Crimebuster (Chuck Chandler) is a fictional boy hero, appearing as the lead feature in ''Boy Comics'' in the 1940s and 1950s. Dressed in a hockey uniform and cape, and accompanied by a performing monkey named Squeeks, he fights crime to avenge his parents' deaths. He is described by Joe Brancetelli in ''The World Encyclopedia of Comics'' as "a hero, yes, but first a boy... arguably the best-handled boy's adventure feature ever to appear in comics."Brancatelli, Joe, "Biro, Charles (1911-1972)" in

Maurice Horn Maurice Horn (June 28, 1931 – December 30, 2022) was a French-American comics historian, author, and editor, considered to be one of the first serious academics to study comics. He was the editor of ''The World Encyclopedia of Comics'', ''The ...

(ed.), ''The World Encyclopedia of Comics'' (Chelsea House Publishers, 2nd ed., 1999) , pp. 134-135 Some sources credit the character solely to

Charles Biro Charles Biro (; May 12, 1911 – March 4, 1972) was an American comic book creator and cartoonist. He created the comic book characters Airboy and Steel Sterling, and worked on ''Daredevil (Golden Age), Daredevil Comics'' and ''Crime Does Not Pa ...

; others co-credit Bob Wood, co-credited on the first cover of the new ''Boy Comics'' title.

Publication history

Crimebuster was introduced in ''Boy Comics'' #3 (April 1942, the first issue of the periodical following a revamp, after two issues as ''Captain Battle Jr.''). In that issue the character's father, a heroic war correspondent, is killed by a Nazi criminal called Iron Jaw (due to his metallic prosthetic lower face). Iron Jaw has also abducted Chuck's mother, so the boy travels to France to rescue her, but during their escape she is killed by Germans. Chuck adds his military school's cape to the contemporary hockey uniform he is wearing at the time this adventure begins (which conveniently features the school's initial "C" on the chest), and takes on the name "Crimebuster". He pursues Iron Jaw until issue #15, in which the character is killed, but continues his crusade. (Iron Jaw returns later in the series.) Chuck also tangles with a

hermaphroditic A hermaphrodite () is a sexually reproducing organism that produces both male and female gametes. Animal species in which individuals are either male or female are gonochoric, which is the opposite of hermaphroditic. The individuals of many ...

serial killer named the He-She in issue #9. Although his initial adventures focused on his "crimebusting" agenda, as the superhero genre became less popular, stories focused more on the character's school life. With the war over, the school changed from Custer Military Academy to Curtis High School. He stopped wearing the costume, explained in-story by a girl suggesting that it looked silly. He dropped the "Crimebuster" name altogether after issue #111 (May 1955) (his friends continued to call him "C.B.") when the

Comics Code Authority The Comics Code Authority (CCA) was formed in 1954 by the Comics Magazine Association of America as an alternative to government regulation. The CCA enabled comic publishers to self-regulate the content of American comic book, comic books in the ...

– with its restrictions on the use of the word "crime" – was established. He continued as "Chuck Chandler" until ''Boy Comics'' ceased publication, with issue #119 (March 1956). The character was revived briefly in 1990 by

AC Comics AC Comics (formerly known as Paragon Publications and Americomics) is a comic book publishing company started by Bill Black.

, a publisher focusing on

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during wh ...

superheroes, in their series ''

Femforce ''Femforce'' is a comic book published by AC Comics that began publication in 1985, detailing the adventures of the titular team: the "Federal Emergency Missions Force" or "Femforce", some of them original creations, while others originated in th ...

''.

In popular culture

The cover of

Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to Rage) was an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1991. It consisted of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim ...

's album ''Evil Empire'' features a painting by

Mel Ramos Melvin John Ramos (July 24, 1935 – October 14, 2018) was an American Figurative art, figurative painter, specializing most often in paintings of Nude (art), female nudes, whose work incorporates elements of Realism (arts), realist and abstract ...

of a boy costumed as Crimebuster, with the letter on his chest changed to a lowercase "e".

References

{{GoldenAge 1942 comics debuts Comics characters introduced in 1942 AC Comics characters Comics about children Child superheroes Golden Age superheroes Vigilante characters in comics Orphan characters in comics Public domain comics