Hmm... This is the closest description I can get! ... He's "known to exist" -- but that's all! Well, me for Chinatown!! 
Smash Comics #13 is an issue of the series Smash Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of August, 1940.
Synopsis for Espionage Starring Black X: "Devil's Island"
- In a skyscraper in New York City, a desperado named Moran gains possession (from Dean, whom he murders) of half of the secret to a new gun (he calls it "the 'X' gun"), then shoots his way out of a police trap and flees the country, to Paris, where he sells it to the very oily M'sieu Rolande and his henchwoman Madame Camille. The deal goes bad and Moran guns down Rolande. So he's sent to Devil's Island in the Caribbean.
Circa 1939-March-early: Black X hears about all this and gets an idea. "A few weeks later," Black X dba "John Smith" has arranged to have himself arraigned in a French Court "on some obscure charge"and sentenced to Devil's Island. Caption: "On March 27, the prison boat leaves a busy French harbor for its grim voyage to the horrible penal colony." Then: "Sweltering dirty days follow one another in endless succession. Finally the harbor of French Guiana is reached."
Circa 1939-April: "With leaden steps, time passes, as prison life goes grimly on." One thing leads to another and Moran is about to blurt out his secret when "John Smith" punches him out; then the obnoxious camp commandant, with no known name, puts them both into solitary. The next day on a woodchopping detail, Black X and Moran escape, and in the jungle they meet up with a gang of earlier escapees, and they all make their way north to the ocean, then down the coast to a river mouth, where good old Batu is waiting with a sailboat; the six of them pile in and set sail into choppy waters. There's a four-against-two fight when it comes out that Black X is a fed, but he and Batu toss two to the sharks, and a third is devoured later in their long harrowing sea voyage. They wash up at Panama City, Batu turns in Moran, Black X re-credentializes himself, and finds some clothes, then regains custody of Moran, they return to Washington, D.C., and "their favorite restaurant." By this time, Black X has been (according to his boss) gone for three months.
Appearing in Espionage Starring Black X: "Devil's Island"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Moran, a thief and murderer
- M'sieu Rolande, a spy (Dies)
- Madame Camille, Rolande's accomplice
- Rene, a fugitive (Dies)
Other Characters:
- Dean, a firearms engineer (Dies)
- prison camp commandant
Locations:
- Devil's Island, French Guinea
- Central America
- Panama
- Panama City
- Panama City
- Panama
Synopsis for Chic Carter, Ace Reporter: "The Northern Fur Robbery"
Appearing in Chic Carter, Ace Reporter: "The Northern Fur Robbery"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Gat Griffin
Other Characters:
- Trixie
- Blinky
Synopsis for Invisible Justice: "The Golden Dragon"
- In China, two years earlier, a warlord named Ah Sin, calling himself the Golden Dragon, kidnapped an American girl, Joyce Harper, and placed her under a hypnotic spell. She continued to be his servant and believed her name was Luan.
Two years later, they came to America, and the Golden Dragon kidnapped the nephew of a munitions factory owner, for ransom. Later, he negotiated with the factory owner, threatening to torture the nephew, if he did not cancel all of his orders and produce weapons only for him. Kent Thurston happened to be sitting in a Chinese restaurant, and discovered a hidden panel that led him through a tunnel and into the Golden Dragon's lair. There, dba the Invisible Hood, he helped the factory owner rescue his nephew, knocked Golden Dragon out, and was able to make the girl come out of her trance by hitting a gong.
Appearing in Invisible Justice: "The Golden Dragon"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- Golden Dragon (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- Thomas Clark
- Dan Clark
- Joyce Harper
- Mr. Harper
Synopsis for Wings Wendall, Military Intelligence: "Conrad Gunther, International Spy"
Appearing in Wings Wendall, Military Intelligence: "Conrad Gunther, International Spy"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Conrad Gunther
Other Characters:
- Judy Mallon
Synopsis for The Purple Trio: "Introducing the Purple Trio"
Appearing in The Purple Trio: "Introducing the Purple Trio"
Featured Characters:
- Purple Trio
- Rocky Hill
- Warren
- Tiny Todd
Synopsis for Clip Chance at Cliffside: "The Crooks Behind the Falls"
Appearing in Clip Chance at Cliffside: "The Crooks Behind the Falls"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Coach Barr
- Spud
Synopsis for Magno the Miracle Man: "The Origin of Magno"
"His amazing powers were the result of having been electrocuted by 10,000 D.C. volts, then being shocked back to life by an equal current of A.C. volts!" Tom Dalton was a lineman in a coastal town, both before and after gaining his incredible powers, and he would often need to find excuses to duck out and fight injustice. Magno channeled electricity, using the currents inside him, he could create a variety of effects. He had a sort of "super eyes" that would see great distances. He wore metal wristbands that created a powerful electromagnet when he applied his powers. The resulting force could propel him at super-speed. He could also create a field of force, that could repel metallic objects, and he could manipulate metallic objects as well. In his first adventure, Magno foiled a crew of foreign-sponsored steamship hijackers, and sank a foreign submarine using the enemy's own torpedo.
Appearing in Magno the Miracle Man: "The Origin of Magno"
Featured Characters:
Synopsis for Abdul the Arab: "Ahmed the Bedouin"
Appearing in Abdul the Arab: "Ahmed the Bedouin"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Hassan
Synopsis for Captain Cook of Scotland Yard: "Tracking the Chinatown Terror"
Appearing in Captain Cook of Scotland Yard: "Tracking the Chinatown Terror"
Featured Characters:
- Captain Cook of Scotland Yard (Final appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Kelly
Antagonists:
- The Key (Single appearance)
Synopsis for Bozo the Robot: "The Pneumonia Cure"
Dr. E. Salor has developed a cure for pneumonia; here's his problem: "In this present European fighting, some nations' soldiers are from the milder climates and thus subject to pneumonia, while other soldiers are from the north, but like the Russians, poorly clothed and fed -- therefore, in both cases the death rate from pneumonia is high." So Salor is trying to keep his cure hushed up, at least for the duration of WWII, and his house has been getting broken into by burglars who steal nothing, but are searching for this. Hugh Hazzard's conference with the doctor is interrupted by two of Boss Patone's thugs (Slick and Dutch) who barge in to Salor's home and demand his formula; Hugh uses his under-the-lapel control board to call Bozo; the robot smashes into the room, through a wall, but just then Hugh is headkonked with a pistol-butt, and when he falls out, Bozo stops moving. So the bad guys put two and two together, but they still decide it's a good idea to stick Hazzard inside the Robot before they get rid of it. Soon, Bozo the Robot is encased in a cement block and pushed off a pier; on the river bottom the block eventually cracks and breaks; Bozo emerges and flies away.
A Russian named Horg buys the formula from Patone, for two million dollars in cash, then flees the country. Patone gets braced in his own apartment by the Iron Man; he squeals on Horg, who is scheduled to be picked up at sea by an ocean liner. Soon aboard a small boat on the open sea, Bozo confronts Horg, and recovers the stolen formula; Horg hits a hidden switch and blows up the boat with himself aboard. Bozo gets the formula back to Medico Hospital in time for it to be used to save Dr. Salor's life.
Appearing in Bozo the Robot: "The Pneumonia Cure"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Dr. E. Salor
Antagonists:
- Boss Patone
- Slick
- Dutch
- Horg
Items:
Vehicles:
Notes
- Bozo: Hugh Hazzard gets konked on the head with a pistol-butt, this is at minimum his third concussion.[1][2]
- Last issue for Captain Cook of Scotland Yard.
- Espionage:
- Moran's entire miserable criminal career, plus the trial, plus the sea voyage to Devil's Island, take place before Black X enters the action. Dates quoted and estimated above apply only to Black X's part in the story.
- Black X wears his monocle in his right eye; on the cover it is in his left eye.
- Magno:
- In the logo for this first Magno story, the sub-head calls him "The Miracle Man." Next issue this will change to "The Magnetic Man."
- Magno gets konked on the head with a belaying pin, but he only pretends to get knocked out.
- Magno has already killed an entire submarine crew, at the end of his first adventure.
- Wings Wendall: Conrad Gunther, International Spy, wears a monocle.
- Also featured in this issue of Smash Comics were:
- Wun Cloo by Gill Fox
- Kidding the Kids by Arthur Beeman
- Archie O'Toole: "The Golden Spike" by Bud Thomas
- Sportraits: "Cliff Melton" by Gill Fox
- Philpot Veep: "An Almost Perfect Swindle" by John Devlin
- Philpot Veep: "The Episode of the Prominent Proboscis" (Final appearance) by John Devlin
- "Kickback" (text story, featuring Jimmy Christian) by Robert M. Hyatt
See Also
Links and References
