First Appearance: Marvel Mystery Comics #10 (August 1940).
Golden Age Appearances: Marvel Mystery Comics #10-57.
Modern Appearances: None.
Years Active: 1940-?

Terry Vance, "the Schoolboy Sleuth," was a boy detective. He had an attic laboratory in which he conducted a number of experiments, and he was successful at inventing useful objects, like his "large gas model airplane with radio control," his ultraviolet flashlight, and his "detectoscope," a "sensitive microphone connected to earphones and operating by two batteries" that can listen through solid stone waalls; Vance may possibly have had superhuman intelligence, so varied were his interests and achievements. He monitored police broadcasts on his radio, and when a case attracted his interest, he swung into action, accompanied by his "able assistant," the monkey "Dr. Watson." Dr. Watson had a very limited vocabulary ("EEEK!" "EEE...EEE...EEE!" "OOK") but was definitely sentient, capable of following Vance's instructions and using his "tiny candid-camera" to help Terry solve crimes. Terry, for his part, was a clever sleuth, known to the police and welcome at crime scenes. Terry was also helped by his older friend, the ace reporter Deadline Dawson.