "Silver Streak". (Good thing he didn't drive a DeSoto!)
Why does the hero wear red-and-yellow when his name is "Silver Streak"?
Because the "grey" color used to show "silver" in Golden Age comics was considered too drab for a lead character!
(Thankfully, by the Silver Age, "silver" tended to be shown as white with light blue highlights. Otherwise the Silver Surfer might have looked really dull!)
Note: the logo on the first few issues of Silver Streak was printed with metallic silver ink!
He first appeared on the inside of Silver Streak Comics #3 (and in little vignettes on the covers of #3 & #4), but didn't make the main cover until #5.
Curiously, his uniform on the first cover was colored differently than the red-and-gold he's usually seen wearing. (But then, the SCARLET Witch was GREEN in her first couple of X-Men cover appearances!)
NEWS: Besides being a supporting character in Project SuperPowers, Silver Streak will also be appearing in Erik Larsen's Next Issue Project #2: Silver Streak Comics #24, and Savage Dragon #141!
Choose from several designs (including his FIRST appearance) on shirts, messenger bags, mousepads, mugs & other kool kollectibles by clicking here or on the cover!

Created in Silver Streak Comics #6 by writer / artist Jack Binder, brother of noted pulp sci-fi writers Otto & Earl Binder, DareDevil was Bart Hill, rendered speechless as a boy when he witnessed the murder of his father!
The silent lad learned how to use a boomerang, and, when he became an adult, adopted a costume in order to avenge himself against evil in it's various forms. Not a bad origin tale, overall.

Jack Cole, who later would create Plastic Man, took over the strip in the next issue, tossing out everything except the boomerang and the name Bart Hill, creating the first comic book retcon!
He also modified the costume, making the yellow sections bright red.

Cole then decided that his revamped hero would make the perfect ongoing counterpoint to The Claw (Silver Streak Comic's ongoing villain), so as of #7, he pitted the two against each other in an ongoing battle that lasted five issues, which ended with The Claw finally being captured!
At that point, DareDevil was given his own title, DareDevil Comics, with the greatest real-life villain of all as his first opponent--Adolf Hitler!
With the aid of other heroes, including The Silver Streak, DD managed to stalemate Der Fuehrer.

Cole went on to other projects, and writer / artist Charles Biro took over the strip.
Biro gave Bart an entirely new origin, having the orphaned kid raised by Australian Aborigines and trained by them to use boomerangs!
Bart Hill settled down to a typical life of an acrobatic superhero whose new secret identity of a policeman enabled him to serve the law by day, and justice by night...until the Little Wise Guys came along in #13!

Jocko, Peewee, Scarecrow, and Meatball were a kid gang whom Officer Hill encountered while on patrol.
Sensing they were inherently good kids gone wrong, he took them under his wing, guiding them into more socially-acceptable activities, like spying on saboteurs.
It was like having a whole team of Robins or Buckys (sans costumes) to help in his ongoing war against evil!
During one of their adventures against a rival gang, Meatball was killed.
A rival gang member, Curly, feeing guilty about Meatball's demise (though he didn't cause it) reformed, and joined the Little Wise Guys.

The kids gradually took over the book as DareDevil went from lead hero to mentor / advisor to occasional guest-star, disappearing altogether as of #80.
DareDevil Comics continued until #134 in September 1954.
Ironically, it was the same month Showcase #4, featuring a revamped version of Golden Age hero The Flash started the Silver Age of Comics!
Talk about "missed it by that much!"

Since Marvel Comics has a trademark on "Daredevil", the Golden-Age character now has different names in his various appearances. (When AC Comics revived the character, they called him RedDevil, although his costume is half-blue!)
It's similar to the situation when Marvel trademarked the disused name "Captain Marvel" for Kree captain Mar-Vell (and several other characters since). When DC Comics revived the Golden Age Captain Marvel, the book had to be titled SHAZAM! although the character was still called "Captain Marvel" inside.
So they COULD call him "DareDevil" on the inside, just not on the cover. (And any licensed products would have to use the "Death-Defying 'Devil" name.)

Choose from several designs (including his FIRST cover appearance) on shirts, messenger bags, mousepads, mugs & other kool kollectibles by clicking here or on the cover!

He's one of the few characters revived by both Alex Ross in Project SuperPowers and Erik Larsen in Savage Dragon!! NOTE: Larsen is calling him "Dynamic DareDevil" to differentiate from the other revived versions!

His FIRST cover appearance!
His FIRST Issue (with Adolf Hitler!)!
The FIRST Little Wise Guys!
The FINAL Fate of the Claw!
PLUS: the Splash Page to Dare Devil Comics #1!
Click HERE or on the cover to see all 12 designs!

Check out several images of him (both from Silver Streak Comics and his own title) on shirts, messenger bags, mousepads, mugs & other kool kollectibles by clicking here or on the cover!

Check out several images of him (including his FIRST appearance) on shirts, messenger bags, mousepads, mugs & other kool kollectibles by clicking here or on the cover!

Check out several images of them (including their FIRST appearance) on shirts, messenger bags, mousepads, mugs & other kool kollectibles by clicking here or on the cover!

Twelve titanic Terror covers from Exciting Comics and his own title!
Click HERE or on the cover to see all 12 designs!

Check out several images of him (including his FIRST appearance) on shirts, messenger bags, mousepads, mugs & other kool kollectibles by clicking here or on the cover!

Check out several images of him (including his FIRST appearance) on shirts, messenger bags, mousepads, mugs & other kool kollectibles by clicking here or on the cover!

Check him out on shirts, messenger bags, mousepads, mugs & other kool kollectibles by clicking here or on the cover for the "Solo Heroes & Villains" section!