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"Joe Hercules: "The Power-Stealing Tower"": Somewhere in the north woods, a crime syndicate builds a giant tower with advanced equipment that will drain the power from every dynamo in America. The conspirators believe only "that hick, Hercules" can stop them, so they send out a carload of heavil

Quote1 And just let anyone else try to get control of this free land! This is just a warning of what will happen to them! Quote2
Joe Hercules

Hit Comics #8 is an issue of the series Hit Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of February, 1941. It was published on December 4, 1940.

Synopsis for Joe Hercules: "The Power-Stealing Tower"

Somewhere in the north woods, a crime syndicate builds a giant tower with advanced equipment that will drain the power from every dynamo in America. The conspirators believe only "that hick, Hercules" can stop them, so they send out a carload of heavily-armed gangsters to kill him. While they're driving through the forest, they encounter Joe Hercules, in his superhero suit, blazing his own trail by knocking over gigantic trees. He asks them if they know anything about the big tower, and they volunteer to take him there, and show it to him. "It's a ... er ... a lightning producer. We expect to use it for ... er ... producing lightning!" This doesn't fool Joe, he grabs the main hood and makes an accusation; the hood yelps for help and a mob of shirtless escaped convicts swarms into the room brandishing guns and knives. Hercules is mopping up the room with these mooks when one of them manages to push him over a handrail and into (for the second time in his career) a vat of wet cement. This time he hasn't been poisoned or wrapped in chains, but the bad guys compensate by charging the whole mass with electricity, which hardens it instantly. The resulting big block of concrete is then chiseled into a statue of Hercules, and displayed on the front parapet of the giant tower.

The Army sends planes and troops to attack the tower, but these are repulsed, and casualties are inflicted, with conventional gunnery. Weeks go by.

An anxious citizens' committee comes to plead for a deal; the conspirators not only don't relent, they lower some ray guns and fry the gathered throng with hot rays of death. But this creates vibrations which weaken the concrete statue, which is soon shattered, and Hercules bursts free! He hasn't breathed in weeks, but here he is, chasing the mob's leaders. They flee in an autogiro while Hercules scales the tower, then inexplicably they circle back towards the tower, then Hercules leaps and catches the aircraft by the tail, then grabs the rotor blades in mid-spin and yanks them loose. The plane drops and crashes, with two badguys aboard; we see no parachutes. Hercules leaps free of it, back into the tower, where he chases and catches and punches out some guards, then he gets a grip on the base of the tower and rips it from its base and sends it thundering to the ground.

Appearing in Joe Hercules: "The Power-Stealing Tower"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:


Antagonists:

  • several dozen gangsters (many die)

Other Characters:


Locations:

  • a giant tower in the north woods

Items:

  • advanced electrical equipment, designed to remove power from every dynamo in America

Vehicles:

  • an autogiro (crashes)


Synopsis for Betty Bates: "Broadcast of Crime"


Appearing in Betty Bates: "Broadcast of Crime"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:


Antagonists:

  • Joe Spumoni

Other Characters:

  • Freddie
  • The District Attorney

Locations:


Items:


Vehicles:



Synopsis for The Strange Twins: "The Haunted House of Spies"


Appearing in The Strange Twins: "The Haunted House of Spies"

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Antagonists:

  • Herr Schwitzer

Other Characters:


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Synopsis for Bob & Swab: "The Guantanamo Bay Incident"


Appearing in Bob & Swab: "The Guantanamo Bay Incident"

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Antagonists:

  • Lt. Blemish

Other Characters:


Locations:

Items:


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Synopsis for The Old Witch: "The Forester's Vengeance"


Appearing in The Old Witch: "The Forester's Vengeance"

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Synopsis for G-5, Super Agent: "The Lost Tornado"

The Airplane Carrier "Tornado" has mysteriously disappeared, so Naval Intelligence calls in G-5, who soon is being shown some charts by Admiral Sir James Mawson, when an assassin shows up outside Mawson's office window. G-5 shoots at the retreating spy, and bolts outside to check his results, but running through the door, he crashes into Lieutenant Barclay, from the Tornado, mortally bullet-wounded. Barclay blurts out a few disjointed phrases, and this gives G-5 a hunch, one for which he'll need the Admiral's cooperation, which he gets.

The next morning, G-5 has flown to Bangkok, Siam, where he meets up with Lieutenant Harvey, and they undertake to search the Malay States, flying a 2-engined "Albacore" scouting plane. As they approach the Suna Islands, a squadron of Italian fighter planes attacks them. G-5 outmaneuvers and shoots down two of them. Then G-5 spots the Tornado, anchored in a small cove, and flashes the ship a recognition signal, which is returned. He lands on the carrier, and confers with Commander Davis, the commanding officer, who disbelieves that G-5 is really G-5, and has him arrested, or tries to.

G-5 pulls a gun, and the captain turns out to be Nazi agent Von Berg. At gunpoint, Von Berg orders the crew to sail the Tornado to a friendly port. Along the way a raiding squadron of Italian Nazi warplanes attacks, but these are destroyed by some arriving British Spitfires. G-5 ends up back in London.

Appearing in G-5, Super Agent: "The Lost Tornado"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

  • Adm. Sir James Mawson

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

  • Lt. Barclay (Dies)
  • Lt. Harvey

Locations:

Items:


Vehicles:

  • 2-engined "Albacore" scouting plane
  • Italian Nazi warplanes (see note below)

Synopsis for The Red Bee: "Boss Crowsy, Corrupter of Youth"

Boss Crowsy and his crime gang are recruiting and corrupting youngsters into criminality until the Red Bee puts a stop to it.

Appearing in The Red Bee: "Boss Crowsy, Corrupter of Youth"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

  • Tom Darrow, District Attorney

Antagonists:

  • Boss Crowsy

Other Characters:

  • Jimmy Mattens
  • Dick Mattens (Dies)

Locations:

Synopsis for Blaze Barton: "Battle with Blitz"


Appearing in Blaze Barton: "Battle with Blitz"

Featured Characters:

  • Blaze Barton

Supporting Characters:


Antagonists:

  • Blitz

Other Characters:


Locations:


Items:


Vehicles:



Synopsis for Tommy Tinkle: "The Hungry Ghost"


Appearing in Tommy Tinkle: "The Hungry Ghost"

Featured Characters:

  • Tommy Tinkle

Supporting Characters:


Antagonists:


Other Characters:


Locations:


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Vehicles:

  • <br/

Synopsis for Lion Boy: "The Monkeys Muscle In"


Appearing in Lion Boy: "The Monkeys Muscle In"

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Synopsis for Neon the Unknown: "The Woman and the Bund"

In a little cottage on the outskirts of a small town, a worried old man wishes that he had the powers of Neon the Unknown. Suddenly Neon appears, just like that, and wants to know what's bothering the old guy. He's worried about his granddaughter Sally, who ran away to get married. Neon concentrates on Sally, and her image forms in his mind; she's at a Bund rally, heiling Hitler and addressing a vast audience of uniformed fifth columnists.

Neon streaks across the country on a great beam of light, catches Sally alone, and confronts her. She is filled with remorse for marrying Carl, who bullies her into serving his Bund gang. Just then a hench-Bundist shows up to make trouble for Sally, but Neon punches him out. She warns Neon of an attack on a local armory, planned for that very day. Instantly Neon flashes to the arsenal; a Bundist look-out takes over an antiaircraft gun and tries to shoot him down, but Neon easily melts the mighty weapon with a gesture of his powerful neonic hands. Below the building, Neon finds three saboteurs in business suits, a melee ensues, one grenade gets tossed, which strikes a box of shells, leading to an escalating chain reaction of explosive mayhem. Neon streaks outside to protect the platoon of recruits, drilling out front, and with a forceful ray he sends them back across the field. Sweeping around the building, he rings it with a neonic screen to prevent debris from falling and fire from spreading. Then back into the blazing inferno he flies. Turning his neonic ray into a cold gas, he smothers the flames.

Meanwhile at Bund HQ, Carl the Bundist discovers Sally standing over his punched-out underling, and orders that she be shot, for insubordination. Neon pops into the room and beats up Carl and his aide, while Sally leaves the room and returns to the stage, grabs the microphone, and delivers a very different speech from the one before. This enrages the gathered Bundists and they pull out pistols and open fire on her, but Neon's protecting screen shields Sally, as he turns the bullets back in their faces. Then Neon lifts Sally and whisks her away to her grandfather's cottage where she's reunited with her grandfather. Neon returns to the scene of the crimes to ensure that the Bund is dealt with by the law.

Appearing in Neon the Unknown: "The Woman and the Bund"

Featured Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Nazis
    • Carl, a Bundist leader
      • Carl's Bundists (three die)

Other Characters:

  • Sally
  • Sally's unnamed grandfather

Synopsis for Don Glory: "Bashing the Bund"

Don Glory, a handsome, dapper, and very vain prizefighter, gets dumped by his wealthy girlfriend June Brent, and is told about it by her family's butler Winters, then by June herself. Her earlier ultimatum had been that he should get out of the fight game or they were through, and he hadn't quit, so they were. Don wanders around the city thinking bitter thoughts, until he randomly encounters a printshop storefront bund meeting (with at least 12 attendees), and he is invited inside, but quickly and vocally decides that he doesn't like what he's hearing; melee ensues. Don fistfights his way through the room to grab the leader, and beats some information out of him; this creep's boss is next door, upstairs. So he goes there, and it's a trap; there are at least 4 more bund thugs there, and they get beaten up too. Don then chases down the leader, catches him again, and sticks him into the gang's own propaganda printing press and straight-up tortures him until he squeals on his bosses, more truthfully this time. Don goes to the big boss's office, interrupts a meeting, beats up the boss, and his assassins, then he calls the police on them. His next call is to Miss Brent; he tells her he's leaving town, then hangs up. But before he can even pack, June has zoomed on over to his house and there's a big smoochy reconciliation. "Wow! Look out, you unAmerican agencies .. here comes Don Glory!"

Appearing in Don Glory: "Bashing the Bund"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

  • June Brent

Antagonists:

  • Nazis
    • unnamed Bund boss, with monocle and cigarette holder.
      • unnamed Bund leader, in purple business suit
        • at least 17 Bundist thugs

Other Characters:

  • Winters, the butler

Notes

  • The stories in this issue were originally untitled. The titles listed here are for the purpose of identification and mostly come from the issue index at the Grand Comics Database.
  • Neon the Unknown: "The Woman and the Bund"
    • Neon's unexplained power to locate missing persons is brand new, this episode.
    • We don't see what becomes of the three nameless Bundists who were in the basement when all the ordnance started detonating, but "the dying shrieks of the conspirators echo above the din."
  • G-5, Super Agent: "The Lost Tornado"
    • There seemingly is no real-world prototype for the 2-engined "Albacore" scouting plane that G-5 and Lt. Harvey flew. It definitely was not a Fairey Albacore.
    • The enemy warplanes are described as "Italian" in one panel and "Nazi" in another, ergo "Italian Nazi warplanes."



See Also


Links and References

Superboy Vol 4 69
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