Talk about your product placement!
Captain Tootsie was an advertising gimmick for Tootsie Roll candy. Created by C. C. Beck and Pete Constanza, two of the creators of Captain Marvel, this candy shill appeared in one-page spreads in various comic books during the Forties and early Fifties.
From Jon Morris' The League of Regrettable Superheroes (Quirk Books, 2015): "(H)e's Captain Tootsie, defender of justice, hero to children, advertising mascot for the delicious chewy taste of Tootsie Rolls!"
And: "Aided by his friends in the Secret Legion (an organization of children who probably palled around with him for the easy availablity of Tootsie Roll treats). Tootsie found himself fighting mad scientist, crooks, gangsterss, wild bears, and alien inasions in equal measure. Powering his fight against crime: a steady stream of chewy, chocolatey Tootsie Roll candies, energy-providing sugar bursts that sent Cap on a spree of general do-goodery."
If that's not enough, Morris adds that Captain Tootsie's "single page adventures took the opportunity to teach a little science, social customs, and even survivalism to the kids who consumed his intermittent adventures like so many paper-wrapped parcels of gummy goodness...[the escapades] reminded kids to stay away from sharp ledges...and taught them how sniper rifles work. Valuable information!"
Is it no wonder that Captain Tootsie got his own comic book?
After reading Jon Morris' description of this amazing superhero, I had to check it our for myself. And, upon checking it out, I just had to inflict you with it.
In this, the first issue, Captain Tootsie and his Secret Legion (Rollo, Fisty, and Fatso) travel to Venus, mess around with a rebellion, run into Venusian spiders, and then return to Earth. Filler material incudes comic adventures of Prospector Pete and of Tookie the teenage babysitter.
Strangely, The Adventures of Captain Tootsie and the Secret Legion lasted only two issues. Go figure.
(Somewhere, Bazooka Joe is thinking, "There but for fortune...")
Brace yourselves for this.
http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=7381
Ummm, Tootsie Rolls.
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