Sensation Comics #17 is an issue of the series Sensation Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of May, 1943.
Synopsis for Wonder Woman: "Riddle of the Talking Lion"
Princess Yasmini, an anticolonialist Hindu exile, collaborating with the Nazis, uses radio receivers, swallowed by lions, for a secret communication system. Wonder Woman figures it out, and defeats her, but is too late to prevent Yasmini from swallowing poison.
Appearing in Wonder Woman: "Riddle of the Talking Lion"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Steve Trevor
- Etta Candy (Cameo)
- Colonel Darnell (Cameo)
- Holliday Girls (Cameo)
- Sunny South (Unnamed)
Antagonists:
- Zookeeper Smaltz
- Princess Yasmini, exiled Hindu royalty (Dies)
- her Lions
- her Sikh Guards
- her Slave Girls
- three German Officers (all die)
Other Characters:
- Sally Lee
- Bobby Lee
- Ginger Trevor
- Arabian Lion Dealer
- Steve's Brother
Locations:
- Earth-Two
- Washington, D.C.
- Cairo, Egypt
- Hotel
- Officers' Club
- Yasmini's Palace
- Valley of Kings, Egypt
- Third Pyramid
- Truro, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Items:
Vehicles:
- Wonder Woman's Invisible Plane
- Daimler "Saloon" Limousine
Synopsis for Little Boy Blue: "The Kid From England"
Appearing in Little Boy Blue: "The Kid From England"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- J.J. "Dan" Rogers, District Attorney
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Ronald Graham
- Mr. Dexter
Locations:
Items:
- U.S. Coastal Defense Plans
Synopsis for Gay Ghost: "The Ghosts Who Saved Skyros"
Appearing in Gay Ghost: "The Ghosts Who Saved Skyros"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Lt. Charles Collins (Appears only as a corpse)
Other Characters:
- Hawkins
- Strathmere's "Ghost Brigade"
- Superman (Mentioned only)
Antagonists:
- General Von (driven mad)
- U-Boat Crew (C.O. wears a monocle.) (Dies)
- 5,000 Nazi Troops (driven mad)
Locations:
- United States of America
- England
- Spirit Domain
- Berlin, Germany
- Skyros, Greece
Vehicles:
- U.S. 2-engine heavy bomber
- German Submarine (Destroyed)
- German 2-engine medium bombers (Destroyed)
Synopsis for Mister Terrific: "The Emperor's Millions"
- In 1821, on St. Helena Island, the dying Napoleon Bonaparte bequeathed to his last loyal lieutenant, Le Duc de l'Argent, a bank draft for a huge sum of money, held in an American bank. The Duke cared nothing for riches, and lived out the rest of his days on that island. The draft was never cashed, and over time, that account grew to about five million American dollars.
In 1943, in New York City, attorney Al Klipp goes on radio station WZIP to tell this story, and encourage any living heir the Duke might have to get in touch with him. He gets a ton of mail in response, but ignores all of it, and instead approaches Terry Sloan, at his office, with a proposal. Klipp has got, he claims, positive proof that Sloan is the rightful heir to de l'Argent's fortune. There will of course be rival claimants and litigation, but for a retainer of $100,000 he will ensure that Terry inherits the Emperor's millions. But Terry is in the middle of dealing with an earlier problem, which involves a huge pile of cash on his desk, and has no time for this nonsense. But before Klipp, and his partner Fluke, can even get out the door, a bearded ragged man with a heavy French accent barges into the office, and claims to be Duke de l'Argent ze Tenth, of St. Helena, the rightful heir. He's brought with him the original draft to prove his claim, and vows to uphold his ancestor's vow, to leave that money unspent. He belabors both oily attorneys with a stout cudgel, and warns them to meddle no further in this matter. He leaves, and they follow him, and Terry rapidly changes clothes and follows them. He catches all of them, waiting for the elevator, just as Fluke takes a blackjack to the back of de l'Argent's head. Mr. Terrific konks together the partners' heads, and tosses them into the arriving elevator. He carries the knocked-out hermit into the office, then departs.
Wanda takes the Duke back to Terry's apartment and makes him presentable, in one of Terry's suits, while insisting that he trim his big wild beard into a more stylish pattern, which he does. L'Argent has already got a big crush on Wanda, and when Sloan arrives, he's not too happy about their close proximity. Wanda decides to take the Duke for a walk, to see the sights, and mainly to annoy Terry. At the zoo is a chimpanzee, with the name "Napoleon" emblazoned on his cage, which infuriates de l'Argent so much that he whacks the innocent primate with his (actually Sloan's) walking stick, and this gets him, along with Wanda, arrested.
That story makes the radio news, and when the greedy attorneys hear about it, they hasten to the precinct house to bail out the Duke, but not his companion. Protesting, the Duke gets into their car, where Fluke again applies the blackjack for another knockout. They steal the bank draft from the Duke, then take him back to the zoo, break into the chimpanzee cage while Napoleon is sleeping, and leave him unconscious in the cage. When Napoleon wakes up, there will be trouble. But Terry Sloan has meanwhile also gone to the police station, where he finds the Duke missing, bails out Wanda, and learns from the police where the attorneys have gone with the Duke. He arrives at the zoo and punches out both lawyers, but meanwhile Napoleon has awakened, and attacks the Duke. This chimp is big, and wicked fast; he slings l'Argent across the case for a hard crash with the bars, before Mr. Terrific is able to subdue the ape, and escape the cage with l'Argent slung over his shoulder.
Back at Sloan's office, the Duke recovers consciousness, sputters furiously about the chimpanzee, and announces his intention to return to St. Helena, and his wife, and six children. He flounces out of the office, leaving Terry and Wanda to have an awkward conversation. Meanwhile back at the zoo, where Klipp and Fluke have been left behind in Napoleon's cage, Napoleon is giving them both a very difficult time.
Appearing in Mister Terrific: "The Emperor's Millions"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Al Klipp
- Mr. Fluke
Other Characters:
- Duke de l'Argent ze Tenth
- Duke de l'Argent (Flashback only)
- Napoleon Bonaparte (Dies in flashback)
Animals:
- Napoleon, a zoo chimpanzee
Locations:
- St. Helena
- New York City
- Station WZIP
- Klipp & Fluke Law Office
- Terry Sloan's office
- Terry Sloan's apartment
- Zoo
Items:
- Bank Draft, dated 1821, signed by Napoleon Bonaparte
Synopsis for Black Pirate: "The Return of the Black Pirate"
In 1943, two British servicemen, Captain Jon Valor, RN, and his son, Lieutenant Justin Valor, RAF, are working together on an unescorted aircraft carrier, and discover an unknown island. Persistent mists and fog had concealed this island, for centuries, but now dispersed. It's dangerously close to England, and must not be allowed to become a Luftwaffe airbase. Three hundred years earlier, this island had been the secret home-port of the dreaded Black Pirate. The military men deploy some antiaircraft cannons onto the island, then watch in horror as their aircraft carrier hits a floating mine and is utterly destroyed. They are stranded, and evidently the enemy now knows their position.
In an abandoned house on the island, the Valors find painted portraits of Donna Bonita and Jon Valor, their ancestors, and some strong resemblences are noticed. They find a dusty journal, and read about a conflict between Jon Valor and Don Muerte, a Spanish naval commander with a platoon of catapult-launched, flying "birdmen", armed with bows and arrows and javelins. The Black Pirate and his son and their crew had prevailed over this attack force, by setting up their cannons in an unusual way, to bring them to bear against the flying enemies.
The modern-day Capt. Valor and Lieut. Valor adapt the Black Pirate's plan, and are able to ambush an incoming flight of Stukas, inflicting heavy casualties, and preventing a German takeover of the island.
Appearing in Black Pirate: "The Return of the Black Pirate"
Featured Characters:
- Capt. Jon Valor, Royal Navy
- Black Pirate
Supporting Characters:
- Lieut. Justin Valor, Royal Air Force
- Justin Valor
- Donna Bonita (in a portrait only)
Antagonists:
- Don Muerte
- his Birdmen
- Luftwaffe
Other Characters:
- British gun crews
- Jester
Locations:
- 16th Century
- 20th Century, World War II
- North Sea
Vessels:
- British Aircraft Carrier (Destroyed)
- German Dive Bombers (many destroyed)
Synopsis for Wildcat: "The Case of the Half-Finished Tie"
Ted Grant's sparring partner, Tim Daly, gets run down by a car, in the act of rescuing a child from that same fate. He's paralyzed from the waist down.
After Tim is out of the hospital, a gang of crooks tries to murder him, and make it look like suicide. Wildcat intervenes, but is very nearly killed himself, being knocked out, tied up, and pushed over a cliff into the ocean. While the car is falling, he uses the dashboard cigarette lighter to free himself, and after it submerges, he swims free. Wildcat makes it back to town just barely in time to stop the murder gang's button man from rubbing out Stretch Skinner. The hit man is accidentally killed in the melee, shot with his own gun.
Wildcat does some more detective work, and with Stretch Skinner's help he ascertains that the Mingo gang are doing a shady "work from home" racket, and that Tim Daly had been one of their scam victims. Wildcat disguises himself as his own ghost, using seaweed and phosphorus, and pretends to have drowned in the gang's earlier attempt to kill him. This gets him close enough to the gun-wielding gang to lay out the lot of them with his fists.
Appearing in Wildcat: "The Case of the Half-Finished Tie"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Mingo
- his gang:
- Trig (Dies)
- his gang:
Other Characters:
- Tim Daly, sparring partner
- Mr. Sheldon, Sheldon Wool Company
Locations:
- Mid-Town Gymnasium
- Skinner's Detective Office
- Cravatte Tie Company Office
Notes
- Published by J.R. Publishing Company
- Wildcat gets head-konked unconscious, with a pistol handle.
- Wonder Woman: Riddle of the Talking Lion is reprinted in 'Wonder Woman Archives Vol. 2'.
- Wonder Woman can throw her voice, making it appear to come from another room.
- Wonder Woman's Invisible Plane can fly from Washington, D.C., to Cairo, Egypt, in less than two hours.
- Also appearing in this issue of Sensation Comics was:
- Tippie by Frances Edwina Dumm
- "Sensation Stamp Page" (text article) by Sidney M. Elms
- Hal Mason: "Penniless Margaret, Part 2" (text story) by Evelyn Gaines
See Also