No ghosts will ever haunt your home again, now that it's in the proper hands! 
Hit Comics #14 is an issue of the series Hit Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of August, 1941.
Synopsis for Hercules: "Gang War"
Rival gang bosses "Monk" Mosby and "Cupie" Dahl carry their territorial dispute to a terrifying new level when Monk's hireling "Ears" Earle is able to steal an Army tank. In downtown Bigtown, in broad daylight, Ears and his crew attack Dahl, killing his bodyguard and chasing him into a nearby elementary school. When the tank advances to attack the school, Joe Hercules shows up, in his super suit, and grapples with the tank. He snatches it off the ground, flips it over, and shakes it until Earle and his driver fall out. Earle still manages to get away.
Monk and Ears try again, this time with four stolen Army dive-bombers. But Earle also makes a side-deal with Dahl, who soon is also equipped with three pursuit planes. Each of the bosses also has a hangar; Mosby's is disguised as a barn.
The next day there's an aerial battle, over Bigtown, endangering everybody. One of Mosby's bombers drops a bomb, but Joe Hercules shows up, springs onto the roof of the targeted building, catches the bomb, and throws it back at the warplane, destroying it. Two more bombers dive in closer, to strafe Joe with their machineguns, but this brings them close enough for Hercules to leap, first to the top of the tallest building in the city, then onto the slower of the two dive-bombers. He yanks out the pilot (Corny), and lets him parachute to safety, then climbs in and flies the plane, following the other two warplanes back to Mosby's secret hangar. Joe dives his plane into the roof of the barn, leaping out at the last second. The barn is shattered and burned, and Hercules follows up by scattering the wreckage around while some of it is still falling down. One guy is still in the barn, and he gets injured and trapped; Hercules rescues him.
This guy turns out to be working for Dahl, as a spy in Mosby's operation, and he stupidly assumes that Hercules is also with Dahl, then takes Joe to meet Cupie. They hitch-hike part of the way there, then arrive at Dahl's airfield, just as the three pursuit planes are coming in for a landing. Hercules immediately leaps at the lead plane, grabs its undercarriage, and flips its nose into the ground, catapulting the pilot out thru the open canopy. The other two planes dive in with machineguns blazing. Joe snaps off a telegraph pole, and swats one of them out of the air; that pilot also escapes. The last plane lands and tries to taxi over Hercules, but he snatches it back off the ground and flings it like a spear, straight at the hangar, both are destroyed. Cupie Dahl was piloting one of the wrecked planes, and he gets back up, pulls a gun, and tries to kill Joe with it, but he ends up being carried off the field under Joe's arm. That's when Ears Earle drives up in a big sedan, sees Hercules, does an abrupt U-turn and tries to flee. Joe picks up a small rock and throws it, thru the rear window of the car and into the back of Earle's head, hard enough to knock his face thru the windshield, which shatters, just before the car runs off the road and hits a tree.
But the car is still driveable and Ears is only knocked out, so Joe loads unconscious Dahl into the back seat with Earle, and drives them to meet the authorities.
Appearing in Hercules: "Gang War"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Monk Mosby
- his gang
- Ears Earle
- Cupie Dahl
- his gang (two die)
- Corny
Other Characters:
Locations:
- Bigtown
Items:
Vehicles:
- Army tank
Synopsis for Betty Bates: "The Vengeance of Al Vacco"
Appearing in Betty Bates: "The Vengeance of Al Vacco"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Buggsy Webb
Antagonists:
- Al Vacco
- his stooge
- Moe Wetzel
Other Characters:
Locations:
- Lake Hopato
Items:
Vehicles:
- rented seaplane
Synopsis for The Strange Twins: "Count De Fraud"
Appearing in The Strange Twins: "Count De Fraud"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Wing Low
Antagonists:
- Count De Fraud
Other Characters:
- Lydia Van Deer
- two hotel detectives
Locations:
- California Shores, California
- Sun Valley
- resort hotel
- De Fraud's mountain lodge
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Lion Boy: "The Abducted Chief"
Appearing in Lion Boy: "The Abducted Chief"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Bob and Swab: "The Malay Murderers"
Appearing in Bob and Swab: "The Malay Murderers"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Japanese military
- Malay hirelings, 5 or more
Other Characters:
- unnamed plantation-owning girl
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
- USS Scarab
Synopsis for The Red Bee: "Murder Among Millionaires"
While sailing in the vicinity of an exclusive resort area, D.A. Hawke and A.D.A. Raleigh witness a collision between an unmanned speedboat and an ordinary outboard motor skiff, from which millionaire yachtsman Bill Baldwin barely escapes with his life. It soon turns out that the speedboat was remotely controlled by radio.
That night, the Red Bee shadows Baldwin and his girlfriend Carol to a costume ball, and witnesses as a sniper shoots Bill between the eyes, killing him instantly and causing his car to crash, which nearly kills Carol. Red sends Michael after the shooter, and rescues Carol from the crashed-up sedan, then decides to accompany her to the costume ball disguised as Bill disguised as the Red Bee. He wanders away from the partygoers onto the mansion's grounds, and is promptly attacked with a flung battleaxe, which he dodges, followed up by a costumed bravo, whom he punches out. He hears a scream and runs back into the house; as he does so Michael the world's most amazing bee lands on his shoulder, and (in some way that is not explained) gets Rick to understand that the killer is here on the premises.
On a grand stairway inside the house, Carol is being menaced by a character wielding a big scythe and dressed as the traditional portrayal of Death, only in bright green. One haymaker punch sends the reaper tumbling down the long staircase, but he rolls on out through the front door and escapes, with Michael the bee in pursuit, fleeing into the stable. The Red Bee pursues; the killer has dropped his disguise on the floor and pretends to be a stablehand, and tries to stab Red with a pitchfork, but he's just not a good enough liar, or pitchfork-fighter, to pull off either of these tactics, and he gets punched out and arrested. He turns out to be an insanely jealous spurned suitor of Carol's. Presumably his battleaxe-flinging accomplice is also arrested.
Appearing in The Red Bee: "Murder Among Millionaires"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- District Attorney Hawkes
- Michael the Red Bee's bee
Antagonists:
- an unnamed killer
- another unnamed killer
Other Characters:
- Bill Baldwin (Dies)
- Carol, Bill's girlfriend
Locations:
- Superior City, Oregon
- seaside resort town
Synopsis for Neon the Unknown: "The Mining of New York Harbor"
A series of cargo ships are sunk in New York Harbor, the outer rim of which has been extensively mined, by some unknown method. Neon the Unknown arrives, observes from atop the Statue of Liberty, does some thinking, then dives into the harbor. He finds a deadly network of naval mines, stretching across the entire seaway, deep enough to be submarine-proof. From up close, Neon uses neonic force to detonate all the mines at once; the resulting blast flings Neon quite some distance under water. He stays down, until he spots a pair of miniature submarines, stringing a new net of mines into position. He stealthily follows the subs, which dive into a huge valve, set in the bottom of the harbor. Hundreds of feet farther down, he finds an immense submarine base.
A pair of German soldiers shows up; Neon punches them both out. A trainload of German soldiers arrives; Neon loops above them in a flash of neonic light, and zooms around the base until he finds the central arsenal. He is just about to detonate a whole lot of ordnance, when a German officer warns him that he's got a hostage, an American admiral, who will also die if the base is destroyed. While he's thinking it over, Neon gets head-konked unconscious, with a steel bar. The Germans quickly wrap steel bands around him and throw him in a dark cell, before he can regain consciousness. The admiral is in the next cell; there's a pipe in the wall between them; the admiral taps out a morse code message on the pipe. When he hears it, Neon exterts his neonic powers to unwrap the steel bands, yank the locks out of both cell doors, and scare away a squad of guards.
The base commander makes himself visible on a large-screen television in the ceiling, and makes some threats. Neon sends his powers thru the cement of the undersea structure, directly to the commander's office, and strikes him dead right there. Then Neon creates a terrific shock which shatters the entire base and creates a storm on the ocean surface. Nobody but Neon and the admiral are seen to escape.
Appearing in Neon the Unknown: "The Mining of New York Harbor"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- German submarine base commander (Dies)
- many German soldiers (all die)
Other Characters:
- unnamed admiral
Locations:
- New York Harbor
- Statue of Liberty
- secret subterranean submarine base (Destroyed)
Items:
Vehicles:
- miniature submarines, with special grappling equipment
Synopsis for Hell Diver: "The Plane Pirates"
Appearing in Hell Diver: "The Plane Pirates"
Featured Characters:
- Hell Diver (First appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- U.S. pilots
Antagonists:
- gang of airplane pirates
Other Characters:
Locations:
- Central American Waters
Items:
Vehicles:
- U.S.S. Gettysburg
- naval scouting monoplanes, 3
- naval scouting biplane, 1
Synopsis for G-5 Super Agent: "Assignment:Algiers"
Appearing in G-5 Super Agent: "Assignment:Algiers"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- French colonial officers
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for The Old Witch: "The Winslow Plantation Ghosts"
Appearing in The Old Witch: "The Winslow Plantation Ghosts"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Don Glory: "The Newfoundland Spy Ring"
Appearing in Don Glory: "The Newfoundland Spy Ring"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- spy gang
Other Characters:
- Davy McLain
- U.S. sailors
Locations:
- Newfoundland
- new Navy base
Items:
Vehicles:
- American destroyer
Notes
- Joe Hercules knows how to pilot a dive-bomber.
- Betty Bates is a qualified seaplane pilot, a competent fistfighter, and a crack shot.
- The Old Witch makes her final appearance in this issue of Hit Comics.
- The enemy soldiers in the Neon story aren't explicitly identified as German, but they wear gray uniforms and use German exclamations.
- G-5, Super Agent gets headkonked unconscious, his 1st known cranial concussion. Prior to this he's been shot, once, and mauled by a jaguar.
- Also featured in this issue of Hit Comics were:
- Dan Tootin: "The New Popcorn", by Jack Cole
- Tommy Tinkle, by Arthur Beeman
Trivia
- Al Bryant signed his Betty Bates artwork as "Stanley Charlot."
- Arthur Peddy signed his Don Glory artwork as "Lincoln Ross."
- George Appel signed his Hell Diver artwork as "Ace N. Hoell."
- George Appel signed his G-5 Super-Agent story as "Cary Weyte."
- George Appel signed his Old Witch story as "Pierre Winter."
- Henry Kiefer signed his Lion Boy artwork as "Merton Holmes."
- Jack Cole signed his Dan Tootin story as "Ralph Johns."
- Jerry Iger and Alex Blum signed their Neon the Unknown story as "Tagor Maroy."
- Jerry Iger and Alex Blum signed their Strange Twins story as "S.M. Regi."
- Reed Crandall signed his Hercules artwork as "Gregg Powers."
- Toni Blum signed her text story as "Toni Boone."
- Toni Blum and Witmer Williams signed their Red Bee story as "B.H. Apiary."
See Also
Links and References
