As we continue to scour the Golden Age for public domain heroes to revive, sometimes you stumble upon a no-brainer--a hero so cool and unique that you don't even have to go to the judges for a verdict, and just automatically advance 'em to the next round.
Let's bop back to 1941, when two friends are having a little crisis meeting:
Don't ask, Dan...please don't ask.
D'oh!!
Yes, and there's absolutely no way that plan could possibly go wrong, is there?
Two days later?!? Two days?? Man, justice was swift back then.
By the way, don't you think they'd at least check a guy's ID or something before they chuck him in the can for life?!? Fingerprints? Anything?!
Still, absolutely nothing could go wrong with this plan, could it?!?
D'OH!!!!!!!!!!!
So what's a wrongfully convicted (albeit due to his own idiocy) guy to do? That's right, tunnel!
But once stupid, always stupid, as...
So now what? Well, and this is admittedly really really cool, Dyce picks up on all the underworld scuttlebutt from within the prison, and then uses his tunnel to sneak out at night and thwart crime!!
And his nom de guerre? Why, his prisoner number, of course!!
Now admittedly, we do have pronunciation problems to deal with: do we call him "Seven hundred eleven?" Or "Seven Eleven?" Or "Seven One One?"
But man, what a cool concept. Prisoner by day, crime fighter by night...and with obvious commercial endorsement possibilities (just picture him drinking a Slurpee before kicking the crap out of some thug!!).
Yup, I declare that there's nothing that can keep 711 from being the next big thing!! We have our Golden Age Idol winner!!
Uhh....look, no problem. Like you're really going to believe some gangster when he declares that he's killed a mask? As if...
Uhhh....hmmmm...OK...look, that's just last-panel hyperbole, right? 711 will come roaring back to life next issue, right?
Oh, dear...anybody got a spare Black Lantern ring?
Sigh.
Panels from Police Comics #1 & 14-16 (1941-42). Yes, George Brenner did kill off his own creation in #15. Must have blown the kiddies' little minds back then, eh?
Let's bop back to 1941, when two friends are having a little crisis meeting:
By the way, don't you think they'd at least check a guy's ID or something before they chuck him in the can for life?!? Fingerprints? Anything?!
Still, absolutely nothing could go wrong with this plan, could it?!?
D'OH!!!!!!!!!!!
So what's a wrongfully convicted (albeit due to his own idiocy) guy to do? That's right, tunnel!
But man, what a cool concept. Prisoner by day, crime fighter by night...and with obvious commercial endorsement possibilities (just picture him drinking a Slurpee before kicking the crap out of some thug!!).
Yup, I declare that there's nothing that can keep 711 from being the next big thing!! We have our Golden Age Idol winner!!
Sigh.
Panels from Police Comics #1 & 14-16 (1941-42). Yes, George Brenner did kill off his own creation in #15. Must have blown the kiddies' little minds back then, eh?