Summer 1940

    In the sweltering August heat, Andy "Ace" Barlow is walking home with his parents, when suddenly a green sedan comes roaring down the street, machine gun fire blazing from its windows, dealing death and destruction for whomever the bullets strike. Andy's parents are killed by the bullets. A similar fate awaits Andy as well. But just then a strangely garbed man bravely leaps in front of the death car and deals the auto a mighty blow with his sword of courage. Having scared off the murdering cowards, the odd man approaches Andy and asks where he, the stranger, is and what "beast" has attacked him. Andy Barlow has just met the ancient Roman Caius Martius, who has been encased in a block of stone for centuries by an enemy’s evil spell. Now free, Caius Martius swears to fight the evils of this modern world. And he also takes Andy in as his ward, training him in the ancient arts of self-defense and sharing with him the strange and awesome ability to "dart" through the air unaided. When Andy is sufficiently trained, Caius and his young friend adopt the identities of the Dart and Ace, crimefighters for justice! Their first case is capturing the Ricarno Gang, who killed Ace's parents. Once that is accomplished, Ace and the Dart settle into a crime-fighting career. Later on, the Dart becomes Martin Wheeler, a mild-mannered schoolteacher, and Ace, using his birth name, is one of his students. As the two continue to solve crimes and fight for law and order, their uniforms go through modifications (as seen here, worn by Pike and Queenie).