It does work! Probably is some sort of magnetic ray that draws the electrons of matter closer to each other, making an object shrink! I've made that book so small I need a microscope to see it! This offers a marvelous new field of research! I wonder if I could make one! 
All-American Comics #54 is an issue of the series All-American Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of December, 1943.
Synopsis for Green Lantern: "Crime Is an Art"
The heads of the Pitney Museum out west are afraid of the destruction of all their art treasures should the Japanese bomb their city, and decide to move their exhibits somewhere safer for the time being. This announcement reaches Alan Scott and Doiby, who are there to make sure radio installations are in place in case the warning of an air raid needs to be made. Unfortunately it also reaches unscrupulous parties who'd love to possess the museum's priceless pieces. Afraid of criminals having exactly this thought, Alan becomes Green Lantern, powers up his ring and heads over to the museum to warn them. They explain to the hero the announcement was actually a feint: the exhibits are being moved that night, not a few days from then. The details of the route are hidden in a secret place in the museum.
An unscrupulous guard tips off some of the interested criminals, such as crooked art dealer Lon Snade and gangster Gat Holster, and when Green Lantern returns to the museum to check on the directors he finds criminals have already been there and shot them dead. The only help he gets from a dying director are the cryptic words "key...up". The only other survivor has amnesia. While wandering the museum trying to puzzle it out, Lantern and Doiby end up in a room with replicas of ancient Egyptian marvels of engineering, and realize "key...up" probably means "Cheops". Sure enough, they find the details of the route hidden in a replica of the Pyramid of Cheops. After pounding the criminals who've caught up with them, the director who survived shows up and pulls a gun on the heroic duo. He was actually the one who hired Gat Holster's mob to rob the place, and killed the other directors so he could steal the treasures. Lantern and Doiby catch him, then the rest of the gang when it tries to ambush the convoy carrying the art treasures.
Appearing in Green Lantern: "Crime Is an Art"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Lon Snade, art dealer
- Gat Holster, bandit chief
- his gang
- Museum Director Watkins
Other Characters:
- Museum Directors: Wright, Loft, (both die.)
Locations:
- Apex Broadcasting Company
- unnamed west coast city
- Pitney Museum
Items:
- Green Lantern's Power Ring
Synopsis for Atom: "Al Pratt's Disguise"
Appearing in Atom: "Al Pratt's Disguise"
Featured Characters:
- Al Pratt, the Atom, as "Denver Ed"
Antagonists:
- protection racketeer
- his gang
Other Characters:
- three business proprietors
Locations:
- Calvin City, Connecticut
- Calvin College
- Candy Store, corner of Pine Street
Synopsis for Dr. Mid-Nite: "The Man Who Defeated Death"
Dr. McNider's been made the executor of a colleague named Jamison's estate. This consists of a device that can shrink anything its beam is projected on. Meanwhile, a man's shot by gangsters and has a bullet lodged in his heart. Despite his blindness, Dr. McNider's called upon to operate to save the man's life, but he "volunteers" Dr. Mid-Nite to perform the job instead. He does so by using the shrink ray to reduce himself to microscopic size, and after fighting his way through giant germs to where the bullet rests, shrinks that as well and saves the victim's life.
Appearing in Dr. Mid-Nite: "The Man Who Defeated Death"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Clipper Jackson
- his gang
Other Characters:
- Jamison (Deceased)
- NYPD Detective (Wounded)
Locations:
- Keystone City
- Dr. McNider's Office
- Memorial Hospital
- Jackson's Waterfront Hideout
Items:
- Jamison's Shrinking Ray
Synopsis for Scribbly and the Red Tornado: "Trip to the Zoo"
Appearing in Scribbly and the Red Tornado: "Trip to the Zoo"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Cyclone Kids
- Uncle Gus
- Uncle Herman
Animals:
- Looey the Lion
Locations:
- New York City
- Vine Street, Hunkel's Grocery
- City Zoo
Synopsis for Red, White, and Blue: "Blooey Got a Cinder in His Eye"
Appearing in Red, White, and Blue: "Blooey Got a Cinder in His Eye"
Featured Characters:
- Red, White, and Blue
- Red Dugan, USMC
- Whitey Smith, USA
- Blooey Blue, USN
Supporting Characters:
- Doris West, G2
Antagonists:
Locations:
- Mobbins Shipyard
Items:
- Incendiary Liquid (looks like water, acts like dynamite)
Synopsis for Hop Harrigan: "Lightning Strikes"
Appearing in Hop Harrigan: "Lightning Strikes"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Hippity
- his Pararompers and Paratots (First appearance)
Antagonists:
- Blitz Fritz (wears a monocle)
- his submarine crews
- his troops
Other Characters:
- international assortment of refugees
- Dutch radio operator (Dies)
- operator's young son (joins Paratots)
- U.S. Marines
Locations:
- Northern Coast of South America
- Dutch Guiana
- Refugee Camp "Vrijhopen"
- Oil Depot, "Nieuw Olie"
- Dutch Guiana
Vehicles:
- Harrigan's Scouting Plane (Destroyed)
- Nazi Submarine Flotilla
- Me-109
- U.S. P-51s and B-24s
Notes
- Published monthly except May, August, November, and February by J.R. Publishing Company.
- The Atom uses putty and make-up to transform his appearance, and infiltrates a robbery gang. This is a skill he rarely uses.
- Dr. Mid-Nite is able to duplicate Jamison's Shrinking Ray technology, and builds a miniature model of it, which is later expanded to full size by the original device. He then reduces himself to "sub-microscopic size", and enters a patient's body via a skin pore. Inside it, he reduces and removes a bullet from the patient's heart, saving his life.
- After this story, this amazing technology is never used, seen, or mentioned again.
- In this point of time, any non-metal objects could hurt Green Lantern, not only wood. Green Lantern gets head-konked unconscious with a wooden chair.
- Museum Director Watkins gets knocked out by a scalp-grazing bullet-wound, which gives him amnesia.
- Hop Harrigan survives another plane crash.
- Hop's sidekick Hippity understands all languages, but cannot speak. He carries a battery-powered buzzer and communicates via morse code.
- Hippity recruits his international gang of Pararompers and Paratots from an international accumulation of refugees. Next issue, they'll go up against the Japanese Navy.
- Red, White and Blue: Whitey and Blooey get head-konked unconscious with wooden clubs.
- Also appearing in this issue of All-American Comics were:
- Mutt & Jeff (newspaper strip reprints) by Bud Fisher
- Cicero's Cat (newspaper strip reprints) by Bud Fisher
- Jimmy Stone: "Chinese Puzzle, Part One" (text story) by Evelyn Gaines
- 2/3 page advertisement for Wonder Woman #6, Mutt & Jeff #11, All-Flash #12, and All-Star Comics #18
Trivia
- Stan Aschmeier signed his Dr. Mid-Nite story as "Stan Josephs".
- The final panel of most of the stories in this issue are advertisements for War Bonds, featuring a cartoon rendition of Emperor Hirohito, signed by Dr. Seuss.
See Also
