Hero Hotline (Volume 1) with a cover date of July, 1989.
Synopsis for "Bombs Away!"
At 9:01 the next morning Mister Muscle's wife calls to report him missing and Soozie-Q is able to locate him in an alley behind a bar apparently in a drunken stupor. Stretch is sent to bring him back. Hotshot, meanwhile, has taken the morning off to move into his new apartment, an ordeal made worse by his guilt-tripping mother. He arrives at the office and spends some time talking to Zeep who is trying to recruit him for his Heroes' Union. Hotshot is soon given an assignment.
At 12:17 Mister Muscle arrives, having captured an unnamed masked criminal, only to be promptly arrested for the murder of Ralph Bartoli. He is escorted to the police station. The masked villain tries to sneak away, only to be noticed by the police too.
The Hotline begins getting calls from a person who says he has been kidnapped but the signal keeps ending in a high-pitched screech.
Melanie arrives to take Private Eyes to get their marriage license.
Voice-Over, Microwavabelle and Diamondette leave for lunch and Fred gets locked inside the men's room.
Hotshot meets with Mr. Piersall who smokes in bed. His three sons called Hero Hotline for help and Hotshot tries unsuccessfully to warn him of the perils. Finally Hotshot uses his powers to set the bed on fire as a demonstration and the sons are forced to put out the fire themselves. Hotshot leaves the angered client.
Back at the headquarters Stretch discovers that the men's room is locked as he is given an assignment to rescue a cat stuck in a roof drainpipe.
At the restaurant, an employee shows the three eating heroes a block of ice containing a body that was delivered, he hopes, by mistake. By 1:47 the heroes bring it back to the office where the body is identified as the Americommando despite the Coordinator's insistence that it isn't the real one.
Hotshot returns and is told by the Coordinator that he must pay for a new bed for Mr. Piersall.
All the heroes have now returned and chaos prevails as they simultaneously try to 1) get Fred out of the men's room, 2) free the frozen person and 3) listen to yet another call by the kidnapped person. Private Eyes discovers that there is a bomb inside the fake body of the Americommando, which is activated by the screech at the end of the kidnapped person's call, and Diamondette slices the body and ice open allowing Stretch to get rid of the bomb.
At the police headquarters, Mister Muscle recounts his story for the seventh time during which it is reiterated that the wrench was the murder weapon and that only Mister Muscle's fingerprints were found on it.
Zeep leads the bulk of the night crew into a union strike.
Appearing in "Bombs Away!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Suzy Q
- Melanie Boulder
- Ellie Longacre (First appearance)
- Hero Hotline Night Crew
- Card Queen (First appearance)
- Chlorino (First appearance)
- Herald II (First appearance)
- Marie the Psychic Turtle
- Ms. Terrific (First appearance)
- Zeep the Living Sponge
- Irma Lefferts
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Mr. Peirsall (First appearance)
- Mr. Peirsall's 3 sons (First appearance)
- Peeps (Single appearance)
- Detective Grobotkin (First appearance)
- Red Tornado I (Cameo)
Locations:
- Unnamed City
- Hero Hotline Headquarters
- Kollmer Pool Parlor, 13th and Bowden Street
- Burger Town Restaurant
- Peirsall Residence
- Courthouse
- Unidentified Residence
- Police Station
Items:
- Microwavabelle's Suit
- Private Eye's Lenses
Vehicles:
- None
Notes
- There is no official story title so the title on the cover is used instead.
- Mister Muscle's story arc puts this issue as the day after the last issue which has been identified as occurring on the 23rd making today the 24th.
- This is the first issue where the existence of a criminal mastermind becomes clear.
- Hotshot states that he is eighteen and a half years old.
Trivia
- Private Eyes has a trophy from 1976 likely to do with private detection as the trophy is shaped as an eyeball.
- A note on the Coordinator's television screen indicates there is a national holiday called "Justice Society Founders Day" which is a bank holiday.
See Also