He's getting away! I wish I had a gun! 
Adventure Comics #52 is an issue of the series Adventure Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of July, 1940. It was published on June 7, 1940.
Synopsis for Sandman: "Wanted! Dead Or Alive"
A thief breaks into Dian Belmont's home and steals a pair of her gloves. He leaves behind an amber apple, which leads Dian to Claudia Norgan. When Dian's glove later turns up at the scene of a gold robbery, she comes under suspicion. To recover the glove, the Sandman raids a police station, gasses several cops, and steals it out of an evidence safe. The Sandman learns that Norgan is the leader of the gold bandits. He breaks into her house, steals her gold, stashes it in an outside trash barrel, and confronts the gang. Sandman combines fisticuffs with gas shots to subdue Miss Norgan's thugs. While that goes on, Claudia tries to make her own escape, and on her way out she finds and grabs the gold. But she's on foot, and Dian, driving Sandman's car, easily overtakes her, and Sandman gasses her out. They recover the gold, then Sandman breaks back into Norgan's house and retrieves Dian's other glove as well. At a pay phone, the Sandman then calls in the police.
Appearing in Sandman: "Wanted! Dead Or Alive"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Amber Apple Gang
- Claudia Norgan (Single appearance)
- five hench punks
- Claudia Norgan (Single appearance)
Locations:
- New York City
- Manhattan
- Belmont mansion
- Dodds Manor, on Park Drive
- Norgan mansion
- Morson Warehouse
- Police Station
- Manhattan
Items:
Vehicles:
- Sandman's Black 1938 Plymouth Coupe
- Dian's Red Sedan
Synopsis for Rusty and His Pals: "Mansion of Murder (Part 7 of 7)"
Rusty and his pals have been captured by Native tribesmen, along with the villainous Unholy Three. The tribal chief sets a giant gorilla on them, and the Unholy Three are all killed. Rusty and his pals escape through the use of ventriloquism, and return to America, laden with gold.
Appearing in Rusty and His Pals: "Mansion of Murder (Part 7 of 7)"
Featured Characters:
- Rusty
- Specs (Final appearance)
- Tubby (Final appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Angus McHeather (Final appearance)
Antagonists:
- Karl (Final appearance; dies)
- Zoroff (Final appearance; dies)
Other Characters:
- Tribe Chief (Single appearance)
Locations:
- Malay
Synopsis for Barry O'Neill: "Fang Gow and the Spoiler Ray"
Since escaping execution, Fang Gow has been missing for several weeks. Inspector Le Grand and Barry O'Neill are assigned to French Intelligence, to try to find him. Fang Gow meanwhile has developed a "spoilator ray," and uses it to rot all the produce and other groceries being trucked into Paris. Also a propaganda campaign is afoot, urging the populace to blame the government for the shortages.
Barry and Le Grand check out a few food markets and commissaries, and something is definitely wrong. Food shipments that left the warehouses in good condition are rotten, moldy, or stale. They observe as one store receives a truckload of food, and they stake the place out overnight. During the night, a green ray is shone into the store room, and the food immediately begins to stink. The ray shines briefly on Le Grand, painfully, before he can step aside. Barry spots the ray's operator and chases him, but he gets away. Examining the food, they find some Chinese Yen coins attached to some of the packages, and from this O'Neill deduces that the ray must need a contact point, and the coins provide that, enabling the ray to burn thru the foodstuffs. So somebody at the government warehouse must be tagging the foods with the coins; Barry plans to help him do more of that.
The next day, O'Neill and Le Grand have gotten jobs at the warehouse, and after contriving an incident there, they meet up with a food saboteur named Pierre, who recruits them to attach Yen coins to certain outgoing food parcels. After their shift ends, Le Grand shadows Pierre to Montmartre, where he is ambushed by another thug. Barry meanwhile is elsewhere, commuting home in a taxi, when he spots another saboteur, shining the green ray onto a food store. He gets out and tackles the suspect, and beats some info out of him, an address, "Number 17 in the Street of the Dead Horse." Fifteen minutes later, he gives some instructions to a squad of gendarmes, to wait for his signal, then enters the address alone.
He gets captured, and Le Grand is already in there, tied up, and being taunted by Fang Gow. This time he's got them! As he prepares to kill both of them with his Spoilator Ray, the evil genius first demonstrates it by shining it on something else, which explodes with a bang, which sounds like a gunshot, which is the signal that brings a platoon of gendarmes charging into the hideout. Fang Gow jumps out of a window, and escapes again.
Appearing in Barry O'Neill: "Fang Gow and the Spoiler Ray"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Fang Gow
- his minions: Pierre, others
Other Characters:
- M. Fernac, Food Ministry
- food inspector
- taxi driver
- large force of gendarmes
Locations:
- Paris, France
- Intelligence Ministry
- Food Ministry
- Food Markets
- Food Warehouse
- O'Neill's Apartment
- Montmartre, tough section of town
- #17 Street of the Dead Horse
Items:
- Fang Gow's Spoilator Ray
Synopsis for Steve Conrad, Adventurer: "The Kidnapping of Col. Bentley's Daughter"
Steve Conrad must rescue a friend's daughter who has been kidnapped by a vengeful ex-employee, and taken to an island where the Natives are hostile. A passing Native fisherman, Tamu, stands up in his canoe and throws a spear at Bentley's boat, falls into the ocean, and is approached by a big shark. Conrad jumps in and fights the shark with a knife, killing it. Tamu teams up with Steve and Chang. Steve stains himself brown with berry juice, borrows Tamu's loincloth, and paddles to the hostile island, Monahu, then heads right in to the village to put his disguise to the test. He meets a Native on the trail, and greets him in the local language, but his accent is wrong enough to tip off the Native, who brandishes a machete and starts yelling. Conrad punches him out and ties him up then proceeds to the cliff, where he thinks the kidnapper is hiding. He finds the kidnapper's hut, lures him out of it, punches him out, rescues Miss Bentley, and sets fire to the hut. This signals Bentley and his boat crew to approach the island.
Meanwhile the second Native that Conrad met has gotten himself untied, and rallied up a squad of spearmen, who are now charging toward the cliff. And Miss Bentley can't swim! They jump off anyway, and swim out to meet Bentley's boat.
Appearing in Steve Conrad, Adventurer: "The Kidnapping of Col. Bentley's Daughter"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Chang
Antagonists:
- Native Tribesman
- his Hostile Tribesmen
Other Characters:
- Colonel Bentley
- Miss Bentley
- Tamu (Single appearance)
Locations:
- South Seas
- resort island
- Monahu Island
Synopsis for Federal Men: "The Canadian Dope Smuggling Plot"
Steve Carson captures a smuggler who is bringing drugs into the US by train.
Appearing in Federal Men: "The Canadian Dope Smuggling Plot"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- Jim Larkins (Single appearance)
- Mike Gilch (Single appearance)
Locations:
Synopsis for Cotton Carver: "The Flying Men"
The Wolf-woman Lupa has sounded an eerie cry, and in reply, a long-necked dinosaur arrives. This is a Warro, a mighty primeval monster, he lives in the depths of the slimy swamps, and he obeys spoken orders from Lupa. Lupa's new plan is to visit the land of Ugar, accompanied by Cotton Carver, only. Deela and Red Mike choose to stay behind and work things out with the Wolf People.
According to Lupa, Ugar is the home of the race that lived before mankind, in sunken Atlantis and ancient Mu, and somewhere in Ugar is the secret of life eternal. Carver disbelieves this but for him, the journey itself is the attraction. Riding atop the Warro's back in a makeshift howdah, they set out through the jungles and swamps, then across a mighty river, and finally to the shore of a vast ocean. They are not alone there for very long before a galley sails into view, approaches the shore, and lands. The captain wades ashore, and their meeting is friendly. Captain Qwuar knows of the world on the "Upper Crust" and has questions about it; Cotton Carver is curious about Atlantis. Lupa and Cotton board the galley and accompany Qwuar and his crew on an ivory raid, into Hyplon. But before they arrive anywhere, the galley is attacked by a swarm of bat-winged flying men. Amid a pitched battle on the ship's deck, Lupa is abducted.
The Flying Men live in Skara, a castle in the sky, floating aloft by a means unknown to the Ugarans. A hard day's rowing takes the galley to a small island, within sight of Skara. Carver borrows a spare sail and a lot of rope, builds a big fire, and puts together a hot air balloon. There's no basket so he rides in the rigging, but it gets him airborne and sails into Skara. This place looks bigger up close, and his next problem is to find Lupa. Also his balloon is unsteerable, but really his next problem is to fend off the first wave of Flying Men swooping to attack him! The sound of his six-shooters draws Lupa out onto a balcony, where she yells to him. By very good luck, the wind blows him to that balcony and Lupa grabs onto the rigging; away they go. One Winged Man overtakes them and punctures their balloon. They plummet past the city of Skara, plunging toward the Earth, several miles below them!
Appearing in Cotton Carver: "The Flying Men"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Deela
- Red Mike
Antagonists:
- Winged Men (See Notes.)
Other Characters:
- Lupa
- Wolf People (Mentioned only)
- Qwuar, Galley Captain
- his crew
Animals:
- Lupa's Warro, dinosaur
Locations:
- Kingdoms of the Underworld
- Kossa/Morra Border
- Swamps and Jungles and Rivers
- Sea of Soul (a vast ocean)
- Ugar (homeport)
- Hyplon (destination)
- Skara (castle in the clouds)
Vessels:
- Ugaran Galley
Synopsis for Socko Strong: "The Great I: Part 1 of 3"
Way out in the woods of Maine, Socko and Jerry stumble across a secret tunnel, leading to the lab of a mad scientist, who calls himself the "Great I." He has invented a way to turn himself invisible. Having captured Socko and Jerry, he gets undressed and turns invisible. He announces his intention to torture and kill the scientists who laughed when he expounded his theory, then spread terror throughout the world! A prolonged fight ensues, with the Great I attacking Socko and Socko trying to hit him. The invisible villain wields a visible handgun but at close quarters this does him no good. Socko takes it away from him, then fires three shots which all miss. Eventually the Great I knocks out Socko with a chair and Jerry with a club. Soon they both are about to be blown up by a bomb.
Appearing in Socko Strong: "The Great I: Part 1 of 3"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Jerry Indutch
Antagonists:
- The Great I (First appearance)
Locations:
- Maine Woods
- Jerry's Friend's Hunting Lodge
Items:
- Great I's Ray-Tube
Synopsis for Anchors Aweigh: "Gun-Runners of the WASP"
Don and Red board a freighter that's (correctly) suspected of running guns, get captured at gunpoint, and locked in the ship's brig. When the smuggler captain tries to put them to work, they dose him with a sedative, find the small-arms locker, and almost take over the freighter, disarming and arresting most of the crew. They also force the radio operator to send an SOS, with the ship's position. In the engine room they get ambushed, and Don is knocked out and used as a hostage. Soon Captain Desmond has regained control of his ship, but by that time the SOS has attracted a U.S. destroyer into the area. Also Don Kerry has opened some valves in the engine room, creating a big oil slick, which acts as a trail in the wake of the gun-runner ship.
At a prearranged rendezvous, the freighter meets up with a cargo submarine. They anchor, and a load of weapons is transferred to the sub, and this takes up enough time for the Navy destroyer to catch up to them. The destroyer's guns destroy the sub, and soon the smuggling ship has been boarded and seized.
Appearing in Anchors Aweigh: "Gun-Runners of the WASP"
Featured Characters:
- LCDR Don Kerry (Final appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Red Murphy (Final appearance)
Antagonists:
- Captain Desmond (Single appearance)
- his smuggler crew
- cargo submarine crew (Dies)
Other Characters:
- U.S. Destroyer C.O.
- his crew: Bevins, others
Locations:
Vessels:
- S.S. Wasp, freighter
- U.S. Navy destroyer
- "cargo submarine"
Synopsis for Hour Man: "The Phony Hour Man"
Someone is impersonating the Man of the Hour, committing crimes, and leaving overly-easy clues behind, that point to Hour Man. The real Hour Man investigates, and discovers that the culprit is his new lab assistant, Bob Wallace, placed under hypnosis by the villainous Dr. Snegg, the uncaught and heretofore unnamed mastermind from Hour Man's previous adventure. They clash; Snegg shoots Hour Man with a revolver; Hour Man sidesteps the bullet. Snegg runs away, and covers his tracks by blowing up a house. Snegg drives away and Hour Man sprints after him, catches the car, and from the running board gives Snegg a face-full of tear-gas, causing him to run off the road and crash.
Appearing in Hour Man: "The Phony Hour Man"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- Dr. Snegg (Apparent Death)
- one thug
Other Characters:
- Tyler's boss (not named)
- Bob Wallace, Tyler's lab assistant
- theater watchman
- the Mayor
Locations:
- Appleton City
- Bannerman Chemical Co. (not named)
- Palace Theater
- Metropolis Theater
- Tyler's Apartment
- Wallace's house (Destroyed)
- Mayor's house (Destroyed)
Items:
- Miraclo
- Hour Man's Teargas-shooting Ring
Notes
- Published monthly by Detective Comics, Inc.
- Last issue for Anchors Aweigh by Bart Tumey.
- Don Kerry gets head-konked unconscious, one last time, with a big wrench.
- One last submarine crew gets wiped out.
- Last issue, Barry O'Neill's hair was red; this issue it's black.
- Cotton Carver:
- The Kossan populace, who were so frantic to get their vengeful hands on Lupa, at the end of the previous episode, have now apparently dropped right out of the story, and are no longer visible in the art. The Wolf People are mentioned, but are also no longer seen.
- The Warro looks more like a dinosaur than any other kind of animal, but he's of no recognizable species. He's "a friendly animal to those who treat him right!"-Lupa.
- The Winged Men are called "Sleeoos" per page 5, panel 1, or "Slooees" per page 6, panels 1 and 6.
- Hour Man: "The Phony Hour Man" is reprinted in The JSA All Stars Archive #1.
- Again the splash panel shows Hour Man pointing a pistol at an unseen target, and again this doesn't really happen in the story. See also Adventure Comics #50 and All-Star Comics #1.
- In the title and captions, the hero is called "Hour Man." Last issue it was hyphenated, as "Hour-Man."
- We see Dr. Snegg's car crash; we do not see the body, and Hour Man isn't shown to check on it.
- Last issue for Rusty and his Pals, by Bill Finger and an artist.
- Rusty will return later as a teenager, starting with Buzzy #3. By that time, he will have different pals.
- Sandman: "Wanted! Dead Or Alive" is reprinted in The Golden Age Sandman Archives Vol. 1
- Socko Strong gets a bullet wound. He then gets head-konked unconscious, with a chair. Also Jerry gets head-konked unconscious, with a club.
- Steve Conrad kills a shark, with a knife.
- Also appearing in this issue of Adventure Comics were:
- Farmer Doode by Bernard Baily
- "Adventure Stamp Page" (text article)
- "Junior Federal Men Club" (text article)
- "The Red Metal, Part 2 of 2" (text story) by Gardner Fox
- "Superman is on the Radio!" (1/2 page ad for The Adventures of Superman (radio series))
- "The BIG SIX comic magazines still lead the field!" (3/4 page ad for the current issues of Action, Adventure, Detective, All-American, More Fun, and Flash Comics)
- "-- And Don't Miss This One!" (1/4 page ad for the current issue of Batman #1)
See Also