Boy, would the Japs like to get their yellow mitts on this island ... only they don't know what's cooking here! 
Hit Comics #22 is an issue of the series Hit Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of June, 1942.
Synopsis for Stormy Foster: "Make-Up for Murder"
In a secret spy cell, two spies are disguised as chemical plant workers (and regular Vaughan's Pharmacy customers) Johnson and Smithers, and are sent to infiltrate the Cole Chemical Works, a vital defense plant. At Vaughan's drug store, their hostile demeanors arouse the suspicions of Stormy Foster, who sends Ah Choo on a made-up errand into the plant to do some spying. Ah Choo learns that there's a bomb set to go off at 2:15 that afternoon; he tells Stormy; Stormy vitamins up and changes clothes, then sprints to the plant, and climbs in through an upstairs window. Right away he finds the spies, setting up some nitroglycerin, and they start shooting as soon as they see him. He manages to render the nitro safe and smacks them both around pretty good, but one of them draws a bead on the nitro, suicidally determined to set it off no matter what, but just not quite quick enough to pull it off. These spies are soon arrested and their make-up jobs are removed.
Several days later, a bossy, pushy, overdressed, middle-aged woman shows up at the jail house, representing the Women's Welfare League, and she wants to inspect the jail, and she gets her way; Officer Casey conducts her on a tour, which takes them to the area where several cops, plus the Great Defender, are grilling the two spies. The woman drops a teargas bomb into the room, creating enough confusion for the two spies to escape, then she pretends to faint. The Defender gallantly carries her to safety, but once they're outside he notices greasepaint on his hands, and figures out the con. The "lady" gets in her car and drives away; the Great Defender easily keeps up and indeed rides part of the way on the back of "her" car, until they reach the spy hideout, out in the country. Dropping his disguise, the spy chief starts berating his two underlings, who have gotten there ahead of him, until t.G.D. makes his presence known by beating up all three of them, plus finding and rescuing the real Johnson and Smithers.
Appearing in Stormy Foster: "Make-Up for Murder"
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Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- three unnamed spies
Other Characters:
- Johnson
- Smithers
Locations:
- Southern California
Synopsis for Betty Bates: "Case of the Cat's Skeleton"
Appearing in Betty Bates: "Case of the Cat's Skeleton"
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Synopsis for Bob and Swab: "Peanuts and Spies"
Appearing in Bob and Swab: "Peanuts and Spies"
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Synopsis for Comet Kelly : "War!"
Near Singapore, U.S.Army fighter pilot Comet Kelly, flying a U.S.Navy F4F Wildcat, shoots down Japanese planes until he runs out of ammo, then by mistake lands on a Japanese aircraft carrier. He eludes capture long enough to gain control of an antiaircraft cannon, and fires this into the flight deck a few times. Meanwhile an American surface force is approaching, with no air cover, easy prey for a combined surface + air attack. Kelly runs across the flight deck and commandeers a primitive-looking biplane, a torpedo bomber, and takes off, then circles back and attacks the carrier itself, managing to sink it with one torpedo. This levels the playing field, enabling the approaching U.S. cruisers to win the ensuing artillery duel. Kelly pancakes his stolen plane onto the water near one U.S. ship and gets taken aboard.
Appearing in Comet Kelly : "War!"
Featured Characters:
- Lt. Douglas "Comet" Kelly, U.S.A.A.F. (First appearance)
Antagonists:
Locations:
- Pacific Ocean
- Waters around Singapore
Vehicles:
- F4F Wildcat fighter
- flight of Mitsubishi medium bombers (three destroyed)
- horde of Mitsubishi Zero fighters (one destroyed)
- Yokosuka B4Y torpedo bomber
- Imperial Aircraft Carrier (Destroyed)
- Imperial Cruisers (some or all destroyed)
- U.S. Cruisers
Synopsis for Red Bee: "The Silken Gang War"
A warehouse at the City Wharf is bombed, destroying a supply of valuable silk; Rick Raleigh is assigned to the case. In ordinary cities, there needs to be an arrested suspect before a prosecutor has a role to play, but apparently they do things differently in Superior City. While he's inspecting the bombed warehouse, a gunman shows up and shoots at him, just barely missing him; Rick jumps up and pursues this punk, pausing only long enough to change clothes. The Red Bee catches the gunman, recognizes him as "one of Casey's boys," and chokes some info out of him, then lets him go. There's trouble between two mobs, run by Franco and Casey, with one gang blowing up the other's stolen goods. Red Bee runs to one of the Franco operations, and bluffs his way in, then punches out the lookout at the door, encounters three more thugs, releases Michael the bee and starts fighting them, then is headkonked from behind with a blackjack by the gang's boss Franco.
Franco ties the Bee's wrists and dumps him into the basement, unsupervised. Glass bottles are down there, t.R.B. wakes up and breaks one, and cuts his bonds, waits until it's quiet upstairs, sneaks back up, eavesdrops on the gang moving their stolen silk to a new location, finds a phone, and anonymously calls rival gang boss Casey, who apparently is now called "Clancy," tipping him off to an opportunity to re-steal the stolen silks that Franco now has. Clancey brings his gang to Franco's hideout; there's a gunfight followed by a fistfight, which lasts until only the two bosses are left standing, then the Red Bee steps in and punches them both out. He then returns to Rick Raleigh's office, sneaks in, changes clothes, and acts surprised to hear about all the excitement.
Appearing in Red Bee: "The Silken Gang War"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Michael the Red Bee's bee
Antagonists:
- Franco
- Franco's thugs
- Casey, or Clancy
- Casey's thugs
Other Characters:
- unidentified young woman, delivering lines we usually hear from D.A. Hawkes
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Synopsis for Ghost of Flanders: "Prisoner of Von Kimmel"
Appearing in Ghost of Flanders: "Prisoner of Von Kimmel"
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Synopsis for The Strange Twins: "Totoya Adventure"
Appearing in The Strange Twins: "Totoya Adventure"
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- Strange Twins
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Synopsis for Captain Flagg: "The Coming of Captain Flagg"
Captain Flagg's USMC unit establishes a fortified oil and arms base on a Pacific island, protected by a electrical magno-field, despite an onslaught of Japanese forces. A German mole agent planted among Flagg's Marines tips off the enemy to the island's location, and the Japanese send a large number of carrier-based biplanes to attack it, but the paralyzing magno-field destroys most or all of them. The German spy makes a second attempt to shut down the defensive system, and is caught in the act by Captain Flagg, but kills himself to avoid interrogation.
Appearing in Captain Flagg: "The Coming of Captain Flagg"
Featured Characters:
- Captain Flagg (First appearance)
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Japanese Army
- unnamed German spy
Other Characters:
Locations:
- unnamed island in Pacific Ocean
Items:
- electrical magno-field, repels aircraft and artillery
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Synopsis for Swordfish: "The Swordfish Strikes"
Ensign Jack Smith, USN, develops an advanced, battery-powered, one-man, submersible warship, with a ram for a bow, and a retractable, movable, gun blister conning tower. He calls it "the Swordfish." He sails this thing to Japan, and waits for nightfall, then sneaks ashore with a tommy gun, and encounters a detail of soldiers, escorting American prisoners. He shoots all of the Japanese soldiers, then frees and arms the prisoners with captured weapons; they set out to find a boat, find a fishing boat, kill one guard, and put to sea. Jack returns to the Swordfish and follows the trawler out to sea then escorts it toward American territory. They're spotted by a Japanese patrol plane; Jack shoots it down, but it has already radioed the sighting, and soon a Japanese destroyer heaves into view. Jack submerges the Swordfish and uses passive SONAR to guide him towards the destroyer. He retracts the periscope, the gun blister, and the hydrovanes, essentially turning the vessel into a manned, nonexplosive torpedo, then he crashes it through the hull of the enemy warship, and out the other side. The destroyer sinks, and several survivors are rescued and captured by the trawler's new American crew. Several days later the trawler reaches an American naval unit; they look around to see that the one-man sub has vanished.
Appearing in Swordfish: "The Swordfish Strikes"
Featured Characters:
- Ensign Jack Smith (First appearance)
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Vehicles:
- The Swordfish
Synopsis for Don Glory: "Bout With the Vichy French'
Appearing in Don Glory: "Bout With the Vichy French'
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Notes
- Comet Kelly
- We never discover how this Army pilot knew how to land on a carrier, or to single-handedly operate a torpedo bomber, or why he's flying an F4F Wildcat (a Navy fighter plane) at the beginning of this story.
- The Red Bee gets whapped unconscious with a blackjack, for the (at least) 12th concussion of his career.
- D.A. Hawkes is absent from this episode. Rick gets his instructions and scoldings from some unidentified young woman.
- Stormy Foster
- Doc Vaughan is missing from this issue's episode.
- This issue of Hit Comics also featured:
- Dan Tootin: "Painless Dentist", by Jack Cole
- Tommy Tinkle, by Arthur Beeman
See Also
Links and References
