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"The Newsboy Legion: "The Meanest Man on Earth"": The Newsboy Legion is approached by Wilbur Whilling, a man with a vision. He believes the slums they live in could be fixed up, children given a better place to play, and families could have homes that aren't falling apart. Tommy Thompkins points

Star-Spangled Comics #14 is an issue of the series Star-Spangled Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of November, 1942.

Synopsis for The Newsboy Legion: "The Meanest Man on Earth"

The Newsboy Legion is approached by Wilbur Whilling, a man with a vision. He believes the slums they live in could be fixed up, children given a better place to play, and families could have homes that aren't falling apart. Tommy Thompkins points out that it would take a load of money for something like that. Wilbur agrees, but says that the boys carry influence around here, they're already seen as heroes, so they could convince people to donate their savings towards the idea he had. The boys think it sounds like a great idea!

The very next day, they begin to talk to their fellow slum dwellers. Scrapper visits Mrs. Morey, the widow with two children, who gives what's left of her husband's life insurance money. Big Words speaks to Dr. Hart, a man who selflessly treated the people of suicide slum for most of his life, he wants to donate every cent he has. Gabby talks to old Dan Logan, former prizefighting boxer that's been living off retirement since he took ill. Tommy finds great luck with Alan Martin, a young architect who offers to help with the construction free of charge. The slums start to feel that little ray of hope as they head to the Housing offices with the money.

Construction happens for the next few weeks, and Alan Martin's deal to work free saves thousands of dollars. Finally, in place of ramshackle homes, the block now holds a nice new apartment building. Moving day brings all sorts of happy faces, and the Newsboys feel so proud of themselves. Patrolman Jim Harper visits the boys in their new apartment to see how they are doing. While he sits with them at the dinner table, someone knocks on the door. It is an attorney, J. Hawk, who represented the housing contractor that sold the materials used for this structure. He tells the boys if they don't pay the one hundred forty-seven thousand dollars owed, he'll have to kick them and everyone else out onto the street. Big Words insists that Wilbur Whilling paid for everything with the money they donated, though they haven't heard from him lately, and Hawk is adamant that not a penny has been received as yet. Officer Harper looks over the paperwork, commenting it all looks legit. He promises the boys he'll look into it through his legal contacts.

Lawyer Hawk has a visitor in his home: the elusive Wilbur Whilling. The scam has gone off perfectly, they now have the money and ownership of a tenement building, once they kick all the slum denizens out. The Newsboys just happen to be taking a walk down the same street on which Wilbur has parked his car. They race towards him when he comes out of the house, shouting at him to give back the money he took. Whilling summons his bodyguards to grab the boys and toss them in the car; it's unfortunate that they know too much now.

They take the Newsboys to the Sun Ice Corp building, where the boys will be left to freeze to death. Big Words hastily knocks out a few panels of glass on the front window, which he claims is for ventilation, not that it'll help them much. Whilling has them tossed in cold storage with the door sealed shut behind them.

The Guardian has been searching high and low for signs of Wilbur Whilling. He notices the trunk of a car being loaded up with something, or several somethings... or some-ones! It speeds past him, around the block and into a dead end street, but still he loses sight of it when he turns the corner. The Guardian has a gut feeling he'd better find that car soon. He is stopped by the sight of a sign on the glass window on one of the businesses: The Sun Ice Corp had some of the letters on the window broken out, so it looked like it said "S-U-C-C-O-R", which was another word for "help". Only Big Words would have thought of that. The shield carrying hero climbs up the roof, but there is no skylight to enter thru. Fine, with a crowbar on hand nearby, he makes his own. Wilbur is startled when the Guardian suddenly leaps down through an open ceiling panel! With the fury of a cyclone, the hero cleans the room, bashing the gang with his shield. They start shooting at him, the Guardian raises his shield to block the bullets as he backs up towards the freezer door. The latch is lifted and the kids are free. When they're ready, the Guardian charges into the gunman, knocking them off balance, while the Newsboys start brawling with fists and sliding blocks of ice both. Whilling and his gang are out for the count!

Headlines grace the morning papers, the money for the housing project was recovered, J. Hawk, the attorney, confesses and names Whilling as his co-conspirator. The next evening, Jim Harper visits his charges again to see they baked a cake with the words "Thanks Guardian". It's a slip of the tongue when he thanks them for the cake. Just when the Newsboys finally think they caught him, Jim backtracks, saying he thought they meant the cake was for him, their legal guardian.

Appearing in The Newsboy Legion: "The Meanest Man on Earth"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Wilbur Whilling (Single appearance)
  • J. Willswiper Hawk (Single appearance)

Other Characters:

  • Mrs. Morey (Single appearance)
  • Dr. Hart (Single appearance)
  • Alan Martin (Single appearance)
  • Mary Martin (Single appearance)
  • Dan Logan (Single appearance)

Locations:

Items:


Synopsis for The Star-Spangled Kid: "Sylvester Acts His Age"

A gang of pickpockets led by Sam Kleig invades the city. The Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy fail in their first attempt to catch them. Back home, Sylvester's father is worried about his constant odd behavior, so he calls a child psychologist, Dr. Sappe, to diagnose him. Sylvester must act like a normal boy his age while home, pretending he has a girlfriend and talking about sports, to fool the doctor. He tricks Dr. Sappe into thinking he's leaving to go play baseball so he can slip out to becomes the Star-Spangled Kid.

Kleig's gang hit Times Square by setting up a fake subway station, to lure innocent hard-working people into a trap. Sam only lets them go after they give up all their cash and jewelry. The Kid and Stripesy enter the fray, knocking down one of the cardboard walls with fists flying. Neither Kleig nor his gang are very handy in a straight up fight, being more about the stealth approach that comes with pickpocketing, so it doesn't take long for the heroes to round them up for police.

Sylvester and Pat change clothes and head for home. Dr. Sappe has finished his investigation, concluding to Mr. Pemberton that Sylvester was just a normal boy ... although perhaps a bit more outside activity would do him good.

Appearing in The Star-Spangled Kid: "Sylvester Acts His Age"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Sam Kleig (Single appearance)

Other Characters:

  • Dr. Sappe (Single appearance)

Locations:

Vehicles:

Synopsis for The Tarantula: "Case of the Killer Chairs"

John Law is invited to the exclusive, invitation-only Crime Writer's Club, to mingle with other writers of mystery novels like himself. But the round-table get together becomes its own crime story, as a dummy made to resemble the club's late founder, dressed as Sherlock Holmes, sits at the head of the table, the guests realize that there aren't enough chairs for everyone. One of the members, Stuart, is forced to stand. He doesn't take kindly to this and angrily storms out. Suddenly a sinister voice speaks from the dummy; a game will be played where the one without a chair will be killed, the voice finishes with a warning that each day another chair will be removed from the room. John checks the dummy but finds no speaker. A loud screech of tires from outside startles the men, they check out the source to find a car has run over Stuart! The driver shakily states he couldn't avoid him, someone pushed Stuart in front of his vehicle. A murder, just like the voice in the dummy said.

The writers gather again the next night, which sees another shortage of chairs, despite the janitor being told to make sure enough were provided. The host, Mr. Quand, volunteers to remain standing to prove last night's tragedy was all a coincidence. It was like the dummy could actually hear them, because it responds, with the same voice, that proof of how real last night was would be forthcoming. Quand is marked as the next victim. John Law pretends to be too fearful as he excuses himself for the night. Actually, once outside and unseen, he changes clothes and becomes the Tarantula. All that he has to do is follow Mr. Quand around to keep him safe, hopefully catching the killer in the process. The club meeting ends, and Quand leaves, followed by the Tarantula. At a block party, a shot from a wooden platform above them rings out, the bullet barely missing Quand's head. Tarantula doesn't let the killer fire another, his webgun latches on to the hand holding the gun and pulls the figure down. He can't make out a face under the man's trench coat and hat, but that doesn't stop the crimefighter from throwing a punch towards his head. Quand begins running blindly towards the dock's edge, so Tarantula must abandon the fight to save him. He shoots his strand of web around Quand before he can meet his end in a watery grave. But the killer has gotten away. The Tarantula runs across the rooftops, back towards the Crime Writer's Club, to see if he missed anything. The janitor is sweeping the floors at this hour, but he might know something. However, the janitor confirms always placing down the number of chairs Quand requests, and can offer no explanation otherwise. Back to square one? Not quite, as the hero is hit from behind while leaving, and falls unconscious.

When he wakes up, he finds himself in a deadly predicament. He's been tied up in the clock tower, with his head sticking out at the twelve o 'clock mark, with only a minute before the hour hand knocks his head off! With his feet, he breaks a nearby bottle and jams the pieces in the cogwheels. Then using the remaining shards, he cuts his ropes.

The club meets again the night after, this time it is John Law who remain standing. He announces his intention of leaving town tonight, to avoid being murdered. The bait is set. At the train station later that night, the killer stalks John Law, but John had changed to his Tarantula garb early and was wearing an over coat over his costume to fool the killer. It works. When the figure discovers the mistake he made, he climbs up a water tower trying to escape, but Tarantula and his webgun bring him down again.

John Law's alter ego walks the killer back to the club to show the members the murderers face. Removing the hat makes them gasp, it was the janitor! Wrong. Tarantula removes the false beard to reveal the face of... Stuart? He killed the janitor on the first day and exchanged clothes with him, throwing the body under the car to fake his own death. The reason can be found in the club's charter. The founder wrote a law that said the last surviving member inherits the property. Stuart wanted the good life for himself.

Appearing in The Tarantula: "Case of the Killer Chairs"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Stuart (Single appearance)

Other Characters:

  • A janitor (Unnamed) (Appears only as a corpse)
  • Mr. Quand (Single appearance)

Locations:

Items:

Synopsis for Penniless Palmer: "The Case of the Crazy Clock"

The Tick-Tock Shop has a new owner, Wynder Upp, nephew of the previous owner, who died mysteriously. His first customer is Diamond Joe Jackson, who offers to buy the place from him, but Wynder promised his uncle he'd never sell. Diamond Joe leaves with the parting words that Wynder's uncle had a misunderstanding with some "friends" of his before he passed. While Wynder ponders over the thinly-veiled threat, the cuckoo clock on the wall behind him starts making loud whirring and buzzing sounds. The mechanical bird comes out spouting a poem, "Wynder Upp don't be a chump, get your angles straight and jump." Believing the clock is haunted, Wynder runs screaming from the shop. He runs past Penniless Palmer and Oxie, who were reading the morning newspaper at the paper stand, too poor to actually buy one. The paperboy recognizes the young detective, commenting that he wishes he could be more like Pen. Pen corrects him by telling the boy that he probably makes more money selling papers than they do being perpetually poor detectives. The paperboy doesn't believe him, he tells Pen to prove it by agreeing to give each other all the money each make at the end of the day.

Back at the office, Bunny tells Pen they've got a client, finally, who was waiting inside. It's Wynder Upp, still shaken by the morning's incident, as he explains to Pen that he thinks his uncle's spirit is possessing the cuckoo clock. It sounds crazy, but they can't afford to turn down a case, so Pen and Oxie follow Wynder back to the clock shop. The door was left unlocked when the owner fled, so the young detective and his burly friend meet some burglars inside that are quickly dispatched and displaced. Whatever they were after, it didn't look like they found it. Pen puts a sign in the window saying the shop is closed, at least until he can figure out what's going on. Then the cuckoo clock sounds again, scaring Wynder, but catching Pen's curiousity. Another poem, "Wynder, Wynder, now's the time! Dim-wits never find a dime!"

Diamond Joe returns to the Tick-Tock shop with the burglars from before. They start brawling with Pen and Oxie, who use whatever they find nearby to help in the fight, be it a gold-plated statue being pushed onto one of the thugs, or a table clock that hits Joe in the head. Oxie finds some rope to tie the gang up with. Pen gets to the bottom of this mystery by removing the cuckoo clock from the wall, revealing a hole behind it with an old phonograph playing a recording of Wynder's uncle's voice. It was placed there as a riddle that only his nephew could solve, not realizing that Wynder would be such a scaredy-cat. The uncle hid his life's savings in the shop, with the clock providing the clue every time it's hands moved to ten-ten, which pointed to the location. Each riddle had themes of "angle" and "time", supposed to tip Wynder off. They unseal a wall panel to find a hoard of cash!

Wynder Upp thanks Pen with five hundred dollars. Along with the five hundred dollar reward for capturing Diamond Joe, that nets the team an even thousand! But Pen has forgotten about the newsboy, who shows up with his profit of the day: forty four cents. A deal's a deal. The boy gets to eat at a fancy restaurant, a thousand dollars richer. Pen brings Oxie and Bunny to the local burger joint, spending the last of his forty four cents on a cheap dinner.

Appearing in Penniless Palmer: "The Case of the Crazy Clock"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Diamond Joe Jackson (Single appearance)

Other Characters:

  • Wynder Upp (Single appearance)

Locations:

  • Tick-Tock Shop

Items:

  • Cuckoo Clock

Synopsis for TNT & Dan the Dyna-Mite: "The Little Man Who Wanted to Be Brave"

J. Egbert Fearsome's home is a museum of hunting trophies, that he would happily show visitors while regaling them with the story of how he killed each one. Tex and Dan are with the rest of the crowd, enjoying the stories while looking around his exhibits. Except it was all lies. Fearsome was really a coward, every item he owned was bought from taxidermists, killed by men braver than he. Even the sight of a mouse crawling across his floor sends him into a panic. But he can't let his reputation among his peers falter, because he really does have a wish of being as brave as the man he pretends to be.

Outside his window aere three men, led by Posey the "Blooming Bandit," waiting for the guests to leave before they make their move. An bour after everyone leaves, Fearsome suddenly finds himself in a bit of trouble when the bandits enter his home! Posey fires a warning shot, scaring Fearsome so much he faints, forcing the bandits to search for his fortune without help. Tex and Dan return to the house when the shot is heard, and they see in the window the events unfolding. Time to make contact, as they touch their Dyna-Rings together, creating the explosion that lets them become TNT and Dan the Dyna-Mite! They charge through the window into the trophy hall, the surprised bandits fire shots at them, which melt away on contact with their atomically charged bodies. Posey's two men are shocked by the electric touch of the dynamite heroes, but he notices an opening and fires at a large stuffed shark hanging over the duo's heads. It crashes on top of them, knocking them out. Minutes later, the pair awaken to find themselves tied up and unable to touch their rings. The gang rips open a grizzly bear and place TNT and Dan inside, to be sealed in until they suffocate. One of the men notice a tag reading that the bear was stuffed back in 1876. J. Egbert Fearsome wasn't even born then, meaning he's a phony! The three of them laugh, Posey says he'll make sure everyone knows about it. The idea of losing his brave reputation makes something snap inside of Fearsome. He grabs a tusk off the wall and begins smacking the crooks with it, even knocking Posey over! Inside the grizzly, Dan was able to turn himself around in the small confines and touch Tex's ring. Boom! TNT and Dyna-Mite burst out ready for round two! The blooming bandit has robbed his last house. The police will take care of him from here.

Looking at what he did, helped to capture three wanted men, made J. Egbert Fearsome aware of his own inner strength. He realized he wasn't afraid anymore. The next day he leaves to the Congo to hunt something dangerous.

Appearing in TNT & Dan the Dyna-Mite: "The Little Man Who Wanted to Be Brave"

Featured Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Posey (Single appearance)
  • Dunk (Single appearance)

Other Characters:

  • J. Egbert Fearsome (Single appearance)

Locations:

Items:

Synopsis for Robotman: "Murder Movie"

Paul Dennis is walking home after a date with Joan, when he spots a heavy safe being pushed out of a fourth story window, right when a man is walking underneath! He leaps over the man's head, using his robot strength to knock the safe away with his hand. The attempted murderers run away; Paul lets them go so he can check on their intended victim. Eric Schneer is a movie director, and in thanks for saving his life, he offers Paul a role in his latest film. Paul accepts, though his motive isn't fame, but rather to find out why Schneer was the target of murder. The role requires only one thing; that Paul could swim. This may be a problem, though it's water-tight, he has no idea if his body is capable of swimming through water. Once on his own, he heads to the shore and removes his human disguise. Robotman leaps in the river, finding that while he does float, he just doesn't have enough ballast to move through the water convincingly. Back at the lab, he asks his friend, Chuck, to help him equip a ballast tank in his body so he can keep up appearances while keeping an eye on Schneer.

The movie crew has to take a boat to get to the location of the shoot, Skull Bay. Schneer introduces Paul to his cameraman and his stunt diver, who are the same men that tried to crush the director with a safe yesterday! But Paul plays dumb, shaking their hand with an iron grip that sends them reeling in pain back to the crew cabin. Schneer excuses himself, following after them. When the three of them are alone in the cabin, Eric Schneer's demeanor changes as he becomes angry. He yells at the two men, believing they tried to "cut him out" of the deal by trying to kill him yesterday. The racket they are involved in is too good for any screw ups, he says, and that the new guy will be useful to him as long as they don't hurt him. The men agree to leave Paul and their "boss" Schneer alone for now. With his super amplified hearing, Paul catches every word of this conversation. He is going to find out what "racket" they are referring to.

The diver is put in a heavy suit and sent down, with the cameraman capturing the shot from within a diving bell. So far, everything looks legitimate as part of the movie making process. Where's the crime? Minutes pass, and the scene is done. The director then calls on Paul to start filming his scenes, starting by having him get in a knife fight with a phony shark. But as he climbs down into the water, real sharks began swimming around him. He has nothing to fear, of course, having a steel body that the shark's teeth can't penetrate. Schneer can hardly believe it, but it does make for a great movie shot.

Night falls, most of the crew is asleep except Paul, up and on the prowl for answers. He spies on Schneer and his men through the cabin window. They have a pile of gold on the table that wasn't there this morning. It was all clicking into place. Paul returns to his quarters, lies back and waits. The cameraman points a gun through his window, firing several shots at the body in the bed.

The next morning, Paul greets the crew as if nothing happened, the bullets having bounced harmlessly off his body. He ducks around to the other side of the ship while the crew is occupied with another diving scene. Robotman removes his disguise at last, diving over the side with his new built-in ballast pump helping him sink to the bottom. A few adjustments on the belt, and he is able to move along the sea bottom without much resistance. He spots an old sunken galleon, with Spanish treasure being hauled from within the wreck by Schneer's diver. There isn't even a camera in the diving bell, it was being used to carry the gold back to the surface without the rest of the crew knowing. The "cameraman" inside gets quite a ride when Robotman tosses the bell upward and out of the water, back onto the deck of the ship! The diver tries attacking with a knife, which against his steel body is a futile effort. Robotman removes his dive helmet and using his rockets, propels himself and the thief upward. Director Schneer confesses after seeing his men have been beaten. He had discovered the treasure while shooting a sea picture last month, but if he divulged that information, then by law it would belong to his company, and he wanted to keep it for himself. He embezzled the money he was supposed to use to pay a stunt man for the shark battle shot, so instead he tried to find someone like Paul Dennis, who would to do it for significantly less pay.

Home again at his laboratory, Paul tells Chuck all about the adventure. Chuck mentions that earlier, a mysterious stranger came asking for him, saying he'll be back later.

Appearing in Robotman: "Murder Movie"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Eric Schneer (Single appearance)
  • Ape (Single appearance)
  • Beano (Single appearance)

Locations:

Vehicles:

  • Steamer Ship

Notes

  • The Tarantula gets head-konked unconscious. This is at minimum his sixth concussion.[1]
  • Both TNT and Dan the Dyna-Mite get head-konked unconscious, with a dropped stuffed shark. This is at least TNT's third concussion,[2] and Danny Dunbar's second.[3]

Trivia

  • The Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy created special "maneuvers". These moves are mostly illegal for anyone who isn't a costumed crimefighter to use.
    • "Maneuver BK-27": The Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy join together, shoulder-to-shoulder, and charge through a gang of bad guys.


See Also


Links and References

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