A Staten Island Prize Fight, Danny “Kid” Dixon Emerged Victorious, Possible Superhero Of Our Own – Collectors Confessions

Danny “Kid” Dixon

by Brian VanNostrand

Anyone with a general knowledge of the Golden Age of Comics (approximately 1939 to 1958) can tell you it was a wild and wooly time for sequential storytelling. Ideas were pitched, written, and drawn at a furious pace in an attempt to capitalize on the craze that the publication of Action Comics number one (the first appearance of Superman) had started.

 

If you took a close look at the comics published in this era, it’s easy to see that no one was thinking whether an idea was good or bad but only that it could be quickly produced and sent out to the public for purchase. This led to some completely insane ideas, some truly amazing ideas, and ideas that probably deserve a second look. The story of Danny “Kid” Dixon belongs in the last category.

First appearing in Quality Comics number seven (19400, a series published by National Publications – the company that would become D.C. Comics), Danny Dixon was a young blacksmith from a small town in Kentucky who happened to be an amazing boxer. And young Mister Dixon was particularly good at fighting people he didn’t like: crooks, bullies, and other assorted ne’er-do-wells.

In his first story, Dixon wins a fight on his home turf, then enlists with a traveling carnival, fighting all comers until he lands a real prize fight on Staten Island. There he battles a truly difficult opponent but comes out victorious. The fight on Staten Island is witnessed by real-life-boxing-legend-turned-comic-character Jack Dempsey who is so impressed by Dixon’s skill that he secures him a championship fight at Madison Square Garden.

After this first appearance, Dixon made nearly forty appearances in comic books published by National until his existence was wiped away in the 1985 event “Crisis On Infinite Earths” that wiped D.C. Comics’ continuity clean for a new era.

 

But this was not the end of Danny Dixon; since then, he has made sporadic appearances in comics published by D.C. and remains available for use to any plucky writer and artist who might want to tell another of his tales.

Wouldn’t it be fun to bring this character back for a new era and strengthen his connection to our island home? A new Danny could be created – a boxing vigilante – and he could call Staten Island his new home and provide our “forgotten” borough with a superhero we could call our own! Or combine some of his details with the ideas I put forward in my last article and a new hero could be born for comics, and we could have a hometown comic book hero of our own.

Banner Image: “1941 Superman Bread sign” Image Credit – Tom Simpson, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0