Daredevil Resource Daredevil Resource

OTHER DAREDEVILS: GOLDEN AGE DAREDEVIL

Currently this page is mainly just a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page regarding the Golden Age DD. But I'm working on a "bio" for the character as well as a cover gallery. If you have any questions about the Golden Age Daredevil, please let me know, and I'll see what I can find out and post it here.

Was there a "Daredevil" character in the 1940s and 50s?
    Yes. Lev Gleason Publications put out a comic entitled "Daredevil Comics" which ran from July 1941 to September 1956. However, Daredevil's last regular appearance in the book was Dec 1950 (#69). After that, The Little Wise Guys took over the book, although Daredevil makes a few guest appearances in later issues.

Who are the little wise guys?

    4 teens/pre-teens named: Curly, Jock, Slugger, and Scarecrow. They apparently helped the early DD fight crime, and later they took over the magazine.

Is this the same Daredevil as today?

    No. The 2 characters are very different. The current Daredevil showed up in the April 1964 issue #1 of Daredevil by Marvel Comics. The current Daredevil is blind and uses a billy club, the Golden Age Daredevil used a boomerang.

Which one was more popular?

    Well, this is like comparing apples and oranges. In the 40s, comics and magazines were VERY popular -- remember, no television, no nintendo, etc. Not to mention the fact that the comic market nowdays is saturated by literally hundreds of different titles. But as far as actual distribution goes, apparently the old DD had a peak circulation of around 6,000,000 copies/month. I don't know what the Marvel DD's "peak" circulation has been, but in one of the fairly popular issues I checked, Marvel's statement of circulation showed around 300,000.

Can you tell me more about the old Daredevil?

    Not as much as I'd like. The old Daredevil issues are very expensive and not easy to find, so I haven't read very much. Here's what little I know: Daredevil (the old version) first appeared in Silver Streak #6 (Sep 1940) and continued to appear there until issue #17. His secret identity was Bart Hill. He had a literally half red and half blue costume (blue and yellow for just the very first issue in Silver Streak #6). He had a spiked belt, and he used a boomerang for a weapon. For anyone interested in seeing the costume, check out Kingdom Come Book 1: "Strange Visitor". On page 26, the old Charlton comics character Peter Cannon aka Thunderbolt is drawn in the old Golden Age DD's costume. The Chroma City Web Page quotes Alex Ross as saying this was done "just because I wanted an excuse to draw Daredevil's costume."

Credits:
1997 Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide (27th edition)
The Daredevil Chronicles (Feb 1982) (FantaCo Enterprises)


The Daredevil Resource ©1996,2004 Kevin Hall.     Corner DD graphic courtesy Piekos Arts.
Daredevil TM & ©2004 is the property of Marvel Characters, Inc. - all rights reserved.