
In the first issue of Boy Comics, #3, we learn the terrible and tragic origin of America's foremost boy crimefighter, Chuck Chandler a.k.a. Crimebuster. A student at Custer Military Academy, Chuck is playing in a hockey game when he hears the horrible news that his father, a famous diplomat and journalist, has been shot live on the air while delivering a radio broadcast denouncing the Nazis. Grabbing his cape, a standard part of his academy's military uniform, Chuck rushes to the hospital, where his father dies. Chuck learns that the killer was the infamous Nazi assassin Iron Jaw, and that his mother, who is still in Europe, is in great danger.
Leaping into action, Chuck manages to get a message to his mother, telling her to flee France and meet him on a steamer heading to America. She gets omn the ship and they are reunited, but neither know the terrible truth: Iron Jaw intercepted the message and let her escape so they would be sitting ducks on the defenseless ship. Caring not a whit for the hundreds of innocent souls aboard the ship. Iron Jaw captains a German U-Boat and sinks the ship. He then orders his men to machinegun all survivors in the water. They gleefully murder the survivors, including Chuck's mother. But Chuck, knocked unconscious and mistaken for dead, survives. he vows vengeance against Iron Jaw and the Nazi horde!
Leaping into action, Chuck manages to get a message to his mother, telling her to flee France and meet him on a steamer heading to America. She gets omn the ship and they are reunited, but neither know the terrible truth: Iron Jaw intercepted the message and let her escape so they would be sitting ducks on the defenseless ship. Caring not a whit for the hundreds of innocent souls aboard the ship. Iron Jaw captains a German U-Boat and sinks the ship. He then orders his men to machinegun all survivors in the water. They gleefully murder the survivors, including Chuck's mother. But Chuck, knocked unconscious and mistaken for dead, survives. he vows vengeance against Iron Jaw and the Nazi horde!

If Crimebuster's origin sounds a little familiar, that might be because there are definite similarities between his origin and what is probably the most famous origin story in comics, Batman's. Both of them suffer the loss of their parents at an early age and in response take up a life of costumed crimefighting. And those aren't the only similarities. Crimebuster's supporting cast is rounded out by his own version of Commissioner Gordon, in this case District Attorney Loover. And he also has his own sidekick to fill the Robin role as well; being a boy himself, of course, having another boy as his sidekick wouldn't make any sense, so instead he is joined by his faithful pet monkey Squeeks.
But while Batman is firmly in the world of superheroes, Crimebuster was much more grounded in the real world. Sure, he tangled with Iron Jaw and a couple other colorful characters, but in general, Crimebuster's world was one of gritty violence done by people who were all too human. Crimebuster didn't have training from monks or ninja masters; he was just a scrappy kid with a good right cross. He didn't have endless wealth to buy amazing gadgets and Batmobiles; he was just an orphan trying to bring a little justice to the world. And even his costume wasn't an elaborate masquerade to frighten the superstitious denizens of the underworld; it was simply his hockey uniform and his military academy cape, which he was apparently too traumatized to change out of. But eventually even that went away too (in #60), as Crimebuster grew up, put the costume away and got past the loss of his parents (something we're still waiting for Batman to do).
But while Batman is firmly in the world of superheroes, Crimebuster was much more grounded in the real world. Sure, he tangled with Iron Jaw and a couple other colorful characters, but in general, Crimebuster's world was one of gritty violence done by people who were all too human. Crimebuster didn't have training from monks or ninja masters; he was just a scrappy kid with a good right cross. He didn't have endless wealth to buy amazing gadgets and Batmobiles; he was just an orphan trying to bring a little justice to the world. And even his costume wasn't an elaborate masquerade to frighten the superstitious denizens of the underworld; it was simply his hockey uniform and his military academy cape, which he was apparently too traumatized to change out of. But eventually even that went away too (in #60), as Crimebuster grew up, put the costume away and got past the loss of his parents (something we're still waiting for Batman to do).

So if Crimebuster was just a regular kid, how did he manage to take down bad guys so often without getting himself whacked? Well, it wasn't easy. In fact, on at least one occasion, Crimebuster misjudged the situation and got a bullet in the gut for his trouble, resulting in an extended hospital stay and the removal of part of his intestines.
But Crimebuster did have some things going for him beyond pluck and a trained monkey. First, he was extremely smart, as shown by the 99% he scored on his entrance exams to Curtiss Tech, the college he enrolled in in #107; the college officials presiding over the test proclaimed it the highest score in school history.
By that time, Crimebuster had aged from the 14 years old or so he was at the start of the series to 18, had graduated from Custer (renamed Culver in later issues) and was looking to join the police force in an official capacity. However, that required a college degree, forcing him to take a break from crimefighting in order to hone his mind at Curtiss Tech.
It wasn't just his mind he was honing over the years, though. He was also a multi-sport star athlete. Besides playing on his academy hockey team, it was revealed in #107 that he was also an all-state fullback on their football team. Beyond this, he scored his varsity letter at Curtiss Tech in baseball and was proficient in sports and disciplines ranging from basketball, horseback riding, and track and field, to boxing, fencing and even jousting. In short, to use the term from the Handbook to the Marvel Universe, Crimebuster was an Olympic level athlete, or close to it. In #107 he was timed doing the 100 yard dash in 9.8 seconds; the world record in 1955, when Crimebuster accomplished this feat, was 9.3 seconds.
Beyond Loover, who acted as a surrogate father figure for Crimebuster, and Squeeks, his faithful monkey sidekick, Crimebuster was friendly with many people but did not seem to be close friends with any of them. He was rarely shown spending any time with his high school classmates and only seemed to interact with kids his own age when one or more of them were involved in a crime. Not that he was aloof; rather, his focus just seemed to be entirely on fighting evil rather than socializing. It wasn't until he left the city to attend Curtiss Tech that he began to make friends, most notably his college roommate Stu. He also at this time gained a new archrival in the form of Jabbo, a blowhard BMOC type jealous of Chuck horning in on his territory. During his time at Curtiss Tech, Chuck also dated a number of girls, though he did not appear to be serious with any of them.
But Crimebuster did have some things going for him beyond pluck and a trained monkey. First, he was extremely smart, as shown by the 99% he scored on his entrance exams to Curtiss Tech, the college he enrolled in in #107; the college officials presiding over the test proclaimed it the highest score in school history.
By that time, Crimebuster had aged from the 14 years old or so he was at the start of the series to 18, had graduated from Custer (renamed Culver in later issues) and was looking to join the police force in an official capacity. However, that required a college degree, forcing him to take a break from crimefighting in order to hone his mind at Curtiss Tech.
It wasn't just his mind he was honing over the years, though. He was also a multi-sport star athlete. Besides playing on his academy hockey team, it was revealed in #107 that he was also an all-state fullback on their football team. Beyond this, he scored his varsity letter at Curtiss Tech in baseball and was proficient in sports and disciplines ranging from basketball, horseback riding, and track and field, to boxing, fencing and even jousting. In short, to use the term from the Handbook to the Marvel Universe, Crimebuster was an Olympic level athlete, or close to it. In #107 he was timed doing the 100 yard dash in 9.8 seconds; the world record in 1955, when Crimebuster accomplished this feat, was 9.3 seconds.
Beyond Loover, who acted as a surrogate father figure for Crimebuster, and Squeeks, his faithful monkey sidekick, Crimebuster was friendly with many people but did not seem to be close friends with any of them. He was rarely shown spending any time with his high school classmates and only seemed to interact with kids his own age when one or more of them were involved in a crime. Not that he was aloof; rather, his focus just seemed to be entirely on fighting evil rather than socializing. It wasn't until he left the city to attend Curtiss Tech that he began to make friends, most notably his college roommate Stu. He also at this time gained a new archrival in the form of Jabbo, a blowhard BMOC type jealous of Chuck horning in on his territory. During his time at Curtiss Tech, Chuck also dated a number of girls, though he did not appear to be serious with any of them.