- Now, march by me, one at a time, and deposit ALL your money in this hat !!
- — Midnight
Smash Comics #18 is an issue of the series Smash Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of January, 1941.
Synopsis for The Ray: "The Midget Train Robbers"
Happy Terrill rides a horse alongside a speeding passenger train and leaps aboard it. A gold shipment is aboard, and he's expecting it to get hijacked. On board he accidentally encounters Miss White, whom he recognizes from police files. When the train enters a mountain pass, Miss White and three of her seven dwarf henchmen (a band of old vaudeville freaks) stop the train and fatally gas the passengers, with pressurized jets of toxic gas, built into the sides of a ravine. Then with the help of three more dwarves, they escape with the gold shipment. As the Ray, Happy follows.
At the robber gang's hidden house, the mastermind dwarf, and boastful inventor of the passenger-massacring gas system, now takes over the gang, and shoots Miss White dead. The Ray invades their hide-out, a remote cottage in the mountains, but only one dwarf remains behind, and briefly fights the Ray, who disintegrates him. The others have gone to rob another train. The Ray saves the train and blasts the remaining dwarves into nothingness.
Appearing in The Ray: "The Midget Train Robbers"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- Miss White (Dies)
- her seven dwarfs (all die)
Other Characters:
- conductor
- passenger
Locations:
- Out West
- Main Line
- hidden house
Vehicles:
- Western Express, passenger train
- the 12:15, passenger train
Animals:
- Terrill's horse (abandoned)
- White Gang's horses
Synopsis for Purple Trio: "Seal of Justice"
Appearing in Purple Trio: "Seal of Justice"
Featured Characters:
- The Purple Trio:
- Rocky Hill, strongman
- Tiny Todd, midget acrobat
- Warren, ventriloquist
Antagonists:
- Rajah Fahkir
Other Characters:
- landlady
- Billy Watts, seal trainer (Dies)
- four cops
Locations:
- New York City
- cheap boarding house
Animals:
- Watts' trained seal
Synopsis for Chic Carter: "Crashing the Concentration Camp"
Appearing in Chic Carter: "Crashing the Concentration Camp"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Pop, Chic's Editor
Antagonists:
- Croatvian Dictatorship
- Secret Police (One dies)
- Camp Guards (Two or more die)
Other Characters:
- Lloyd Nelson, reporter
- Anna Monfried, fiancee
Locations:
- Europe
- Croatvia
- capital city
- concentration camp
- Croatvia
- New York City
- Daily Star offices
Vehicles:
- Ocean Liner
Synopsis for Abdul the Arab: "The Story of Sunyan Tse"
Appearing in Abdul the Arab: "The Story of Sunyan Tse"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Hassan, the Turk
Animals:
- Bethsheba, Abdul's horse
- other horses
- train of camels
Antagonists:
- Sunyan Tse, kidnapper
- Wang, servant
- Shah Aturk, kidnap accomplice
- 30 cutthroats
- Mamoud, major domo
- many servants
Other Characters:
- Sheik Ali Beni, uncle of Abdul Ibn Bey
- Li Yao, Chinese potentate
- Mulan, his daughter
Locations:
Synopsis for Bozo the Robot: "The Return of Dr. Von Thorp"
After twelve months of incarceration, Von Thorp escapes from prison and attempts to regain control of his Iron Monster but is arrested, then attempts to flee from a court room and is killed by police.
Appearing in Bozo the Robot: "The Return of Dr. Von Thorp"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- Von Thorp (Dies)
- Runty, assistant (Dies)
Other Characters:
- Police Commissioner
Locations:
- Prison
- New York City
- Waterfront
- Von Thorp's hidden laboratory
- Sailor's Bank & Trust
- 210 West Street, Hazzard's lab
- Police HQ
- Courthouse (Mentioned only)
- Waterfront
Items:
- Von Thorp's remote control override device
Synopsis for Espionage Starring Black X: "The Battle of Bermuda"
Axis warships, plus a minefield, are blockading Bermuda. Aboard the U.S. flagship, on a moonless night, Black X briefs Admiral Jepson, then he and Batu sneak past the Axis ships in a small sailboat, and reach Bermuda. After a huddle with the Governor, Black X is authorized to assemble and command a long line of tied-together torpedo boats, small boats, and rafts, which he then uses to mine-sweep a clear path thru the Axis minefield. Nobody local, military or civilian, has thought of this, somehow. Several heavy U.S. warships sail thru the gap to Bermuda, and they engage the enemy fleet in an old-school naval gunfight, augmented by Black X & Batu in their torpedo boat.
Black X suddenly realizes, based on no new information at all, that enemy paratroops will soon be landing on the opposite side of Bermuda, so they scoot around the island and set up a machinegun nest next to a wharf, where these paratroopers are assembled. Batu is sent inland to fetch grenades. The paratroops, inexplicably wearing paradeground dress uniforms, with jodphurs, plan to move in boats to their attack on the island's fortifications, but now here's Black X shooting up the boats, so they mass-attack the gun nest, at an absurd cost in mowed-down casualties, then they swarm the position but inexplicably none of these paratroops are still carrying the bayoneted rifles that they all had, a minute ago, so there's a fistfight instead, which goes on until Batu shows up with a force of U.S. Marines. Soon the bad guys are routed and Bermuda is again secure.
Afterward, Black X seems to have uncharacteristically not yet returned to WDC, but is still in Bermuda basking in the accolades of the admiral and governor.
Appearing in Espionage Starring Black X: "The Battle of Bermuda"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Axis military forces
Other Characters:
- Admiral Jepson
- Governor of Bermuda
- President Roosevelt
Locations:
Vehicles:
- Axis warships
Synopsis for Invisible Justice: "The Scarlet Death"
Appearing in Invisible Justice: "The Scarlet Death"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- Doctor Moku
- at least 13 zombies
Other Characters:
- Professor Chase, psychologist
- Mr. Lane, ex-zombie
Locations:
- city
- Chase's Office
- Chase's Home
- country
- Moku's old mansion
Items:
- Moku's device for making the invisible visible (w/ blinding rays of light)
Synopsis for Scarlet Seal: "Tong War"
In Chinatown, at night, members of the On Sing tong are being murdered, with the distinctive daggers of their rival tong, the Hip Leong. Captain Moore and his police are not getting anywhere with this Chinese problem, so his son applies some Chinese methods. He dons his Chinaman disguise and yellow makeup, and respectfully visits On Sing headquarters, as the Scarlet Seal. The On Sing leader spots him for a fake, but hears him out. He tries to dissuade him from going to war with the Hip Leong, and leaves.
Meanwhile Gangster Nicky Nessen has stolen a load of weapons and ammunition from the National Guard armory. The Commissioner directs both of the Moores to track him down. Barry tells the Commissioner that he'd rather approach this case "from the Chinese end," and explains why. The Commissioner hopes to prevent the developing tong war, and he visits the leader of the Hip Leong tong, from whom he receives some reassurances, and returns to Police headquarters. There he learns, from another officer, that the tong leaders plan to meet, that night, and that the On Sings have refused to accept a cash peace offering from the Hip Leongs, which baffles him.
That night the Scarlet Seal almost attends the tong meeting but is knocked out and abducted, to Nessen's hangout instead. Recovering consciousness, he fights and beats Nessen and his two bodyguards, then hurries back to the meeting. There he negotiates a peaceful settlement between the tongs: the Scarlet Seal, as a new member of the Hip Leong tong, with no prior involvement in the dagger murders, was authorized to offer a very modest bribe to the On Sings, and tong tradition requires them to accept it. At that moment, Nicky Nessen shows up, to deliver his load of stolen weapons and get paid. Frustrated and enraged, he whips out a gat and tries to kill the tong leaders himself, in a last-ditch effort to salvage his deal, but is slaughtered by the tong members coming to the defense of their honorable new ally. In return, the Scarlet Seal takes the blame for Nesson's killing by marking the dead man's forehead with his infamous red brand. The tong leaders, for their part, agree to return the stolen weapons.
The next day at police headquarters, the Commissioner again vows to capture that outlaw, the Scarlet Seal.
Appearing in Scarlet Seal: "Tong War"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Captain Pat Moore
- Police Commissioner
Antagonists:
- Nicky Nessen, gangster (Dies)
- his gang
- Hip Leong Tong leader
- Manchu Sing, On Sing Tong leader
- Sing Lee (Dies)
Other Characters:
- Officer Dolan
- Officer Casey
- taxi driver
Locations:
- Center City
- Chinatown
- On Sing Tong House
- Hip Leong Tong House
- Police Headquarters
- National Guard Armory
- Nessen's hangout
- Chinatown
Synopsis for Wings Wendall: "The Madness Serum"
Axis agents use mandatory vaccinations to inoculate factory workers with a psychoactive drug, causing a destructive riot and a shoot-out. Wings Wendall and Spinner Benson intervene, and the tide of battle turns, in favor of the security guards. The spy gang leader, secretly the factory company doctor, steals a loaded bomber and attempts to destroy the factory, but Wings Wendall gets airborne in his new Bullet Plane and shoots the bomber down.
Appearing in Wings Wendall: "The Madness Serum"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Spinner Benson, his mechanic (First appearance)
Antagonists:
- Dr. Blade, Westcott Company Doctor
- his six lieutenants
- armed thugs, two truckloads (some die)
Other Characters:
- factory workers: Mike, others (many go mad, some die)
- factory security guards (one or more die)
- Wescott, industrialist
- Diane
Locations:
- Westcott Aircraft Company Factory (partly destroyed)
- Military Intelligence aircraft hangar
Items:
- Madness Serum
Vehicles:
- Wendall's Bullet Plane (First appearance)
- test plane w/ full load of bombs (Destroyed)
Synopsis for Midnight: "Midnight Strikes"
Appearing in Midnight: "Midnight Strikes"
Featured Characters:
- Midnight (First appearance)
Antagonists:
- Morris Carleton
- Carleton Construction Company: Ben, Ed, others
Other Characters:
- many injured civilians (some die)
- many cops
Locations:
- same city
- UXAM Radio Station
- 12-story apartment building (collapses)
- Carleton Apartment Building
- Drainville
- Tri-State Power Dam (breaks)
- Cold Creek Valley Section (wiped out)
Synopsis for Magno: "Men Into Monsters"
A grotesque figure sloshes through a remote swamp with a limp girl over his shoulder, and in turn is stalked by Magno. The ghoulish figure vanishes into a deep spot in the marsh, but Magno dives in pursuit, and finds a set of stairs down into the murk, then another leading back up. He emerges in a masonry tunnel, and is soon jumped by a second swamp ghoul guy, wielding a two-handed axe. Magno knocks him out with an electrified punch, then resumes trailing the wet footprints of the kidnapper, through narrow corridors, up steep steps, and over dangerous catwalks, to the brilliantly-lit throneroom of the boss of this place. The boss, dressed in medical whites, is delighted to see this pretty new girl servant, and in mid-gloat he's leapt upon by Magno. Three or more of the fanged, half-human monster-men intervene, and are able to subdue Magno, who is thrown into a dungeon, with about a hundred other male prisoners. They're all scheduled to get turned into monsters. Magno plays possum on the floor until the monster-men return, and when two of them try to move him out of the way they get jolted unconscious. But wait, when they recover consciousness, their normal features have returned and their hair has regrown and their old personalities reassert themselves. Magno recruits these two guys to set free the others, then heads to the throneroom, fighting a series of monster-men along the way, and electrically transforming them back into their human forms. The still-unnamed mad scientist in charge of all this flees to his laboratory, where he pulls a death-ray pistol and aims it at Magno, but from across the room Magno pulls it out of his hand, then punches out the bad guy. He examines the pistol, which goes off just from being in his electrified hand, and destroys a big piece of mad-science equipment. Deducing that the ray is more powerful because of Magno's charged body, he puts it to use, destroying the diabolical laboratory as the prisoners all escape.
Appearing in Magno: "Men Into Monsters"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- mad scientist
- several fanged monsters
Other Characters:
- girl
Locations:
- an elaborate mad-science citadel hidden under a swamp
Items:
- mad doctor's process for turning men into monsters
- Magno's confiscated Ray Gun (Single appearance)
Notes
- Abdul the Arab now has another uncle, Sheik Ali Beni.
- Bozo: Hugh Hazzard gets head-konked unconscious, with a club.
- Chic Carter gets into Croatvia with his concealed handgun, and kills a secret policeman with it.
- Espionage:
- Based on internal and previous timeline evidence, this Black X story is thought to have taken place circa 1940-Nov. In the Quality Universe, the USA has been at war, officially declared or not, against the European Axis, since probably about July 1939, when the first Axis task force bumped up against the Pan-American Caldwell Line blockade, back in Smash Comics #7. The blockade has later been replaced with an Atlantic-spanning suspension bridge in Hit Comics #4, and the war has been interrupted with several bipartite and international peace treaties. In any case, this story opens with Axis warships, plus a minefield, blockading Bermuda, facing down a U.S. task force commanded by Admiral Jepson.
- The Axis paratroopers have all got rifles, with bayonets, at page 4 panel 10, but are inexplicably empty-handed at page 5 panel 9.
- Invisible Justice:
- Kent Thurston gets head-konked unconscious, with an unseen object.
- Professor Chase figures out the Invisible Hood's secret identity, even though his friend Kent Thurston admits nothing.
- Magno:
- At the end of this story, the pretty girl is not visible nor accounted for, the mad scientist is unconscious but probably alive, and Magno has definitely confiscated that death-ray pistol for his own use.
- The unnamed mad villain's secret lair is a large subterranean masonry structure, accessible via a swamp, near Tom Dalton's home town. In Smash Comics #21, three issues later, Magno either finds a second large subterranean masonry structure, accessible via the swamp, or a second unnamed mad villain has adopted the abandoned base of this issue's monster-maker.
- First issue for Midnight by Jack Cole.
- The "Origin of Midnight" is actually not told in this story.
- Startled partygoers recognize him immediately as Midnight, therefore this is not his first adventure.
- Midnight packs a handgun, and uses it to commit armed robbery.
- Midnight is knocked unconscious by being dragged behind a car down a gravel road.
- Due to their extreme poverty, the Purple Trio all sleep in the same bed at the flop-house.
- The Ray:
- Though Miss White is shot by one of her seven dwarfs, we don't see which one, and all seven are present with none objecting; in any case the Ray blasts them all into nothingness.
- The Ray can switch back to Happy Terrill's clothing and appearance just by thinking about it.
- The Ray can eavesdrop or visually observe events at great distances.
- The Ray can stop a passenger train by diving into its headlight. It may be a factor that the brakes were already applied.
- The Ray straight-up killed all seven of those dwarves.
- The Scarlet Seal gets head-konked unconscious, with a pistol butt.
- Wings Wendall
- Just last issue, Wings was officially appointed U.S. Ambassador to Barbaria. Now with no explanation, he's back at his old job, at a military airbase.
- Wendall now has a very zoomy Bullet Plane, painted solid red, and a sidekick, Spinner Benson.
- First four-page story, formerly this feature was seven pages.
- Also featured in this issue of Smash Comics were:
- Wun Cloo: "The Accident Faker" by Gill Fox, unsigned
- Jimmy Christian: "Aces for Death" (text story) by Robert M. Hyatt
- Archie O'Toole: "Lover's Island" by Bud Thomas
- Statement of Ownership, Management, Circulation, Etc.
Trivia
- Alex Blum signed his Purple Trio story as "S.M. Regi."
- Art Pinajian signed his work on Invisible Justice as "Art Gordon."
- Bob Powell signed his work on Abdul the Arab and Wings Wendall as "Powell Roberts."
- (somebody) signed his or her work on Scarlet Seal as "Duane Byrd Monroe."
- George Brenner signed his work on Bozo the Iron Man as "Wayne Reid"
- George Tuska signed his work on Archie O'Toole as "Bud Thomas."
- Lou Fine signed his work on The Ray as "E. Lectron."
- Will Eisner signed his work on Espionage as "Will Erwin."
See Also