Number 1815: Bob Montana and the boy inventor

Bob Montana, most famous for his work on the Archie newspaper comic strip (at one time carried by 750 newspapers), came up the usual way of many cartoonists of the era, through comic books. He worked for MLJ and also for the Lev Gleason line of comics. Here is an example of his early work in these episodes of Dickie Dean, Boy Inventor. Dickie was a secondary Lev Gleason character, appearing in various titles, drawn by various artists. He was a Tom Swift-inspired character, a genius youngster who came up with important inventions, many of which he donated to the U.S. government.

This story, from the last issue of Silver Streak Comics (#21, 1942), is an example of how good Montana was, even at a young age. Born in 1920, he was 21 or 22 when this was published. I have also included a two-page Dickie Dean strip from the first issue of Crime Does Not Pay, which continued its numbering from Silver Streak at #22. The strip is a patriotic plug for what young readers can do to help the war effort. Montana caricatures himself at the very end, right across from a cartoon of Uncle Sam, drawn with a toothy Archie-like grin.

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