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Author Topic: Superheroes Fixing Football Games  (Read 2036 times)

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Offline TheCosmicMoth

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Superheroes Fixing Football Games
« on: December 03, 2014, 11:55:54 AM »
Hey guys, there's this recurring plot in Golden Age superhero comics where the heroes stumble across a plot to fix a college football match and then disguise themselves as one of the players to set things right. I first read it in Action Comics #4 (reprinted in Superman #1) where Superman disguises himself as a player named Tommy Burke. Then the plot popped up in Batman #4 with Batman standing in for a player named Stockton. Finally, I saw Captain Marvel beat an entire team by himself posing as a freshman named Smith in Whiz Comics #11. Does anyone know of any other instances where this plot gets recycled? I'm just curious because I think it's a funny story for writers to fixate on.

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Superheroes Fixing Football Games
« on: December 03, 2014, 11:55:54 AM »

Offline erwin-k

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Re: Superheroes Fixing Football Games
« Reply #1 on: December 04, 2014, 08:14:48 AM »
Well, the fix was in for the very first story of the (Jay Garrick) Flash. In Flash Comics #1 the speedster used his new found powers to confound his college team's opposition.

Online Yoc

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Re: Superheroes Fixing Football Games
« Reply #2 on: December 04, 2014, 08:43:16 AM »
Crimebuster in Boys Comics surly must have had this plot a few times.

Offline darkmark (RIP)

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Re: Superheroes Fixing Football Games
« Reply #3 on: December 04, 2014, 11:05:49 AM »
Probably some are in Dick Cole.

Offline Roygbiv666

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Re: Superheroes Fixing Football Games
« Reply #4 on: December 04, 2014, 12:25:05 PM »
Probably based on (then) recent events. From Wikipedia:

By the mid-1920s, NFL membership had grown to 25 teams, and a rival league known as the American Football League was formed. The rival AFL folded after a single season, but it symbolized a growing interest in the professional game. Several college stars joined the NFL, most notably Red Grange from the University of Illinois, who was taken on a famous barnstorming tour in 1925 by the Chicago Bears.[74][77] Another scandal that season centered on a 1925 game between the Chicago Cardinals and the Milwaukee Badgers. The scandal involved a Chicago player, Art Folz, hiring a group of high school football players to play for the Milwaukee Badgers, against the Cardinals. This would ensure an inferior opponent for Chicago. The game was used to help prop up their win-loss percentage and as a chance of wrestling away the 1925 Championship away from the first place Pottsville Maroons. All parties were severely punished initially, however a few months later the punishments were rescinded.[78] Also that year a controversial dispute stripped the NFL title from the Maroons and awarded it to the Cardinals.[79]

Offline TheCosmicMoth

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Re: Superheroes Fixing Football Games
« Reply #5 on: December 04, 2014, 10:21:20 PM »
Well, the fix was in for the very first story of the (Jay Garrick) Flash. In Flash Comics #1 the speedster used his new found powers to confound his college team's opposition.

Ah! Yes... I forgot that Jay Garrick was a college football player when he got his powers. Thanks for the reminder!

I'll also check through Dick Cole and Crimebuster to see if I can find anything. I know the Little Wise Guys had some memorable football games, but the fixes were mostly against them.

Interesting to see that this might have been based off of some infamous scandals.

Offline narfstar

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Re: Superheroes Fixing Football Games
« Reply #6 on: December 05, 2014, 08:22:43 PM »
Not a superhero but The Cadet may have had some such stories in Cadet and Blue Bolt