The Little Wise Guys were created by Charles Biro and introduced as sidekicks to the 1940’s Daredevil of Lev Gleason’s titular publication. By issue #70 of Daredevil Comics, the namesake character was gone and the guys were on their own, their adventures geared (somewhat) to a younger audience. Biro is credited with this cover.
Scarecrow’s Lucky Blunder features a typically rollicking Charles Biro story with Ralph Mayo art (according to Grand Comic Book Database). As previously mentioned, the hard edge of the Daredevil crime stories was gone – but not quite. Mayo mixes some hard faces and characters among his loose, “cartoony” little wise guys; and Biro’s story has a gritty moment or two (like the sailor drowning at sea).
Hold on to your hats! It’s a story with a moral lesson, Charles Biro style! This story conjures the same baseball spirit as Field of Dreams - but three decades previous. As the last panel indicates, Republic Pictures released “Roogie’s Bump” in 1954, starring Robert Marriot and Ruth Warrick.
The varying subjects of these two ads from the same issue certainly suggest a broad demographic. I quit smoking a few years ago and suggest never starting, but I still want that Original Kentucky Tavern Barbecue Ash Tray.
