Smash Comics #25

(August 1941)

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 1) (Expand) /

Quaker Puffed Rice; Quaker Puffed Wheat / advertisement / 1 page (report information)

[Mitch Mouldin] (Table of Contents: 2)

The Ray / comic story / 9 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

Reed Crandall (signed as E. Lectron)

Inks

Reed Crandall (signed as E. Lectron)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Banks are looted...

Genre

superhero

Characters

The Ray [Happy Terrill]; Bud; Mitch Mouldin; Mike; Snapper; Mr. Humpel

Synopsis

A gang member kidnaps some reporters and brings them to his boss.

Reprints

• in Special Edition Series (DynaPubs Enterprises, 1974 series) #2 (1974) [black and white]

Indexer Notes

Art credits revised from Lou Fine to Reed Crandall by Craig Delich 2011-27-11 per article/interview with Gill Fox in Alter-Ego #12 (January, 2002). The splash page for this story was reprinted in B/W.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 3)

Archie O'Toole / comic story / 1 page (report information)

Script

John Devlin

Pencils

John Devlin

Inks

John Devlin

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

The national treasury is lower than the seat of a midget's pants!

Genre

humor; children

Characters

King Archie O'Toole; Jerk

Synopsis

The king has to raise $7.65 for the national treasury.

Liver-Lip McGaw (Table of Contents: 4)

Midnight / comic story / 5 pages (report information)

Script

Jack Cole (signed)

Pencils

Jack Cole (signed)

Inks

Jack Cole (signed)

Colors

?

Letters

Jack Cole (signed)

First Line of Dialogue or Text

In all the history of crime never was there so cruel an individual as Liver-Lip McGaw!

Genre

adventure; superhero

Characters

Midnight [Dave Clark]; Doc Mortimer Wackey; Gabby (a monkey); Liver-Lip McGraw (villain)

Synopsis

Doc Wackey creates a new invention he calls the Visoscope, with which he could survey any part of the city......an invention useful to Midnight in locating a nefarious villain.

Keywords

Visoscope

[Captain Krawl] (Table of Contents: 5)

Wings Wendall / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script

Vern Henkel (signed as Vernon Henkel)

Pencils

Vern Henkel (signed as Vernon Henkel)

Inks

Vern Henkel (signed as Vernon Henkel)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

America works night and day to match weapons of foreign powers, to keep this country free of aggression.. and no patriotic sentinel works harder than Wings Wendall..

Genre

adventure; aviation

Characters

Wings Wendall; Spinner Benson; Captain Krawl; Captain Bennett

Synopsis

Captain Krawl captures a battleship using a submarine and gas.

Indexer Notes

Wears a costume in this story.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 6)

Invisible Justice / comic story / 5 pages (report information)

Script

Art Pinajian (signed as Art Gordon)

Pencils

Art Pinajian (signed as Art Gordon)

Inks

Art Pinajian (signed as Art Gordon)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

A hazy terror of the glens brings chilly fears to those of Oakwood...

Genre

superhero

Characters

The Invisible Hood [Ken Thurston]; Phineas Barr; John Thorp; Joan Thorp; Tom Slade

Synopsis

Hooded men rob the rich of their treasures.

[Sabotage at the Navy Yard] (Table of Contents: 7)

The Jester / comic story / 5 pages (report information)

Script

Paul Gustavson (signed)

Pencils

Paul Gustavson (signed)

Inks

Paul Gustavson (signed)

Colors

?

Letters

Paul Gustavson (signed)

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Roaring mad and soaking wet, detective Mulligan rushes into his office at police headquarters, followed by several policemen...

Genre

superhero

Characters

The Jester [Chuck Lane]; Mulligan; Mike

Synopsis

Mulligan is convinced the Jester is bad when he goes to arrest a man and the Jester shoves him in the river.

Indexer Notes

All Gustavson credits verified and courtesy of Terry Gustafson, son of Paul Gustavson.

[Basil's Gang] (Table of Contents: 8)

Espionage Starring Black X / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script

Dick French (signed as Will Erwin)

Pencils

Witmer Williams

Inks

Witmer Williams

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Black X is disguised as Old Basil, a spy now imprisoned

Genre

spy; adventure; war

Characters

Black X [Richard Spencer]; Batu; Colonel Atwater; Max; Hugo; Heinz

Synopsis

Black X disguises himself as Old Basil and receives some photostats from the spies.

Indexer Notes

Williams is credited on drawing this feature.

Writer revision from Eisner to French by Craig Delich.

Will Eisner created the Espionage feature, and Will Erwin was a pen name used by Will Eisner (Erwin was Eisner's middle name), but it also became a house by-line after Eisner's tenure after 1940. Lane French wrote the feature in 1941, followed by Toni Blum (1942) and Otto Binder (1942-43).

[First Night] (Table of Contents: 9)

Rookie Rankin / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

Art Peddy (credited as Kenneth Julian) (signed)

Inks

Art Peddy (credited as Kenneth Julian) (signed)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Hmm...Who's that handsome policeman?

Genre

detective-mystery

Characters

Rookie Rankin (introduction); Ma Rankin; Sgt. Burns; Nightstick Kane; Jimmy; Mr. Depopoloss

Synopsis

Rankin is ordered to arrest kids watching parked cars.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 10)

Wun Cloo / comic story / 1 page (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

Jack Cole

Inks

Jack Cole

Colors

?

Letters

Jack Cole

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Pardon, pal, but could you tell me what that says about me?

Genre

humor; detective-mystery

Characters

Wun Cloo (detective); Poison Allity

Synopsis

Wun meets a crook worth $1,000 for capture.

Introducing Wildfire (Table of Contents: 11)

Wildfire / comic story / 5 pages (report information)

Script

Robert Turner (credited)

Pencils

Jim Mooney (credited)

Inks

Jim Mooney (credited)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Fifteen years ago...

Genre

superhero

Characters

Wildfire [Carol Vance]; Frank Vance (Carol's father, death); Marie (Carol's maid); Lord of Fire; Mr. John Martin; Mrs. Martin; Senator Raymond; Heinrich (villain); Dolph (villain); Green Masked Bund (villains)

Synopsis

Young Carol Martin is given wondrous powers by the Lord of Fire, which she uses to combat the un-American activities of a group which has kidnapped a famed U.S. Senator, trying to get him to admit to the newspapers that America will not come to the aid of other democracies.

Reprints

• in Men of Mystery Comics (AC, 1999 series) #82 ([June] 2010)
• in Divas, Dames & Daredevils (Exterminating Angel Press, 2013 series) (2013)

The Pall of Terror (Table of Contents: 12)

Jimmy Christian / text story / 1.5 pages (report information)

Script

Robert Hyatt (credited as Robert M. Hyatt)

Pencils

? (2 spot illustrations)

Inks

? (2 spot illustrations)

Colors

?

Letters

typeset

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Tragedy had never struck Fertile Valley.

Genre

adventure

Characters

Jimmy Christian; Jed Haggard; Professor Hervey

Synopsis

For months a strange cloud covers Fertile Valley and prevents rain from falling.

Who's Missing from This Picture? (Table of Contents: 13)

activity / 0.34 page (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

?

Inks

?

Colors

?

Letters

typeset

Indexer Notes

Dot-to-dot puzzle.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 14) (Expand) /

Morrow Coaster Brake / advertisement / 0.16 page (report information)

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 15)

The Purple Trio / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

Alex Blum (signed as S. M. Regi)

Inks

Alex Blum (signed as S. M. Regi)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Monkey shines can sometimes prove very serious business..

Genre

adventure

Characters

The Purple Trio: Rocky Hill; Tiny Todd; Warren
Joe; Smokey Sam; J. C. Winsul

Synopsis

The Purple Trio discover a book of stock swindles.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 16)

Bozo the Robot / comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

George Brenner (signed as Wayne Reid)

Inks

George Brenner (signed as Wayne Reid)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Clive Dow, prominent attorney, returns home after a quiet week-end at his country estate ---

Genre

science fiction; superhero

Characters

Bozo the Robot; Hugh Hazzard; Clive Dow; The Clown (villain); Jeeves; Dip Downe

Synopsis

Bozo faces a super-powered villain called The Clown, who kills with the aid of a poison. He leaves a card bearing his white-faced visage at the scene of the crime, with his sights set on taking over organized crime. Hazzard and Bozo track him down, but the Clown, by sheer brute force, throws the robot into the river. However, Bozo quickly recovers and tracks the Clown to his hideout and delivers a beating to the villain, then turns him over to the Police.

Indexer Notes

The opening portion is similar to the Joker's introduction in Batman #1.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 17) (Expand) /

Schwinn Bicycles / comics-form advertising / 1 page (report information)

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 18) (Expand) /

Tootsie Roll / comics-form advertising / 1 page (report information)