Action Comics #33 is an issue of the series Action Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of February, 1941.
Synopsis for Superman: "The Lumber Millionaire's Will"
Word spreads about millionaire Ken Hall's new clause to his will. Upon his death, all proceeds made from his lumber camps and mills to go towards the founding of a summer camp for underprivileged youths. The next day, Hall's body is found at the base of a cliff by lumberjacks. It looked like he had slipped and fallen during a routine inspection of his property. News spreads of the unfortunate accident. Perry White at the Daily Planet receives a call from the deceased's brother, Brett Hall, informing the editor that he intends to fight his brother's "ridiculous" will to the limit. Fortunately for the children, the courts rule in favor of the late Ken Hall, and the money will be given to the summer camp.
Several months later, news reaches White's ear that no revenue from Hall's lumber company had been received since the court case. There had been cases of sabotage all across the property; workers killed in accidents, explosions in the night, falling trees. He sends his two best reporters, Clark Kent and Lois Lane, to investigate Hall Lumber Camp.
Clark and Lois arrive by plane to the small town near the woods, their cover story being that they were there to find work. Cliff, the owner of the rowboat that takes them to the logging site, introduces them to the boss of the camp, Francois Bernier. Mr. Bernier doesn't buy their act one bit, and after he puts them up in the bunkhouse, he returns to the dock and tells Cliff to take the woman on a "boat tour" where he will then kill her. Later that day, Clark is put to work chopping up wood, while Lois sits in the rowboat for her tour of the site. Cliff takes her to see a large whirlpool in the river. What she doesn't see is her guide picking up a crowbar, and then with one whack, everything goes dark. Lois is shoved overboard, her unconscious body being sucked down into the whirlpool! With his super-hearing, Clark hears a cry that sounded like Lois before it was cut short. He dashes away from Francois, ducking into the woods to change to Superman, then soars off in the direction of the cry. Over the treacherous waters he flies until he spots Lois being dragged down farther and farther into the whirlpool. Reaching down into the vortex, Superman pulls her out and flies her to shore. The Man of Steel quickly dons his outer garments, returning to his identity as Clark Kent. When Lois wakes up, she has no memory of how she got out of the whirlpool. Clark tells her to play dumb for now, as Francois Bernier and Cliff arrive. They are both shocked that Lois is alive, though they don't mention the murder attempt to the seemingly unknowing pair. Bernier moves the two of them from the bunkhouse to a small cabin, where he then locks them inside. Cliff pours gasoline all around the building, then Bernier lights a match and ignites it. Inside the shack with Clark and Lois are dozens of kegs full of gunpowder for T.N.T. They'll be blown to a million pieces! Clark takes Lois and uses hypnosis on her so she won't remember the following events, then lifts her in his arms and flies out through the roof. He sets her down, then releases her from the trance right after flying off again as Superman. It was time to make the two attempted murderers to pay the price!
Francois Bernier heads inside the main office, not noticing the last son of Krypton watching from the roof. Inside, Bernier speaks to a man in a mask, reporting that he killed the two spies. He now expected a reward for not only dealing with them, but for sabotaging the production like the masked man wanted. Just then, Lois is brought in by Cliff, who found her snooping around outside, to his and Bernier's surprise. Angered that his lackeys can't even kill one woman, the masked man opens fire, shooting both Francois Bernier and Cliff. His next bullet is aimed at Lois, but Superman intervenes, causing a ricochet where the bullet bounces off a broken piece of the ceiling beam and hitting the masked man! Lois removes the mask to reveal Brett Hall. With his dying words, Hall reveals that he killed his brother to get his millions. He had Bernier sabotage his brothers lumber mill to drive the price down, which he would then buy for cheap!
Clark and Lois talk afterwards. Even though she never saw him this time, Lois knew in her heart that Superman had helped her once again. Clark just wishes she'd stop mooning over Superman and notice him for a change.
Appearing in Superman: "The Lumber Millionaire's Will"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Brett Hall (Single appearance; dies)
- Francois Bernier (Single appearance; dies)
- Cliff (Single appearance; dies)
Other Characters:
- Ken Hall (Single appearance; dies)
Locations:
- Earth-Two
- Metropolis
- Bronston
- The Hall Lumber Camp
- The Hall Lumber Camp
Synopsis for Pep Morgan: "The Gas Rifle"
Pep is offered a chance to field test a new prototype gun that delivers knockout gas with each bullet. But the gun is taken by foreign hoodlums, and Pep must get it back before they unlock its secrets.
Appearing in Pep Morgan: "The Gas Rifle"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Slim Pickens
Antagonists:
- Foreign Spies (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- "Stretch" (Single appearance)
- Professor Kane (Single appearance)
Locations:
- Midtown
- Brentville
Items:
- Air Rifle with Knockout Gas Bullets
Synopsis for The Black Pirate: "The Capture of the Queen of the Seas"
The bet between Jon Valor and the woman who calls herself the Queen of the Seas, that he could plunder more treasure in four days than she could in a week, comes to an end. But there is no sighting of her or her ship in the days that follow. Jon rallies his men together and sets sail, eager to find his friendly rival, fearing that she had gotten in some trouble.
The Queen of the Seas has indeed bittn off more than she can chew. She had come across a Chinese junk, and had her crew pull alongside it for an easy looting. But the junk's captain, Lu Chan, was clever. His ship bombards hers with fireballs. When she and her crew are attacked, the Chinese pirates outnumberthem, and they are all slaughtered! She herself is taken captive, tied to the main mast under the gloating eyes of Lu Chan.
Valor's ship comes across the remnants of the Queen of the Seas' vessel, determining that it was attacked by fire, a common maneuver of the Orientals. He vows to hunt them down and save her if he has to follow them all the way to the Orient.
Appearing in The Black Pirate: "The Capture of the Queen of the Seas"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Lu Chan (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- Valor's crew
Locations:
- Atlantic Ocean (16th Century)
- Calatao, Port Town
Vehicles:
- Jon Valor's Ship
Synopsis for Three Aces: "The Treasure of Kublai Khan"
Gunner, Whistler, and Fog head to Mongolia in search of the legendary treasure of Kublai Khan. After helping stave off a bandit attack on the United Mission building, the aces get a new hint on the treasure's location. Hours of searching leads to a fantastic find!
Appearing in Three Aces: "The Treasure of Kublai Khan"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Julie (Single appearance)
Antagonists:
- Mongolian Bandits
Other Characters:
- Julie's Father (Single appearance)
Locations:
Items:
- Kublai Khan's Treasure
Vehicles:
- Aces' Planes
Synopsis for Mr. America: "The Origin of Mr. America"
Tex Thomson quits his racket-busting job and joins the war relief effort, and sails for Europe aboard the S.S. Angelus, but is nearly killed, along with the crew and other passengers, when the ship is destroyed by a saboteur's bomb. He survives by clinging to some flotsam, and eventually is picked up by another ship. He returns to America, dyes his hair, picks up a bullwhip, assumes a new identity, and vows to protect the nation as Mr. America. He starts his new career by tracking down and shutting down the saboteurs responsible for blowing up the war relief ship, who turn out to be led by Pratt, a bureaucrat in the War Department. Bob Daley soon learns that Tex is still alive, and afterward helps Tex to keep his real identity concealed.
Appearing in Mr. America: "The Origin of Mr. America"
Featured Characters:
- Tex Thomson (First appearance as Mr. America)
Supporting Characters:
- Bob Daley
- D.A. Maloney
Antagonists:
- Pratt (Single appearance)
- Fifth Columnists (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- ship captain (Single appearance; dies)
Locations:
Items:
- Mr. America's Bullwhip (First appearance)
Vehicles:
- The Angelus (a mercy ship) (Destroyed)
Synopsis for Clip Carson: "Mr. Z"
Continued from last issue... Roland Andrews is being threatened by a "Mr. Z". Clip vows to keep him and his sister Doris safe until they find out who's behind the attacks.
Appearing in Clip Carson: "Mr. Z"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Doris Andrews (Final appearance)
Antagonists:
- Grasso (Single appearance; dies)
- Carson (Single appearance; dies)
- Headhunters
Other Characters:
- Roland Andrews (Final appearance)
Locations:
Synopsis for Zatara: "The Platinum Idol"
While trekking in the Catskills, Zatara comes across a young woman named Nana Rinaldo, who was out looking for her father. Henri Rinaldo and his partner, Fred Hart, had been exploring the Brazilian jungles a year ago, when they found a hidden cave containing a large idol made from platinum. Nana feared that because her father was the only one who remembered how to find the cave, he had been kidnapped for it.
With his magic, Zatara flies with Nana across the sea to Matto Grosso, the area in Brazil where her father found the cave. They discover Fred Hart holding Henri at gunpoint, eager to get the platinum idol for himself! With the help of a native dwarf tribe who don't want the idol of their god to be disturbed, Zatara rescues Henri, and casts a spell on Fred in the cave, turning him into an idol himself.
Appearing in Zatara: "The Platinum Idol"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Nana Rinaldo (Single appearance)
- Shin-Giva, the God
Antagonists:
- Fred Hart (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Henri Rinaldo (Single appearance)
- The Dwarfs of Matto Grosso
Locations:
- Earth-Two
- New York
- Catskill Mountains
- Brazil
- Amazon River
- Matto Grosso
- Rolling Valley
- Rio de Janeiro
- New York
Items:
- Statue of Shin-Giva
Vehicles:
- airplane
Notes
- Published monthly by Detective Comics, Inc.
- This issue's Black Pirate episode is continued from last issue and continues into next issue.
- Superman The Lumber Millionaire's Will is reprinted in Superman: The Action Comics Archives Vol. 2 and Superman Chronicles Vol. 5.
- Aside from the stories above, this issue contains:
- "Just Like Junior" (1-page humor strip)
- "Human Chessmen" by Gardner Fox (text story)
See Also