Flash Comics Vol 1 4

"The Flash: "The Gambling Ship"": The Flash finds a socialite, Marcia Van Doorn, in the ocean, and after rescuing Marcia from drowning, he runs so fast that her clothes dry in an instant. He learns that she was thrown overboard from a gambling ship. The gamblers hav

The Flash: "The Gambling Ship"
Cover
Flash Comics Vol 1 #4
April, 1940
Executive Editor	M.C. Gaines
Cover Artists	George Storm
The Flash: "The Gambling Ship"
Writers	Gardner Fox
Pencilers	Everett E. Hibbard
Inkers	Everett E. Hibbard
Editors	Sheldon Mayer
"Cliff Cornwall, Special Agent: The Stolen Message"
Writers	Gardner Fox
Pencilers	Sheldon Moldoff
Inkers	Sheldon Moldoff
Hawkman: "The Thought Terror"
Writers	Gardner Fox
Pencilers	Sheldon Moldoff
Inkers	Sheldon Moldoff
Johnny Thunder: "Johnny Law"
Writers	John B. Wentworth
Pencilers	Stan Aschmeier
Inkers	Stan Aschmeier
Rod Rian of the Sky Police: "The Deadly Pool"
Writers	Paul H. Jepson
Pencilers	Paul H. Jepson
Inkers	Paul H. Jepson
The King: "The Stolen Washton Jewels"
Writers	Gardner Fox
Pencilers	Harry Lampert
Inkers	Harry Lampert
Flash Picture Novelette: "Where There's a Will"
Writers	Ed Wheelan
Pencilers	Ed Wheelan
Inkers	Ed Wheelan
The Whip: "The Plundered Peons"
Writers	John B. Wentworth
Pencilers	Homer Fleming
Inkers	Homer Fleming
Previous Issue	Flash Comics # 3
Next Issue	Flash Comics # 5

Hawkman is an idiot, a mewling kitten.

— The Thought Terror

Flash Comics #4 is an issue of the series Flash Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of April, 1940.

Synopsis for The Flash: "The Gambling Ship"

The Flash finds a socialite, Marcia Van Doorn, in the ocean, and after rescuing Marcia from drowning, he runs so fast that her clothes dry in an instant. He learns that she was thrown overboard from a gambling ship. The gamblers have kidnapped her fiance, Jimmy Norton, the son of a steel magnate, in order to force his father to withdraw his support for the passage of an anti-gambling law. The Flash goes undercover as a gambler, cheats at roulette, explores the ship between spins of the wheel, rescues Jimmy, and prevents Mr. Norton from signing the withdrawal. Then he forces confessions from the kidnappers.

Appearing in The Flash: "The Gambling Ship"

Featured Characters:

• Flash

Supporting Characters:

• Joan Williams

Antagonists:

• casino gangsters
• ship's crew

Other Characters:

• Marcia van Doorn, socialite
• Jimmy Norton
• Mr. Norton, steel magnate
  • Henry, Norton's Chauffeur

Locations:

• New York City Area
  • City Docks
  • Jay Garrick's House
• Halwood
  • Norton's Mansion
  • corner of Second and Highland
• Atlantic Ocean

Vehicles:

• "The Seven Seas" Gambling Ship
  • motor launch
    

Appearing in "Cliff Cornwall, Special Agent: The Stolen Message"

Featured Characters:

• Cliff Cornwall

Supporting Characters:

• Federal Bureau of Investigation

Antagonists:

• corrupt oil magnate
• his fiancee

Other Characters:

• Ambassador From Sofia

Locations:

• Sofia
  

Synopsis for Hawkman: "The Thought Terror"

Carter Hall saves a man from being run down by a car; the man seems drunk, even to himself, but Hall can smell no alcohol on his breath. It turns out that the man has been hypnotized at the Futurists Club, by a cult leader calling himself "the Thought Terror." Taking with him a gladiatorial net, Hawkman captures and interrogates the driver of the car, and learns about the Thought Terror's racket: he hypnotizes his clients, predicts their fates, plants post-hypnotic suggestions to enforce those fates, and charges them money for it to boot. Hawkman invades the Futurists Club, and encounters some henchmen who have been hypnotized into invulnerability; they overpower and capture him, and lock him in a cell. Hawkman gets free with the help of Shiera, (who packs a handgun), and who smuggles a blowtorch into his cell. Then, using a shield as a mirror, the Hawk hunts the hypnotist in his darkened lair. The Thought Terror puts forth a hypnotic whammy ("Hawkman is an idiot, a mewling kitten") but the Hawk uses his shiny shield Perseus-style, to reflect the hypnotic influence back onto the villain, who loses his wits completely and ends up in a lunatic asylum. This has the follow-on effect of snapping his underlings out of his control, enabling them to return to their own lives.

Appearing in Hawkman: "The Thought Terror"

Featured Characters:

• Hawkman

Supporting Characters:

• Shiera Sanders

Antagonists:

• Thought Terror (Single appearance)

Other Characters:

• Thought-Terror's Hypnotized Minions

Locations:

• Earth-Two
  • New York City
    • Futurists Club

Items:

• Hawkman's Nth Metal harness and weapons
  

Appearing in Johnny Thunder: "Johnny Law"

Featured Characters:

• Johnny Thunder
  • Thunderbolt

Supporting Characters:

• Daisy Darling
• Herman Darling  (First appearance)

Antagonists:

• Gyp the Jeep
  

Appearing in Rod Rian of the Sky Police: "The Deadly Pool"

Featured Characters:

• Rod Rian

Supporting Characters:

• Sky Police

Antagonists:

• dinosaur
• skeleton
• giant snake
  

Appearing in The King: "The Stolen Washton Jewels"

Featured Characters:

• The King

Supporting Characters:

• Myrna Mallon

Antagonists:

• Louie
• English Pete

Other Characters:

• Carla
• Mr. & Mrs. Washton

Items:

• Washton Jewels
  

Appearing in Flash Picture Novelette: "Where There's a Will"

Featured Characters:

• Will Lawson, cowboy
• old prospector
• June, neice
  

Appearing in The Whip: "The Plundered Peons"

Featured Characters:

• Whip

Supporting Characters:

• Marissa Dillon

Animals:

• King, The Whip's Horse

Antagonists:

• Ambrose Grede

Notes

• Published monthly by All-American Comics, Inc.
• The Flash:
  • When the Flash swims at super-speed the water behind him turns to steam.
  • The Flash does cheat at roulette, but he gives away all the money he wins.
  • Flash: The Gambling Ship is reprinted in Golden Age Flash Archives Volume 1.
• Hawkman:
  • First issue for Sheldon Moldoff art.
  • Carter Hall has a butler, but we never learn his name.
  • Although he never reappears in another story, the Thought Terror is the first Hawkman villain to remain alive at the end of the story that introduces him.
  • Hawkman: The Thought Terror is reprinted in The Greatest Golden Age Stories Ever Told and Golden Age Hawkman Archives Volume 1.
• Johnny Thunder: Johnny Law is reprinted in The JSA All Stars Archives Volume 1.
  • Johnny punches the villain, Gyp the Jeep, into next week, literally.
• The Whip:
  • First issue for Homer Fleming art.
  • Prior to the events of this issue's story, The Whip already had local lawmen and vigilantes after him; after kidnapping and enslaving these wealthy landowners he now would seemingly have both state troopers and FBI agents looking for him.
• Also appearing in this issue of Flash Comics was "Adventure in a Time Warp, Part 2" (text story) by Gardner F. Fox

See Also

• Cover gallery for the Flash Comics series
• Images from Flash Comics Vol 1 4