C'mon! We've got to jump... when I smashed the switches, I set the one that would blow up this castle! 
Smash Comics #8 is an issue of the series Smash Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of March, 1940.
Synopsis for Espionage Starring Black X: "The Rescue of Gale Payson"
Circa 1939-Sep, in the tiny German town of Coblenz, near the Seigfried Line, a fugitive former high official of the German Intelligence is chased by the SS, and he briefly hides in the apartment of American reporter Gale Payson, then gives her some important documents, then resumes his running-away, but gets gunned down right away. So Black X is sent to get her and the papers out of Germany.
The next morning Black X & Batu fly from Washington to France, and Batu is sent to get a car (good thing he has telepathic powers, given how Batu looks and where he's going), then to meet Black X in Saarbrucken. Black X disguises himself in a stolen French Army uniform, then during a WWI-style battle, he broken-field-runs into Germany, bayonet first, then again disguises himself, in a stolen and bloody German Army uniform, then rides an ambulance into the interior, then jumps out at Coblenz, and finds Miss Payson, who surprisingly is still there. Posing as a married couple, they make some westward progress but soon are busted by, of all people, Madame Doom, newly employed by Germany.
After a brief struggle, Black X and Gale and one hostage German soldier are driving westward in a German car, leaving Madame Doom behind, what a mistake. They drive across yesterday's still-active battlefield during an artillery barrage and the hostage soldier gets killed by shrapnel, then a direct hit takes out the car, but X and Payson have already dived out. "They reach a wooded grove where faithful Batu awaits." But the French have impounded their airplane, so Batu has to do a telepathic whammy on the sentry, but luckily it's fully fueled up for a nonstop trans-Atlantic flight, and they also evade the French & British Air Forces, then they fly back to the USA.
Appearing in Espionage Starring Black X: "The Rescue of Gale Payson"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Batu
- Colonel Atwater
Antagonists:
- Madame Doom
- German Soldiers
Other Characters:
- Gale Payson
- Steve Dorgan
- French Soldiers
Locations:
- Germany
- Coblenz
- Saarbrucken
Synopsis for Clip Chance at Cliffside: "Dunn's Double"
Sports-cheating gamblers kidnap Clip's teammate Bob Dunn and replace him with a lookalike, right before the big hockey game. Also they dose the Cliffside team's water supply with Ipecac. The Hale College team just mops up the ice with the Cliffside team. In mid-game Cliff figures out what's going on, tests his theory by knocking down the fake "Bob Dunn," confirms it, and then buckles down to win the big game. He huddles up with the other skaters and tells them what he's figured out; for the rest of the game "Bob Dunn" is frozen out of every play, until Cliffside wins, 2-1! Then the players team up and beat some info out of the fake "Dunn," who quickly squeals out an address.
Appearing in Clip Chance at Cliffside: "Dunn's Double"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Coach Barr
- Trainer Hunt
Antagonists:
- Slick
- Slick's Boss
Other Characters:
- Bob Dunn
- other Cliffside hockey players
- other Hale hockey players
Locations:
- Cliffside College
- Hale College
Synopsis for Abdul the Arab: "The Arabec Oil Mystery"
Appearing in Abdul the Arab: "The Arabec Oil Mystery"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Hassan
Antagonists:
- Holden
- Holden Oil Company
Other Characters:
- Stanley Rice
- Arabec Oil Company
- Police Sgt. Gill
Locations:
- Saudi Arabia
- Riyadh
- Arabec Company Oil Field
- Holden Company Oil Caravan Camp
- Iraq
Synopsis for Captain Cook of Scotland Yard: "The Case of the Missing Bullion"
Three corrupt guards at the Cambridge Arsenal steal a large shipment of gold bullion, then blow up the Arsenal with dynamite to cover their traces and fake their own deaths. Scotland Yard sends Inspector Niven to look into it; they murder him and tuck his body into bed in the isolated home of an elderly couple. Scotland Yard sends Captain Cook to look into it; they try but fail to murder him, and he arrests them.
Appearing in Captain Cook of Scotland Yard: "The Case of the Missing Bullion"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- the Chief
Antagonists:
- three corrupt Arsenal guards
Other Characters:
- Inspector Niven (Dies)
- elderly couple
Locations:
- London
- Hills around London
- Cambridge Arsenal (Destroyed)
- Isolated Farmhouse
Synopsis for Hugh Hazzard and his Iron Man: "Sabotage!"
Hitlin and the Batzi Government move in on neutral Katavia. Hugh Hazzard and His Iron Man Bozo put a stop to Adolf Zuhn, and his Batzi spies, based in the "Krautville" neighborhood in NYC, who are trying to draw America INTO the war in Europe. Zuhn's idea is that this will weaken the US domestically, so that "our armies can easily step in and take possession of these rich lands." That plan has some problems, but Zuhn's immediate problem is the large bulletproof robot invading his hideout. Bozo taps the spy team's phones and scares them into calling their boss, thus Hugh finds out about Zuhn's ongoing operation to set off a time bomb at the U.S. Mint, in Washington DC. By means of a Super-Seper-Iconoscope, connected to the Teleradio, Hugh Hazzard eavesdrops on this enemy radio traffic and triangulates Zuhn's location. Bozo flies from NYC to WDC in 22 minutes (!) and finds the car with the bomb in it, along with two of Zuhn's agents, and jacks it way up into the air, where it explodes, leaving Bozo unscathed, then he kills another guy with a high-voltage cable.
Appearing in Hugh Hazzard and his Iron Man: "Sabotage!"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- Hitlin (Behind the scenes)
- his Batzi government (Behind the scenes)
- Adolf Zhun (Dies)
- Herzog (Dies)
- Batzi spies
Locations:
- Krautville, a neighborhood in New York City
- Bird Airport
Items:
- Hugh Hazzard's Super-Seper-Iconoscope
- Hugh Hazzard's Teleradio
Synopsis for Chic Carter: "The Star of Egypt"
Appearing in Chic Carter: "The Star of Egypt"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Daily Star Editor
Antagonists:
- Hoteb
- three fake cops: Chief, Mac, one other
Other Characters:
- Prof. Lansing
- Brenda Lansing
- Lansing Estate Butler
Locations:
- New York City Area
- Daily Star newspaper offices
- Secluded Lansing Estate
Items:
- Star of Egypt
Synopsis for Invisible Justice: "The Voodoo Master of Unionville"
Terrible accidents are happening at various industrial plants across Unionville, and Kent Thurston believes a Voodoo Master is behind them. There is, and his hideout is a castle, and his hypnotically-controlled gangster minions wear matching armor outfits. Hood confronts this villain in his own throneroom, but the Voodoo Master has a glass ball next to his seat, and at the press of a button, it emits a flash that blinds the Invisible Hood, plus turns his big cloaky costume blue. The minions attack and capture Thurston, then the Voodoo Master reveals, boastfully, that he has some electrical switches connected to explosive charges at two other industrial locations, plus this castle. But the Hood has already become invisible again, and there's a melee, with medieval weapons. The Invisible Hood rigs the castle to blow up, frees a factory-manager prisoner, and kills the Voodoo Master with a sword through the chest, then escapes just before the castle blows up.
Appearing in Invisible Justice: "The Voodoo Master of Unionville"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- Voodoo Master (Dies)
- his armored henchmen
Other Characters:
- Tom, the steel mill manager
- Jenkins, a steelworker
Locations:
- Unionville
- Bland's Castle, on an island in a lake near Unionville
Items:
Synopsis for Flash Fulton: "Mission in the Amazon Jungle"
Famous explorer Roger Hart has been missing for quite some time, and was last seen in the Amazon jungle, so Gabby sends Flash and Andy to South America to find him. They find him and pull him out of the camp of some indigenous cannibals just in time to save him from getting burned alive in a Voodoo ceremony, and return to New York.
Appearing in Flash Fulton: "Mission in the Amazon Jungle"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Gabby
- Andy
Antagonists:
- Voodoo Cannibal Natives
Other Characters:
- Roger Hart
- Carter
Locations:
- New York City
- Acme Newsreels office
- Amazon Jungle
Synopsis for John Law, Scientective: "Danger In Numbers"
The Avenger's 6th target is Albert Mills, whom he terrorizes with ominous pranks. Mills calls in Attorney/Detective/Scientist John Law, who reveals how one of the pranks was set up. Mills moves to a new apartment, that very night, and Law goes with him. Finally Mills turns in for the night, asking Law to lock him in. Law keeps watch, in an easy chair, and after 3 hours go by, he smells smoke. Dashing into Mills' room, he finds the mattress just then catching fire, and carries Mills out of the room. With a quick search of the lower floor, the Scientective reveals how this murderous act of arson was set up: a short wave transmitter has been set up to microwave the mattress springs of Mills bed! From a window, Law and Mills see a hooded figure, the Avenger, run to a parked car and race away in it.
The next morning a rock crashes thru the window of John Law's laboratory, with a note, warning Law that the Avenger is holding Mills captive, and demands to be left alone by Law. Law tells June what he's figured out so far: the Avenger is definitely one of the 13 marked men, based on how much he knows about all of them. The Scientective concocts a plan to expose the Avenger's identity, once and for all.
First he arranges with the phone company to have 13 new phone lines installed at his office. Then He calls each of the thirteen businessmen, and tells them his new phone number, with each of them getting a different number. Then he arranges with a newspaper publisher to print a fake edition, on the front page of which he taunts the Avenger. Provoked, the Avenger calls the Scientective, on one of his new phone numbers, and thus Law learns that the Avenger is Lewis! John and June race over to Lewis' house, just as Lewis is escaping in a fast car. The chase leads to a bridge, where the getaway car stops, Lewis gets out and pulls out Albert Mills, and throws him over the side of the bridge. John Law dives into the river to rescue Mills, while Lewis drives away.
Appearing in John Law, Scientective: "Danger In Numbers"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- June Carter
Antagonists:
- the Avenger (Albert Lewis)
Other Characters:
- Albert Mills
Locations:
- New York City Area
- Mills' Apartment
- Mills' New Apartment
- Laws's Laboratory / Law Office
- Daily Express Office
Synopsis for Wings Wendall: "The Bombing of the Tennessee Valley Dam"
In Tennessee, in broad daylight, a zeppelin attacks an important hydroelectric dam, and destroys it with bombs, and escapes. Colonel Jordan dispatches Wings Wendall from Washington DC to deal with it; Wendall flies to the disaster site in a fighter plane. Landing in Tennessee, Wings meets newspaper reporter Jean Drake, who is here to cover the story, and she has seen the dirigible, about 75 miles to the west. They team up.
Some time later, on the North Atlantic Ocean, the pirate zeppelin attacks a munitions ship, and destroys it with bombs, and escapes. Again Wings Wendall is called in, but as he flies from Tennessee to the East Coast, he finds he has a stowaway: Jean Drake. It's too late to turn back anyway, because she points out the position of the pirate dirigible. Telling her to strap on a parachute, Wendall flies in to attack the airship with machine gun fire, but the zeppelin has got gun crews at its top and bottom, and they damage Wendall's engine. Wings and Jean bail out, and the dirigible withdraws to a secret base in the Caribbean Sea.
At Langley Field in Virginia, Wings Wendall persuades one reluctant Air Corps major to let him try a solo patrol in search of the elusive airship, packing incendiary ammunition. Jean again surprises him at take-off time, this time with a big old smooch, then he takes off. Before the marauding airship can reach the Atlas Ammunition Works, Wendall intercepts it and shoots it down.
Appearing in Wings Wendall: "The Bombing of the Tennessee Valley Dam"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Colonel Jordan, Wendall's boss
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Jean Drake
Locations:
- Tennessee
- Great Tennessee Valley Dam (Destroyed)
- Military Intelligence Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
- North Atlantic Ocean
- Langley Field, Virginia
- Caribbean Sea
- Atlas Ammunition Works
Vehicles:
- Pirate Dirigible (Destroyed)
- U.S. 2-seat speed plane
- Munitions Steamship (Destroyed)
Notes
- Abdul:
- On its way to the Persian Gulf, the Arabec Oil Company's main pipeline, from the interior of Saudia Arabia, crosses one outer corner of the "Al Kawait" region of Iraq.
- Police Sgt. Gill seems British, but it's not clear what police department he's from.
- Bozo:
- In this issue, Bozo the Iron Man destroys another car full of bad guys, bringing his body count up to at least 11. Then he electrocutes henchman Herzog, bringing it up to at least 12.
- Bozo flies from New York City to Washington DC in 22 minutes, which works out to 625 mph.
- Chic Carter
- Peace has been established in Moravia and Chic has been hurriedly recalled to New York.
- Chic Carter packs a concealed semiautomatic handgun, with which he shoot Hoteb; it's not clear whether Hoteb survives.
- Espionage:
- This issue's episode of "Espionage" is set at a time when France and Germany were officially at war, so September 1939 or later, and when both the Siegfried and Maginot artillery lines were operational, which would be prior to May 1940. Earliest possible date is Sep 1939.
- This story is the first time in this series, that the military aggressor nation in Europe is called "Germany." Other fake names will continue to be used for a brief time, for instance this issue's Hugh Hazzard villains are backed by "Hitlin" and his "Batzi" government.
- Madame Doom was last seen in Smash Comics #4. This is her 3rd appearance.
- Black X wears his monocle in his right eye; on the cover it's shown in his left.
- Invisible Justice:
- Wings Wendall:
- The pirate dirigible crew are prone to exclaim "ach!" and to yak about "the Fatherland" but no actual swastikas or German military insignia are shown.
- Also appearing in this issue of Smash Comics were:
- Kidding the Kids, by Arthur Beeman
- Philpott Veep: "An Eerie Episode of Signs and Shadows", by John Devlin
- Sportraits: "Bucky Wells, by Gill Fox
- Archie O'Toole: "Utopia", by Bud Thomas
- "The Winged Emeralds" (text story, featuring Jimmy Christian) by Robert M. Hyatt
- Interesting People: "J.S. Sargent; John Blackland" by Stookie Allen
- Wun Cloo: "The Wrestling Match", by Gill Fox
Trivia
- Will Eisner signed his Espionage stories as "Will Erwin" and his Archie O'Toole stories as "Bud Thomas".
- George Brenner signed his Clip Chance stories as "Scott Sheridan" and his Hugh Hazzard stories as "Wayne Reid".
- Art Pinajian signed his Invisible Justice stories as "Art Gordon".
See Also
Links and References
