Action Comics #62 is an issue of the series Action Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of July, 1943.
Synopsis for Superman: "There'll Always Be a Superman"
Lois Lane joins fishing captain Zeb Storm on an excursion of the coast of Dornley Deep. Their ship is destroyed by the Nazis and Lois is captured. Storm makes it to shore and tells Superman. The Man of Steel finds an undersea Nazi base. He rescues Lois and Storm's crew and captures the Nazi soldiers. In the far future, Storm's descendant tells the story to his grandchildren. He explains that Superman returns to Dornley Deep often to visit Storm's descendants. Superman then makes an appearance for the children.
Appearing in Superman: "There'll Always Be a Superman"
Featured Characters:
- Template:Apn
Supporting Characters:
Villains:
- Nazis
- Admiral Von Storff
Other Characters:
- Captain Zeb Storme (Single appearance)
- Grandpa Storme (Single appearance)
- Alice (Single appearance)
Locations:
Items:
- None
Vehicles:
- Storme's Fishing Boat
Synopsis for Vigilante: "The Crime Carnival"
Greg Sanders is invited to perform at a winter festival in Arcturus. When he arrives with Stuff he saves the mayor from a series of accidents. When Mr. Mungo, the festival organizer threatens Greg, the Vigilante takes action. Mungo and his men try to kill Vig and the mayor. Stuff, who is trying to ski, gets in their way. Vig apprehends the men and learns they are city crooks. The festival takes place without further incident. Stuff's bravery is rewarded, despite the fact that his skiing landed him in a wheelchair.
Appearing in Vigilante: "The Crime Carnival"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Villains:
- Mr. Mungo (Single appearance)
- Mike (Single appearance)
- Slim (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Mayor McGlurk (Single appearance)
Locations:
- Earth-Two
- Arcturus
Items:
- None
Vehicles:
- None
Synopsis for Three Aces: "The Loyal Traitor"
On the U.S. aircraft carrier Roosevelt, a Nazi transmission is picked up on the radio. Announcing the Reich's takeover of the French city of Toulon, a list of some of the officers present at the celebration are read. Suddenly, young Ensign Crane shouts for the radio to be turned off, and storms out of the room. His father was one of the names recited, Will explains to Fog, a former navy officer who joined the Nazis after being falsely discharged. The alarm goes off, and the Aces are called into the Admiral's quarters. Gunner, Will, and Fog are told that the Nazis are salvaging one of the damaged french warships, and turning it into an aircraft carrier. Their mission was to join the raid on Toulon harbor, and destroy the ship before it's finished. During the briefing, the sound of an engine breaks through. Up on deck, one of the sailors reports that Ensign Crane had taken one of the planes! No time to chase after him now, the Aces needed to prepare for the assault.
That night, the airstrike on the Nazi base occurs. But the Aces target, the carrier, is nowhere to be found. Will signals his friends and they follow him inland. Soon, they land away from the Nazis, and find a group of French patriots who were willing to help. Regarding their questions about the converted carrier, the Frenchmen tells the Aces that Hauptmann Crane, Nazi commander of the local air squadron, could know the answer to that. One of the patriots, a farmer, leads Will and friends to an old building, where the French Underground met in the basement. Fog, Gunner, and Will are startled to find Hauptmann Crane standing before them, and at his side was his son, Ensign Crane! Did the Ensign join his father in the service of the Reich? But the truth is that Hauptmann never turned traitor. When he received his dishonorable discharge, based on a mistake, he saw it as an opportunity to get in with the Nazis as a spy. He had the carrier hidden in a camouflaged steel shed, where it will stay for a few hours before some French sailors disguised as workers will deliver it to the Allies. That wasn't all; the Nazis had some new types of fighter planes that Hauptmann thought the five of them could steal and bring back to the scientists and test pilots for study.
Hauptmann, his son, and Gunner, Will, and Fog got some Nazi pilot disguises to infiltrate the airport. They remain unsuspected during takeoff. But once the other plane start to attack the escaping carrier, the Aces and the Cranes decide to put the fighters to the test, themselves. An air battle breaks out over Toulon harbor, one that is soon joined by the reinforcements sent by the Roosevelt! Hauptmann's voice comes over the radio that he's been hit! After ten minutes, the enemy is defeated. The Aces guide the fighter planes down on the Roosevelt's runway and climb out. The mission was a success, but Hauptmann Crane is gravely wounded.
A funeral is held for the elder Crane, his son is given his father's medals, to be donated to the museum, so that others may know of Hauptmann's heroics to the very end.
Appearing in Three Aces: "The Loyal Traitor"
Featured Characters:
Villains:
Other Characters:
- Ensign Crane (Single appearance)
- Hauptmann Crane (Single appearance; dies)
Locations:
Items:
- None
Vehicles:
- The Roosevelt (An aircraft carrier)
- The Aces Planes
Synopsis for Americommando: "The Blitz Barge"
A barge floats through the oil fields of Rumania, with a hidden cargo of dynamite below its deck. Tex Thompson and Peter Populis wait on the dock while Atescu goes off to alert the underground of their arrival. But once he leaves, Tex voices his distrust of their companion. Oil fields usually have plenty of explosives around, so why haul in dynamite? He explains to Peter that he went along with Atescu to find out what his real game is. Putting on his Americommando outfit, Tex follows Atescu.
The barge's arrival has been observed by Doctor Ito, now awaiting Atescu's report. When his double agent arrives, Dr. Ito begins the next phase: the attack! The barge is swiftly boarded by Nazi troops, but Peter Populis is the only enemy they find. Doctor Ito leaves a guard on board while he sends the rest to seek out his arch nemesis Americommando!
That night, Tex returns to the barge, taking out the guard on duty, and then begins to unlock the cabin door to free Peter. Too late, he realizes he just walked into a trap! Dr. Ito is inside with the traitor Atescu, and a Nazi General. Americommando goes on the offensive, but the tight quarters and the three-on-one numbers look as though they will overwhelm him. In his panic, Peter knocks a lantern off the table, causing it to crash to the deck. Flaming liquid quickly scatters across the cabin. Atescu yells that they needed to run before the flames lit up the explosives below deck! Dr. Ito stabs him through the chest with his sword before leaving with the General. They lock Americommando and Peter inside, then tie ropes from the barge to a nearby train engine.
Ito operates the engine, in effect pulling the burning barge down river, away from the oil fields. Inside, Tex finds an ax hanging on the cabin wall and uses it to break the door down. He sends Peter swimming for a motorboat, while he starts climbing across one of the ropes towards the train. Dr. Ito once again finds himself facing his greatest enemy, only this time Americommando gets the upper hand. The evil doctor is thrown from the train onto the rocks below, and then bouncing into the river. Tex puts the engine into reverse, pulling the barge back to the oil fields.
Peter brings the motorboat alongside the train as Tex dives into the water. Together, they watch as the fire from the barge reaches the oil fields, blowing up the entire works.
Appearing in Americommando: "The Blitz Barge"
Featured Characters:
Villains:
- Doctor Ito (Apparent Death)
- General Punkstein (Single appearance)
- Atescu (Single appearance; dies)
Other Characters:
- Peter Populis (First appearance)
Locations:
- Earth-Two
- Rumania
- Rumania
Synopsis for Congo Bill: "Island of Peril"
William Glenmorgan (New Earth) was doing aerial surveys of the Alaskan frontier when he had to make a landing after his plane started icing up. Luckily, he soon gains the company of Dave Jenkins, an eskimo trader who found a place they can keep shelter until help comes. Inside was an arsenal of weapons, cannons, and ammunition, a regular stockade. The pair learn that this "shelter" wasn't as deserted as they thought, when a small group of Japanese officers burst in and open fire! Bill and Dave fight the Japanese, knocking the guns out of their hands as they continue to push back, until the soldiers are on the floor in a heap. Bill finds a radio transmitter and taps out a call for help to the U.S. Navy. But a Japanese scout ship intercepts the message, realizing that there were intruders in their base.
A tribe of Eskimos carrying spears approach, having been chased off their island by the Japanese. They are immediately wary of the two white men, until Dave speaks to them, explaining the situation. Having an enemy in common help them trust each other, and the Eskimos agrees to help them fight. As Dave helps the tribesmen arm themselves with guns from the armory, Bill finds a crate full of soldier cutouts. An old tactic used to fool the enemy into thinking their opponent had a bigger army, these Japanese paper soldiers gave Bill an idea. He paints over the Japanese faces to make them look American, then lines the cutouts up in front of the windows of the stockade.
Day turns to dusk. A creeping shadow beneath the water reaches shore, and it surfaces to reveal a Japanese submarine. Soldiers strike at the stockade, Bill and company firing back with the machine guns they found. Then the Japanese notice the army of American troops peering out the windows, not realizing they were just paper cutouts. The ruse works, combined with the Eskimo tribe firing at them, the Japanese believe they are outnumbered They retreat back to the sub to come up with a new plan.
That night, Congo Bill makes a daring move when he paddles a canoe out to the sub, with a sea mine. He unloads his cargo just as the moonlight strikes his figure. Two officers spot him and get ready to shoot, when the sight of some American soldiers advancing across the sub's deck distract them long enough for Bill to knock their heads together! The Eskimo chief and his daughter reveal themselves, hiding behind the paper cutouts. Bill warns them to get back in their canoes and row as fast as they can. He joins them just as the tide starts to turn. When they reach shore, an explosion destroys the submarine and kill all aboard. The mine had done it's job. The next day, the Navy reinforcements arrive to bring Bill and Dave back to civilization.
Appearing in Congo Bill: "Island of Peril"
Featured Characters:
Villains:
- Japanese Officers
- Commander Saki (Single appearance)
- Togo (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Dave Jenkins (Single appearance)
- Uglo (Single appearance)
- Uglo's Tribe (Single appearance)
- Commander Grayson (Single appearance)
Locations:
Items:
- None
Vehicles:
- Japanese Submarine (Destroyed)
Synopsis for Zatara: "The Money Buyer"
On a side street in the city sits a small shop of antiques and artifacts. But though it was still mid-day, the shop's owner Mark Golden closes up and heads out. A man drops a nickel on the sidewalk and figures it wasn't worth picking up, leaving it for a young boy to collect. Golden sees this and offers the boy a dollar for the nickel. Quivering in eagerness, he examines the coin, wondering if it was the one he was looking for. He takes it back to his shop to weigh it on a scale. To his delight, he finds it is exactly the right weight. Meanwhile, young Billy, the boy who traded the nickel, runs home to show his fresh new dollar to his mother, who is currently entertaining a guest; Zatara, the magician.
Time goes on,and Mark Golden continues his odd quest for simple coins. Golden pays fifty dollars to a soda jerk for a half-dollar he just received from a customer. The papers soon begin printing the strange story of a man who pays more for coins than they can ever be worth. That's when Zatara gets a call from Mr. Crawford, a panicked billionaire, asking him to come over to his mansion at once. Turning the flower pot into a plane, Zatara flies out to Crawford's estate. Before landing, he makes out a shadowy figure lurking on the grounds. When he meets with Mr. Crawford inside, Zatara tells him that he had an intruder, and to sit down in his chair. A few moments silence, then Golden enters the room. He goes to chloroform Mr. Crawford, but when he reaches around, he finds that the billionaire has shrunk to doll size! The chair itself isn't too happy about the disturbance and delivers a swift kick with it's newly grown leg to Golden's ankle! Next instant, everything was back to normal, with regular sized Crawford asleep in his chair. Golden chalks it up to his eyes playing tricks and proceeds to seek Crawford's penny. But when he lifts up a painting to look for a safe, the man in the picture attacks him! The chair grabs him again and holds him in place as Zatara makes his appearance. The magician has a hard time believing he went to all this trouble just for a penny. But Mark Golden knew his rights, and refused to speak. Since all they could have him arrested for is breaking and entering, Zatara and Crawford decide it best to just let him go.
With Golden gone, Mr. Crawford now thought it was safe to show Zatara something. The coin-buying spree Mark Golden had been on has a purpose, and Crawford knew what it was. He tells Zatara that Golden was after his money, but the only way he could get his hands on it was with those exact coins. His whole life he had been afraid of growing old. The only thing he could do about it was make sure that he wouldn't be poor in old age. Since he never trusted banks, Crawford had all his saving kept in one place. He presses a hidden button by the fireplace, making the wall open up into a secret room. The safe is inside, designed especially for him. It could only be opened by placing certain coins into round recesses at the top. Because he was too tempted to open it, Crawford had the coins given away, all except for the penny which he kept on him. In the other room there was suddenly footsteps! Golden had returned, and he brought some thugs along. Zatara uses a little magic to make the furniture and carpet in the room fight against the surprised burglars. Soon they all had enough, and even Golden was more willing to talk this time!
The safe designer was Golden's brother, and the man who was supposed to give Crawford's coins away. But he never did, perhaps planning on robbing the safe himself. Before he died, he entrusted the coins to Golden who kept them on him until recently; He gave away the nickel and fifty cent piece as change to some customers by accident. He got them back, but not before some newspaper pest got wind of him and wrote the article that warned Crawford. After the wanna-be thieves are taken to jail, Zatara convinces Mr. Crawford to take all his money out and buy war bonds.
Appearing in Zatara: "The Money Buyer"
Featured Characters:
- Template:Apn
Villains:
- Mark Golden (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Mr. Crawford (Single appearance)
- Billy (Single appearance)
- Ed (Single appearance)
- Mr. Winyons (Single appearance)
Locations:
Items:
- None
Vehicles:
- None
Notes
- There'll Always Be a Superman is reprinted in Superman: The Action Comics Archives Vol. 4.
See Also