Captain Tootsie Month, Day 1: And yet somehow it's still Bear Attack! Month

And so we bid farewell to Bear Attack! Month, 30 bear-maimin' days of clawing excitement and ursine madness, to focus on a new monthly feature. I'll kick it off by asking you the musical question: name a cartoon spokescharacter for Tootsie Rolls and Tootsie Pops.

Did you answer Mr. Wise Old Owl?


Well, sure. But did you forget...or maybe you never even knew about...the long-running comic book advertising mascot for Tootsie, that Suleman of Sugar, Captain Tootsie? Co-created by C.C. Beck (the original Captain Marvel) and Beck Studios artist Pete Costanza, Captain Tootsie championed the quick energy burst that chewing on a Tootsie Roll could give you. Candy: it's your best friend. Cap and his sugar-crazed sidekicks battled their way through a candy store's worth of adventure, thirty-one of which I'll present to you this month. And to make the transition from Bear Attack! Month to Captain Tootsie Month more smooth (and rich, delicious and chocolately), let's kick it off with how Tootsie Rolls can fend off a rampaging bear! (And he didn't even have to use Ray-O-Vac batteries!) Take it away, Cap!


"Captain Tootsie Traps Killer Bear with Invisible Light," advertisement in Superman #54 (September-October 1948), script by C. C. Beck, pencils and inks by Pete Costanza
"You don't need a sniperscope to spot the gosh-a-mighty goodness of chewy, chocolatey Tootsie Rolls." Although that would make a dandy new Bourne Identity film, wouldn't it? So, until our next installment, you can read more about Captain Tootsie over at Don Markstein's excellent Toonopedia. And don't forget: keep eating those Tootsie Rolls!