| Creator Charles Biro (1911-1972) |
| Profession Cartoonist, Writer, Penciller, Editor |
| Total Entries 25 |
| Articles Seducers of the Innocent – Crime Boss Charles Biro – Wikipedia American Daredevil: Comics, Communism, and the Battles of Lev Gleason – The Comics Journal |
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Gleason had the good fortune to hire two men whose aptitudes were suited to producing comicbooks— Charlie Biro, who became the editor, chief writer and cover illustrator for the books, and Bob Wood, who also drew and wrote (and who bludgeoned his girlfriend to death in a hotel room in 1958 and consequently went to jail for three years). Biro and Wood worked closely enough together that they invented a byline for their joint endeavors, Woodro. Biro was interested in youth and frequently stopped at playgrounds to talk to whatever boys might be playing ball there. Such conversations persuaded him that boys enjoy hearing about boys, so he arranged for the 1942 launch of Boy Comics… which, starting in the third issue, starred Crimebuster, a teenager who always wore his hockey uniform and was always accompanied by his pet monkey, Squeeks, who sat on CB’s shoulder. A popular recurring character was a fierce brute of an outlaw called Iron Jaw because his jaw has been replaced by a metal clamp sort of thing with sharp teeth, like those of a cartoon saw. But it was another title that made Gleason’s fortune. Crime Does Not Pay was invented by Biro and Wood while they were having a few drinks together in a neighborhood bar. That’s not quite the case: Biro was by himself, reading a newspaper, and he was astonished to see how much of the paper was devoted to reporting crime… And that’s when it hit him: a “true crime” comicbook would be easy to write because the stories were already there. And if there were enough reader interest in crime to support newspaper articles about it, there’d probably be interest in a comicbook on the subject, too. ~ American Daredevil: Comics, Communism, and the Battles of Lev Gleason – The Comics Journal
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