Whiz Comics Vol 1 3A

"Captain Marvel: "Sivana Strikes Again!"": The mad scientist Sivana raises a supremely powerful army, with thousands of super soldiers and hundreds of streamlined tanks and artillery that can shoot 75 miles and 120 mph combat cars and the mightiest air fleet in history, and declares war on the U

Captain Marvel: "Sivana Strikes Again!"
Cover
Whiz Comics Vol 1 #3A
March, 1940
Publisher	Fawcett Publications
Executive Editor	Wilford H. Fawcett
Cover Artists	C.C. Beck
Captain Marvel: "Sivana Strikes Again!"
Writers	Bill Parker
Pencilers	C.C. Beck
Inkers	C.C. Beck
Editors	Bill Parker
Golden Arrow: "The Rustlers of Gila Creek"
Writers	Bill Parker
Pencilers	Pete Costanza
Inkers	Pete Costanza
Scoop Smith: "The Search for Wilson Drake "
Writers	Bill Parker
Pencilers	Greg Duncan
Inkers	Greg Duncan
Ibis the Invincible: "The Kidnapping of Taia "
Writers	Bill Parker
Pencilers	C.C. Beck
Inkers	Pete Costanza
Lance O'Casey: "Death Dawson"
Writers	Bill Parker
Pencilers	Bob Kingett
Inkers	Bob Kingett
Dan Dare: "Five Hundred Thousand Dollars or Else "
Writers	Bill Parker
Pencilers	Greg Duncan
Inkers	Greg Duncan
Spy Smasher: "... Unmasks "
Writers	Bill Parker
Pencilers	C.C. Beck
Inkers	Pete Costanza
Previous Issue	Whiz Comics #2
Next Issue	Whiz Comics #3B

This is a job for Captain Marvel!

— Billy Batson

Whiz Comics #3A is an issue of the series Whiz Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of March, 1940.

Synopsis for Captain Marvel: "Sivana Strikes Again!"

The mad scientist Sivana raises a supremely powerful army, with thousands of super soldiers and hundreds of streamlined tanks and artillery that can shoot 75 miles and 120 mph combat cars and the mightiest air fleet in history, and declares war on the United States, and attacks Washington, D.C. Captain Marvel smashes a whole lot of tanks, then routs the invading infantry, then changes to Billy and sneaks into the enemy's camp, and observes the enemy general receive orders to report to Sivana. Captain Marvel wing-surfs to Sivana's hidden fortress atop the general's airplane. He sneaks into the castle and beats up some guards, but is overcome by deadly gas, and wrapped in heavy chains. Sivana has an atom smasher about as big as a barn, set to go off in five minutes, with which to blow up C.M., but Sivana's routed (and ill-disciplined) troops show up at the fortress, just then, to confront Sivana and blame him for their defeat. Captain Marvel bursts his chains and leaps out of a window, but Sivana and a large number of the troops are still inside the fortress when it gets blown up. Billy Batson announces Sivana's death on the radio.

Appearing in Captain Marvel: "Sivana Strikes Again!"

Featured Characters:

• Captain Marvel

Supporting Characters:

• Shazam

Antagonists:

• Dr. Sivana
  • Sivana's Super Army

Locations:

• Washington, D.C.

Items:

• Sivana's Atom Smasher

Vehicles:

• Sivana's Military Vehicles
  

Synopsis for Golden Arrow: "The Rustlers of Gila Creek"

Bronk and Brute Braddock go into the cattle rustling business, stealing small numbers of steers per night, and covering their traces by putting horseshoes on the cattle before driving them back to the Braddock Ranch. Golden Arrow snoops around until he figures it out, then stampedes the stolen cattle out of Braddock's corral, and guides them back to their owner's ranch. Along the way he has two fights with the Braddock brothers and beats them both times.

Appearing in Golden Arrow: "The Rustlers of Gila Creek"

Featured Characters:

• Golden Arrow (Roger Parsons)

Supporting Characters:

• White Wind (Roger's stallion)

Antagonists:

• Bronk Braddock
• Brute Braddock
  • Braddock Cowboys

Other Characters:

• Local Rancher

Locations:

• American West, 1940
  • Gila Creek
    

Synopsis for Scoop Smith: "The Search for Wilson Drake "

Ten years earlier, Wilson Drake, sportsman, aviator, and famous explorer, disappeared while flying to the South Pole. Although widely thought to be dead, he reached the interior of Antarctica, encountered the bloodthirsty giant savage natives, and one way or another, made himself their king. He made no communication with the modern world, after that.

1940: Editor Bruce Lane decides that the hottest story in the world is this missing explorer, and sends his two best journalists to cover it: Scoop Smith and Blimp Black. Two weeks go by while an expedition is recruited and equipped and supplied and embarked on a freighter. The voyage itself takes months, but they eventually arrive at Antarctica and set up a base camp. They've got a specially-built "snowboat" for traveling inland. The savage giant natives attack them, and the freighter crew all flee to their ship and cast off, leaving Scoop and Blimp marooned.

Smith and Black travel inland in their snowboat, surviving attacks by giant white bears along the way, and soon overtake the giant natives, but are quickly captured. The natives rig up an execution, which is disrupted by their ruler, who turns out to be Wilson Drake! Drake tells the newspapermen his story, over a sumptuous dinner, and introduces them to his beautiful blonde wife. Scoop and Blimp stay at Drake's palace for a month, then begin their journey back to civilization.

Appearing in Scoop Smith: "The Search for Wilson Drake "

Featured Characters:

• Scoop Smith

Supporting Characters:

• Blimp Black
• Bruce Lane, Editor

Antagonists:

• Antarctic Savages

Animals:

• Giant Antarctic Polar Bears

Other Characters:

• Wilson Drake, famous explorer (Single appearance)
  • Mrs. Drake, Queen of Antarctica

Locations:

• Earth-S
  • New York City
  • Antarctica

Vehicles:

• Freight Steamship
• Antarctic Snowboat
  

Synopsis for Ibis the Invincible: "The Kidnapping of Taia "

In the still-unnamed city in Europe, Ibis the Invincible pursues the thief, who uses the stolen Ibisstick to create a stone wall and other barriers in his path, and who gets away. Meanwhile back in the museum, Taia is suffocating in her airtight glass display case. The thief has hidden in a building in the poor part of town, possibly his home, and is conjuring gold coins. Ibis finds him and almost tackles him; the thief counters by commanding the stick to turn Ibis into gold, which fatally backfires on him, because Ibis can't be harmed by the stick's power. Leaving the thief's neighbors to scoop up the gold, Ibis races back to the museum and dissolves the glass in time to save Taia.

Ibis recreates the ancient city of Thebes, deep in the Sahara. It's a bad neighborhood; a local outlaw Arab chief named Hamed makes the fatal mistake of kidnapping Taia, and trying to trade her for the Ibisstick. Ibis soon finds Hamed's fortified camp, turns his cut-throat bodyguards into geese, and turns Hamed into a pig.

Appearing in Ibis the Invincible: "The Kidnapping of Taia "

Featured Characters:

• Ibis the Invincible

Supporting Characters:

• Taia

Antagonists:

• Hamed (Single appearance)
• Thief (Final appearance)

Locations:

• Earth-S
• a European city
• New Thebes, deep in the Sahara Desert

Items:

• Ibistick
  

Synopsis for Lance O'Casey: "Death Dawson"

On Maloana Island, soldier-of-fortune Lance O'Casey is told about an island where giant pearls are found. Two hours later O'Casey, along with his first mate, Mr. Hogan, and his Native friend, are heading out to sea aboard the Brian Boru. The next day, their Native guide is swept overboard amid a typhoon, and not seen again. After riding out the storm, the schooner reaches a strange island, ruled by Death Dawson, renegade halfbreed, who rudely rebuffs O'Casey, and orders him to leave.

Lance leaves but returns that night and snoops around. In a hidden cove on the other side of the island, this Dawson villain is using enslaved Native men to dive for giant pearls, harvested from giant oysters, deep in the tidal basin. It's extremely dangerous, and many slaves have died doing this; the rest of them hate Dawson almost as much as they fear him. One of the slaves breaks loose, gets into the same rowboat with Dawson, and chokes him into handing over the key to his locked collar. He locks the leash on Dawson's neck, then sends HIM diving after this pearl.

A couple of sharks are attracted by all this activity, and one of them is really big. From the beach, Lance sees this, and dives to the rescue, into the surf and out to sea, where he fights and kills the shark with a knife, then frees Dawson from the giant oyster shell, and rescue-swims him back to the surface. On the beach, Lance revives the half-drowned renegade, and sets free all of his slaves. Dawson snaps back into action quickly then, kicking Mr. Hogan aside and grabbing a pistol. He almost has control of the situation, but Monk Hogan is extremely quick and quite a dirty fighter. Between being bitten by Hogan and punched by Lance, Death Dawson breaks free and flees into the jungle, where he is killed with a poison arrow by one of his former slaves. Another one gifts O'Casey with one giant pearl, worth a fortune, before he sails back to Maloana Island.

Appearing in Lance O'Casey: "Death Dawson"

Featured Characters:

• Lance O'Casey

Supporting Characters:

• Mr. Hogan

Antagonists:

• Death Dawson (Single appearance; dies)

Other Characters:

• Maloana Island Natives (one dies)
• Slave Pearl Divers (one dies)

Locations:

• South Sea
  • Maloana Island
  • Island of Giant Pearls

Items:

• a pearl the size of a basketball

Vehicles:

• The Brian Boru, 2-masted schooner
  

Appearing in Dan Dare: "Five Hundred Thousand Dollars or Else "

Featured Characters:

• Dan Dare

Supporting Characters:

• Carol Clews

Antagonists:

• Dynamite Davis, alias "The Bomb" (Single appearance)
• Taki, Japanese Chauffeur (Single appearance)
• the Barber (Single appearance)

Other Characters:

• J. Morgan Bucksworth (Single appearance)
• Mrs. Bucksworth (Single appearance)
• Barbara Bucksworth (Single appearance)

Locations:

• Earth-S
  • San Francisco, {{aCalifornia}}
    • Bucksworth Mansion
    • San Francisco Police Department Headquarters
    • Barbary Coast neighborhood
      • Davis' Barber Shop

Vehicles:

• Dare's Airplane
  

Synopsis for Spy Smasher: "... Unmasks "

At night, the Mask sneaks into the Corby mansion and kidnaps Eve Corby. He escapes in a stolen U.S. destroyer. The next morning, Admiral Corby telephones Alan Armstrong and tells him about it.

Spy Smasher figures out what kind of ship the Mask is aboard and where it is, then flies his Gyrosub to the stolen destroyer's position, far out at sea. From a high altitude he dives below the surface, sneaks up on the sparsely-manned ship, boards it, and sneaks around the decks, overpowering one by one the Mask's prize crew. He finds Eve, and steps into the room where she is held, and is ambushed by the Mask, with a rifle and a henchman, but quickly deals with both. But while Spy Smasher mops up the remnants of the crew, the Mask escapes, in his amphibious biplane.

Then Spy Smasher reveals his secret identity to Eve Corby.

Appearing in Spy Smasher: "... Unmasks "

Featured Characters:

• Spy Smasher

Supporting Characters:

• Admiral Corby
• Eve Corby

Antagonists:

• Mask
  • his crew

Other Characters:

• Zambo

Locations:

• Washington, D.C. Area
  • Admiral Corby's mansion, in Washington DC
  • Alan Armstrong's mansion, in Virginia, not far from Washington DC
• Atlantic Ocean

Vehicles:

• Gyrosub
• stolen U.S. Destroyer
• Mask's Amphibious Biplane

Notes

• This series was published by Fawcett Publications. All characters and likeness(es) thereof associated with the Captain Marvel family of titles became the legal property of National Periodical Publications (DC Comics) in 1991.
• There were two issue number threes published for this title. Whiz Comics #3A was published with a cover date of March 1940. Whiz Comics #3B was published with a cover date of April 1940.
• Captain Marvel: "Sivana Strikes Again" is reprinted in 'The Shazam! Archives Vol. 1'.
  • This is Doctor Sivana's 2nd appearance.
  • Billy Batson's radio announcement of Sivana's death turns out to be premature; Sivana will be back in Whiz Comics #6.
• Scoop Smith's adventure, this issue, goes on for at least four months.
• Spy Smasher's unmasking is visible to Eve Corby, but not to the reader, preserving the mystery of his identity for just one more issue.
• Also featured in this issue of Whiz Comics was:
  • "Diamond of Death" (text story)
  • Doc Sorebones: "The Flexible Fee"
  • Wilbur the Waiter: "Chicken Feed"

See Also

• Cover gallery for the Whiz Comics series

Recommended Reading

• Marvel Family Recommended Reading
  • Whiz Comics (Volume 1)
  • Captain Marvel Adventures (Volume 1)
  • Captain Marvel, Jr. (Volume 1)
  • Mary Marvel (Volume 1)
  • Master Comics (Volume 1)
  • Wow Comics (Volume 1)
  • The Marvel Family (Volume 1)
  • Hoppy the Marvel Bunny (Volume 1)
  • Shazam! (Volume 1)
  • Shazam!: The New Beginning (Volume 1)
  • The Power of Shazam! (Volume 1)
  • Superman/Shazam!: First Thunder (Volume 1)
  • Shazam!: The Monster Society of Evil (Volume 1)
  • The Trials of Shazam! (Volume 1)
  • Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam! (Volume 1)
  • Shazam! (Volume 2)
  • Shazam! (Volume 3)
  • Shazam! (Volume 4)
  • The New Champion of Shazam! (Volume 1)
  • Shazam! (Volume 5)

Links and References

• Captain Marvel article at Wikipedia
• Captain Marvel article at Toonopedia
• Captain Marvel biography page at DCU Guide
• Dan Dare article at Wikipedia
• Golden Arrow article at Wikipedia
• Golden Arrow article at Toonopedia
• Ibis the Invincible article at Wikipedia
• Ibis the Invincible article at Toonopedia
• Ibis the Invincible biography page at DCU Guide
• Lance O'Casey article at Wikipedia
• Marvel Family article at Toonopedia
• Scoop Smith biography page at DCU Guide
• Shazam article at Wikipedia
• Shazam biography page at DCU Guide
• Spy Smasher article at Wikipedia
• Spy Smasher article at Toonopedia
• Spy Smasher biography page at DCU Guide
• Whiz Comics article at Wikipedia
• Whiz Comics #3 (3a) entire issue

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Look at how sad this is making Batman. You did this.