I seek nothing more than to see justice done for all ... Farewell! 
- — The Black Condor
Crack Comics #2 is an issue of the series Crack Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of June, 1940.
Synopsis for The Clock: "The Orchid"
The Clock deals with the attempted murder of an heir about to come of age, by his uncle. Along the way he puts on a deep-sea diving suit and examines a car submerged in the city's river. There's also a subplot in which the Clock is aided by the Orchid, a mysterious female acquaintance. Is she a competitor or adversary? Either way, she must already know his secret identity.
Appearing in The Clock: "The Orchid"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Pat "Pug" Brady
Antagonists:
- Silas Greer
- Nick Peters
Other Characters:
- The Orchid (Behind the scenes)
- Harvey Gibbs
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "Molly the Model"
Appearing in "Molly the Model"
Featured Characters:
Synopsis for Red Torpedo: "The Blastproof Battleship"
Former U.S.N. Captain Jim Lockhart dba the Red Torpedo must destroy a powerful foreign warship (called a cruiser, a battleship, and a destroyer all in the same story), which he does by trapping it with icebergs, sneaking aboard it, snooping out its only vulnerable spot (under the prow), swimming thru the Arctic water back to his own super-submarine, and ramming it right thru the never-named battleship's hull and out the other side. The ship sinks rapidly in Arctic waters; no lifeboats are seen.
Appearing in Red Torpedo: "The Blastproof Battleship"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Adolf Hitler, not named
- Hermann Goering, not named
- Nazis
Other Characters:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "Ned Brant"
(newspaper strip reprints)
Appearing in "Ned Brant"
Featured Characters:
- Ned Brant
Synopsis for Lee Preston of the Red Cross: "Mission To Chenfu"
Appearing in Lee Preston of the Red Cross: "Mission To Chenfu"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Ken Davis
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Chinese Renegades
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for The Space Legion: "The Villain From Venus"
Appearing in The Space Legion: "The Villain From Venus"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Space Legion
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Alias the Spider: "Patterson's Plot"
The Spider takes on Mr Patterson, a businessman who has blown up his own department store to collect the insurance, and is trying to murder a salesgirl witness. At the end, Patterson tries to shoot The Spider and run away at the same time; The Spider fatally shoots him, in the back, with an arrow.
Appearing in Alias the Spider: "Patterson's Plot"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Patterson
- Thugs
Other Characters:
Locations:
Synopsis for "Jane Arden // Lena Pry"
(newspaper strip reprints)
Appearing in "Jane Arden // Lena Pry"
Featured Characters:
- Jane Arden (across top halves of pages)
- Lena Pry (across bottom halves of pages)
Synopsis for Madam Fatal: "Professor Discovers New Destructive Chemical"
Madam Fatal takes on a foreign spy trying to obtain a new secret chemical, a powerful new explosive developed by Professor Lane. Two spies get granny-walloped when they try to take Madame Fatal for a ride. Stanton has a parrot named Hamlet, which at a crucial moment, speaks up with some gangster-movie dialogue, distracting the spy long enough for Madam Fatal and Sergeant O'Malley to double-punch him out.
Appearing in Madam Fatal: "Professor Discovers New Destructive Chemical"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Hamlet, Stanton's parrot
Antagonists:
- foreign spy
Other Characters:
- Sgt. O'Malley
- Prof. Lane
- Colonel Jefferey
Locations:
Synopsis for Wizard Wells: "The House of Fear"
Appearing in Wizard Wells: "The House of Fear"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Tug
Antagonists:
- "Black" Morda
Other Characters:
- Mary Perry
Locations:
Items:
- Morda's Solid Gold Guns
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Black Condor: "The Adventure of Ali Kan"
In London, Englishwoman Andrea Kent has inherited the province of Raj from her dead uncle Roger Kent. Soon, at a fashionable ball, seeking to annex new territory, Prince Ali-Kan proposes to marry Andrea; she refuses him. Andrea and her brother Denny then travel to India, and Ali Kan has already done so. In a mountain pass in India, Ali-Kan sends his border bandits to massacre their motorized caravan's traveling party including Denny, pauses, then sends his regular troops to chase away the bandits, and capture Andrea.
The Black Condor arrives with a flock of condors who are of course attracted to the gunfight site; he finds almost-dead Denny from the raid, then visits Ali's palace. The Black Condor is a skilled hand-to-hand combatant, and can fly, yet Ali-Kan's palace guards take him down pretty quick. The evil ruler cages the Condor, but cannot hold him. A big smart condor visits B.C. that night, and receives instructions from him, and the next day, at his public execution, he escapes with the help of a big flock of big condors. At the end of that fight, Ali-Kan is comically hanging by the waistband of his pantaloons from a post in the execution yard.
The Condor then rescues Andrea from a locked tower, and returns her to her still-not-dead brother, in nearby Raj, where Ali-Kan's cavalry is just now arriving to take over. The Black Condor first uses his paralyzing black ray gun in this story. Between the giant condors and their own trampling horses, the paralyzed cavalrymen suffer severe casualties; as the effects wear off the survivors flee. Andrea then becomes the rightful ruler of Raj, at least until 1946 or so. Seeking no reward, the Black Condor flies away.
Appearing in Black Condor: "The Adventure of Ali Kan"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Andrea Kent
- Denny Kent
Antagonists:
- Ali Kan
Other Characters:
Locations:
- Ali Kan's palace
- Ali Kan's province
- Province of Raj
Items:
- Condor's paralyzing Black Ray Gun (First appearance)
Notes
- Alias the Spider: Hallaway's body count now > 6.
- Black Condor:
- The Black Condor first uses his paralyzing black ray gun in this story. There is no explanation whatsoever, here or in later issues, about where or how he got it.
- Even the other prisoners in Ali-Kan's dungeon know of the Black Condor, and call for his assistance. And when he first arrives at Ali-Kan's palace, a dancing girl is terrified by his arrival. So he's famous in southern Asia, but not necessarily popular.
- Red Torpedo:
- The never-named warship, nationality not stated, sunk by the Red Torpedo seems to be pretty loosely based on the KMS Bismarck. The national origin of the ship is never explicitly named, but all of the planning for it takes place "in the Chancellory of a powerful dictator," and the characters at that table certainly look like Goering and Hitler.
- Circa 1940-June, the Red Torpedo is an anonymous civilian citizen of a noncombatant nation, so this vigilante action is bold indeed. Jim Lockhart body count = approx 1100 battleship crewmen.
- Also appearing in this issue of Crack Comics were:
- Rube Goldberg's Side Show, by Rube Goldberg
- Slap Happy Pappy, by Gill Fox
- Snappy, art by Arthur Beeman
- Off The Record, by Ed Reed
- They're Still Talking: "About That 4th Inning in Philadelphia in 1926", by Bob Zuppke and B.W. DePew
- Screen Snapshots: "Jean Hersholt", by Gill Fox
See Also
Links and References
