One of the great entertainment pleasures of my youth was watching East Side Kids movies on the local television stations. Growing up I didn't know anyone who didn't like these flicks. Though there were those who preferred the Bowery Boys to the East Siders.
For years I've dreamed of an East Side Kids comic book from the Golden Age of Comic Books by Simon & Kirby who created the Newsboy Legion and Boy Commandos for DC. Two of the movies from the East Side series that I could see being adapted to the comic book page were BOWERY BLITZKRIEG (1941) and LET'S GET TOUGH (1942).
BOWERY BLITZKRIEG was a fun little boxing movie with Leo Gorcey as Muggs McGinnis representing the N.Y. Police Department in an amateur boxing tournament. There have been more movies made about boxing than any other sport. And this one features about all the usual cliches. Including an improbable come from behind victory in the squared circle. This is also introduces Huntz Hall into the series.
LET'S GET TOUGH is my personal favorite of the series.The story has the Kids tackling an Axis spy ring. Something that wouldn't have been out of place in a Golden Age comic book. Fun stuff. And pretty exciting exciting too.
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