Hit Comics #4 is an issue of the series Hit Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of October, 1940.
Synopsis for The Red Bee: "The Future Society"
The D.A. and his assistant Rick Raleigh investigate a series of multiple suicides. It's discovered that each victim had left, via their wills, a large sum of money to a group called the Future Society. The society is run by Dr. Marah, who injects his naive subjects with a hypnotic drug so that he can better force them to sign all their valuables over to the Society, then commit suicide, allowing Marah him to inherit the money right away. This plot is uncovered by Rick, as the Red Bee, and he manages to take Marah into custody after secretly movie-filming the exchange between Marah and one of his victims.
Appearing in The Red Bee: "The Future Society"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Tom Darrow, the D.A.
- Michael (the Red Bee's bee)
- Detective Riley
Antagonists:
- Dr. Marah (Single appearance)
- Lizak (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Mr. Vanger (Single appearance)
- Mr. Dupen (Single appearance)
Locations:
Items:
- Red Bee's "super camera machine" concealed in a fake piece of luggage
Synopsis for The Strange Twins: "The Budapest Crime Syndicate"
Appearing in The Strange Twins: "The Budapest Crime Syndicate"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- Rod Strange
- Wing Low
- Ferenc
Locations:
Synopsis for Betty Bates: "The Case of the Crooked Eights"
Betty Bates successfully defends Fred Conlin against a charge of murder. He was framed by Roland Lawson and Harvey Barth, who impersonated Fred's voice on a phone call to Toby Gillis. Betty breaks into Harvey Barth's house, on Long Island, to acquire a key piece of evidence. In court, at Fred's trial, she admits this. When confronted with Bates's theory of the frame-up, Roland Lawson blurts out a murder confession, pulls out a handgun, shoots at and misses Miss Bates, who pulls out her own handgun, and kills him. Lawson's wild shot kills his accomplice Barth.
Appearing in Betty Bates: "The Case of the Crooked Eights"
Featured Characters:
- Betty Bates (First appearance)
Antagonists:
- Roland Lawson (Single appearance; dies)
- Harvey Barth (Single appearance; dies)
Other Characters:
- Fred Conlin (Single appearance)
- Toby Gillis (Single appearance)
Locations:
- New York City
- Bates Law Office
- The Tombs
- Barth's home on Long Island
- Courthouse
Synopsis for X-5, Super Agent: "Assignment: Tradheim"
X-5 travels to Tradheim to meet with Herr Von Setz, an enemy agent posing as a dealer in beef. Tradheim is a small city that is suspiciously receiving enough beef to feed all of London, and X-5 must find out why. He poses as a man looking for work and is hired by Von Setz as a supervisor at the docks where the meat is unloaded.
One of the dock workers trips and drops the large slab of beef, exposing the munitions hidden within. Unfortunately, right after X-5 makes this discovery, his true identity is found out and all of Von Setz's men start firing at him. Since the exit to the docks is being blocked off to trap him inside, X-5 has to look for another way through. The captain of the guards is off in a remote section, requesting the asistance of Herr von Setz over the phone. X-5 knocks the man out after he hangs up, and switches uniforms with him. In his new disguise, X-5 waits for Von Setz's arrival, and then hijacks his car and orders his enemy to drive them out of the docks and over to the headquarters of British Intelligence. There, Von Setz admits to arms smuggling for his home country, who planned to take over the Northlands. The British agents are all told about the smuggling freighters and X-5 is commended for his efforts to uncover the operation.
Appearing in X-5, Super Agent: "Assignment: Tradheim"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- Herr Von Setz (wears a monocle) (Single appearance)
- Captain Schvin (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Colonel Leonard (Single appearance)
Locations:
- Tradheim, Northland
- Gulf of Bothnia (shown on a map, only)
- Eland (shown on a map, only)
- Finway (shown on a map, only)
( Southland (shown on a map, only)
Synopsis for Jack & Jill: "The Modern Art Robbery"
Appearing in Jack & Jill: "The Modern Art Robbery"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Squee (Single appearance)
Synopsis for Hercules: "The Overland Bus Mystery"
Joe Hercules and his friend Pete Birch make a round trip to California on the Overland Bus Line, because Joe is investigating an extortion racket in which the bus drivers are being killed. On the return trip, a hood in a fake beard (Pike) pulls a pistol on the driver, then fatally clubs him in the head with it, grabs control of the bus, sends it over a cliff, and jumps out just in time to save his own skin. A getaway car is waiting and picks him up. Hercules jumps through a bus window, reaches the ground ahead of the bus, and catches it, saving everybody aboard, then drives the bus to its destination town. In town, traffic is terrible, so Hercules lifts the bus over his head and carries it through the congestion to the terminal. He spots a newspaper story about the terrible deadly crash of that same bus, goes to the "News Chief" office, and confronts "Scoop," the story's reporter, and has a vigorous chat with him. "Scoops" rats out his boss, William Onslow, who is trying to gain control of the bus line. Joe changes into his Doll-Man-inspired superhero outfit, and hikes out to Onslow's mansion; on his way in he rolls up the paving on the driveway like a carpet, in case it comes in handy later. The butler is quite rude, and finds himself flung onto a chandelier, and Onslow is invited to accompany Joe to the police station. While he's fetching his hat, Onslow stealthily telephones his henchman Blacky to come over right away. Blacky and his team arrive in a car as J.H. and W.O. are crossing the grounds; Hercules unrolls the concrete and gravel driveway onto their car, and they're lucky to escape it alive. Joe carries Onslow over his shoulder, for about half an hour, until a police car comes along and offers him a lift. These cops are fake; it's Blacky and his thugs; they dose Joe with some poisonous gas, wrap him in chains, and dump him into a huge vat of quick-drying cement. Several minutes pass and the cement becomes as hard as steel, then Hercules busts out of it, beats up the gang, and drags them to the real police station. Two cops faint when they observe this.
Appearing in Hercules: "The Overland Bus Mystery"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Pete Birch
Antagonists:
- William Onslow (Single appearance)
- Onslow gang
- Pike (Single appearance)
- Blacky (Single appearance)
- Scoop (Single appearance)
Synopsis for The Old Witch: "Black Starred Skull"
Appearing in The Old Witch: "Black Starred Skull"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Marlo (Single appearance)
- Marlo's son (Single appearance)
Antagonists:
- The Queen (Single appearance; dies)
- The Princess (Single appearance)
Locations:
- Unnamed Kingdom
Items:
- A Black-Starred Skull
Synopsis for Blaze Barton: "King of the Rockmen"
Appearing in Blaze Barton: "King of the Rockmen"
Featured Characters:
- Blaze Barton
Supporting Characters:
- Betty Solis
Antagonists:
- Rock Men
Other Characters:
- Pretty People
- Queen Beatica
Locations:
- Beneath the earth
Items:
- Ray Guns
Synopsis for Bob & Swab: "Cockroach Detail"
Appearing in Bob & Swab: "Cockroach Detail"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- Oriental spies
Other Characters:
- the Captain
Locations:
Vehicles:
- USS Scarab
Synopsis for Tommy Tinkle: "Antigravitol"
Appearing in Tommy Tinkle: "Antigravitol"
Featured Characters:
- Tommy Tinkle
- Mary Lou
Supporting Characters:
- Professor Grump
Antagonists:
- Snipp
- Pokem
Items:
- Antigravitol Formula
Synopsis for Neon the Unknown: "The Transatlantic Bridge"
A great suspension bridge has been built, spanning the Atlantic from America to Europe, to signify the peace between the lands. The cruel dictator of Kampfland sends his army onto the bridge to invade the United States. There is a concealed runway, reached by ramps, under the main highway surface of the 3000-mile bridge; the Kampfland army uses this route to approach undetected. Neon the Unknown is watching a stream of American cars speeding onto the bridge when ... (caption): "Suddenly his mysterious mind receives vibrations warning him of impending disaster". That night a great neonic spiral ray arcs across the heavens, and Neon, swooping to the European end of the bridge, illuminates the marching Kampfland infantry. With piercing "dyna-neonic rays," Neon severs the bridge, then "fixes" the hanging ends of it in mid-air, preventing a greater collapse. Blindly following orders, the infantry keeps marching right over the edge and into the ocean, until a general orders them to halt. Retiring to a tower chart room, three generals try to figure out what's happened and what to do about it; Neon bursts into this room; he has some demands: the armies must turn back, the generals must sign a non-aggression pact with America, and they must form a peaceful trade agreement. The generals agree to all of this.
Meanwhile on the bridge, thousands of tourists are growing alarmed at the delay, but Neon calms them with some skywriting, then flies to Washington DC and dragoons the Secretary of War and the Secretary of State to draft up some war-ending agreements, real quickly, which they do. He then herds these two officials, plus the president, into a limousine, and flies them to the broken end of the bridge. But the treacherous Kampfland troops open fire on them, prompting Neon to bind the troops in a brilliant neonic ring of flame, then he berates them for being mere pawns of their greedy generals, and urges them to give up warfare and seek peace. This works, and one soldier points out the tower room to which the generals have retreated. In a cloud of smoke, Neon again bursts in on the generals, and punches each of them out, preaching about peace the whole while, then he welds the bridge back together with his mystic rays. (caption): "The soldiers and tourists join hands in a firm understanding of peace and brotherhood."
Meanwhile in the tower, the generals regain their wits, and decide to use tanks to regain control of the situation. They stealthily enter one tank (there are only three of them, so one is all they'll be able to manage), and determine to mow down their own men if that's what it takes. Neon puts the kibosh on that nonsense with a gesture of one hand, bringing a resistance force-wave into play to stop the tank, then turns the generals over to the crowd, who quickly toss them off the side of the bridge.
Appearing in Neon the Unknown: "The Transatlantic Bridge"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- Dictator of Kampfland (Behind the scenes)
Other Characters:
Locations:
Vehicles:
- tanks
Notes
- First issue for Betty Bates, Lady At Law by Bob Powell, credited as "Stanley Charlot."
- Per the 3rd panel of the 1st page of this issue's story, Betty's full name is "Elizabeth Bates"; it's painted on her office door.
- Betty breaks into Roland Lawson's house, and admits it in court. No repercussions ever ensue from this.
- Neon
- The U.S. President in the Neon segment is not actually named in this story, and he only appears in two panels, in one of which he is walking. In the Uncle Sam story in National Comics #1, the President is also unnamed, and walking. At the time these comics were published, the extent of President Roosevelt handicap was not widely known.
- In the Quality Universe, the Axis Powers included: Aryania, Austria, Barbaria, Bothnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Darmania, Dunland, Germany, Govania, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Jarmania, Kampfland, Latavia, Nordicha, North Germany, Romania, Tokoya, Tuvania, and others.
- Eland, Finway, Northland, and Southland appear in a map on the splash panel of the X-5, Super Agent story. Their geographic positions on that map correspond, respectively, to those of Iceland, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. The caption of the 2nd panel on the 1st page identifies Tradheim as being in Northland; in Real World geography Tradheim is in Norway. No other mention or reference to the names of any of these countries is made for the remainder of the story. It may be that this map, in the context of the Quality Universe, is merely symbolic, after the fashion of many earlier Will Eisner spy story splash panels, including several for both Black X and X-5.
- The nationality of the villains, both of whom walk and talk and are named like German Nazis, is never explicitly stated.
- Also appearing in this issue of Hit Comics was:
- "The Madman's Castle or the Living Ghost", by Toni Blum.
Trivia
- Charles Sultan signed his X-5, Super Agent story as "Cary Weyt."
See Also