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"Star-Spangled Kid: "Dr. Weerd"": John Pemberton and his son both sit relaxed in the study of their mansion as John reads the newspaper article about the nefarious Doctor Weerd, locked up in a cell for his crimes. Although he feigns disinterest in front of his fath

Quote1 The ray didn't melt your gun, because it's made of some sort of plastic. But you forgot that the bullets ... being metal ... DID disintegrate! Quote2
Captain X

Star-Spangled Comics #3 is an issue of the series Star-Spangled Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of December, 1941.

Synopsis for Star-Spangled Kid: "Dr. Weerd"

John Pemberton and his son both sit relaxed in the study of their mansion as John reads the newspaper article about the nefarious Doctor Weerd, locked up in a cell for his crimes. Although he feigns disinterest in front of his father, Sylvester recalls how, as the Star-Spangled Kid, he and Stripesy fought the mad doctor. Syl smiles when he remembers delivering the defeated criminal to the police. That same night, Dr. Weerd escapes from prison. Soon after, a high rate of suicides start occurring across the city. It was just enough of a coincidence for Sylvester to change into his crime-fighting alter-ego and investigate with his partner and chauffeur, Stripesy.

Sylvester and Stripesy arrive at the scene of one of the suicides, where a man drove off a cliff. Unknown to them, they are being watched by a spy camera. In his hidden base, Dr. Weerd pulls a lever. A large, runaway train suddenly comes charging towards the Kid and Stripesy. They dodge out of its way, but when they glance back, the train has disappeared. An illusion? While leaving the scene, Sylvester spots a man running away further down the road. Stripesy speeds up to catch him, when Syl shouts for him to brake! The man disappears, as does the street before them. In its place was the edge of a cliff, and the Rocket Racer had just stopped short of disaster. Good thing Sylvester recalled the sharp turn. Stripesy turns the Racer around and drives down the street towards an oncoming truck. Thinking it another mirage, he ignores it. This time the truck was real, though the Racer was built sturdy enough to withstand the collision. The driver is pumped for information, and the Kid and Stripesy learn that Dr. Weerd is headquartered at a clock tower in town.

Sylvester and Stripesy arrive at the tower. They see Dr. Weerd above, cursing them. Immediately, they find themselves trapped when the gate behind them vanishes, to be replaced with iron bars! Dr. Weerd sics a lion on them! The beast tackles Sylvester! Stripsey grabs it by the tail before it can sink its teeth into his pal. He swings the lion into the brick wall, which knocks it out. Now to deal with the doctor! Though they try a direct confrontation by climbing the side of the tower, Dr. Weerd manages to knock them off their balance. So the duo resort to tricky tactics. They ram the Rocket Racer through the corner of the building, tipping it off balance. The tower collapses in a heap of brick and mortar. Satisfied that the body of Dr. Weerd was buried beneath the rubble, the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy return home.

Dr. Weerd is alive, however, and once he digs himself out of the wreckage, he vows to dedicate the rest of his life towards getting vengeance on the costumed duo.

Appearing in Star-Spangled Kid: "Dr. Weerd"

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Synopsis for Star-Spangled Kid: "Fury of the Fighting Duo"

A wave of explosive sabotage strikes America. Sylvester, as the Star-Spangled Kid and his pal and chauffeur Stripesy are already investigating the matter. Their first stop is the hideout of one Karl Heimer, a notorious saboteur that broke out of prison recently. A surprise greets them at the location, though. Heimer lays dead on the floor, with three suspicious-looking men gathered around. They fight, but Sylvester and Stripesy are soon knocked out, and the men escape just before the police arrive. The police only see the Star Spangled Kid and Stripesy at the crime scene, so they assume it was them that committed the act. The duo escape out of the window. Luckily they land inside the getaway car of the men who attacked them. Too surprised to fight back, the killers are beaten up and the car careens off a dock into the river. Stripesy and the Kid get the men to talk with threats of more underwater adventures. Helmer was killed because he was going to betray the others, exposing their plan for money. A gunshot is heard from behind, and the snitch falls over, dead! More men, Nazis, charge at the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy. Once their attackers are almost on top of them, the comrades in costume drop flat on their backs and use their feet to propel the thugs over them, and into the water. Stripesy tackles the remaining Nazi and forces him to show them to their hideout.

The Kid and Stripesy are led by their Nazi captive to a swimming pool behind a residence. The three of them dive in, where a hidden underground chamber awaits. The Nazi escapes their grasp and flees, while the rocky ceiling above the duo begins to crumble. A trap! Stripesy lifts up a large slab and holds it above their heads to protect from the shower of rocks. The two of them continue down the corridor. They stop when a two-man patrol nears. Sylvester gets an idea, and he and Stripesy grab the patrol and knock them unconscious. They then slip into the Nazi uniforms and continue on to the main chamber, where a crowd has gathered. They blend in with the Nazis as a man on stage prepares to introduce a "special guest": Adolf Hitler! While Sylvester and Stripesy look on in shock, wondering how the Nazi leader himself is here in America, Hitler encourages his rally to even greater acts of sabotage to weaken the United States. He then invites the crowd onstage, one by one, so he could personally shake each of their hands. As soon as it's Stripesy's turn, he gives the Fuhrer's hand an extra hard squeeze. Hitler yelps in pain. One of the men in the crowd recognizes Stripesy and the Star-Spangled Kid, so they remove the Nazi uniforms to stand proud once more in their crime-fighting costumes. A battle ensues, while the Kid and Stripesy knock some Third Reich heads together, Hitler makes a run for it, but he barely makes it back to the surface before the Star-Spangled Kid catches up and hits him in the face. The blow makes the Fuhrer's moustache fly off. An imposter! Stripesy removes the fake Hitler's wig, revealing a bald head. They take the phony Fuhrer back down to tie up with the rest of the Nazi rabble.

Shortly after, the Star Rocket Racer drops off a load of Nazi prisoners at the police station. Confident that this act of patriotism will clear the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy of murdering Karl Helmer, the duo fly back home.

Appearing in Star-Spangled Kid: "Fury of the Fighting Duo"

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Synopsis for Armstrong of the Army: "The Case of Colonel Faltz"

Late at night, Lieutenant Armstrong is on his way to the War Office carrying a briefcase full of military secrets. He gets jumped by foreign agents, who steal the case and escape in a nearby car! Armstrong hurries to the War Department, where he meets up with Colonel Faltz. The plan worked! The documents he carried in that case were fake, meant to expose the spy in their ranks. Faltz names Captain Fanning as the traitor and plans to arrest him first thing tomorrow.

Lieutenant Armstrong suggests they get coffee before retiring for the evening. At a local restaurant, Armstrong excuses himself from the table, saying he forgot to make a call. He pretends to absentmindedly carry the menu with him. At the phone booth, he dials the FBI to inform them that he obtained the Colonel's fingerprints. They were on the menu he now held, and it will be left at the arranged place. At the end of the night, Armstrong lets Faltz walk him back to his hotel. But rather than going inside, the lieutenant shadows Colonel Faltz. When the colonel gets into a cab, Armstrong does the same and has the other car followed. Unfortunately his cabbie loses the trail, so Armstrong instead returns to the headquarters of his FBI contact. Agent Rouke had matched the colonel's prints. His real name was Conradin E.H. Stigler, a spy for the foreign powers who was believed to have disappeared.

Lieutenant Armstrong and Agent Rouke find the cab that Colonel Faltz rode in. They tell the driver to take them to where he dropped the colonel off. After a bit of a fuss about customer privacy, the driver relents. At the hideout, Armstrong and Rouke bust the door down, guns drawn. Some men, the same who jumped Armstrong earlier in the evening and stole his case, rush out. From upstairs, an engine is heard. An Autogyro, a strange kind of helicopter, is on the roof. Faltz is piloting, and has already lifted off! Armstrong tries to swing a lasso rope to catch the tail of the gyro and climb up on, but a kick from Faltz sends the Lieutenant falling into a tree below. A few well placed shots by Armstrong and the vehicle is brought down. In a final effort, Faltz picks up a large tree branch that had fallen when the gyro crashed, he swings at Armstrong. The Lieutenant finds himself a branch of his own and the two men engage in a "wooden sword" fight. A blow to the side of the head knocks Faltz down for the count.

Later, Agent Rouke and Lieutenant Armstrong debrief back at the federal offices. Conradin Stigler, a.k.a. Colonel Faltz, knew that Captain Fanning was about to uncover him, so he tried to set him up. Fortunately, Armstrong caught on when those men stole his briefcase with the fake documents. He hadn't told Fanning about the papers, the only ones who even knew were himself and Faltz. So it had to be Faltz who sent those men, not Fanning.

Appearing in Armstrong of the Army: "The Case of Colonel Faltz"

Featured Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Conradin E. H. Stigler (Single appearance)

Other Characters:

  • FBI
    • Agent Rouke (Single appearance)

Vehicles:

  • Autogyro (Destroyed)

Synopsis for Tarantula: "Port of Missing Ships"

Johnny Law, popular mystery author, relaxes on deck of the luxury liner "The Silver Crown". The cruise ship headed for South America also carried a shipment of gold to be given to the South American defense. As John lounges in his deck chair, a man and woman come into view, the woman doesn't look too happy. When the man starts to get too fresh with her John steps in and puts an end to it, sending the man on his way. She thanks him by name, having recognized him as a famous author, and introduces herself as June Hayworth.

Days pass without event, until one morning, when the ship is suddenly hijacked by men with guns, one of whom is the same man that was harassing Miss Hayworth a few days ago! The crew is rounded up and held on deck, a gunman in the crows nest keeps watch for any funny moves. He fails to notice the webline being shot at him, and only after it wraps around his body, does he see the costumed Tarantula climbing up to the nest. The Tarantula knocks him out with an uppercut. The crime fighter uses the line from his Webgun to swing to the deck, kicking one gunman into another on his way down. He catches another that was fleeing in his web. While the captain and crew tie up the gang, Tarantula searches the rest of the ship. The radio room has been sabotaged, no use getting any message out. The engine has stopped but the Tarantula notices that the ship is still on the move, which meant they were being towed by something, most likely a submarine hidden under the water. He relays the news to the passengers and crew. There isn't anything they can do at the moment, so Tarantula tells them to find a weapon and stay hidden until the boat stops. Soon, another ship approaches. It comes up alongside the Silver Crown, but two rough-looking men hesitate before they step aboard. They notice the agreed upon signal of a captured vessel, a pirate flag, hasn't been raised. Also their guys are nowhere to be seen. So instead of boarding, they throw tear-gas grenades onto the deck! The crew of the Silver Crown feel the effects right away, including the Tarantula, who becomes too weak to fight off an attacker that knocks him out!

The Tarantula wakes up in a cell. But he hasn't been tied up yet, a mistake for which his captors quickly pay. When they come in, he jumps them! In seconds, both men are knocked out. The hero finds an office overlooking a labor yard where the Silver Crown passengers and her crew have been put to work. He webs up the men inside and swings out the window, landing inside a crane whose operator he knocks out. He takes control, using the crane's claw to sweep away the other guards. The captain and crew take this opportunity to overwhelm their captors.

An hour later, the Tarantula has changed back into his normal clothes, and becomes Johnny Law again. He is back on the ship with June Hayworth as they wait for the rest of the crew to come back aboard. He tells her that he was knocked out by the hijackers and locked up, so he couldn't help at all. Of course, he does add that he saw the Tarantula speed by in a small boat, and waved.

Appearing in Tarantula: "Port of Missing Ships"

Featured Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Mansfield (Single appearance)
  • Garcia (Single appearance)

Other Characters:

  • June Hayworth (Single appearance)
  • Several sailors

Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:

  • "The Silver Crown" Luxury Liner
  • Submarine

Synopsis for Captain X: "One-Man Blitzkrieg"

While hunting Messerschmitts and Heinkels over northern France one day, Buck Dare spots a Spitfire, flying in the wrong direction, and tails it. The Spitfire suddenly vanishes, but its pilot does not. Buck discerns that his parachute is fouled, and swoops into rescue position, switches off his motor (to let the gravity controls go into action), holding Jenny stationary, then swings on a wire, catches the pilot, and climbs back into the cockpit with him. At an airport in England, Captain X and the rescued pilot tell an officer what they encountered, and what X thinks it means, that the Germans must have some sort of metal-disintegrator weapon. He borrows a Spitfire, and has his mechanic follow him in Jenny, then returns to northern France, and flies around, trying to attract attention.

Eventually he flies over a country estate, where Kurt Graff is demonstrating his new weapon to some German officers; it instantly destroys the Spitfire. Captain X is able to parachute safely away because he replaced the metal fittings on his chute with plastic ones. The Germans on the ground shoot at him, and eventually persuade themselves that they've hit him. Three German officers depart in an open staff car, and as they're driving through the woods, Captain X drops onto them from a low-hanging limb. One short fistfight later, Captain X is driving the car and three unconscious officers are piled in the back seat. As it approaches the manor house, the car itself vanishes, dumping everybody out onto the road. Then old Graff follows up with a rifle shot that takes down Captain X. He's still alive, and Graff stops one of the officers from shooting him, because he wants to demonstrate the invention, and have a good gloat.

In the demonstration, it's shown that this weapon of his can destroy naval ships just as easily as aircraft. As soon as it's over, Colonel Haupman marches Captain X into another room, and tries to shoot him, but the bullets in his (plastic) gun were disintegrated during the demo. Captain X punches out the colonel, then swings back into the main room on a chandelier and punches out two more officers, and old Graff. Stuffy lands Jenny nearby, and they load Graff, Graff's machine, and themselves into the cockpit, and fly back to England.

Appearing in Captain X: "One-Man Blitzkrieg"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

  • Stuffy

Antagonists:

  • Nazi military
    • Kurt Graff, an inventor (Single appearance)
    • Colonel Haupman (Single appearance)

Other Characters:

  • RAF pilot (Single appearance)
  • RAF officer (Single appearance)

Locations:

Items:

  • Graff's metal-disintegrating anti-aircraft weapon

Vehicles:

Synopsis for Star-Spangled Kid: "Mission to Germany"

During dinner at the Pemberton mansion, John Pemberton mentions the troubling headlines in the paper. Sylvester tells his parents that if only he weren't busy writing a novel at the moment, he'd come up with a way to really make things difficult for the Nazis. Of course, his father chides him for thinking he could do better against the worlds greatest threat than the smartest minds in the English Empire. Of course, Syl has to put on the egotistical brat act for his families sake, fearing it would hurt them if they knew the truth; that their son puts his life on the line every night as the Star-Spangled Kid. After dinner, Syl heads to the garage, where Pat Dugan, his trusty chauffeur and crime-fighting ally as Stripsey, waits with the family limousine. A press of a button on the dash, and it transforms into the Star Rocket Racer! Stripesy and Sylvester slip into their alter-egos and take the Racer out for a flight. When he was reading the paper, Sylvester learned how an eminent scientist, Von Getz, had been betrayed by the astrologer, Kettering, and taken into Nazi custody. Gaining von Getz's knowledge would be a boon to the Allies, so a rescue mission was in the cards. Their next stop: Germany!

The Rocket Racer flies over the Atlantic. Soon the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy are touring the skies over Berlin. Naturally, the Nazi air force doesn't take to kindly to the intrusion. The planes fire on the Racer, and while Stripesy is a skilled pilot, the odds are overwhelming. One lucky bullet hits the mark on the Racer's engine! With the flying car sputtering out, Stripesy skillfully guides it to a safe landing. Danger waits on the ground as well, the duo are chased by Nazi storm troopers! Sylvester and Stripesy run into a dead-end alley! A side door opens up with a voice calling them inside, they quickly oblige just in time. The door closes just as the Nazis pass. The room that the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy find themselves is a secret meeting place for the underground freedom party, fighters against Hitler's regime. Franz, the man who urged them inside, provides them with what information about von Getz that he could. Kettering, the astrologer who betrayed von Getz, frequents a restaurant with his Nazi comrades. Franz helps Syl and Stripesy by keeping watch, letting them know when it's safe to leave. But before they can go to a restaurant full of Nazis they must first get dressed up. Finding two Nazi patrolmen, Sylvester and Stripesy knock them out and put on their uniforms over their costumes, with a fake mustache to complete the look.

The disguises work, Stripesy and the Kid sit unnoticed at an outside table waiting for Kettering to leave. When two Nazis start harassing a young woman the chivalrous crusaders intervene and knock them out, though the woman runs off. No matter, because Kettering just stepped out of the restaurant. Syl and Stripesy follow him, from a distance, to his home where a group of Nazis and their general were waiting. The duo climb through a window and keep themselves hidden as the general puts Kettering to work. Apparently, the superstitious dictator was using daily astrological readings that Kettering provided as a basis for his military strategy. Stripesy fixes that by adjusting the astrology wheel ever so slightly. After Kettering studies it, he announces, quite startled, that the stars say Hitler is doomed! The Nazis are enraged by this declaration! How dare he malign the great destiny of the Fuehrer? The General has Kettering dragged off, to be sent to a concentration camp. After they all depart, Sylvester searches the room and finds Kettering's diary. One of the entries mentions von Getz: Taken to Leitrau, one of the worst concentration camps in all of Germany.

Forged papers and a convincing disguise or two get Syl and Stripesy inside the Leitrau camp. They find von Getz in a room being beaten by one of the guards. After knocking the guard out, the duo remove their Nazi garments and reveal themselves to the professor in their crimefighting duds. It's a hard fight against scores of Nazi guards, and the Star-Spangled Kid gets separated from the others at one point. But by threatening his attackers with a mounted machine gun, then finding and stealing a motorbike, he manages to escape the terrible camp. Syl meets up with Stripesy and Professor von Getz on the outskirts. Bloodhounds are sent after them, but Stripesy fights off the poor mutts, making them flee in fear. They eventually make it back to the place where they met Franz, the Freedom Fighter. He promises to hide von Getz, while the Star-Spangled Kid takes on another matter. in Kettering's diary there was mention of Rudolf Hess, a well known Deputy to Adolf Hitler. The Nazi Party was planning om purging Hess from its ranks, and so Sylvester thought; what if they rescued him? The knowledge he could provide England could be invaluable. To get to Hess, they cling to the undercarriage of a truck passing through his closely guarded estate. They roll out onto the grounds and sneak into Hess' home. The deputy goes for his gun, but Stripesy holds him in place. Sylvester shows him the diary entry, proving that he will be killed if he stays in Germany. He agrees to go with the costumed ones to the airfield where his private plane, and their Rocket Racer, were being kept. Together, they flee the airport guards, and once in the air, the Rocket Racer defends Hess' aircraft from enemy fire!

Once their out of Germany, The Racer and Hess' plane part ways. Sylvester is ready to head back home and sleep the rest of the night away. Meanwhile, Rudolf Hess is forced to bail out over Scotland after his plane runs out of gas, where he is captured by a farmer.

Back at the Pemberton residence, John chastises his son for being late to dinner. But Sylvester is just too tired to deal with his dad, much to Mr. Pemberton's annoyance.

Appearing in Star-Spangled Kid: "Mission to Germany"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Nazis
    • Kettering (Single appearance)
    • General Schwein (Single appearance)
    • Himmler (Mentioned only)
    • Adolf Hitler (Mentioned only)

Other Characters:

  • Von Getz (Single appearance)
  • Rudolf Hess
  • Franz (Single appearance)

Locations:

Vehicles:

Notes

  • Captain X of the RAF:
    • Captain X gets a bullet wound.
    • At the end of this adventure, the British military has got a working metal-disintegrator weapon.
  • The Tarantula gets head-konked unconscious with a pistol butt.

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 Q-18": Tie a tight-lipped enemy to the front of the Rocket Racer and speed through traffic until they talk.
    • "Maneuver N-19": Urgent Flight - make a quick escape.


See Also


Links and References

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