DARE DEVILS 3
Membership: Clancy,
Goldy, Off-Key
Purpose: To wage aerial combat against Nazi forces
Affiliations: Lucy Lee, U.S. Air Corps
Enemies: Nazis
Base of Operations: Alexandria, Egypt
First Appearance: Kid Komics I#3 (Fall, 1943)
History:
(Kid Komics I#3/6) - Clancy, Goldy and Off-Key were three friends who worked together in the garment center of New York City. When their plant was shut down due to wartime restrictions, the three men were upset to have lost their jobs. After Off-Key noticed Army planes in the air, Clancy suggested the three of them join the Air Force. They signed up but while Clancy and Goldy were accepted as pilots, Off-Key was selected to serve as a mechanic.
Clancy and Goldy were assigned to Alexandria, Egypt, to assist American and British forces against the Nazis. Off-Key was also sent to Alexandria to serve as the mechanic for their bomber plane. Off-Key joined them aboard the craft, operating the machine gun. When they found the German forces who had pinned down the American and British forces, they observed there were too many Nazis for them to shoot them all, so Off-Key put rotten eggs into their gas tank, created a massive stink bomb cloud to nauseate the Germans. The afflicted Germans surrendered.
As they turned their bomber back to their lines, the engine fouled up because of the rotten eggs. While Clancy and Goldy tried to crash land the plane, they forced Off-Key to bail out; he landed on the hood of a car and hurt his rear. Clancy and Goldy survived their landing and were brought to a hospital, where they were reunited with Off-Key. Much to their surprise, Off-Key's fiancee Lucy Lee was stationed at the Army hospital as a nurse.
Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and Gus Schrotter.
Dare Devils 3 was yet another attempt by Marvel during the 1940s to create a recurring team of aviator heroes like Quality's Blackhawks. Most of them eeked out just a single appearance.
Off-Key's visual was, *ahem* a bit off-key; his dialogue also veered from normal English speech to suddenly replacing his 'r's with 'l's.
This profile was completed on 03/24/2026 but its publication was delayed, as it was intended for the Appendix's 25th anniversary celebratory event.
Profile by Prime Eternal.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Dare Devils 3 should not be confused with:
Clancy worked in a garment factory in Manhattan with Goldy and Off-Key. When they lost their jobs due to the war, Clancy suggested the three of them join the Air Force. Clancy and Goldy became pilots in Alexandria, Egypt, where Off-Key served as their mechanic. They flew a bomber to help support British and American forces against the Nazis. Although their plane engine was fouled up from creating a smoke bomb, Clancy and Goldy peformed a crash landing and survived. In the hospital they reunited with Off-Key.
--Kid Komics I#3/6
Goldy worked in a garment factory in Manhattan with Clancy and Off-Key. When they lost their jobs due to the war they decided to join the Air Force. Goldy and Clancy became pilots in Alexandria, Egypt, where Off-Key served as their mechanic. They flew a bomber to help support British and American forces against the Nazis. Although their plane engine was fouled up from creating a smoke bomb, Goldy and Clancy peformed a crash landing and survived. In the hospital they reunited with Off-Key.
--Kid Komics I#3/6
Off-Key was a Chinese-American who had two college engineering degrees. He lived in Brooklyn. He worked in a garment factory with Clancy and Goldy but all three lost their jobs when the factory had to close due to the war. Off-Key was especially put out by the factory closure because he wanted to earn enough money to marry his sweetheart, lucy Lee. Off-Key went to join the Air Force with Clancy and Goldy but while they were chosen as pilots, he was chosen as a mechanic because of his background in engineering. Off-Key was assigned as mechanic to Clancy and Goldy when they were placed in command of a bomber in Alexandria, Egypt and were sent to assist American and British forces against the Nazis. Off-Key accompanied them aboard the plane, operating the machine gun. To disperse the Nazis, Off-Key put rotten eggs in the gas tank that caused the bomber to emit an immense stink bomb cloud. Unfortunately, it fouled up the engine. Clancy and Goldy forced Off-Key to bail out and he landed on the hood of a car, hurting his rear. He was brought to a hospital in Alexandria and discovered Lucy Lee was working there as a Army nurse. Clancy and Goldy wound up in the same hospital and Lucy Lee declared she would marry Off-Key in Alexandria now that the three of them were heroes.
--Kid Komics I#3/6
images: (without ads)
Kid Komics I#3/6, page 1, panel 3 (main)
Kid Komics I#3/6, page 2, panel 1 (Clancy)
Kid Komics I#3/6, page 1, panel 3 (Goldy)
Kid Komics I#3/6, page 2, panel 5 (Off-Key)
Appearances:
Kid Komics I#3/6 (Fall, 1943) - unidentified writer, Gus Schrotter
(penciler, inker), Vince Fago (editor)
First posted: 09/20/2026
Last updated:
03/24/2026
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
Copyright info
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