The ferocity of the fearsome villain Iron Jaw served to underline the gritty determination of the young hero Crimebuster, who was something of a cross between Robin the Boy Wonder and Mike Hammer.
“Like other classic villains (the Red Skull, the Joker, Lex Luthor, Sivana), Iron Jaw was so popular a bad guy that (creator Charles) Biro brought him back repeatedly,” wrote comics historian R.C. Harvey. “He was in Boy Comics No. 3 (the first with Crimebuster in it) because he played a key role in the creation of Crimebuster.”
The lower part of the Nazi agent Iron Jaw’s face had been destroyed by a French grenade during World War I. The wounded Sgt. Vonn Schmidts was deserted and left to die by his closest friend, a certain Corporal Shicklgruber.
The injury did nothing to stop Iron Jaw from murdering young Chuck Chandler’s journalist father (Boy Comics 3, April 1942). That prompted Chandler to add a cape to his red Custer Military Academy hockey uniform and go into action as a minimalist superhero.
“Iron Jaw continued as Crimebuster’s nemesis until #15, when he was killed off,” noted comics historian Don Markstein. “But you know how it is with super villains. He was back in #60 (Dec. 1950), and went back to bedeviling C.B. at frequent intervals.”
Iron Jaw’s horrific nature was reinforced for the reader by ordinary people’s reaction to him whenever he appeared. When a deli owner tried to refuse Iron Jaw two thick, raw steaks, the villain replied that he’d bitten off men’s arms for less. He got his meal.
And all that power was dedicated to the goal of murdering one orphaned boy hero for revenge. It was like Robin against the Incredible Hulk.
Bruce Kanin:
ReplyDelete"It was like Robin against the Incredible Hulk"
Of course, I know who I'm rooting for in that fight (hint: "Hulk SMASH!").
ReplyDeleteAlaric Shapli
The Crimebuster series was an odd blend of childhood fantasy, gritty realism, slapstick comedy, and ugly grotesquery, but that weird blend was what made the series work. And Iron Jaw personified all of it- a ruthless, evil murderer with a deformed face and twisted mind, capable of extreme cleverness or extreme stupidity (he was smart, but had a distorted view of the world, basically) who posed a serious threat to the young hero, but was always thwarted by him in the end.