The motion pictures you have just seen were taken from real life! A stolen bar of chocolate led to life imprisonment! All you kids are first offenders! When you get out of here, you alone will determine your future! It all depends on what path you take... the straight or crooked path! 
Master Comics #87 is an issue of the series Master Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of January, 1948.
Synopsis for Capt. Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and the Root of Evil!"
Daniel Zarno, a shouting man on a soapbox, decries money as the root of all evil. He even steals the first coin ever minted, telling Captain Marvel Jr. that all of its owners have met horrible deaths, proving that money is a blight upon humanity. His theory seems to bear out when a wealthy coin collector shoves Zarno out the window trying to claim it only to run a red light and crash his car. An old miser picks it up, but is almost gunned down by a thief in the process. Still, Junior remains unconvinced, and explains to Zarno that everyday people who exchange money for goods and services aren't committing evil. It's people consumed by greed that are a danger to themselves and to others.
Appearing in Capt. Marvel, Jr.: "Capt. Marvel, Jr. and the Root of Evil!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Daniel Zarno
Villains:
- Morgan Larchmont, Millionaire Coin Collector
- An Unscrupulous Miser
- A Burglar
Other Characters:
Locations:
- Earth-S
- New York City
- The Citizen's Bank
- New York City
Items
- The World's Oldest Coin
Synopsis for Nyoka the Jungle Girl: "Nyoka the Jungle Girl and the Lion Hunters' Club!!"
Appearing in Nyoka the Jungle Girl: "Nyoka the Jungle Girl and the Lion Hunters' Club!!"
Featured Characters
Supporting Characters:
Villains:
Other Characters:
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Synopsis for Lion-Hearted Leo the animal trainer: "Monkey Business"
Appearing in Lion-Hearted Leo the animal trainer: "Monkey Business"
Featured Characters
- Lion-Hearted Leo
Supporting Characters:
Villains:
- A Monkey
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Bulletman the Flying Detective: "Bulletman the Flying Detective and the Juvenile Delinquents"
Spike is a boy wearing a yellow turtleneck and a brown derby hat and then proves this makes him a bad person by stealing a nickel candy bar while the clerk isn't looking. His friend Jackie is aghast that he'd steal, but Spike insists that he got away with it, which is what matters to him. He offers they go to a movie (which they also can't afford) and that they can get “help” from his friend “Fatty” at his eponymous Pool Room. Fatty tells Spike and Jackie to go to Pine and Penn at 10:00pm and offers they play some pool. That night, Fatty says a huge shipment is coming in to Rector Fur Company and he's going to steal them. Jackie insists this is wrong, but Spike steps on his foot to shut him up and asks what their part in this is. Fatty pistol-whips the guard outside and then gives each of the kids a gun. Fatty says he wants one of the kids to sneak into the window (he's too fat to do so) and just throw whole fur coats out of a small window to him, a single fat man without any way to easily carry them by himself. Spike continues to pressure Jackie, saying that they can afford to go to the movies for a whole year, but then almost immediately steps on to a burglar alarm. Jim Barr and Susan Kent get the alert and change into the Bullets to go after them. They quickly track down Fatty and punch him over easily and they are disgusted to hear he's tricked children into being involved in his crimes, dragging him to jail.
Meanwhile, Jackie has a panic attack thinking they're wanted men while Spike has resolved to just jump on to a freight train heading anywhere but here, hide out in the woods and starve for a week in the forest. Spike refuses to just ask a random house for food and an older man dressed in a nightcap wielding a shotgun discovers them raiding his icebox. He goes to call the police, not threatened by the two children, only for Spike to shoot him in the back! Spike is caught out by a farmer who heard the shots and approaches with a shotgun. Spike fires at him, but wings it and is shot in the heart. Jackie, confused and angry, shoots the farmer. His wife, watching from her window, sobs quietly and calls the police. Bulletman is forced to arrest Jackie, who is sentenced to life in prison for the crime of murder. However, this was merely a film made by Bulletman to teach kids at a reform school the dangers of crime and that they must strive to stay on the straight path for the sake of their futures. The kids all say they will.
Appearing in Bulletman the Flying Detective: "Bulletman the Flying Detective and the Juvenile Delinquents"
Featured Characters
Supporting Characters:
Villains:
- "Fatty"
- "Spike" (Dies)
- "Jackie"
- "Spike" (Dies)
Other Characters:
- A Night Guard at Rector Furs Co.
- A Man in a Nightcap (Dies)
- A Farmer (Dies)
- A Farmer's Wife
Locations:
- Earth-S
- New York City
- A Candy Shop
- Rector Fur Company
- The Woods
- New York City
Items:
- Handguns
- Shotguns
Vehicles:
- A Train
Synopsis for Colonel Corn and Korny Kobb: "The Short Voyage"
Appearing in Colonel Corn and Korny Kobb: "The Short Voyage"
Featured Characters
- Colonel Corn
- Korny Kobb
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Synopsis for Radar the International Policeman: "Radar the International Policeman and the Invaders from Space!!"
Shocking fireworks dash across the African desert before antennae-bearing pink aliens with strangely-shaped heads from Saturn arrive to invade the Earth, led by Lege. Lege soon sends a message to the UN that they'll spray poison gas from airships if anyone resists and they decide to send Radar, the International Policeman, to investigate and try to broker peace, but this time between planets! He soon arrives in a helicopter and Lege demands Radar cede all forms of munitions and let them install themselves as Colonial leaders of the planet. Radar reads Lege's mind and finds out that these aren't aliens at all! When exposed, Lege orders the other "Saturnians" to attack with knives and they overpower him, seizing him. Lege reveals he's actually ruler of a small country of Beruvia and that he's going to control the world soon with this crazy hoax to trick the world into full disarmament of all weapons altogether. They decide to make things look like they're serious by beheading Radar and sending his head back in a box, so they summon a headsman (also dressed like he's from Saturn) who offers he feel the axe-blade is sharp enough that the first blow will kill him. Radar instead uses it to cut his bonds, punch him over and start cleaning house, knocking out his guards. He then decides to duck his head into his coat and pretend to be a headless ghost, which scares the superstitious people of Beruvia. Using this distraction, he charges in to confront Lege, who draws a knife. Radar wrenches his arm behind him quickly and disarms him of the knife, then cuts their way out of their tent to get to where he parked his UN helicopter. The "Saturnians" try to rush the helicopter, but find that a starting helicopter is not easily stopped by hands and takes off. Radar returns to the UN, where he's thanked for his hard work in keeping the world safe.
Appearing in Radar the International Policeman: "Radar the International Policeman and the Invaders from Space!!"
Featured Characters
- Radar (Final appearance)
Supporting Characters:
Villains:
- Lege, Ruler of Beruvia
- Other "Invaders from Saturn"
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
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Trivia
- Despite the cover, Captain Marvel, Jr. fighting the "Root of All Evil" does not involve him physically chopping down some sort of evil money-based tree full of skulls and bottles of poison. Instead, he searches for a rare coin that lots of greedy people are willing to steal.
- This issue marks the final appearance of Radar the International Policeman in Fawcett Comics.
- Sadly, he only reappears once, in Charlton Comics' Crime and Justice# 24 before never being seen again.
- This issue correctly notes that the original KJV quote from 1 Timothy 6:10 is "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."
See Also
Links and References
