The Dingbats of Danger Street are a fictional

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

gang of kids published by

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

. The Dingbats debuted in ''

1st Issue Special ''1st Issue Special'' was a comics anthology series from DC Comics, done in a similar style to their ''Showcase (comics), Showcase'' series. It was published from April 1975 to April 1976. The goal was to showcase a new possible first issue of an ...

'' #6 (September 1975) and were created by

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He gre ...

Publication history

According to inker

Mike Royer Michael W. Royer (; born June 28, 1941) is an American comics artist and inker, best known for his work with pencilers Russ Manning and Jack Kirby. In later life Royer became a freelance product designer and character artist for The Walt Disney C ...

, ''The Dingbats of Danger Street'' was developed as a new series, but the series was cancelled and the first issue repurposed as an issue of ''1st Issue Special''. In this issue the Dingbats (at least partly by accident) stop the villains Jumpin' Jack and the Gasser with the help of Lieutenant Terry Mullins. Kirby drew two further issues which were not scripted or inked. The Dingbats reappear in '' The Adventures of Superman'', one of a number of Kirby homages by

Karl Kesel Karl Kesel (born January 7, 1959, Victor, New York) is an American comics writer and inker whose works have primarily been under contract for DC Comics. He is a member of Periscope Studio and is best known for his collaborations with fellow artis ...

. They first appear in brief cameos, but are subsequently seen in full in ''The Adventures of Superman'' #549, in which they compete with the

Newsboy Legion The Newsboy Legion is a teenage vigilante group in the DC Comics Universe. Created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, they appeared in their own self-titled feature which ran from ''Star-Spangled Comics'' #7 (April 1942) to #64 (January 1947). In 1970, ...

and the '' Green Team'' for a disused theatre. Kesel explained that he was a fan of the Newsboy Legion, and brought in the other two boy groups as a counterpoint to the Newsboys, since all three were created by Joe Simon and/or Jack Kirby. He added: "As much as I love Kirby's work overall, I can't say I have any special fondness for the Dingbats - they served their story purpose as a counterpoint to the Newsboys, but it wasn't like I was hoping we'd get a ''Dingbats'' mini out of their appearance". The group makes a cameo in the final issue of '' Batman: The Brave and the Bold'' as

Bat-Mite Bat-Mite is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Bat-Mite is an imp similar to the Superman villain Mister Mxyzptlk. Depicted as a small, childlike man in an ill-fitting Batman costume, Bat-Mite posse ...

is upset at the comic's cancellation and states several missed crossover opportunities including the Dingbats. One of the Dingbats, Krunch, appeared as a member of the new ''

Challengers of the Unknown The Challengers of the Unknown is a fictional group of adventurers appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The quartet of adventurers explored paranormal occurrences while facing several fantastic menaces. The characters' provenance is ...

'' in the 2018 miniseries written by

Scott Snyder Scott Snyder is an American author. He is known for his 2006 short story collection ''Voodoo Heart'', and his comic book writing, including '' American Vampire'', '' Detective Comics'', '' Batman'', '' Wytches'', '' Swamp Thing,'' and ''Justice ...

. In December 2022, a new 5-issue series written by Tom King and art by Jorge Fornés was launched. It takes a darker tone as a plan to join the Justice League by Starman, Metamorpho, and Warlord goes awry, dragging the Dingbats into trouble.

Membership

*Good Looks - an average looking kid, the group's leader. *Krunch - a large red headed boy whose eyes were always hidden by his long hair; the muscle. *Non-Fat - a skinny boy in a wool hat with a

hot dog A hot dog (uncommonly spelled hotdog) is a food consisting of a grilled or steamed sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced bun. The term hot dog can refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener ( Vienna sausage) or a f ...

. Mike Royer has confirmed that, as his facial features and a few lines of dialogue suggest, Non-Fat was meant to be

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

but was mis-colored as a

Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Anthropology *Anything from the Caucasus region ** ** ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region * * * Languages * Northwest Caucasian l ...

. *Bananas - a boy who was considered to be crazy. The visual model for Bananas was a caricatured Mike Royer.

References

External links

DCU Guide: Dingbats of Danger Street
Comics by Jack Kirby DC Comics superheroes DC Comics teams Fictional gangs Comics characters introduced in 1975 Characters created by Jack Kirby {{DC-Comics-stub de:Nebenfiguren im Superman-Universum#Die Dingbats of Danger Street