Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: Charles Biro, daredevil, lev gleason

Charles Biro's Bizarre Cover on Daredevil Comics #11, at Auction

Lev Gleason editor/creator Charles Biro sometimes seemed to use Daredevil Comics as an excuse to create a series of bizarre villains.

Publisher Lev Gleason, creator/editor Charles Biro, and creator/editor Bob Wood are arguably the instigators of the Pre-Code era.  Gleason's Crime Does Not Pay is the most notorious comic book title in American comics history, and likely helped trigger the Pre-Code era more than any other single title.  But while the publisher was best known for crime and superheroes, Charles Biro made sure there was plenty of horror mixed into the Gleason titles as well.  One stand-out case in point is the completely weird cover that can be found on Daredevil Comics #11 (Lev Gleason, 1942) CGC VG 4.0 Off-white to white pages, which is up for auction in the 2024 May 30 Adventures in the Golden Age Comics Showcase Auction #40261 at Heritage Auctions.

Daredevil Comics got its start as Daredevil Battles Hitler, which might be the most infamous propaganda comic book in American history, but also doubles as the first issue of the Golden Age Daredevil's solo series for Lev Gleason Publications.  The creation of Jack Binder, the character debuted in Silver Streak Comics #6, and was pitted against Lev Gleason star supervillain The Claw in the next issue.  After punching Hitler and battling the Claw again in Daredevil Battles Hitler, the hero got down to business in Daredevil Comics #2 and beyond by taking on criminals of every type in order to fulfill his origin-moment promise to his dead parents. Biro seems to have taken his cue from the likes of Hitler and the Claw to make the series more about the villains than Daredevil himself, and created a series of weird ones to pit his hero against.

The plot of the lead Daredevil feature of Daredevil Comics #11 is very much like the origin of Clayface in Detective Comics #40.  A movie is being filmed and the actor playing the monster becomes that monster in real life.  The rest of the features in this issue are equally weird.  Bizarre ongoing character the Sniffer, who started as the cover villain in Daredevil Comics #5, has done an about face in this issue as he has been drafted into the army.  Notorious Golden Age villain the Claw gets a costumed minion called the Ghost. A range of features like Crimebuster, Native American hero Real American, and superhero duo 13 and Jinx round out the issue.

An iconically weird cover and story by Biro, Daredevil Comics #11 (Lev Gleason, 1942) CGC VG 4.0 Off-white to white pages, which is up for auction in the 2024 May 30 Adventures in the Golden Age Comics Showcase Auction #40261 at Heritage Auctions.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!