Victory Boys

First Appearance: USA Comics #5 (Summer 1942).
Golden Age Appearances: USA Comics #5, Comedy Comics #10.
Modern Appearances: None.
Years Active: 1940?-?

The Victory Boys were four costumed boys based in the the Black Forest and fighting against the German threat. The Boys were never assigned an origin. They had no powers, but were, basically, Marvel's Boy Commandos, using their wiles and bows and arrows to fight the Axis.

Actually, yes, they were assigned an origin (I hadn't read Comedy #10 when I wrote the preceding), and thanks to the indefatigable Ronald Byrd I can now provide it:

In Comedy #10, the American youth Victor prevents German boy Maxie from being beaten by a Nazi for stealing bread.  Maxie takes Victor with him to the Black Forest, where they are met by Maxie's friends Gus, Warren, Hans, and Kurt (all of the boys, including Victor, helpfully have the first letters of their names on their shirts; at least some of the German kids are wearing (at least in some panels) beanie hats that might for all I know be somewhat too-big yarmulkes).  The five German boys are orphans who lost their parents to the Germans (making the hats potentially significant, I guess, or I wouldn't have brought them up) and escaped from a Nazi orphanage ("We had to heil Hitler for our supper," one complains), surviving by their wits in the woods.  Victor's own father, an "American Secret Service" agent, has been captured by the Nazis and awaits execution in a concentration camp (We are not told why the Secret Service had Victor's father stationed in Germany, nor are we told which of two equally improbable options---Victor's father took his son WITH him on a mission or Victor arrived from outside Nazi territory on his own---are meant to explain Victor's presence in Germany), and the now six Victory Boys storm the camp to rescue him.  At story's end, Victor's father is returning to action and is apparently content to allow his son to remain with the Victory Boys (no parenthood medals for THIS guy).  In Comedy #10, none of the boys are wearing masks and no one wields a bow and arrow---Maxie (the scrapper; Kurt is the practical one, Victor the natural leader (because he's an AMERICAN, you know), and the others more-or-less interchangeable (possibly Gus was supposed to be the fat kid)) has a tomahawk but is constantly being prevented from scalping his fallen foes---so these innovations must have been introduced by Victor.

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