RED FIRE! An acid vat!! Every morsel of FLESH eaten away! Now, the killer who killed th' killer has been killed !! 
- — Midnight
Smash Comics #34 is an issue of the series Smash Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of July, 1942.
Synopsis for The Ray: "In Hungary"
Hungarian resistance fighters dress themselves in medieval armor, invade a Gestapo get-together, and kill a bunch of German officers, using medieval weapons. Bloody reprisals follow very quickly; many random civilians are lined up and shot.
Happy Terrill's frantic editor needs this story, and yanks Happy out of Istanbul, to Hungary pronto, and on a fake passport at that. Bud also is along for the ride. Other reporters in Hungary haven't found out anything yet. Then Baron Von Fritz, riding in an open car, gets shot dead right outside the cafe where the reporters are huddled. This is the work of a nearby doorman, with a smoking pistol still in his pocket; Bud and Happy converse with this guy, and leave without telling on him. Happy telephones in this story fragment to his editor, then watches the doorman for more developments.
That evening, the Gestapo shows up and takes the doorman away. Happy transforms himself into the Ray and follows them, to a castle on a cliff. The Nazis drag the doorman inside and get ready to torture him, but the Ray bursts in and rescues him, then whisks him away to hide in a Gypsy camp. The camp turns out to be a mobile base for the resistance movement, from which they coordinate sabotage projects all over Europe. The Ray volunteers to help, and flies off. He returns to town, changes back into Terrill, and goes straight to the Gestapo with news of an upcoming grain-burning project. Gestapo men check out his story, and even when it turns out to be true they don't trust Happy, until he encounters some resistance men on the street, and they attack him. This persuades the Germans that he's on the level.
That night, at the targeted grain field, the Germans have set a deadly ambush, but the Ray arrives ahead of the resistance arsonists, to warn them what's up. Meanwhile an open car full of foreign journalists, with Bud along, is en route to the field; Bud is despondant over Happy's apparent treachery. Ray's warning doesn't work out, and he punches out the resistance fighters, and steals their torches, then zooms over to the Hunyadi Granary and lights it up. He also encircles the German infantry unit with fire, and several of them are killed. Photographers show up and capture their doom. Bud is jubilant that Happy isn't a traitor after all. Happy is happy that he'll be returning to Turkey, where he was having a good time.
Appearing in The Ray: "In Hungary"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Bud
Villains:
- Gestapo
- Baron Von Fritz (Dies)
- Occupation Army (many die)
Other Characters:
- Hungarian resistance fighters
Locations:
Synopsis for Espionage Starring Black X: "Brandon's Betrayal"
Appearing in Espionage Starring Black X: "Brandon's Betrayal"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Col Atwater
- Batu
Villains:
- Japanese Occupation Troops
- LCDR Brandon (Dies)
- his Japanese wife (Dies)
Other Characters:
- Douglas MacArthur (Cameo)
- Colin P. Kelly (Cameo)
- a U.S. Marine from Brooklyn (Dies)
Locations:
- Manila, the Philippines
Synopsis for Bozo the Robot: "The Gestapo In America"
Appearing in Bozo the Robot: "The Gestapo In America"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- Gestapo boss Krontz
- Gestapo agent Carl (Dies)
- other Gestapo agent (Dies)
- Gestapo agent Fritz (Dies)
Other Characters:
- Kelly's boss, War Dept.
- Kelly, messenger (Dies)
Locations:
- Washington, D.C.
- War Department
- 1st spy hideout
- 2nd spy hideout
Items:
Synopsis for The Purple Trio: "Action At the Auction"
At a War Relief art auction, Warren uses ventriloquism to juice up the prices of the paintings. The auction host's butler, and two thugs, steal all the paintings at the end of the auction, and load them in a truck. Warren fools them into thinking they've had a tire blow out, they stop, and the Purple Trio apprehend them.
Appearing in The Purple Trio: "Action At the Auction"
Featured Characters:
- The Purple Trio:
- Rocky Hill, strongman
- Tiny Todd, midget
- Warren, ventriloquist
Villains:
- Frazer's butler
- two more hench
Other Characters:
- Frazer
- art snobs
Locations:
- Frazer's office on Broad Street
Items:
- truckload of stolen paintings
Vehicles:
- truck
Synopsis for Wildfire: "Mad Merlin the Magician"
Appearing in Wildfire: "Mad Merlin the Magician"
Featured Characters:
Villains:
- Mad Merlin
- his gang, in medieval armor
Other Characters:
- Anne Haynes
- John Haynes
Locations:
- The Haynes's big old house in the mountains
Items:
- trunkful of gold coins
Vehicles:
- Carol's roadster
Synopsis for Midnight: "In Hollywood"
Dave Clark and his entourage are in Hollywood to cover the debut of starlet Joy Devine's new picture. He interrupts what appears to be a brazen daylight robbery as Midnight, only to find out it was just a movie scene. Properly chastened, he doesn't intervene when they see Joy Devine being knifed, thinking it's just another shoot. Unfortunately for Midnight, that was a real murder and Joy Devine's dead. They jump on a nearby man, thinking he was the killer, but it turns out he was actually the director of Devine's last movie and a good friend, but he's killed by a falling pendulum blade. Midnight and friends chase him, only for another man to vouch for his innocence, and their quarry to fall into a sudden vat of acid in the street and be reduced to his skeleton in an instant. The other man's seen off by a harpoon, but when Midnight tries to catch the fleeing perpetrator with his vacuum gun, it slides off him instead, and he gets away. However, Midnight has a brainstorm on how they'll catch their man.
At the premier of Joy Devine's film, everyone praises her performance, until her former makeup artist explodes and demands credit for his part in her startling success. Midnight grabs him and makes him sign a confession to all the murders. He explains he realized it had to be a makeup artist who was behind everything when the vacuum gun's dart pulled off caked makeup on his face.
Appearing in Midnight: "In Hollywood"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Villains:
- insane make-up man
Other Characters:
- Joy Devine, actress (Dies)
- Buzzbe, movie director (Dies)
- Jones, movie cameraman (Dies)
- Thompson, agent (Dies)
- Ann Sheridan (Cameo)
- Betty Grable (Cameo)
- Hedy Lamarr (Cameo)
- Myrna Loy (Cameo)
- Rita Hayworth (Cameo)
- Veronica Lake (Cameo)
- Lana Turner (Mentioned only)
Locations:
Items:
- Midnight's Vacuum Gun
Synopsis for Wings Wendall: "Dr. Reinhardt Missing!!"
Appearing in Wings Wendall: "Dr. Reinhardt Missing!!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Military Intelligence
- Spinner Benson
Villains:
- Fieldherr Kunkle (Dies)
- Major Pincer (Dies)
- Miss Reinhardt (Dies)
Other Characters:
- Dr. Reinhardt (Dies)
Locations:
Items:
- Reinhardt's Formula for Helium X
Vehicles:
- Allied 2-engine bomber (Destroyed)
- stolen German 1-engine fighter
Synopsis for The Marksman: "Captain Krass's Double"
Appearing in The Marksman: "Captain Krass's Double"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Vorka
Villains:
- Occupation Officers
- Captain Krass
- Occupation Troops (several are killed)
Other Characters:
- John Powell
Locations:
- occupied Poland
- Nazi Regional Headquarters, formerly Povalski Castle
Vehicles:
- English fighter plane
- half dozen German motorcycles
Synopsis for The Jester: "Oscar Oople"
Oscar Oople's a crook who gets away with it by being so absurd no-one believes what's happened until it's too late, like when he bargains with a jeweler over a set worth $6,000,000, then when the jeweler demands he take it or leave it, he takes it...without paying, which the jeweler doesn't notice until he's out the door. McGinty refuses to believe something so idiotic happens when the police are called. Unfortunately for him, his wacky methods are cancelled out by the Jester's own, and he's taken downtown.
Appearing in The Jester: "Oscar Oople"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- McGinty
Villains:
- Oscar Oople (First appearance)
- two thugs
- Petunia
Other Characters:
- Terwilliger, jeweler
Locations:
- New York City
- Tiffaties Jewelers
Items:
- Oople's telescoping high-tension walking cane
- six million dollars worth of stolen diamonds
Synopsis for Rookie Rankin: "Bodyguard Botchup"
Appearing in Rookie Rankin: "Bodyguard Botchup"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Sarge
Villains:
- Mitzie, Curtis' secretary
- Chopper
- a butcher
Other Characters
- Lionel Curtis
Locations:
- City Hall
Notes
- Carol Martin's friend Anne Haynes doesn't recognize Carol in her Wildfire identity. Wildfire's costume has no mask.
- Also appearing in this issue of Smash Comics were:
- "Archie O'Toole", art by John Devlin
- Wun Cloo: "Stuffed Animals", art by Jack Cole
- "The Cobra Test" (text story, featuring Jimmy Christian), by Robert M. Hyatt
See Also
Links and References
