The Massive, Extravagant, Over-the-top Golden Age JSA Re-read

[Captain Comics]

Welcome to our re-read of the first and greatest superhero team in comics ... and quite a bit more!

My plan is to re-read and discuss the Golden Age Justice Society of America, which ran from All-Star Comics #3 (Winter 1940) to All-Star Comics #57 (February-March 1951), and is currently being reprinted in DC's "DC Finest" line.

But, as ever, I am consumed by context. What events brought us to All-Star Comics #3? What characters did editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox have available from which to choose? What else was competing in the superhero space? To achieve that context, I plan to start the discussion at the publisher's beginning, when Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson launched National Allied Publications Inc. in 1935. That was the first step toward the Justice Society — and to DC Comics as we know it today.

So before we even get to the JSA, I'll re-read and open for discussion all the solo stories starring JSA members, mostly from DC's Archives and Famous First Edition series. Which is actually quite a lot! (Although not as much as I'd prefer. I want it ALL!) I'll be writing about non-JSA superheroes created by National, Detective Comics Inc. and All-American Comics Inc. too, like Crimson Avenger and Doctor Occult. I'll also be tipping my hat to some non-powered characters, principally those who managed to appear outside their parent title, like Slam Bradley and Hop Harrigan. That means no re-read for the likes of "Bart Regan, Spy" and "Speed Saunders." Sorry, fellas, but I had to draw the line somewhere — before I found myself doing a deep dive into the history of Ginger Snap. 

But I will be re-reading reprints, or availing myself of online information where reprints don't exist, of 14 of the 17 Golden Age characters who launched or appeared in All-Star Comics #3-57. Those characters include:

1. The Atom: All-American Comics #19-46, 48-61, 70-72; All-Star Comics #3-26, 28-35, 37-57; Big All-American Comic Book; Flash Comics #80, 82-85, 87 89-95, 97-100, 102-104; Comic Cavalcade #22-23, 28; Sensation Comics #86.
2. Black Canary: All-Star Comics #38-57; Comic Cavalcade #25; Flash Comics #86-88, 90-104.
3. Doctor Fate: All-Star Comics #3-12, 14-21; More Fun Comics #55-98.
4. Doctor Mid-Nite: All-American Comics #25-102; All-Star Comics #6 (text story), 8-57.
5. The Flash: All-Flash #1-32; All-Star Comics #1-7, 10, 24-57; Big All-American Comic Book; Comic Cavalcade #1-29; Flash Comics #1-104, Flash Comics miniature (Wheaties)
6. Green Lantern: All-American Comics #16-102; All-Flash #14; All-Star Comics #2-8, 10, 24-57; Big All-American Comic Book; Comic Cavalcade #1-29; Green Lantern #1-38.
7. Hawkman: All-Star Comics #1-57, Big All-American Comic Book, Flash Comics #1-104, Flash Comics miniature (Wheaties).
8. Hourman: Adventure Comics #48-83, All-Star Comics #1-7, New York World's Fair Comics [#2].
9. Johnny Thunder: All-Star Comics #2-4, 6-35, 37-39; Big All-American Comic Book; Flash Comics #1-91; New York World's Fair Comics [#2]; World's Best Comics #1; World's Fair Comics #2-3; Flash Comics miniature (Wheaties).
10. Mister Terrific: All-Star Comics #24, Big All-American Comic Book, Sensation Comics #1-63.
11. Sandman: Adventure Comics #40-102, All-Star Comics #1-21, Boy Commandos #1, Detective Comics #76, New York World's Fair Comics [#1-2], World's Finest Comics #3-7.
12. The Spectre: All-Star Comics #1-23, More Fun Comics #52-101, a single panel in More Fun Comics #51.
13. Starman: Adventure Comics #61-102, All-Star Comics #8-23.
14. Wildcat: All-Star Comics #24, 27; Big All-American Comic Book; Comic Cavalcade #1-2; Sensation Comics #1-90.

The obvious exceptions here are Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman. Superman and Batman, called "honorary members" in the text, appeared twice in All-Star Comics, but I don't plan to re-read all their adventures from 1938 to 1951. They are peripheral at best to the Golden Age JSA, and would overwhelm the discussion through sheer volume. This problem extends to Wonder Woman as well, who appears in four titles in the Golden Age (Sensation Comics, Wonder Woman, Comic Cavalcade, All-Star Comics). I'll re-read and report on her JSA adventures, but like Batman and Superman, I'll just note her solo stories in passing with a summary that I'll grab somewhere online. That will keep the discussion abreast of any major developments, like new supervillains, in Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman stories.

Here are their appearances that are concurrent with All-Star's run:

• Batman: All-Star Comics # 7 (cameo), 36; Batman #1-63 (February-March 1951); Batman 3-D #1; Detective Comics #1-169 (March 1951); New York World’s Fair Comics [#2]; World’s Best Comics #1, World’s Fair Comics #2-50 (February-March 1951). 
• Superman: Action Comics #1-154 (March 1951); All-Star Comics #7 (cameo), 36; New York World’s Fair [#1-2]; Superman #1-69 (March-April 1951); Superman 3-D #1; Superman at the Gilbert Hall of Science; Superman Miniature; World’s Best Comics #1; World’s Fair Comics #2-50 (February-March 1951).
• Wonder Woman: All-Star Comics #8, 11-22, 24-57; Big All-American Comic Book; Comic Cavalcade #1-29; Sensation Comics #1-102; Wonder Woman #1-46 (March-April 1951).

Fortunately, Jeff of Earth-J is already doing a re-read of the Golden Age Superman. Jeff isn't doing a re-read of all Batman books, but he is compiling "The Greatest Joker Stories Ever Told," by which he means "all of them." Recently he's begun re-reading other major Bat-villains, which he discusses in Batman vs. Penguin, Riddler — Prince of Puzzles, The Crimes of Two-Face and Catwoman: Nine Lives of a Feline Fatale.

I should note that my methodology changed over time, as realities required. For instance, I initially lumped books together by monthly cover date, but complications ensued for books without them, like quarterlies and one-shots. As the number of quarterlies and their importance increased, I ended up going by on-sale dates as the primary organizational tool. (Which aren't available for all books, but that's a lesser devil than chronologically misplacing Batman or All-Star Comics). Initially I only included mention of others strips in anthology books if they were of some importance, like Slam Bradley, but eventually I started including all of them. Here and there I would try to improve the format. And so forth. In some imaginary "someday" I'll go back through and make them all consistent.

I've tried to be comprehensive, relying on a variety of sources, from online to reprints to "companion" books. A tip of the cowl to a Luke Blanchard post in what amounts to an outline for this discussion. But I'm sure I've left out tons, especially stories I don't have or can't find, which may be at hand in your collection. I hope folks will do re-reads of stories I've left out, as well as comment on what I've written. So let's hear what I've missed Legionnaires — and what you think!

[Philip Portelli]

Wouldn't it have been great if the reason why the Flash didn't stick around in All Star Comics #10 and the JSA's time travel adventure was because he had to rush to All Flash Quarterly to have his time travel adventure!

After all, they were going in opposite directions! 

[Captain Comics]

One of the things I'm doing as I go is writing down who goes to what time period in time-travel stories. I can't wait until I stumble on one where two stories, probably written years apart, place to two characters at the same historical event. It's bound to happen! 

It's not as hard as it sounds, because The Baron gave me a head start (and the idea) by writing down all the time periods the JSA visited in All-Star Comics in his Golden Age JSA timeline.

[Captain Comics]

We’ve reached comics shipping in March 1941, cover-dated May 1941. Here’s what DC/AA published:

• Superman #16
• Sensation Comics #5
• Flash Comics #29
• All-American Comics #38
• Action Comics #48
• More Fun Comics #79
• Green Lantern #3
• Detective Comics #63
• Adventure Comics #74
• Leading Comics #2
• Star-Spangled Comics #8

 

FEBRUARY 28, 1942

Superman #16, March 1941, Detective Comics Inc.
Cover by Fred Ray

Superman
“The World's Meanest Man”
By Jerry Siegel, Leo Nowak, John Sikela and Ed Dobrutka (13 pages)

Lois and Clark take some poor kids to the country on the Planet’s dime. Naturally, Superman has to deal with some country problems, like a kid falling out of an apple tree and a maddened bull. (Clark brings milk — presumably raw, unpasteurized milk — for the kids from a nearby farm. In a metal bucket of unknown provenance. That might be the biggest threat of all.) Perry White thinks the outing was such a success, he starts a fund for poor kids to play in the country every summer. He is impressed when Charlie Grayson, recently released from prison, contributes to the fund, even though it was the Daily Planet that exposed his crimes.

However, the funds are stolen and Clark is blamed (he successfully evades the police). A bomb is planted in the summer camp. Superman tracks down the culprit, and I’m not going to surprise anybody when I say it was our only suspect, Charlie Grayson.

Takeaway: Clark is blamed for the robbery, because he had to run away in cowardly fashion before it began — to deal with something as Superman, of course. But the frightened-rabbit act was particularly egregious this time, as Lois was robbed at gunpoint while he was “hiding,” and it even got him accused of robbery, since he couldn’t say where he was. Then he ran away from the police! I wouldn’t blame Lois if she never forgave or forgot this one.

Where I Read It: Superman Archives Vol. 4

Superman
By Siegel and Sikela (12 pages)

To drum up circulation, Clark writes an article attacking astrology as fake. Tom Nelson, a PR rep for famous astrologer Abou Sabout, challenges Kent to provide experts to prove Sabout a phony. But Sabout’s predictions (death, robbery) come true. Superman discovers that Sabout paid gangsters to make his predictions come true. Superman confronts Sabout, but the latter is killed by a masked man. Who turns out to be, of course, Tom Nelson, the real mastermind behind it all.

Takeaway: I thought, by this point in 1942, Superman was established as being able to fly. But in this story, he doesn't. He runs through traffic to get to a robbery. He has to climb a ladder to get to Sabout, who kicks the ladder away, and Superman has to make a “desperate leap” to get to Sabout. Superman chases the masked man on foot, and (checks notes) by Super-tunneling. We're going to see this pattern in the next two stories.

Yet in the previous story, the donations (in a metal box) are thrown out a skyscraper window. The box is clearly going to fatally hit a baby many stories below, down on the street. Superman goes out the window, catches the box in the nick of time, and returns to the window. Maybe he grabbed the box and somehow avoided the child, landed on the ground, and jumped back up to the window. But as depicted, it sure looks like flying.

Does Superman fly in 1942, or not?

Where I Read It: Superman Archives Vol. 4

Superman
“Case of the Runaway Skyscrapers!”
By Siegel, Wayne Boring and John Sikela (13 pages)

A character named Mister Sinister is making skyscrapers disappear, and holding them for ransom. When the Planet won’t knuckle under to his threats, he kidnaps that building, along with Lois, Clark and Perry. They find themselves in the fourth dimension, as Mister Sinister claims to have mastered the dimensions. He tries to send Clark into multiple dimensions at once, but Superman escapes too fast to be seen. He battles Mister Sinister in the dimensions of length, width and thickness. In the end, Mister Sinister accidentally destroys himself with his own weapons.

Takeaways:

• Superman once again does not fly.
• Mister Sinister doesn’t look human, but by chasing after money, almost certainly is. I’ll call it artist’s license that he is chalk white and misshapen.

Where I Read It: Superman Archives Vol. 4

Superman
“Racket on Delivery!”
By Siegel and Sikela (13 pages)

Lois and Clark stumble on a racket where deliverymen are being shaken down, causing a rise in the price of groceries. Councilman Vernon Hale arrives to congratulate them on their expose, but all three are kidnapped by Slats Morgan, whose gang is committing the shakedowns. Slats puts the three in separate rooms in a shack that his gang then pushes into the river. Superman saves Lois, but can’t find Hale. Superman rounds up the Morgan gang, and when Hale shows up with no excuse, is revealed as the man behind the racket.

Takeaways

• Once again, Superman is just running and jumping.
• Superman doesn’t really break a sweat in this story.

Where I Read It: Superman Archives Vol. 4

Related: Jeff of Earth-J's Superman from the Beginning.

[Captain Comics]

MARCH 3, 1942

Sensation Comics #5, May 1942, All-American Publications Inc.
Cover by Harry Peter

Wonder Woman
By William Marston and Peter (13 pages)

Col. Darnell, Diana Prince and Steve Trevor have been invited by Admiral Funston to the launch of a new, advanced submarine named “The Octopus.” Diana is recruited to christen the boat, but realizes the bottle of champagne is actually a bomb, so she “accidentally” throws it wide of the sub where it explodes. Ensign Martin, a friend of Steve’s, is suspected of the sabotage and is missing. Then, thanks to sabotage, the sub sinks to the bottom. But Steve (and Diana) see Ensign Martin signaling with reflections off a tin can from a tug boat, and while Steve goes to the rescue, Diana changes to Wonder Woman and then "arrives" to help. Martin is thrown over the side of the tug by Nazi saboteurs, and it is revealed that Ensign Martin was impersonated. Wonder Woman and Steve battle the Nazis, and Ensign Martin gets his licks in. The saboteurs all go over the side, but the Holliday Girls happen to be nearby, so they dive in and round up the spies (“like a school of infuriated mermaids”). Wonder Woman dives in after the downed sub, which is being boarded by divers from a Nazi sub. She sinks that sub, and rescues the "Octopus." The reputation of Dr. Sands, the sub’s inventor, is saved.

Best Line: “Must get to him in time. These puny men can’t stay under water as long as I can.” — Wonder Woman

Takeaways

• Cute little story. Peters' take on diver suits is a sight to behold.
• Wonder Woman says “Keep ‘em flying" to Steve and Ensign Martin as she sails into the Nazis. Works for me.
• Admiral Furston dresses like something from the 19th century British navy.

Where I Read It: Wonder Woman Archives Vol. 1

Mr. Terrific
By Charles Reizenstein and Hal Sharp (8 pages)

Caspar Crunch, “well-known reformer,” asks for donations on the radio to close down gambling houses. But the next panel shows us that he is the secret boss of the gambling syndicate. At the “Olympus Literary Club,” a gambling house, Crunch beats a customer who realizes the games are crooked. Crunch's gang throws him out of a moving car. Terry Sloane happens to witness it, and rescues the man. Crunch hits up rich people for donations, including Terry Sloane. Sloane spots a “C.C.” ring on Crunch’s hand that corresponds to an injury on the man thrown from the car. Sloane throws Crunch out, and allows Crunch to make Sloane look bad in the press, to protect his other identity. Then he attends the Literary Club when Crunch has arranged a false raid. Sloane uses hypnotism on Crunch to turn the fake raid into a real one. Crunch is revealed as the owner of the club, and Mr. Terrific prevents the gangsters from escaping out the back way.

Takeaways:

• Not a very good story. It relies mostly on coincidence, and the hypnotism comes out of left field.
• The idea of Sloane deliberately allowing his reputation to be sullied so he'll never be connected to the do-gooder Mr. Terrific is the moral equivalent of Clark Kent establishing that he is a coward. It'll be interesting to see if this gambit continues.

Where I Read It: JSA All Stars Archives Vol. 1

Wildcat
By Bill Finger and Irwin Hasen (10 pages)

Joan Fortune becomes Stretch’s secretary, just as he is hired over the phone to protect a man who thinks he is going to be murdered. When Stretch arrives at the address, the man is murdered and Stretch is knocked out. The next day a gangster comes to kill Stretch (he’s a witness),but accidentally kills himself. The police say the dead man is a member of Chips Carder’s gang, who run a gambling racket. Stretch visits Carder’s gambling house, as does Wildcat, who reads about Carder’s involvement in the newspaper. Carder’s men recognize Stretch, and take him to the boss, who plans to bump him off. But first he explains that the dead man was named Decker, who accidentally won a lot of money despite the games all being rigged — so they bumped him off and took the money back. Wildcat bursts in, and the pair take out Carder’s gang. Stretch gets a lot of good press out of the case.

Takeaway: A drunk sees Wildcat on the Catocycle (“Big cats riding motorcycles!”) and swears off the booze. How old is this joke? How often has this joke been used?

Where I Read It: JSA All Stars Archives Vol. 1

Continuing: Black Pirate, Gay Ghost, Little Boy Blue. First "O’Malley of the 4th Precinct" in this title (he gets around).

[The Baron]

Caspar Crunch, “well-known reformer,”

His brother was a sea captain, who later went to work for a cereal company.

How old is this joke? 

It's probably as old as booze, in one form or another.

[Commander Benson]

One of the things I'm doing as I go is writing down who goes to what time period in time-travel stories. I can't wait until I stumble on one where two stories, probably written years apart, place to two characters at the same historical event. It's bound to happen! 

It's not Golden Age, but one of my earliest Deck Log Entries---# 25  "Krypton---a Nice Place to Visit (But There's No Future in Settling Down There)"---brought out such a confluence of time-travelling characters showing up at the same event.

The thrust of the piece covered the various folks who'd travelled back to Krypton, usually not too long before it exploded.  I go over a good dozen or so stories in describing this.  As it turns out---through no coördination of writers, mind you; it just worked out that way---Superman (Superman # 141), Jimmy Olsen (Jimmy Olsen # 101), Lois Lane (Lois Lane # 59), and Lex Luthor (Superman # 170) were all present to witness Brainiac's shrinking and abduction of Kandor.  Somehow, though, they managed not to bump into each other.

[Captain Comics]

Which is fun for us, imagining WHY they didn't bump into each other. "Well, I guess in this scene, while Superman is meeting his parents, Luthor must be in the kitchen making a sammich. I guess Jimmy's taking a nap in the guest bedroom."

[Captain Comics]

MARCH 10, 1942

Flash Comics #29, May 1942, All-American Publications Inc.
Cover by Sheldon Moldoff

The Flash
"The Man Who Harnessed the Sun!" 
By Gardner Fox and E.E. Hibbard (13 pages)

Flash and Joan are in an airplane when the sky lights up with purple lightning, which coalesces into a purple ball that evaporates part of their wing (and then part of a mountain). Flash makes a parachute out of on-board knitting supplies. He saves the plane, but Joan is in a coma.

The source of the trouble is scientist Nicholas Grag, who has invented a "sun-machine" that "stores solar energy and releases it in the form of lightning bolts!" He's gotten a gang together and has a scheme to get rich. First he sends purple lightning at The Flash, which the speedster can't outrun. (He uses copper from a copper mine to re-direct the lightning.) Meanwhile, Grag assumes Flash is dead and blasts the Danvas bank with purple lightning, and his gang arrives to rob it. Flash arrives looking for help for the plane crash, and stops the robbery. Then he stops at an Army Air Corps base and tells the officers there to send seach-and-rescue to the downed plane, and personally runs a doctor to the wreck. However, Grag has already kidnapped them all, without leaving a trace. Flash releases the bank robbers, and follows them to Grag's lab. Grag tries to kill Flash with an "atomic gun," and thinks he's succeeded (again). But instead Flash overwhelms his gang, while Grag accidentally kills himself with his own equipment. Joan, it turns out, was not in a coma, but in a deep sleep due to the lightning.

Takeaways

• Flash and Joan in a falling airplane was a neat challenge to someone whose super-power seemed useless at the moment. He also couldn't outrun the purple lightning. This is one of the few Flash stories so far where he seemed actually challenged.
• Grag uses a "stroboscopic distance-finder" to see The Flash when he's moving at super-speed. That's the third time the stroboscope has been used for this purpose.
• Flash makes an Uncle Tom's Cabin reference. I had to look it up. But as we've discussed, apparently 1942 audiences were familiar with the book.
• A cop tells Flash to "keep 'em flying." It isn't random and fits the scene.
• Too bad Grag got killed, as he would be a good recurring supervillain.

Where I Read It: Online.

Johnny Thunder
By John Wentworth and Stan Aschmeier (8 pages)

Peachy Pet runs into a haunted house to escape Papa Johnny, who means to give her a spanking. The house isn't haunted, but has been gimmicked to appear so by escaped convicts Rat and Roach. Peachy figures out the scam and escapes them, but Johnny runs into a door and knocks himself out. Control of the Thunderbolt reverts to Peachy, who saves Johnny and delivers the crooks to the big house. She still gets her spanking.

Where I Read It: Online.

Takeaways

• A caption reads "Now it so happens that one of the old, old rules governing this thunderbolt is this: If the thunderbolt's 'hot,' and Johnny gets himself knocked coocoo, then Johnny's nearest relative gets to use the thunderbolt until Johnny wakes up." That's entirely new lore, made up for this story. It'll be interesting to see if it continues. Also, wouldn't Johnny's nearest relative be his mother or father, since Peachy is adopted? It doesn't say "blood relative," but still. 
• Thunderbolt gets his head cut off as a sight gag.

Hawkman
"The Case of the Human Plants"
By Gardner Fox and Sheldon Moldoff (9 pages)

Botanist Benjamin Brock has discovered two previously unknown plants, an orchid whose fumes can kill and a plant that is half-human and can think and talk. Shiera innocently buys the orchid from Brock's flower shop, which isn't supposed to be for sale, and Brock kidnaps her to retrieve it. Carter Hall happens to witness the kidnapping and goes after them as Hawkman. He is overwhelmed by the human-plant hybrid in Brock's greenhouse. The plant escapes, and if it reaches the ocean it can wake others of its kind and take over the world. Hawkman pursues and defeats it. (The story is told out of order, and this scene opens the story.) Hawkman returns to Brock's greenhouse to destroy the rest of the deadly plants, but two of the hybrids overcome him with the orchid. To their surprise, the orchid can kill them, too, and they get rid of it. Recovering, Hawkman defeats them both. Brock kidnaps Shiera again and returns. Hawkman defeats him, and in the struggle, the greenhouse catches fire. Brock runs back into the greenhouse to save his plants, and is killed.

• Hawkgirl appears on the cover, but Shiera remains in street clothes in the story.
• Uncharacteristically, Shiera begs Hawkman to say with her instead of going after the plant, as she is frightened. Bleah.
• Hawkman defeats Brock (and his gun) by saying "Look above you!" and he does. That might literally be the oldest trick in the book.

Contnuing: Ghost Patrol, The Whip, The King 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

I keep expecting to find "Keep 'em flyin'!" references in my Superpowers Project "tie-in" reading, but so far no.

[Captain Comics]

MARCH 14, 1942

All-American Comics #38, May 1942, All-American Publications Inc.
Cover by Irwin Hasen

Green Lantern
By Bill Finger and Irwin Hasen (13 pages)

Nick Bonaparte, a direct descendant of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, takes over small towns with a gang to whom he teaches military tactics. (That doesn't really seem to come into play, but it's part of the theme.) Alan Scott is sent to the small town of Waterloo to investigate a poor signal, but Green Lantern discovers that the town is run by criminals, and calls in Doiby. Together, and by cranking up an idle newspaper, they rile up the town to fight back. Bonaparte is killed when he fires a cannon that Lantern has damaged with a heat ray. 

Where I Read It: Golden Age Green Lantern Archives Vol. 2

Most resonant line: "America must rid herself of such demi-gods who would help make her people slaves to greed and destruction!" — Green Lantern

Fun Facts:

• Apex is still in Capitol City, but much ot the story takes place in Waterloo.
• Alan Scott's middle name is revealed to be Wellington, so as to be "ironical." As we all learned in school, a British field marshal named Wellington is chiefly credited for the historical Napoleon's downfall in the town of Waterloo (formerly of the Netherlands, now in Belgium).
• Say, wouldn't the historical Waterloo be under German occupation at this time? It's not mentioned in the story.

Dr. Mid-Nite
By Charles Reizenstein and Stan Aschmeier (8 pages)

Myra and Dr. McNider run across a con man selling Quacko, which he promises can cure anything. McNider calls him out, but a tout in the audience pretends to fall ill and is "saved" by Quacko. McNider pockets a bottle and examines it as Dr. Mid-Nite, to discover it's only sugar water. He confronts the salesman again, this time in costume, but has gimmicked the Quacko so the fake-illness act backfires. Then Dr. Mid-Nite must fight the crowd, which is riled up and wants to harm the crooks. The unnamed quack runs in front of a speeding car, and is in need of a operation, but "only old Dr. McNider could have done something so delicate ... and he's blind now!" Well, cue Dr. Mid-Nite arriving, killing the lights, and performing the operation. 

Where I Read It: Online.

Fun Facts:

• "Marvelous surgeon," says one of the doctors. "I wonder who he really is!" (Well, only blind McNider could have done the surgery, and Mid-Nite just did it in complete darkness like a blind man, so it ought to be pretty obvious, pal. Mid-NIte and McNider even sound alike, so it's even more obvious. Unless you live in the Golden Age, where everyone's an idiot.) 
• Myra and McNider have the usual stinger at the end where McNider claims Mid-Nite doesn't exist.

Red Tornado
A con man pretending to be Red Tornado in order to marry a rich old maid ("Penelope Picklepuss — society glamor girl of 1910") is taught a lesson by Ma Hunkel, Sisty and Dinkel, who don't even resort to their costumes. Ma tells Penelope to "keep 'em flying" at the end.

The Atom
By Bill O'Connor and Ben Flinton (6 pages)

The fad of hanging on to the back of a moving car on roller skates is addressed, with kids admonished not to do it. Al Pratt tries roller skating, and ends up accidentally hanging on to the bumper of some spies who just murdered an Army intelligence officer and stole planes for a new bomber and fighter plane. The police get involved, and everyone ends up on a train. The Atom defeats the spies. 

Where I Read It: Online.

Takeaways:

"The Atom" is usually a slog, but this one was so busy it kept me rolling right with it. It's the 1942 equivalent of Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

The opening caption says Joe Morgan "discovered in Al a newfound strength! To utilize this new-found power and yet remain the meek Calvin sophomore, Al Pratt assumes the role of The Atom!!!" That's not exactly super-strength, but it rhymes. And gets three exclamation points! 

Continuing: Red White and Blue, Sargon the Sorcerer, Hop Harrigan