Action Comics #39

(August 1941)

[The Man with the Radioactive Touch] (Table of Contents)

Superman / comic story / 12 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Jerry Siegel (signed)

Pencils:

Leo Nowak [as Joe Shuster] (signed)

Inks:

Shuster Shop

Colors:

?

Letters:

?

Content Information

Genre:

superhero

Characters:

Superman [Clark Kent]; Lois Lane; Sgt. Casey; Perry White; District Attorney Tom Spaulding; May Bryson; The Ghost [Brett Bryson] (villain, introduction, death); Frank Chalmers (villain); Davis (villain)

Synopsis:

A disaster at Chalmers Laboratories involving radium kills Brett Bryson. His bosses are tried for negligence but acquitted. A hooded figure later robs a jewelry store, leaving a watchman dead of radium burns. Superman is implicated, and he must clear his name before Sgt. Casey arrests him.

Reprints:

• in Superman: The Action Comics Archives (DC, 1997 series) #3 (2001)

Indexer Notes

Superman is called the Man of Tomorrow. Inks credited to Leo Nowak in Archives.

[Tail Lights, Cooking School, I Hate Fish!] (Table of Contents)

Gags / filler / 0.5 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

Henry Boltinoff

Pencils:

Henry Boltinoff

Inks:

Henry Boltinoff

Colors:

?

Letters:

Henry Boltinoff

Content Information

Genre:

gags

Indexer Notes

Writer credit added by Craig Delich 9-1-08.

[Tear Gas, Bread] (Table of Contents)

It's True / filler / 0.5 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

Henry Boltinoff

Pencils:

Henry Boltinoff

Inks:

Henry Boltinoff

Colors:

?

Letters:

Henry Boltinoff

Content Information

Genre:

fact

Indexer Notes

Writer credit added by Craig Delich 9-1-08.

[The Jailed Star] (Table of Contents)

Pep Morgan / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

?

Pencils:

George Papp

Inks:

George Papp

Colors:

?

Letters:

?

Content Information

Genre:

adventure

Characters:

Pep Morgan; Jerry Hope; Villains: "Odds" Renaldi, Monk.

Synopsis:

When Midwest College's baseball team loses their pitcher, Jerry Hope, to a strain, Pep must stand in to pitch the game without any relief. Seeing an opportunity, "Odds" Renaldi and Monk, gamblers, make a plan to fix the game.

[Tobo, Fur Coat, Back Seat Driver] (Table of Contents)

Laff Lines / filler / 0.5 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

?

Pencils:

Bill Carney

Inks:

Bill Carney

Colors:

?

Letters:

?

Content Information

Genre:

gags

[Escape from the Palace] (Table of Contents)

Black Pirate / comic story / 4 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

?

Pencils:

Sheldon Moldoff

Inks:

Sheldon Moldoff

Colors:

?

Letters:

?

Content Information

Genre:

period

Characters:

The Black Pirate [Jon Valor]; Bonnie; V: Captain Don De Avila.

Synopsis:

Jon Valor, posing as Noah Scott, trader, has been invited to attend the royal ball as a guest of his friend, Captain Don De Avila. Unknown to the Black Pirate, De Avila has laid a trap to capture him once inside the palace walls, and so regain the favor of the King of Spain.

[Palm Tree, States, Switzerland, Thespian] (Table of Contents)

Quiz / activity / 1 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

Henry Boltinoff

Pencils:

Henry Boltinoff

Inks:

Henry Boltinoff

Colors:

?

Letters:

?

Content Information

Genre:

fact

Indexer Notes

Writer credit added by Craig Delich 9-1-08.

[Iodine, Walnut Trees] (Table of Contents)

Facts / filler / 0.5 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

Henry Boltinoff

Pencils:

Henry Boltinoff

Inks:

Henry Boltinoff

Colors:

?

Letters:

?

Content Information

Genre:

fact

Indexer Notes

Writer credit added by Craig Delich 9-1-08.

[The Medicine Thief] (Table of Contents)

Three Aces / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Gardner F. Fox

Pencils:

Chad Grothkopf

Inks:

Chad Grothkopf

Colors:

?

Letters:

?

Content Information

Genre:

Adventure

Characters:

Three Aces: Fog Fortune, Gunner Bill & Whistler Will; Douglas MacLean; V: Pierre La Salle.

Synopsis:

Flying overhead, the Aces see the serum sled bound for Glencarren to help with an epidemic. As they pass, the sled-driver, Angus, is shot. In Glencarren, at Douglas MacLean's the Three Aces learn of the death and decide to intervene.

[vs. the Fifth Columnists] (Table of Contents)

Mr. America / comic story / 8 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Ken Fitch

Pencils:

Bernard Baily (signed)

Inks:

Bernard Baily (signed)

Colors:

?

Letters:

?

Content Information

Genre:

superhero

Characters:

Mr. America [Tex Thomson]; Ed Blake; Doris Dare; V: The Leader (villain).

Synopsis:

While on patrol, Mr. America spots some thugs kidnapping a man and stops them, although he is distracted by an explosion at the Mains Aircraft Factory. He manages to tear a piece of a thug's jacket away that bears an insignia. The man was Ed Blake, photographer, planted by the Globe newspaper at a spy camp but discovered. Mr. America decides to use the insignia to infiltrate the spy camp. There he meets Doris Dare, a reporter, who tells him that they must stop a package from being mailed.

Indexer Notes

No Bob Daley in this story.

Get Your Man (Table of Contents)

text story / 2 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Fred Hart (signed)

Pencils:

Cliff Young (spot illustrations, signed)

Inks:

Cliff Young (spot illustrations, signed)

Colors:

?

Letters:

typeset

Content Information

Genre:

western

Characters:

U.S. Marshal Craig Nolan; Deputy Marshall Claw Custer; V: Ed.

[Hot Dog Stand] (Table of Contents)

Silly Willy / filler / 0.5 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

Henry Boltinoff

Pencils:

Henry Boltinoff

Inks:

Henry Boltinoff

Colors:

?

Letters:

?

Content Information

Genre:

gags

Characters:

Silly Willy

Indexer Notes

Writer credit added by Craig Delich 9-1-08.

[The Secret U-Boat Base] (Table of Contents)

Congo Bill / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

?

Pencils:

Fred Ray

Inks:

Fred Ray

Colors:

?

Letters:

?

Content Information

Genre:

jungle

Characters:

Congo Bill; Professor Kent; V: un-named German captain; an jun-named British officer.

Synopsis:

In Cairo, Congo Bill consults with a British officer about a hidden submarine base that u-boats are operating from. The officer needs Congo Bill to help locate the base along the north African coast.

Indexer Notes

Writer credit revised from Fred Ray? to ? by Craig Delich 9-1-08.

["I've Not Yet Begun to Fight!"] (Table of Contents)

Famous American Words / filler / 0.5 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

?

Pencils:

Fred Ray

Inks:

Fred Ray

Colors:

?

Letters:

?

Content Information

Genre:

fact

Characters:

John Paul Jones

Synopsis:

Captain John Paul Jones replies to the British: "I've not yet begun to fight!"

[3/5th's of a Second, First Electrical Communication] (Table of Contents)

Facts / filler / 0.5 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

Henry Boltinoff

Pencils:

Henry Boltinoff

Inks:

Henry Boltinoff

Colors:

?

Letters:

?

Content Information

Genre:

fact

Indexer Notes

Writer credit added by Craig Delich 9-1-08.

[The Zin Diamond] (Table of Contents)

Zatara / comic story / 9 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Gardner F. Fox

Pencils:

Joseph Sulman

Inks:

Joseph Sulman

Colors:

?

Letters:

?

Content Information

Genre:

occult

Characters:

Zatara; Queen of Patona; Villains: Ben, Ab; Captain Mulgram.

Synopsis:

Zatara performs in Patona, a far-off kingdom, winning the Queen's confidence. She asks him to help her get the Zin Diamond to the Capital Bank of America. Bem, an international jewel thief, plans to get rid of Zatara and steal the diamond.