For whatever odd reason, they decided to advertise their status as crimefighting beginners right in the name of their team.
“Writer Steve Skeates and artists Bill Montes and Ernie Bache’s ‘Tyro Team’ were three college boys who put on masks to fight crime,” noted Jon B. Cooke in The Charlton Companion.
They were also telepathic, but only among themselves. As super powers went in 1967, that was pretty minimalist.
Their history was the same, confined to the first issue of Charlton Premiere (Sept. 1967).
The trio were East Village University students David “Swift” Scott, John “Specs” Anders and Warren “Creep” Blaine. Blaine, a criminology student, did the team’s legwork and plans their sorties against criminals. Scott and Anders generally did the fighting, keeping Blaine in reserve as a secret weapon.
In action, they wear uniforms of pants, boots and turtleneck sweaters in distinctive colors, with both their sweaters and their masks bearing their T insignia.
As they tackle petty crooks in hopes of discovering the identity of a criminal mastermind, Scott, at least, has some sensible misgivings.
“If you ask me, we’re all out of our minds!” he says. “We nearly got
killed the last time we broke up one of these deals, and now were going back for more, and what have we accomplished so far?… nothing! I don’t know why I let you two misfits talk me into these juvenile heroics in the first place!”
“C’mon, Specs! Look at it rationally! We’re three ordinary guys! We’re not particularly strong. And we know nothing about crime-fighting. The only thing we can do is telepathically communicate with each other, and that sure isn’t going to help us when a bullet comes our way.”
Scott has a point, but they’re too busy wading into a jewel robbery to debate it. And when one of the thugs attempts to jump Anders from behind, Scott is able to telepathically warn his teammate.
Adding to their worries is the fact that a TV station has gotten their exploits on film, raising the possibility that some friend might recognize the Tyros despite their masks.
The Tyros’ minimal power set was reminiscent of two South Dakota highway patrolmen, Jim Boone and Bob Colby, who appeared in DC’s Strange Adventures. The benevolent and faceless Saturnian giant Klee-Pan enabled the two police officers to telepathically communicate with each other in Strange Adventures 124 (Jan. 1961), and the pair returned in Strange Adventures 142 (July 1962).
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