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"The Ant Men": Professor Sakagima shrinks several hundred Japanese infantrymen to a tiny size, and calls them "Human Ants". His Axis liaison Von Oberst attempts to steal the technology for Germany, so Sakagima subjects him to the shrinking treatment and imprisons him in a glass jar. Then Sakag

Quote1 If anything happens to Buddy, they'll pick up those Mayas with a blotter! Quote2
Uncle Sam

Uncle Sam Quarterly #3 is an issue of the series Uncle Sam Quarterly (Volume 1) with a cover date of June, 1942. It was published on April 3, 1942.

Synopsis for "The Ant Men"

Professor Sakagima shrinks several hundred Japanese infantrymen to a tiny size, and calls them "Human Ants". His Axis liaison Von Oberst attempts to steal the technology for Germany, so Sakagima subjects him to the shrinking treatment and imprisons him in a glass jar. Then Sakagima and his assistant Nakima, and a large number of small soldiers, undertake the invasion of the U.S. Two weeks go by.

At the Everytown Tank Factory, Uncle Sam and Buddy are present when a sentry and a number of workmen are killed, by unseen assailants, with miniature gunshots injecting a fast-acting, flesh-dessicating poison, soon to be called the "Crumbling Death". Tiny Japanese soldiers have invaded factories, cities, and military bases across the nation, and many casualties are inflicted. From an unscrupulous American importer, Sakagima buys a large number of fully operational toy tanks, aircraft, and warships.

The next day in Washington, diplomats from the friendly nation of Mailand present to the U.S. a hollowed-out statue of the famous "Minute Man" figure. That night a swarm of miniature Japanese soldiers and aircraft and tanks sneak out of the statue and attack some American military offices. Their tiny weapons kill instantly, reducing their human targets to fleshless skeletons in seconds.

Buddy suggests using flypaper to catch the ant-sized enemies. Soon all across the nation, in a variety of contexts and in several clever ways, flypaper is deployed and proves effective against the invaders. Buddy interrogates one prisoner and learns the location of Sakagima's secret base, on Cori Island. Uncle Sam goes there, and beats up Nakima and Sakagima, amidst which commotion Von Oberst's jar is knocked from a shelf, and shatters, freeing the miniature Nazi spy. Sakagima meanwhile shoots Uncle Sam in the face with a blow-torch, to absolutely no effect, then gets punched across the room. Landing near his shrinking-ray chamber and half panicked at how badly this fight is going, Sakagima subjects himself to the shrinking treatment, and ten minutes later he's down to doll size. Von Oberst attacks him with a sharpened pencil; Sakagima slays him with a broken bottle, then is killed by a cat.

Uncle Sam breaks the fourth wall to wink at the reader, give a V-for-Victory hand sign, and make some remarks about what sneaky little rascals the Japanese are and how acting that way is not going to do them any good.

Appearing in "The Ant Men"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

  • General Ryan (Dies)

Locations:

Items:

  • Sakagima's shrinking ray
  • "Crumbling Death" ammunition
  • miniature aircraft, tanks, and warships
  • "Minute Man" statue

Vehicles:

  • Uncle Sam's antique open-top sedan


Synopsis for "The Return of the Redskin"

Renegade Mexican Mayan Indians, on horseback, with repeater rifles, go to war against Mexican Aztec Indians. Mayans control the mountains; Aztecs control the harbor. Mayan leader Zuma offers to call off the war if the Aztec leader will play ball with Zuma's new Axis buddies. No deal. Meanwhile Zuma's pretty daughter and handsome Prince Quexl have met each other.

That night the pony-riding Mayans attack the Aztec town, Prince Quexl leads the defense, and the Mayans are repulsed, at least this time. That day Quexl takes his case to the Mexican Government, and is rebuffed, so he gets on his pony and rides to Everytown, USA, and appeals directly to Uncle Sam, who of course agrees to help.

The next day they're back in the Aztec village, when a submarine surfaces offshore and begins shelling, and the Mayans again charge out of the mountains, only this time they're riding tanks! Uncle Sam tosses some tanks around, then dives into the harbor, swims out to the sub's position, pries open a torpedo tube hatch, steals a torpedo, and uses it to destroy the submarine.

That night some braves from Zuma's camp sneak into Uncle Sam's pueblo to poison him, only Sam isn't there, and Buddy is, so they kidnap Buddy instead. Zuma's daughter complains about this, is ignored, and runs to tell Quexl, who runs to tell Uncle Sam about it. Sam charges right on over to the Mayan village and rescues Buddy, but while he's there, the Mayan medicine man shoots him with a magic arrow, and Sam starts feeling uncharacteristically woozy. Prince Quexl gets Unc to a little-known cave in the area, then leaves to look for some herbs. The Mayan scout sees him leave, then heads back to camp, and returns with more braves. They build a big smoky fire outside the cave mouth, so to aid the ailing Uncle Sam, Buddy soaks his shirt in some cave pond water, and puts it over his face. Well it just so happens that the local minerals and herbs in the water were just the right stuff to cure his magic affliction, so up jumps Uncle Sam, grabs a big beam, and carves a new path out of the side of the cave. The Mayans spot them and give chase, but Uncle Sam, carrying Buddy, does a pole-vaulting stunt, onto a high rock, from which position Unc exhorts the Mayans to not trust the Nazis and Japanese. Zuma and his medicine man observe that Sam seems to be winning them over, and they try to sneak away. Unc pounces on them, punches them about, then borrows a wet rag and wipes some grease-paint off the medicine man, who turns out to be White and German. Zuma is enraged at this deception, and turns against him.

A few days later, Zuma's daughter and Quexl are married, bringing peace between the tribes.

Appearing in "The Return of the Redskin"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Zuma's Axis sponsors (Behind the scenes)

Other Characters:

  • Mayan Indians
    • Zuma's daughter
  • Aztec Indians
    • Aztec Chief
    • Prince Quexl

Locations:

Items:

  • "magic" poison

Vehicles:

  • 3 armored tanks (Destroyed)
  • Axis submarine (Destroyed)

Synopsis for Heroic Exploits of the War: "The Battle of Macassar"

(Nonfiction war story, takes place Friday through Wednesday, 23rd ~ 28th January 1942.)

Appearing in Heroic Exploits of the War: "The Battle of Macassar"

Featured Characters:

  • Dutch Armed Forces
  • U.S. Armed Forces

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Locations:

Vehicles:

  • U.S. destroyers and cruisers
  • Dutch 2-engine bombers (Fokker TVs) (two destroyed)
  • U.S. 4-engine bombers (B-17s) (one destroyed)
  • Japanese troopships, cruisers, destroyers, and one aircraft carrier (fourteen destroyed)
  • Dutch submarine
  • U.S. submarine
  • U.S. flying boat (PBY)

Synopsis for "King Killer's Kingdom"

King Killer turns up alive, kidnaps Buddy, rebuilds his Kingdom Of Crime, and decides to rent it out to Hitler. Hitler and King spend their whole conversation one-upping each other, and no deal ever is struck. Meanwhile Uncle Sam is somewhere in the Far East, with John Bull, bopping and smacking their way through a large number of Japanese soldiers.

Buddy teams up with a cellmate to escape, steal an airplane, and fly to the Far East and find Uncle Sam. That done, Buddy, Sam, and John all travel to the new Kingdom Of Crime (now in the St. Lawrence River Valley), where they confront King Killer, Adolf Hitler, and Benito Mussolini. A big fracas ensues, and goes badly for the bad guys despite the large number of thugs involved, so King Killer yells at all his boys to retreat, and sends in all the gun molls and lady criminals in his very large gang. Sam and John are momentarily stymied by their own chivalry, and take a bit of a drubbing for about ten minutes, while Buddy slips out of the room, down to the basement, and back up again, with some mice, which he releases into the room. All the molls stampede out in a mouse-phobic panic.

Uncle Sam and John Bull knock down most or all of the buildings in the new Crime Kingdom, and John carries away Hitler and Mussolini when he leaves, and drops them off in Berlin. King Killer ends up in the Everytown Jail.

Appearing in "King Killer's Kingdom"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

Locations:

Vehicles:

  • stolen observation airplane

Synopsis for "Buy Defense Bonds"

3-page advertisement for Defense Bonds, in story form

Appearing in "Buy Defense Bonds"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • candy store clerk

Synopsis for "The Coward's Courage"


Appearing in "The Coward's Courage"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

  • Gabby Smith (Dies)
  • Sarge (Dies)
  • Captain Miles
  • General Rogers

Locations:

Synopsis for "The Jinx"

Story takes place in March 1942. Uncle Sam can swim from Port Darwin to Manila in just a few hours.

Appearing in "The Jinx"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • The Jinx (Dies)

Other Characters:

  • Commander Jones
  • Z-14, British Intelligence

Locations:

Vehicles:

  • U.S. PT boats
  • Japanese cruiser

Notes

  • The Ant Men
    • In 1942, in the Quality Universe, Mailand seemingly sought to be on friendly terms with the U.S., but the tiny and little-known nation was under Japanese control at that time. The diplomatic delegation from Mailand was two white guys who looked and talked like American gangsters.
    • No other information about Mailand or its people appears in the literature, except that it was, in 1942, controlled by the Japanese Empire.
  • In Return of the Redskin, yet another submarine crew is killed.
  • In King Killer's Kingdom, several fight scenes show the bad guys getting hit hard enough to bend the sides of the panel border, or even being punched right through it into the next panel.
  • Also featured in this issue of Uncle Sam Quarterly was:



See Also


Links and References

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