Star-Spangled Comics #22 is an issue of the series Star-Spangled Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of July, 1943.
Synopsis for Newsboy Legion: "Brains For Sale"
Gabby is the victim of a long scam when a car he gets put in charge of watching over suddenly ends up a wreck. Now he has two days to come up with two thousand dollars, or the vehicle's owner will call the police and have him sent to reform school. He finds a doctor offering to buy people's brains for two thousand a pop, and in his gullibility, he signs a bogus contract. The only catch was, he'd need to die...
Once it's uncovered that it was all a set-up by Sam the Muscle to knock off the meddling Newsboys one by one, in order to retake Suicide Slum in the name of crime, the Guardian must step in to help his charges fight off the gangsters and save their pal.
Appearing in Newsboy Legion: "Brains For Sale"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Dr. Logus (Single appearance)
- Sam the Muscle (Single appearance)
- Squeegee (Single appearance)
- Bones (Single appearance)
- Carlos (Single appearance)
Locations:
Items:
Synopsis for Star-Spangled Kid: "Stripesy Becomes a Brain Truster"
Sylvester and Pat get into an argument about which of them had the more important job in crimefighting, the Star-Spangled Kid using his brains, or Stripesy with his brawn. To settle it, they decide to switch parts for the next crime they come across, Pat can come up with the plans, and Sylvester can focus on beating up the bad guys.
When a baby is kidnapped from the kindergarten, the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy find it hard to adjust to their new roles, with Stripesy taking too long to think of a fighting strategy, and Sylvester unable to hold his own against a group. While they manage to save the baby, Stripesy's plan goes awry when he leads them straight into an ambush. They are captured and tied up in an elevator set to fall with the baby inside with them, and only then does Stripesy relent, letting his pal work that brain of his to get them out. Sylvester manages to slide the door open with his head, activating the automatic spring mechanism that stops the elevator. First, they return the child to his parents, who haven't even noticed he was gone because of a clever bait and switch, which also explains the reason for the kidnapping. Dwarfish criminal "Midget Joe" snuck into the home dressed like the baby, planning to wait until everyone went to bed before he'd let the rest of his gang inside and loot the place clean. His scheme discovered, Joe calls for his me, and a final fight breaks out. Now that the Kid and Stripesy have returned to their original roles, they're able to finish the gang off quickly.
Appearing in Star-Spangled Kid: "Stripesy Becomes a Brain Truster"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- Kidnappers
- Midget Joe (Single appearance)
- Louie (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Reginald Poe (a baby) (Single appearance)
- Mr. Poe (Single appearance)
- Mrs. Poe (Single appearance)
Locations:
Vehicles:
Three nickels for a quarter, a crazy new slogan sends crowds opening up their piggy banks. The owner of a telephone company offers to pay Pen $4523 and seventeen cents if he can discover who is bringing down his company. The perpetually poor sleuth follows the nickels to the truth. The butler was the culprit, of course. He was so tired of hearing ringing phones all day that he was going to take away all the nickels in the world so no one could make a call anymore.
If only Pen had solved the case faster... the money was given to the company to keep it afloat, and all he receives as a reward is a lifetime of free calls. Now Oxie could order from the burger joint every day without worrying about the phone bill, if he only had the cash to buy a burger.
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Reeves (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Murray Hill, III. (Single appearance)
Locations:
Synopsis for Liberty Belle: "Wings of Treachery"
Libby was enjoying a restful vacation on the V-Bar-O Dude Ranch, showing up the cattle ranchers by breaking the wildest horse in the stable. While on a ride, her horse steps in a gopher hole and throws her from the saddle. This is how she meets Professor Gaffer, by literally falling on top of him while he's hunting a rare butterfly. Despite her meddling in his work, he lets her come inside to get some first aid for an injured knee. In his cabin is a spreading board covered in the butterflies he's caught. He captured the little insects to sell by airmail to collectors, Gaffer explains, speaking of which, right at that moment two men ride up on horseback to collect a package. Seeing as she's healed now, Libby is sent on her way.
Back in the city, Rick Cannon, of Military Intelligence G-2, raids a local collectors' shop, whose owner had been trading military secrets. It's not the only collectors' shop they've had to shut down, as they seem to be the main source of information for enemy spies, but Rick's superiors were frustrated that they still haven't located the "heart of the spy web". To that end, the help of Liberty Belle may be needed, so Rick contacts Tom Revere to have him send a message to the heroine. The Liberty Bell is gently stroked, creating vibrations that will reach Libby no matter where she is. All the way out on the ranch, Libby's tiny replica bell necklace starts vibrating, meaning it was time for her alter-ego to respond. She calls Tom, who tells her to connect with Rick. The situation is explained, Libby gives Rick a tip to check on the packages being airmailed at San Remo airport, then she, as Liberty Belle, rides toward the Professor's shack. Peering inside, she finds him sending a radio transmission to Berlin. Gaffer was using the different colored wings of his butterflies as part of a coded message to the Nazis. She gets captured by one of the men she saw here before, who turns out to be a foreign agent working with Gaffer. Liberty Belle subtly marks a package with her thumbnail, making a crude bell-shaped indentation, before the spies tie her up.
Hours later, Rick has made it to the San Remo airport's post office. Some of the packages were addressed to places the intelligence office have under observation, and then one of the packages catches his eye, bearing a the faint indentation mark of Liberty Belle! The postmaster gives Rick the return address, belonging to one Professor Gaffer. With urgency, he rides out to the cabin, where Liberty Belle was currently struggling against the ropes that bind her. Rick bursts down the door, knocking out one of the men with a right hook. While the spies are distracted, Liberty finally slips out of her knots so she can lend Rick a hand. Gaffer is disarmed, but the two Nazi agents flee! Leaving Rick behind to guard the professor, Liberty goes after them on horseback in a breakneck chase. A beehive rests under a tree branch they were passing under. Liberty pulls out a gun she took from Gaffer, taking careful aim she shoots the hive down on one man's head, then catches the other in a lasso. Once again, the mysterious Liberty Belle disappears from Rick's life with barely a goodbye.
Days later, Rick meets Libby Lawrence on New York's Fifth Avenue, where he tells her all about the adventure. Libby informs him she was in the area, too, on vacation, though not that he'd notice with the way he always had eyes for miss Liberty Belle.
Appearing in Liberty Belle: "Wings of Treachery"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Professor Gaffer (Single appearance)
- Nazis
- Traube (Single appearance)
- Tasker (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Herr Schwart (Single appearance)
- Tom Revere
Animals:
- Thunderbolt (A horse)
Locations:
- V-Bar-O-Dude Ranch
- San Remo Airport
- New York City
- Independence Hall
Items:
Synopsis for TNT & Dan, the Dyna-Mite: "The Hunter Who Aimed to Miss"
Tex takes his student and friend, Dan Dunbar, out to the woods for some animal photography. They come across a deer, but it gets scared off by a gunshot. A group of hunters were in the area, but with the way the one named Reeder was shooting, it was doubtful they'd ever manage to kill anything. Tex and Dan move down to the river to try and catch a shot of a deer sipping some water, but find the banks deserted because of an incoming motor boat. Tex recognizes one of the occupants as Aces Keenan, a gambler and thug. Neither Keenan, nor his companions carry any type of hunting rifle as they head into the woods, suspicious activity that warrants observation by Tex and Dan. When Keenan comes across one of the hunters, he slugs the man in the head with his gun butt, giving Tex and Dan their cue to touch the Dyna-Rings together.
Contact!
An explosive boom, and in place of Tex Thompson and Dan Dunbar stand the atomically powered TNT and Dan the Dyna-Mite! The duo spring into action, with TNT sending waves of electricity through the thugs bodies, while Dyna-Mite smacks heads with his powered up fists. In a spot of bad luck, TNT catches his foot on a tree root, giving Keenan and his boys an edge. They konk the heroes on the head, incapacitating them long enough so they can tie them up and place them in the boat, to then be swept downstream. As a waterfall comes up close, Tex and Dan struggle to move themselves together to touch rings, finally making contact just as the boat gets caught on a rock and sends them falling over the falls! Their newly powered up bodies survive, and they waste no time racing back upstream to the boat. Dan Dyna-Mite charges the motor with the energy he emits out of his hands, then hops in with TNT as the boat speeds upriver at a super fast speed. The duo find Aces and his goons up ahead chasing another hunter. TNT and Dan rush the gang, delivering knock outs and currents of energy upon them! The hunter, Murdock, looked little worse for wear, if a bit groggy. Dan points out that they didn't shoot at him once, probably because they didn't want the bullets to be traced back to them. The danger wasn't quite passed, though, as one of Murdock's companions, Reeder, the one who was a bad shot, aims his rifle at Murdock's back. TNT fires a blast of atomic at the gun, making its metal too hot to hold.
Reeder and Murdock work together as cashiers at a bank, but Reeder owed a large amount to the gamblers. It was Aces Keenan who suggested he steal money from the bank and frame Murdock for the theft, then bring him out hunting to kill him for the perfect crime. Keenan had just tapped Murdock over the head to make him too dazed to fight back or run away, while Reeder had just pretended to be a lousy shot in front of the others so he'd be cleared of suspicions.
Appearing in TNT & Dan, the Dyna-Mite: "The Hunter Who Aimed to Miss"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- Aces Keenan (Single appearance)
- Reeder (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Murdock (Single appearance)
Locations:
Items:
Synopsis for Robotman: "Raids of the Rubbish Robbers"
Junkyards around the city have been getting hit hard with scrap thefts. Robotman has so far been unable to catch the thieves, nor can he find where they've been keeping the piles they stole, which is why he gets a job as Paul Dennis, working at a garbage dump that hasn't been hit yet. A day of work passes without any unusual activity, other than Paul having to hide his robot strength from his fellow employees. The next day, though, as he comes to work he sees a truck parked in the yard, and men loading it with stolen scrap. Quickly shedding his Paul Dennis disguise, Robotman rushes forward to engage the thieves. The brawl is pretty one-sided as the men are still fully human, fighting against a robot with only a human brain. But one of the thieves is clever enough to start operating a crane with an electro magnet, that picks up the metal bodied hero and leaves him suspended in the air. They get in the truck and drive off, leaving Robotman to try and reach the magnet's wiring... done! He causes a short circuit that shuts off the power, dropping him to the ground.
Fortunately, the truck had stayed on the highway, making it easier for Robotman to follow on foot. Thanks to his mechanical legs, he can run far faster than the normal person, and soon he catches up to the truck as it turns into a power plant. Spying from behind a post, he watches as the thieves hide the stolen scrap underneath the piles of coal, where the authorities wouldn't think to look. Robotman confronts them inside, where one of the men arms himself with a paint spray can and another with a wired electric rod. The paint lands over his eye receptors, blinding him as he hears the sparking of electricity coming nearer. He flees outside, helpless, until he reaches the dam. No choice but to dive in and hope the water can wash the paint away. Luckily, it hasn't dried enough to be a problem, soon his vision is clear again. He'll need to do something about those rods, first, before he tackles the thieves again. In the control room, he temporarily shuts down the plant's power, which should take away the threat. It's a gamble, but it pays off as the thieves find the rods were no longer working. Robotman sends them slumbering with flying fists, keeping an eye over them until the police arrive.
Appearing in Robotman: "Raids of the Rubbish Robbers"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Scrap Thieves
Other Characters:
- Johnson (Single appearance)
Locations:
Notes
- In Star-Spangled Kid, Syl and Pat crash their heads together, knocking themselves out. Those are, respectively, their sixth and eighth concussions.[1]
- In TNT and Dan, Tom and Dan both get head-konked unconscious. These are, respectively, their fifth and fourth concussions.[2]
- Also appearing in this issue of Star-Spangled Comics were:
- "The Perfectionist" (text story) by Norman Goss
See Also
Links and References
- ↑ 1/Star-Spangled Comics #10, 2,3/Star-Spangled Comics #4, 4/Star-Spangled Comics #5, 5/Star-Spangled Comics #13, 6/Star-Spangled Comics #19, 7/Star-Spangled Comics #21, 8/Star-Spangled Comics #22
- ↑ 1/Star-Spangled Comics #7, 2/Star-Spangled Comics #11, 3/Star-Spangled Comics #14, 4/Star-Spangled Comics #21, 5/Star-Spangled Comics #22