Daredevil #16
Daredevil Comics #16 (April 1943) carries a small but concrete piece of Golden Age history: it is the issue in which Curly joined the Little Wise Guys, the boisterous kid-gang sidekick crew that Charles Biro had introduced just three issues earlier in #13, replacing Meatball, who had been killed off in a genuinely shocking move for wartime comics. The willingness to kill a child character and replace him with a new one signaled the kind of unsentimental, serial storytelling that set the Lev Gleason line apart from competitors, planting seeds for the more socially engaged comics Biro would develop through the decade. The issue also continues the serialized battle between Daredevil and The Claw — the arch-villain who had migrated from Silver Streak Comics to become the defining nemesis of the title — keeping that rivalry at its wartime peak before The Claw's apparent death in #31.
ComicBooks.com Value
Show all 22 grades ▾
Find on ebay
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
By April 1943, editor-writer-cover artist Charles Biro had been steering Daredevil Comics since its launch as Daredevil Battles Hitler #1 in July 1941, and his collaborators Dick Wood, Bob Wood, Basil Wolverton, and Dick Briefer had become a seasoned anthology ensemble. Biro's editorial instinct — he reportedly chatted with boys at playgrounds to learn what young readers wanted — drove him to populate the book with youth characters, which is precisely why the Little Wise Guys debuted in #13 and why their roster was being actively shaped by issue #16. The Claw, created by Jack Cole for Silver Streak Comics #1 in December 1939, had been transplanted wholesale into the Daredevil title, and by 1943 the book was deeply invested in that hero-versus-monster rivalry as a wartime narrative framework.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published April 1943 by Lev Gleason Publications, cover and stories by Charles Biro, with contributions from Dick Wood, Bob Wood, Alan Mandel, Carl Hubbell, Basil Wolverton, and Dick Briefer.
- Issue #16 is the issue in which Curly joined the Little Wise Guys, taking the place of Meatball, who had been killed off approximately two issues earlier — a notably grim creative choice for mid-war superhero comics.
- The Little Wise Guys — Daredevil's kid-gang sidekicks — had debuted in Daredevil Comics #13 (October 1942); the original lineup was Scarecrow, Pee Wee, Jock, and Meatball.
- The Claw, a giant supernatural villain created by Jack Cole, appears in this issue as part of his long serialized run in the title; he had been moved from Silver Streak Comics to Daredevil Comics and would remain there until issue #31 (July 1945), when he was apparently killed off.
- The Claw was originally created by Jack Cole — who would later create Plastic Man — first appearing in Silver Streak Comics #1 (December 1939) as a world-conquest villain without a heroic foil.
- The issue's contents include stories for Daredevil, Thirteen and Jinx ('The Death Clock Strikes'), Sniffer, Dickie Dean, Scoop Scuttle, The Pirate Prince, Crimebuster ('Axis Agent #1'), and The Claw — a 64-page, full-color anthology at a dime cover price.
- Charles Biro, the creative director of the Daredevil title throughout this period, was later inducted into the Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 2002, a retrospective recognition of the quality and influence of the Lev Gleason books he helmed.
- Both the Golden Age Daredevil and The Claw are in the public domain; the Claw was revived in Erik Larsen's Savage Dragon beginning with issue #183 (2012), continuing storylines left off at Daredevil Comics #31.
Cast · 1 character
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Official Golden-Age Hero & Heroine Directory #1 (1997)
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.