Smash Comics #20 is an issue of the series Smash Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of March, 1941.
Synopsis for The Ray: "The Curse of the Marshwoods"
Appearing in The Ray: "The Curse of the Marshwoods"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Jud Marshwood
- Slyme
Other Characters:
- Timothy Marshwood
- Mr. Marshwood (flashback, death)
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Wings Wendall: "The Peace-Maker"
Appearing in Wings Wendall: "The Peace-Maker"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Spinner
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- The Peace-Maker (Dies)
- Zaroff
- Olga Varick
- Steve Conroy (Dies)
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Midnight: "Chango the Magician"
Appearing in Midnight: "Chango the Magician"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Chango
Other Characters:
- Twitch
- Rita
Locations:
- Midtown
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for The Purple Trio: "Rocky the Champ"
Appearing in The Purple Trio: "Rocky the Champ"
Featured Characters:
- Purple Trio
- Rocky Hill
- Warren
- Tiny Todd
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Joe
- Charlie
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Invisible Justice: "The Ghost Rider"
Appearing in Invisible Justice: "The Ghost Rider"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Ghost Rider
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Espionage Starring Black X: "Madame Doom Strikes at Sea"
A big U.S. warship gets blown up while on strenuous maneuvers in the mid-Pacific. (Note 1) Then a week later another one does, and so do two submarines, and so Black X flies out to a never-named "refueling island" where the sinkings took place, and infiltrates a movie company, as a deep-sea diver, and encounters other deep-sea divers, who turn out to be commanded by the formerly-apparently-dead Madame Doom, who now has a stationary automated torpedo-launcher on the seabed, and has been nailing these ships. (Note 2)
Just before the final gunfight, Black X gets captured and tied up but bursts his bonds "with superhuman strength," then there's a shoot-out, at the end of which Black X is on the bridge steering Madame Doom's ship, with her supposedly still aboard it, steaming slowly across the electric eye that activates the launcher; her ship sinks with almost all hands, including a bunch of knocked-out and bullet-wounded enemy thugs.
Appearing in Espionage Starring Black X: "Madame Doom Strikes at Sea"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Abdul the Arab: "The Story of Salome"
Appearing in Abdul the Arab: "The Story of Salome"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Hassan
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for The Scarlet Seal: "The Sabotaged Chutes"
Appearing in The Scarlet Seal: "The Sabotaged Chutes"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Captain Tim Moore
Antagonists:
- The Panasians
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Magno: "The Framing of Tony Segora"
At night, the First National bank gets robbed, and Tony Segora, holding the loot bag, is set up by his own gang, with no car keys and no gun, to get cornered by the police, who shoot him dead. Tom Dalton reads about it the next day, along with the allegation that Segora had bumped off Boss Malone before the bungled robbery, and Tom decides that the published explanation is all baloney. Tom works through the rest of that day, then that night, as Magno, he breaks into the Medical Examiner's office and finds a report on the death of Boss Malone, who was killed by a round from a .45 long-bore Colt, which isn't at all like the .38 auto that Tony Segora used to pack.
Magno visits the Golden Slipper, one of the late Boss Malone's hangouts, and beats up a random guy, who turns out to not be one of Malone's gang, but who pays protection to Malone's mob. He warns Magno not to go into the bar, because about six gunmen are inside; Magno goes in anyway. He sneaks up on and knocks out one thug (Gimpy), takes his gun, and shoots at the ceiling, which draws out two more thugs from an inner office; he beats them up, then goes in and confronts the new, Mexican boss of Malone's mob, who throws a dagger at him. Magno deflects the dagger right back at him, pins him to the wall, and grabs two guns off him, and one of them is a .45 long-bore Colt while the other is Tony Segora's .38. The new boss makes one last stab at fighting Magno, but is thrashed, and punched through a wall, which knocks him out. Magno then turns him over to the police.
Appearing in Magno: "The Framing of Tony Segora"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Mike Harvey
Antagonists:
- Tony Segora (Dies)
- Boss Malone (Dies)
- unnamed Mexican new boss
- several thugs
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Chic Carter: "Mongol Menace"
Appearing in Chic Carter: "Mongol Menace"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Gordon Bruce
- Won Kai (Dies)
- Princess Chin Lu
- Chin Lu's father
Locations:
- Central Asia
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Bozo the Robot: "The Building Racketeers"
Appearing in Bozo the Robot: "The Building Racketeers"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Acton
Locations:
Vehicles:
Notes
- Espionage
- 1/ Quality Universe WWII History: Panama, Nicaragua, and Mexico just got invaded, by a not-named "oriental power," back in Smash Comics #16 Nov.40. So four months later, is THAT enemy already defeated? There also were several large-scale naval battles over the Pan-American Caldwell Line back in Smash Comics #7 Feb.40.
- 2/ It takes a crew of deep-sea divers to reload this idiotic torpedo weapon, and it only shoots when a ship sails across one particular spot. Which, in fairness, has already happened at least four times in this story, so the weapon had SOME moxie, but for what it costs to operate, the unidentified bad guys could have laid a dozen minefields.
- 3/ This is Madame Doom's sixth appearance in this series. We never learn or even ask WHO Madame Doom is working for this time around, or HOW she survived her seeming suicide last time around.
- 4/ Batu hasn't done any telepathy since Smash Comics #15 Oct.40.
- 5/ Based on internal and prior timeline evidence in the Black X series, events of this story are thought to have taken place circa 1941-April.
- Midnight:
- Chango was Midnight's first super villain.
- Also appearing in this issue of Smash Comics were:
- Archie O'Toole: "The Ghost of Old King Ghoul", by John Devlin
- "Just Laugh It Off", by Arthur Beeman
- Wun Cloo: "Gat-the-Rat", by Jack Cole
- "Pharaoh's Daughter" (text story, featuring Jimmy Christian), by Robert M. Hyatt
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 pencil work on Wings Wendall as "Powell Roberts."
- George Brenner signed his work on Bozo the Iron Man as "Wayne Reid"
- John Devlin wrote and drew this issue's episode of Archie O'Toole but the "Bud Thomas" credit line does not appear.
- Harry Campbell signed his Scarlet Seal story as himself.
- Lou Fine signed his work on The Ray as "E. Lectron."
- Will Eisner signed his work on Espionage as "Will Erwin."
See Also
Links and References
Look at how sad this is making Batman. You did this.
