Number 2112: Bozo the ’bot

Bozo the Robot was “born” in Smash Comics #1 as “Hugh Hazzard and His Iron Man.” After awhile the feature’s name was changed to “Bozo the Robot.” Hugh and Bozo were created by artist George Brenner, whose career went back to the very early years of comic books. In 1943 Brenner took over the editor’s job at Quality, and lasted there until 1949.

You can see the origin of Bozo from Smash Comics #1, by going to the link below.

Brenner died young, at age 43, of an apparent heart attack. Even his son, John, in an interview, has had trouble finding out more information about his father’s role in the history of comic books. You can read an interesting interview with John Brenner  at the Quality Companion blog.

Early comics often played fast and loose with the United States Constitution, or acted like it didn’t exist. There are all sorts of problems with the plot device of having a law passed with a penalty of immediate death for spies and saboteurs. [SPOILER!] Not only that, the villain here, Emil Kurt, is taken into custody by Bozo, found guilty and executed the same night by firing squad.[END SPOILER]  There is such a thing as due process, and it does not look like it was done in this case. A law like the one in this story would not get signed by any President of the U.S. Well...I sure hope not, anyway...

From Smash Comics #29 (1941):

Here are a couple of postings from 2010 and 2012, featuring Hugh Hazzard and his Iron Man, including the origin of Bozo the Robot. Just click on the thumbnail.

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