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"Captain Marvel: "The Lost Lightning"": German bombers destroy the home of the gods on Mount Olympus, and in search of a new home, Mercury leads them to an isolated land he discovered long ago. Only to learn that in the time since his visit this land has become the United States of America. The

Quote1 Wow! Uncover plan and smash it! Just like that - - - and I suppose in my spare time I can bomb Tokyo! Quote2
Private Weston

America's Greatest Comics #5 is an issue of the series America's Greatest Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of December, 1942.

Synopsis for Captain Marvel: "The Lost Lightning"

German bombers destroy the home of the gods on Mount Olympus, and in search of a new home, Mercury leads them to an isolated land he discovered long ago. Only to learn that in the time since his visit this land has become the United States of America. The gods are quickly offended by all the noise and confusion of modern cities.

Meanwhile, Billy Batson has been fitted with cement shoes and thrown off a pier by Riggshaw the racket boss, and calls out to transform into Captain Marvel. Cap easily escapes and fights off the gangsters, only for Zeus to refuse to answer Billy's calls for magic lightning in the future, so annoyed is the King of the Gods by all the chaos of the modern world. Billy agrees to take the gods to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, which are enough like their former home to satisfy them for the time being.

Word soon reaches the underworld that they no longer have to fear Captain Marvel. Riggshaw boldly expands his operations, Japan launches a huge naval fleet to invade America, Nazi saboteurs step up their activities, gangsters act unimpeded, and Stinky Printwhistle goes back on his promise to reform and transforms into IBAC again before going on a robbery spree.

Even being unable to change to Captain Marvel, Billy Batson's determined to do something about all the criminal activity and takes on Riggshaw, only to be easily knocked out. He calls out his magic word, and Zeus continues to resist, only for the other gods to tell him that their search for serenity is hopeless with the forces of evil running rampant. Realizing they're right, Zeus relents and he and the gods come along to help Captain Marvel defeat the numerous evildoers (Neptune destroys the Japanese fleet, Zeus uses a thunderbolt to summon hellfire and return the unconscious IBAC to normal, Cupid makes Nazi spies fall in love with America). With evil repelled again, the gods leave in search of a new home.

Appearing in Captain Marvel: "The Lost Lightning"

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  • Japanese battleships


Synopsis for Spy Smasher: "Battles the Bomber Birds"


Appearing in Spy Smasher: "Battles the Bomber Birds"

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Synopsis for Bulletman: "The Plotter"


Appearing in Bulletman: "The Plotter"

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Synopsis for Minute Man: "The Goddess of Fire"

On the island of Hawaii, the volcano Mauna Loa has begun to percolate its way toward a destructive eruption. Japanese agents are on the scene, instigating sedition and fomenting rebellion among the native Hawaiians, with one agent impersonating Pelee, the Goddess of Fire. Private Jack Weston is transferred to a new Army camp at Hilo, Hawaii, with written orders hidden in the heel of his boot to find out what's going on, and put a stop to it. The Japanese find him before he finds them, and Jack is knocked unconscious, but his ambushers are called away to their main attack on the Army camp, in too big of a hurry to kill him off. When Jack recovers, he changes clothes, uses his rifle to sound some warning shots, and charges into the jungle to take on the invaders with his bare fists, then meets up with the defending soldiers. A dying native provides a clue, from which Minute Man figures out the Japanese plan, and he runs to the native Hawaiian village to confront the fake Pelee. He gets in a fight with her, and some disguised fake natives, and some real natives too.

While that goes on, Mauna Loa rumbles into a full-on lava-spewing volcanic event, with a molten stream rolling downhill toward the native Hawaiian village. U.S. bombers arrive and bomb the mountainside, opening a channel that diverts the fiery flow in a different direction, saving the village. When the bomber lands, the natives charge to attack it, but Minute Man gets between them and the aircrew, again confronts the fake Pelee, and this time yanks off the facemask piece of the Japanese agent's disguise, exposing the fraud. The native Hawaaian warriors are won over, and some of them want to enlist in the Army.

Minute Man sprints away, hoping to cover for the absence of his alter ego Pvt. Weston, in the fight just ended, but fails to do so, and is once again put on a potato-peeling punishment detail.

Appearing in Minute Man: "The Goddess of Fire"

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  • Major Andrews
  • Sergeant Slattery

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Synopsis for Mr. Scarlet: "The Phantom of Marston Manor"


Appearing in Mr. Scarlet: "The Phantom of Marston Manor"

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  • Hank Marston
  • Janet Alton

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Synopsis for Commando Yank: "Joins Forces With the Paris Apaches"


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Notes

  • Date on cover is "Dec 16"
  • Minute Man: The Japanese soldiers wear Soviet-style Red Star insignias on their headgear.
  • Mister Scarlet: Pinky gets head-konked unconscious, with a club. This is the second cranial concussion of his sidekick career.[1]
  • Also appearing in this issue of America's Greatest Comics were:
    • "Sea Hunters" (text story) by Nathaniel Nitkin
    • Whipper-Snappers: "Home Work"



See Also


Links and References

Superboy Vol 4 69
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