Sending them to reform school to associate with tougher criminals will only result in hardening their bitter little souls! I wish you'd reconsider your decision! 
Star-Spangled Comics #7 is an issue of the series Star-Spangled Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of April, 1942.
Contents
- 1 Synopsis for Newsboy Legion: "The Guardian"
- 2 Appearing in Newsboy Legion: "The Guardian"
- 3 Synopsis for Tarantula: "The Crime Escadrille"
- 4 Appearing in Tarantula: "The Crime Escadrille"
- 5 Synopsis for Captain X: "The Gas Bombs"
- 6 Appearing in Captain X: "The Gas Bombs"
- 7 Synopsis for Robotman: "The Birth of Robotman"
- 8 Appearing in Robotman: "The Birth of Robotman"
- 9 Synopsis for TNT & Dyna-Mite: "The Dwarf"
- 10 Appearing in TNT & Dyna-Mite: "The Dwarf"
- 11 Synopsis for Star-Spangled Kid & Stripesy: "The Picture That Killed "
- 12 Appearing in Star-Spangled Kid & Stripesy: "The Picture That Killed "
- 13 Notes
- 14 Trivia
- 15 See Also
- 16 Links and References
Synopsis for Newsboy Legion: "The Guardian"
One evening in Suicide Slum, New York City, rookie cop Jim Harper gets beaten up by some thugs, and decides to take a new approach to crimefighting. He breaks into a costume shop, assembles an "action outfit" that includes a sturdy shield and a crash helmet, leaves some money on the counter, and goes after the gang. He finds them in a pool parlor and smacks the hell out of all of them. He can't arrest them, so he ties them up and leaves them for the regular police. Also one of them drops his wallet, and Harper checks the serial numbers on some of his cash; it turns out to match the serial numbers from an earlier ransom payment.
The next day, Harper arrests four quasi-delinquent, roller-skate-equipped young newspaper vendors, all orphans, pushed into crime by financial desperation, for shoplifting a hardware store. He accompanies them to their hearing, and asks the judge to keep them out of reform school, and remand them to his personal custody. He wants to try a different approach with these kids, and legally becomes their guardian.
The boys don't exactly reform instantly, and soon a local lowlife, Frankie the Fence, uses them as a distraction for an armed robbery, in which a man is killed. This doesn't sit well with the boys, who go visit Frankie to tell him off, but Frankie decides to shut up these potential witnesses with a gun. The Guardian bursts into the room, and takes down the fence with one big roundhouse punch, then lets him get away, hoping he'll run back to his unknown boss. Frankie pulls himself together and runs to the waterfront, gets in a boat, and speeds away, pursued by the Guardian, who borrows an unguarded boat, and who is in return pursued by the Newsboys, who now are stymied; the Guardian took the last boat. They convert a wooden wagon into a makeshift rowboat, and follow along as best they can, figuring along the way that a nearby lighthouse is the likeliest place for a hideout. This turns out to be correct, and at the lighthouse the Guardian has run into trouble. Frankie's boss, Chips Carder, a smuggler, has managed to head-konk the Guardian unconscious. The boys show up; Guardian sees them and the bad guys don't. Guardian suggests, in language that only Big Words understands, that they should paint the lighthouse light red. They very quickly accomplish this, then charge inside to brawl with Chips and Frankie, while the red light above draws the Coast Guard, who arrive just in time to shoot Chips Carder as he draws a bead on the Guardian's back. While the USCG is sorting things out, the Guardian slips away, and motorboats back to shore.
Before their first adventure is even over, the boys begin to suspect that the Guardian is Jim Harper.
Appearing in Newsboy Legion: "The Guardian"
Featured Characters:
- Guardian (James Harper) (First appearance)
- Newsboy Legion
- Big Words (First appearance)
- Gabby (First appearance)
- Scrapper (First appearance)
- Tommy Thompkins (First appearance)
Antagonists:
- Frankie the Fence
- Chips Carder
Other Characters:
- Judge Collins
Locations:
- Earth-Two
- New York City (per the caption in the 1st panel of the 2nd page)
Items:
Synopsis for Tarantula: "The Crime Escadrille"
Appearing in Tarantula: "The Crime Escadrille"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Larky Leeds
- Sting (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- Captain Averill
Locations:
Items:
Synopsis for Captain X: "The Gas Bombs"
Appearing in Captain X: "The Gas Bombs"
Featured Characters:
Synopsis for Robotman: "The Birth of Robotman"
Appearing in Robotman: "The Birth of Robotman"
Featured Characters:
- Robotman (Robert Crane/Paul Dennis) (First appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Chuck Grayson (First appearance)
- Joan Carter (First appearance)
Antagonists:
- Mason and his gang
Locations:
Synopsis for TNT & Dyna-Mite: "The Dwarf"
Appearing in TNT & Dyna-Mite: "The Dwarf"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- The Dwarf (Single appearance)
Locations:
- Earth-Two
- New York City
- Southfield High School
- New York City
Items:
- Dyna-Rings (First appearance)
Synopsis for Star-Spangled Kid & Stripesy: "The Picture That Killed "
Appearing in Star-Spangled Kid & Stripesy: "The Picture That Killed "
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Doctor Weerd
- Needle
- Enrico Pinazzi
Locations:
Vehicles:
Notes
- Published by Detective Comics
- Last issue, and last Golden Age appearance, for Captain X. Richard Dare's next appearance is in Firestorm (Volume 2) #50.
- First issue for Newsboy Legion.
- The story is set in "Suicide Slum," a fictionalized version of "Hell's Kitchen" in New York, where Jack Kirby grew up.
- In Star-Spangled Comics #10, the story is set in "York City".
- In DC stories published after the mid-1980s "Crisis on Infinite Earths," this Manhattan neighborhood was 'retconned' into being located in Metropolis.
- Between the 2nd and 3rd panels of the 4th page of this story, Guardian (James Harper) appears in All-Star Squadron Annual #1
- Jim Harper gets head-konked unconscious for the first time.
- The story is set in "Suicide Slum," a fictionalized version of "Hell's Kitchen" in New York, where Jack Kirby grew up.
- An "escadrille", as in the title of the Tarantula story, is a word for a squadron of aircraft.
- First issue for Robotman.
- First issue for TNT & Dan.
- Their second appearance, World's Finest #5, was published the same week as this issue.
- Their origins are not revealed until next issue.
- This issue's episode of TNT and Dan, like all episodes of this series, takes place before April 26th, 1942, the date of Tex Thomas' death.[1]
Trivia
- Robotman mentions that Superman is only a fictional character, but in modern stories the two interact with each other.
See Also
