Rang-a-Tang

Origin

Rang-a-Tang was an abused dog who had escaped his cruel trainer and was living as a stray on the street when he saw police detective Hy Speed about to be killed, coming to his rescue and then helping Hy sniff out the leader of the gangsters that were trying to kill him he was adopted by the grateful detective and named by him Rang-a-Tang.

Rang soon proved better than any partner that Speed had ever had, in one case even going so far as picking out items from a table and putting them on to do an impersonation of the person only he knew was a murder!

While Rang-a-Tang would work with Hy for years, he soon got his own side kick (yes the dog had a side-kick) when former Hollywood child star Ricky “The Amazing Boy” Waters started hanging around the pair and it some instances having adventures with Rang without Hy. (i.e. getting in trouble so Rang-a-Tang could save him.)

Creators

Rang-a-Tang was the first continuing cover hero at M L J Comics before it became Archie Comics in the mid 40s.

He lasted for the 22 issue run of Blue Ribbon Comics, and even had a fan club you could join, but was soon pushed off the cover by dead superhero Mr. Justice.

Rang-a-Tang is one of the few heroes at M L J that has never been brought back by Archie, Red Circle or DC*, and in fact may now be public domain.

* which is a shame as he was smarter than both The Web and The Hangman.