Star-Spangled Comics #29 is an issue of the series Star-Spangled Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of February, 1944.
Synopsis for Newsboy Legion: "Cabbages and Comics"
Late night in Suicide Slum, two thugs from the dredges of the underworld get in an argument. Beetlenose Butts holds Pinky the Pooch at gunpoint, saying he caught him with the goods at last. Seemingly out of nowhere, the Newsboy Legionnaires leap onto Beetlenose, with Scrapper trying to wrest the gun away. The boys were surprised when Pinky actually helps Beetlenose fight against them. Big Words tries to tell Pinky they were coming to his aid, but Pinky just shouts at the "nosey brats". The Guardian arrives on the scene suddenly, scaring the goons away. No matter, he knows he can pick up Pinky and Beetlenose anytime, but he'd like to know what was going on. Big Words explains they thought they were helping to stop a hold-up. Gabby and Scrapper notice something on the ground that Pinky may've left behind, but it was only pebbles. The Guardian orders the kids to go home and get some sleep, or else he'll tell Patrolman Harper they were up causing trouble again. Scrapper scoffs at that; the Guardian was Jim Harper... though he had no evidence to prove it.
The incident is forgotten about the next morning, as the Newsboys have a new big idea on their minds. They could put out their own comic magazine and make millions. They tell their legal guardian Jim Harper of the idea, he laughs and encourages them to go for it, as long as it keeps them out of mischief. Back at the clubhouse, Big Words suggests the first thing their comic needs is a hero, so each of them take turns drawing one. When they're all done, it's revealed that Tommy, Gabby, Scrapper, and Big Words have each drawn versions of themselves, along with Jim Harper and the Guardian. Why not just make a comic starring kids like them, then? They'd take inspiration from around their own neighborhood, and title it "Suicide Slum Comics". The first issue's story is inspired by last night's events. Only instead of pebbles, the heroes of the story discover Pinky was hiding stolen diamonds. And the "Protector" is revealed to be Patrolman "Carper", via matching bumps on their heads. A small change to make things more interesting. The biggest challenge the boys face is making enough copies to sell, as without a printing press, they had to retrace everything by hand fifty or so times. Gabby estimates that selling all the copies will earn five dollars. Which meant they'd have to draw five hundred comics a week to make a total of fifty dollars. Well, it was good enough to start...
The Newsboys spend the following afternoon peddling their comic book to the local slum residents. Jim Harper even buys one, impressed by their hard work. When he reads it, though, there was something that catches his eye. Down where the underworld gangs hang out, Beetlnose becomes angry after seeing what the boys drew. They had to be dealt with before they give everything away.
Big Words counted the money they made in sales, five whole dollars. He and his friends get a surprise when their clubhouse door bursts open and Pinky and Beetlenose enter pointing guns at them. They are prodded to march through a few dark alleys until they arrive at a weed filled garden behind Pinky's tenement dwelling. Pinky opens a hidden trapdoor in the ground. A bomb shelter being used as a stashing place. The legionnaires find themselves being thrown down the hatch, with the doors closing above them!
Elsewhere, Jim Harper gears up as the Guardian to do some off-duty investigating. If what he suspects is true, he needed to pay an unexpected visit to a few hoodlums. The Guardian dashes across rooftops until he finds who he's looking for. Pinky and Beetlenose get a surprise when the shield-bearing hero drops in on them while they're in the middle of counting a bag full of pebbles. Pinky is sent reeling from a mighty punch, while Beetlenose fires his gun at the Guardian but only manages to hit his shield. Beetlenose then pours the pebbles on the ground, causing the oncoming Guardian to trip and fall. Down below, Big Words boosts Scrapper up to see if he can open the trapdoor. Unfortunately, it's locked tight, and the air inside was getting thin. Big Words remembers they all have pocketknives! The boys desperately carve out one of the mortar stones in the wall until they can dislodge it. With the first stone out, it's easier to remove the others one-by-one until eventually the ceiling collapsed! They were free! But when they climb out, they see Pinky and Beetlenose heading back their way, and with the unconscious Guardian slung over their shoulder. The boys duck into a cabbage patch and start chucking the cabbages at the goons. One of the cabbages hits the Guardian, rousing him awake in time to rejoin the action. He quickly finishes off Pinky and Beetlenose while they're ducking vegetables. Once they're both down and out, the Guardian thanks the Newsboy Legion for their help tonight. It was thanks to their comic someone showed him that he was able to figure out what was going on. The pebbles were really uncut diamonds that Pinky had tried to steal for himself. When the kids ambushed them last night, Pinky and Beetlenose joined forces to keep them from discovering the loot. By sheer coincidence, their comic story showing the diamonds became a true story. ...Almost. Scrapper notices the bump behind the Guardian's ear from the cabbage. If Officer Jim Harper had that bump tomorrow, it would finally prove he's the Guardian.
The gang are out playing baseball in the alley when Scrapper notices Harper watching them. He runs over to the officer to look for the lump, but just before he can take a peek, a ball thwacks poor Jim right behind the ear! If there wasn't a bump there before, there's sure to be one now! Gabby finds himself running for his life as Scrapper chases him with a bat for sabotaging his plan!
Appearing in Newsboy Legion: "Cabbages and Comics"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Beetlenose Butts (Single appearance)
- Pinky the Pooch (Single appearance)
Locations:
Items:
Synopsis for Star-Spangled Kid: "The Picadilly Seal"
Sylvester Pemberton and his pal Pat are attracted to a gathering crowd on a street corner. On a closer look, there was a street performer dancing with a real live seal. When the show is over, the seal waddles through the crowd holding a hat out for tips. Not one person notices a pair of pickpockets swiping a man's watch, and nor do the pickpockets or anyone else notice the seal swiping all of their wallets. But the thieves do notice each other after the crowd disperses. The pickpockets lunge for the performer, demanding he give back what he stole from them. Syl and Pat see the two thugs beating on the poor man and head into an alley for a quick change. Emerging from the darkness are the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy! The flag-wearing duo fight off the two thieves, rescuing the performer and his seal. As soon as they turn their backs to him, he hits them with his cane until they're too dazed to follow him as he runs back to the fallen pickpockets. Dragging them both into a building to hide in, he allows them to revive before he introduces himself; the Piccadilly Seal. Since they were in the same kind of business, why not join forces?
Days go by, the incident with the street performer is all but forgotten as Syl and Pat's focus goes to the recent crimewave as goods for the war effort, like sugar, were being stolen in bulk. A large coffee shipment to relieve supply shortage is the next suspected target, so the boy genius and his loyal chauffeur get changed once again and drive down to the Classon Coffee warehouse to stake it out. The Kid and Stripesy wait for hours, until finally, a truck drives up carrying several gangsters in the back. Someone must have already slipped inside the warehouse, because the door slides open to let the vehicle in. The crimefighting partners rush in and take the gang by surprise! They've already knocked a few crooks out when an unexpected contender enters the fight. The dancing seal slaps Syl and Pat with its flippers, to their shock. Then, the Piccadilly Seal steps forward, with a gun trained on them. He joined up with Scarface Swanson's gang and was put in charge of all warehouse operations. Tonight's job wasn't over yet, he explains, they still had to rob the Clark Butter Warehouse as well. He reveals this because Piccadilly is confident that the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy won't be able to catch them. Not after he has them locked in an old airtight vault in the lower level of the warehouse. When the gang is done clearing everything out, they leave the night watchman tied up on the floor and head out to the next job. The watchman bangs his feet on the ground right above the vault, using morse code to send a message to the heroes; the vault's lock was broken, there was a crowbar they could use to wedge the door open. Syl decodes the message and looks around until he finds the crowbar. With a little nudging, the door opens! Glad to be in the fresh air again, Stripesy unties the watchmen while Syl glances at the stairs. There was a muddy trail on the steps. It all clicks into place in his head at that moment. Every warehouse that's been hit was located next to the river, and the police found muddy tracks at each crime scene... the seal.
Syl and Pat leave the watchman to call the police, while they head to the Clark Butter warehouse where the Piccadilly Seal said was the next robbery on their crime agenda. The speedy Star-Rocket Racer helps them arrive before the trucks. The seal was already there, just as Sylvester predicted. When the creature dives into the river, the Kid and Stripesy follow after it. Down they go, swimming through an underwater sewer pipe. The three of them emerge in the lower level of the butter warehouse. So that's how the seal was getting in! Stripesy tackles the creature before it can open the door to let the gang in. Then, with his partner holding the seal, Syl swings the warehouse door open himself, immediately after, Pat tosses the seal at the waiting gang, it's weight in blubber keeping them down! Piccadilly is jabbed in the face before he can regain his balance. After ensuring the group doesn't have any fight left, the police are called to round them up.
Later at the Pemberton mansion, Sylvester reassures his animal-loving chauffeur that he arranged for the seal to be adopted by the city zoo. After all, it wasn't Flipper's fault, he just had a bad trainer.
Appearing in Star-Spangled Kid: "The Picadilly Seal"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- The Piccadilly Seal (Single appearance)
- "Scarface" Swanson (Single appearance)
- Pinky (Single appearance)
Animals:
- Flipper (a seal) (Single appearance)
Locations:
- New York City
- Pemberton Residence
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Penniless Palmer: "Thar's Gold in Them Thar Hills"
The Palmer Detective Agency had no money to its name so far this month. Their luck might soon change when gold miner Bill Bilke comes to their office. He explains that he's the owner of a gold claim, and he needs protection from a group of ruffians that're trying to scare him off.
Penniless accepted Mr. Bilke's job, and a few hours later he, Bunny, and Oxie find themselves in the Musket Mountains. At the site of his claim, Bilke introduces the investor, Mr. I. Barter, who came to make an offer. After appraising the site, Barter names 50,000 dollars as the price. Bilke tells him it's much too low, but before they can negotiate, bullets whizz past Penn and his friends! It must be the ruffians! Penn and Oxie split up to circle around the shooters. A pair of goons hiding in bushes get ambushed by the pint-sized detective and his big galoot buddy. A baby goat even joins the fight, tripping one of the fiends, who angrily kicks it in response. More troublemakers arrive on the scene, but Penn and Oxie get some unexpected backup in the form of the baby goat's parents. The mama and papa weren't too happy about their baby getting kicked, they headbutt the ruffians down the mountain one after another. When they get back, Bilke thanks Penn and the gang for saving him. He continues haggling with Investor Barter, the attack on him just now should prove how valuable this land is. Bunny notices Penn is bothered by something. He tells her and Oxie that it's suspicious how Bilke wasn't even frightened by the gunfire, and besides that, the gunmen didn't seem to be aiming anywhere near him or I. Barter. Penn tells his friends to make up an excuse for him while he hikes down the road to the village. First, however, he stops by Bilke's log cabin. Sneaking inside, he doesn't take long to find a shotgun, which he expected. Swiping it, he started heading down a back road to the village...
Hours later, Bunny scolds Oxie for taking off to nab a peanutbutter sandwich from their client's cabin. She had enough to worry about with Penn being gone for so long. At that moment, Penn walks out from the bushes carrying a shotgun. He has a satisfied smile on his face as he lays out his current thought process; There likely wasn't any gold on the land, and they were all being played in an old scheme. The shot gun that he took from Bilke's cabin was loaded with granulated gold which, when fired at the hillside, created an effect of what looks like gold coming out of the ground. When he took the gun to a local chemist, they confirmed there was gold smeared on the inside of the barrel. Bilke also likely hired the gunmen to make it seem like his claim was worth protecting. Penn and his pals were unaware of the suspicious person listening through the shrubbery. The eavesdropper rushes off to warn his boss, Mr. Bilke. For Penn, Bunny, and Oxie, the plan was to play dumb for a while until the right moment. But thanks to their being overheard, the trio are immediately ambushed by Bilke and his men! The phony mine prospector has them tied up and left with only the squirrels to keep them company. They needed to escape before the poor investor is swindled out of his money. The squirrels were chewing up Oxie's sandwich, giving Penn an idea. He rolls himself over to the sandwich bits and rubs his binding ropes in the leftover butter. This causes the squirrels to start chewing the ropes, until Penn's hands are free.
In his cabin, Bill Bilke has Mr. I. Barter writing a check for a high amount of money to him. The investor was finally convinced after Bilke said that Penn paid for extra bodyguards to protect him, as Bilke's hired thugs stand next to him. Right before he finishes the check, Mr. Barter is surprised by a rock crashing through the window! Bilke shouts for his men to go out and take care of it. The detective and his friends play ball, with Oxie befriending a miner's donkey to help kick each bum-rushing goon to over the home plate. After three strikes, Oxie lets the donkey rest while he and Penn run into the cabin to finish the job! Bilke and his remaining thugs get knocked around until they can't take anymore and surrender.
Mr. I. Barter was thankful to Penn and the gang for saving him. In fact, he was feeling quite generous as a result; he's only going to charge them for the mending of his ruined hat, rather than make them buy him a new one.
Appearing in Penniless Palmer: "Thar's Gold in Them Thar Hills"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Bill Bilke (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- I. Barter (Single appearance)
Locations:
- Earth-Two
- Musket Mountain
- Musket Mountain
Synopsis for Liberty Belle: "Catalyst for Catastrophe"
Libby Lawrence is currently on site at a training center for the Air Corps to gather some material for her broadcast. The Colonel gives her an explanation on the new Bombers, which are able to fly all the way to Berlin, drop their bombs, and come back without the need to refuel mid-trip. Libby finds it fascinating, but just as she was about to inspect one of the fighter jets, a faint ringing gives her pause. The tiny bell on her lapel was vibrating, indicating that Rick Cannon was trying to contact her alter-ego. She schedules a continuance with the Colonel at a later date and heads to the nearest phone. Seconds later, she rings up Tom Revere at Independence Hall. The old watchman tells her Rick wanted Liberty Belle to meet him at the Barron Synthetic Rubber Plant, where acts of sabotage have occurred.
Within Barron Rubber, Watkins gets a surprise visitor in his office, the American heroine Liberty Belle. She tells Mr. Watkins the government sent her to do a routine inspection of the plant. The bluff worked, Watkins volunteers to show her around.
The tour carries on with Watkins explaining every process using technical language that Libby doesn't even try to understand. She keeps looking around for Rick as Watkins drones on. Suddenly, a man being carried on a makeshift gurney by two employees catches her notice. The men, Karl and Louie, tell her they were helping their coworker was cleaning out a reaction chamber when he passed out from the heat. But as she looks on, the "unconscious" man moves his arm ever so slightly, his finger tracing the ground. After he's taken away, she goes to inspect the spot, and finds a crude drawing of a cannon in the dirt. It must be Rick Cannon! Libby didn't recognize him with his face caked in dirt and grease. She had to find out where they took him. An opportunity comes along when a female employee walks past, and Liberty Belle interrupts Mr. Watkins detailed tour to follow the woman and ask her where she got her dress. The excuse works, as Watkins figures her to be just like any other woman, only interested in clothes. Once she's out of sight, Liberty runs of in the direction of Rick and the two men. She comes across them just as a fight breaks out, with Rick tackling Kael while Louie pulls a gun. Liberty sprints over and knocks the other man out before he can shoot Rick. The almost-killers are tied up and left for a moment while Rick takes Liberty to see what he found before he was caught snooping. In the storeroom, he shows her a box that he says held a catalyst inside. The box was empty now, but government chemists found traces of its contents on the tires manufactured at this plant. Tires that were being used on US Army vehicles. It only takes a short time of use before the laced tires would blow. Rick got a job as an ordinary plant worker to investigate, his suspicions falling on Watkins. The only way to know for sure was to question the two men they tied up.
Liberty and Rick have their two captives standing on a platform above a vat of boiling latex. If they don't talk, Libby threatens to drop them in. They don't believe her though; Americans were known in Nazi Germany for being soft hearted fools, not torturers and killers like the gestapo. Rick blindfolds one of them, saying it was to spare him the sight of his comrade being boiled alive. Liberty gags the other man, then takes a wooden beam plank and splashes it in the latex. She pulls it out after it's fully coated and quickly molds it until it resembles the man she just pretended to dip. Once Louie is hidden away, Rick removes Karl's blindfold to show him the result. The ruse works, once he sees Louie's form, Karl is much more willing to talk for fear of suffering the same fate. But before he can name names, he's suddenly shot in the back! Rick and Liberty lie down flat as Rick takes aim at the mystery gunman hiding behind the vats. The man runs away, leaping the fence between the Rubber Plant and the Petroleum Refinery. Rick and Liberty give chase, but they lose him among the large petroleum tanks. A blast of ice-cold water from a nozzle temporarily disorients them. Long enough for the mystery saboteur and his henchman to hold them up at gunpoint. The saboteur orders his henchman to deal with them in a way that won't alert anyone, which meant no shooting. Instead, Rick and Liberty are forced to climb the high ladder of one of the tanks, to be thrown off the top. But the heroine has better idea; she slides down the edge of the ladder, past Rick, and kicks the henchman off the rungs, a drop just far enough to knock the man out without killing him.
Back at the latex vats, the saboteur confronts the still-tied-up Louie, a loose end who needed to be put down just like his partner Karl. But before the saboteur can shoot, Liberty arrives on the platform, knocking the gun out of the saboteur's hand. Rick delivers a knockout jab while Liberty ungags Louie. Now that he no longer owed his boss any loyalty, Louie spills that it was in fact Frank Barron, the owner of the plant, who they just knocked unconscious. He didn't want America to win the war, so when he secured a government contract, he hired some men to sabotage the product.
Later, after Barron and his men are arrested, Libby Lawrence is back at the training center to complete her assignment. The Colonel lets her watch one of the pilots fly around and land in the new planes. Thanks to Liberty Belle, there was no fear of the landing gear tires exploding.
Appearing in Liberty Belle: "Catalyst for Catastrophe"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Frank Barron (Single appearance)
- Karl (Single appearance; dies)
- Louie (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Air Corps Colonel (Single appearance)
- Mr. Watkins (Single appearance)
Locations:
- Air Corps Training Base
- Barron Synthetic Rubber Factory
- Philadelphia
- Independence Hall
- Independence Hall
Synopsis for Robotman: "Robbie, the Robotdog"
Chuck Grayson is visiting Robert Crane's lab to see a new scientific development he created. Chuck thinks up of different possibilities; a rocket ship to travel to the moon, or a new source of atomic energy. When Robotman enters the room, he introduces his friend to Robbie, the Robot-Dog! The robotic canine was created to be the perfect pet. Even better, Robbie can speak, although right now the only thing he knows how to say is "Here I am, Robotman!" in a monotonous tone. Just like a newborn baby, Robotman built him with the intelligence to learn new things as time goes on. He puts on his human Paul Dennis mask and suit and invites Chuck to come along with them on a walk through the city, to see how Robbie manages with new sights and sounds. Chuck turns down the offer, wanting to get back to his own lab, so the robot pair head off on their own.
Paul takes his robot buddy down into the subway. The station guard stops him for bringing a dog into the subway, but he lets them pass after Paul opens Robbie up to show him the wheels and gears inside. Coming up on the tracks is the collection car that takes the coins from the turnstiles. One of the guards aboard suddenly tosses a smoke bomb into the crowd, as another takes a sack full of nickels and hops back onto the car as it speeds off through the tunnel. Robotman leaps off the platform and chases them, removing his Paul Dennis disguise after he enters the tunnel. His canine companion had already gone on ahead, so Robotman follows the tracks. When he reaches the car, he finds it's already been abandoned, but there was a rope dangling from an open grate above. It must be how the thieves made their escape. With a mighty leap, Robotman reaches the grate and climbs up out of the subway and onto the street. A startling sight greets him; a mob of people desperately stooping over each other trying to pick up a trail of nickels left on the ground. It had to have come from the thieves, one of their bags must've ripped. On the bright side, Robotman could simply follow the coins to find them and his dog. Unfortunately, the trail comes to an end in a dank alley. They probably discovered the leak and took care of it before moving on. This meant Robotman couldn't follow them any further.
Not too far down that same street, the occupants of a parked truck were having their own difficulties. The thieves sat in the back of the truck, trying to fix the rip in the bag. A voice coming from one of the bags startles them: "Here I am!". Robbie the Robot Dog had gotten into one of the bags! But the crook think it's just a trick his cohort is playing, throwing their voice to mess with him. The phrase is repeated over and over, alerting Robotman to check the truck. A fight was breaking out inside when he opens the door. On seeing the man of metal, the thieves run away. Quickly, Robotman releases Robbie from the sack, and together they chase after the crooks. Robbie leads the way, vaulting a fence the men were hiding behind. He bites one of them on the leg to hold them in place for his master, as Robotman grabs both of the crooks and gives them a little shake until thety surrender.
Later, Chuck pays another visit to see how Robbie is coming along. Robotman is pleased to show him that his vocabulary has improved a bit, Robbie is now able to say "Here he is, Robotman!". Progress is progress, and he'll be teaching his little buddy even more tricks in time for their next adventure.
Appearing in Robotman: "Robbie, the Robotdog"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Robbie the Robot Dog (First appearance)
- Chuck Grayson
Antagonists:
- Nickel Robbers
- Slick Sam (Single appearance)
Locations:
Notes
- Published by Detective Comics, Inc.
- The Newsboy Legion story in this issue, "Cabbages and Comics", is reprinted in The Newsboy Legion and the Boy Commandos Special #1.
- Also in this issue:
- "Kwiz Kwix", a full page of puns, by Jack Farr.
- "Found!!! The Lost Chord", a two-page humor strip by Jack Farr.
- "King Kale", a two-page humor strip by Henry Boltinoff.
- "Good Ol' Judge Jollopy", a one-page humor strip by Jack Farr.
- "Time For Murder", a written story by Art Bartley.
- "Private Pete", a one-page humor strip by Henry Boltinoff.
See Also