“C’mon, boys. >hic< Let’s find a different bar.”
Smash Comics #3
Everett M. Arnold (October 1939)
A yearly subscription for this comic, including shipping, is less than any comic currently on shelves. That just makes me sad. Then I remember that my subscription to The Transformers wasn’t $1.50 for a year either.
So, last issue seemed decent enough, let’s see what this issue brings us. I have a lot to read and very little time to do it, so let’s get started.
Espionage starring Black Ace
1933: Japan and Germany have left the League Of Nations. I’m sure that won’t come back to bite anyone a few years after this comic is made. Anyway, war has started but the US is staying out of it. Not sure if the rest of the story is present day, but one group wants the US in the war as part of a plan to take over Alaska and its mines. Black Ace ends up undercover to expose the attempt and save US boats from being attacked, with the blame put on one of the warring nations. It’s an…interesting plan. Alaska wasn’t a state when this comic came out, so I’m not sure how this unnamed group is supposed to take it over only because the US gets involved. Then again, I’m no historian. I’m a story reviewer and this is a good one. Ace even makes a new friend…who dies in this story, but it’s a noble death instead of a shock one. We’re off to a good start.
Chic Carter: Ace Reporter by Vernon Henkel
Chic is sent to Mongolia to find out what happened to a missing pilot who apparently has a lot of money. Chic and his pilot end up getting shot down by Japanese, captured by Mongols, finds a lovely missionary…your typical Saturday afternoon. It’s a fine story, though the casual racism is limited to “Japs” and “Chinks” while the depictions are surprisingly not bad for the time. English isn’t the Chinese’s first language, after all.
Abdul The Arab
When our hero comes upon a white man (we’re not told why he’s in the desert) being captured by some bad guys, he works to rescue him. Turns out the man has a steel-hardening formula and the bad guys want it. Interesting to see heroes make mistakes and then work to overcome them, showing you can make your hero imperfect without making them secretly terrible people. A good adventure.
Captain Cook Of Scotland Yard
A supposed monster steals a safe, and the only witness is an elevator operator who later gets kidnapped. Our hero must match wits with a mad scientist and a…talking ape? This wasn’t what I was expecting, but outside of the rushed ending it was a good story.
Invisible Justice by Art Gordon
Our hooded invisible friend tangles with sea pirates using a stolen submarine. Working with the sub’s designer, forced to help the pirates who now want to see the advanced sub to a foreign power…why does he take off his invisible hood at the end of the story? Secret identities have been discovered long before this. That confusion aside, another good story that barely avoids being a rushed ending, but not by much.
Cliff Chance At Cliffside by Scott Sheridan
Odd to see a sports story in what’s been a mostly crime and spy comic but there are bad guys. Cliff is caught between a jerk rival and a couple of hoods who want to run a gambling scheme by making sure Cliff’s team loses, and both are pretty sneaky. Cliff gets caught heading out after curfew thanks to a trick by the rival…and we’ll have to wait for next issue to see what happens. I guess if you don’t have the space, that’s an option. I’ve just been burned on these serialized stories out of the Golden Age. Not a bad start.
John Law: Scientective by Harry Campbell Francis: “Death In The Sky”
Scientective is apparently a world according to spell check. The early Google results are just this comic. I don’t know if the DC Fandom wiki is just including this because DC bought some of Quality’s characters, and this publisher eventually becomes Quality Comics before it shuts down. John puts his scientific knowledge to the task of solving a murder and figuring out why a company’s airplanes are suddenly exploding. I don’t know how much of the science pans out, but it seems legit enough. (Works for MacGyver.) Another winner for this comic. So far the only bad ones have been the two page gag stories I’ve ignored.
Wings Wendall Of The Military Intelligence by Vernon Henkel
A hooded terrorist wants to blow up the Panama Canal so some European nation can invade the US. This is another story involving the hero going under cover and a villain using a submarine to blow up ships. Probably a coincidence but it makes for an entertaining adventure…though you’d think with a name like Wings Wendall this would have been about airplanes, not subs.
Hugh Hazzard And His Iron Man by Wayne Reid
No, Bozo isn’t helping prisoners escape prison like on the cover. Instead our “Iron Man” and his creator go after some Germans who stole Navy plans for a new bomber. Somehow the robot is the most believable piece of tech in Hugh’s collection, but it was still a fun story to end on.
OVERALL
This was a rather good issue. A lot of good comics. I might be looking forward to the next issue when we get to November’s Golden Age comic shelf.
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