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Daredevil's New Costume, 1st Cover, Silver Streak Comics 7 at Auction

After Daredevil's debut in Silver Streak Comics #6, Jack Cole gave him a new costume and his first cover on Silver Streak Comics #7.

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Article Summary

  • Lev Gleason launched Silver Streak Comics with The Claw as the cover villain, featured in the title's opening issues.
  • Daredevil debuted in Silver Streak #6: Bart Hill lost his parents and vowed vengeance.
  • Jack Cole redesigned Daredevil in red-and-blue for Silver Streak #7, unleashing wildly inventive, chaotic storytelling on the feature.
  • Gleason spun Daredevil into his own series carrying the character through a long 1941–1956 run.

Silver Streak Comics is a rarity among Golden Age titles in that it was launched with a villain as the cover feature.  That villain, The Claw, was both an obvious example of war-era propaganda and based on a blatant racial stereotype.  Publisher Lev Gleason was so intent on focusing on this wartime enemies theme that The Claw was cover-featured for the first two issues of the title, with the character meeting with Adolf Hitler in issue #2 and offering to team up with him to conquer the world and split it between them.  The title's namesake, the dead-then-resurrected superhero flying speedster character Silver Streak, who himself was named after the futuristic race car in which he was killed, didn't show up until issue #3.   Gleason then introduced a hero who would have a big impact on its subsequent history in Silver Streak Comics #6, the first appearance of the Golden Age Daredevil in a story by Jack Binder.   Daredevil got his familiar red and blue costume for his cover debut on Silver Streak #7, as the legendary Jack Cole of Plastic Man fame took over the writing and art on the feature.  This set up a collision of Cole's unrestrained creativity with Gleason's political ideology to incredible effect.  Featuring a Jack Cole cover and story that can barely contain the resulting chaos, there's a CGC VG+ 4.5 Off-white to white pages copy of Silver Streak Comics #7 (Lev Gleason, 1941) featuring the debut of Daredevil's iconic costume and his first cover appearance, up for auction in the 2025 September 18 Golden Age Comics Century Showcase Auction II at Heritage Auctions.

Silver Streak Comics #7 (Lev Gleason, 1941). A colorful comic page featuring a character in a red and blue costume with the text, 'THE DAREDEVIL!' The panel shows the character preparing for action while another character expresses surprise at their identity.
Silver Streak Comics #7 (Lev Gleason, 1941).

Daredevil's introduction in Silver Streak Comics #6 also included a detailed origin for the character. That origin story is a moment that should feel familiar to most regular comic book readers: "Bart's father was an inventor. Both his parents were ruthlessly murdered by a gang of crooks out to get his father's invention. During the attack, the thugs branded Bart's chest with a hot iron shaped like a boomerang. The torture caused the boy to lose his voice. Because of the brand, he always played with a boomerang. He handled the weapon so well that people believed he controlled it by some magic… Bart Hill was the Daredevil, sworn to avenge the death of his parents by making all criminals pay dearly for their crimes."

This set up the  Daredevil vs The Claw serialized battle that took place in Silver Streak Comics #7-11.  In a historically fascinating move, Lev Gleason repeated his strategy of launching a title by leveraging wartime propaganda using America's enemies by then publishing Daredevil Battles Hitler, which served as the launch of the series Daredevil Comics.  The Claw returned here again and actually agreed to team up with Hitler this time, only to be tricked into betraying his ally by Daredevil.  Established in his own series, Daredevil disappeared from the covers of Silver Streak Comics, and by the time of the debut of The Saint in Silver Streak Comics #18, Daredevil had vanished from the title's story lineup as well.  The series ended three issues later, while Daredevil Comics went on to a very respectable 134-issue run 1941-1956.

As of this writing, there are only 36 entries on the CGC census for this issue, which is a surprisingly small number for a Golden Age key that's been considered important and in demand for decades.  There's a CGC VG+ 4.5 Off-white to white pages copy of Silver Streak Comics #7 (Lev Gleason, 1941) featuring the debut of Daredevil's iconic costume and his first cover appearance, up for auction in the 2025 September 18 Golden Age Comics Century Showcase Auction II at Heritage Auctions.

Silver Streak Comics #7 (Lev Gleason, 1941). A vintage comic book cover featuring the superhero Daredevil battling a monstrous villain named The Claw. The bold and colorful design showcases action, with Daredevil wielding a weapon against The Claw amidst a city skyline.
Silver Streak Comics #7 (Lev Gleason, 1941)
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Mark SeifertAbout Mark Seifert

Co-founder and Creative director of Bleeding Cool parent company Avatar Press since 1996. Bleeding Cool Managing Editor, tech and data wrangler, and has been with Bleeding Cool since its 2009 beginnings. Wrote extensively about the comic book industry for Wizard Magazine 1992-1996. At Avatar Press, has helped publish works by Alan Moore, George R.R. Martin, Garth Ennis, and others. Vintage paper collector, advisor to the Overstreet Price Guide Update 1991-1995.
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