Among the mostly-forgotten series of the Golden Age of Comics, there are a few which self-reflexively turned their gaze on the comic book industry itself, and what effect it might be having on its youthful readers. Perhaps the best-remembered of these was Supersnipe, a character who made his debut in Volume 2 #3 of Street & Smith’s SHADOW COMICS (which was primarily devoted to stories of the pulp crimefighter) before eventually headlining a series of his own. Supersnipe was a pretty charming feature overall.
While all of the particulars hadn’t been worked out for this first installment, Supersnipe was really young Koppy McFad, the boy with the most comic books in America. Koppy would routinely alternate between daydreaming about his fantastical adventures as Supersnipe and swiping his father’s lodge cape and long-johns to prowl the streets of his small town, looking for adventure.
Supersnipe’s creator George Marcoux reportedly got the idea for the character on the street one day: he spied a child with a homemade cape tied around his neck racing through the streets on his bicycle. A woman almost collided with the cyclist, and called out, “Guttersnipe!” Marcoux reportedly corrected the woman: “No, ma’am. That’s Supersnipe!” And the series was born.
The Tom Brevoort Experience 
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