Number 1028


Kubert's newsboys


Joe Kubert was only about 19 or 20 when he drew this Newsboy Legion story. The strip was created by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, who were probably still in uniform when this episode was drawn.

The Newsboy Legion had been around since 1942, when it displaced the Star Spangled Kid and Stripesy as the lead feature of Star Spangled Comics #7. Although another Simon and Kirby kid strip, Boy Commandos, appeared in Detective Comics and its own title until 1949, after 1947's issue #64 of Star Spangled the boys of the Newsboy Legion and The Guardian had gone out of business, both as newsboys and crime fighters.

Joe's art is a bit crude, but only crude compared to how good he became within a short time. He had his mentors at DC, including Mort Meskin, and Joe became a mentor with the school that bears his name. What goes around...

The Grand Comics Database credits the inks to George Roussos, and the script to Joe Samachson.

From Star Spangled Comics #50, 1945: