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"Speed Saunders: "The Anarchist Submarine Plot"": A plot to blow up the reef that ships use as an outlet is uncovered! The anarchists are said to be using a submarine! Offering to help, Speed Saunders gets suited up in a diving outfit. Hiring a plane to fly over the reef, he tells the pilot t

Quote1 I'll use this portable submarine detector - maybe this will show me the way! Quote2
Speed Saunders

Detective Comics #11 is an issue of the series Detective Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of January, 1938.

Synopsis for Speed Saunders: "The Anarchist Submarine Plot"

A plot to blow up the reef that ships use as an outlet is uncovered! The anarchists are said to be using a submarine! Offering to help, Speed Saunders gets suited up in a diving outfit. Hiring a plane to fly over the reef, he tells the pilot to keep an eye out for any unnatural shape beneath the water. Once the sub is located, the pilot dives low so Speed can drop into the sea. The sub was hard to find at first, until he used a submarine detector which pointed the way. Luckily, there is an open airlock that he could slip through.

Inside, after taking off his diving equipment, Speed listens in on a group of anarchists. The sub has been equipped with a time bomb that is set to go off in one hour! Speed points a gun at the gang, attempting to hold them up, but the response isn't what he expected. They throw a wrench that barely misses his head, then charge him. Speed puts up a good fight, but the tight quarters and overwhelming numbers soon see him subdued. He is tied up and left in the sub with the bomb, and the section he's in was filling up with water fast! First, he freed himself from his ropes by rubbing them against a sharp edge. Next, Speed throws his body against the door until it opens up into the engine room. He pilots the soon-to-explode sub away from the reef into the open sea. Donning his diving gear with only a minute left to spare, Speed escapes just as the submarine explodes. A coast guard's rescue boat hauls him aboard, where they thank Speed for stopping the sabotage.

Appearing in Speed Saunders: "The Anarchist Submarine Plot"

Featured Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Anarchist submariners

Other Characters:

  • Ensign Alsworth
  • U.S. Coast Guard

Locations:

Vehicles:

  • Enemy submarine


Synopsis for Larry Steele: "The Nick Orsatti Case (Part 2 of 3)"

Larry leaves James Wilkes at his home, then immediately informs the police of the events. He joins a squad of officers as they go to the gambling den of Nick Orsatti. the press of a button, and the roulette wheels and craps tables flip over to become billiards. Meanwhile, Nick had already made good his escape via a hidden elevator in his office. The police raid proceeds, but they are unable to find Orsatti.

Larry returns that night for a more thorough investigation. He finds the elevator, and takes it down to Nick's private underground garage. One of the gangsters finds him snooping and sticks a gun in Larry's back. The detective is brought to a hidden cellar where Nick is hiding. Nick decides it best to take care of the troublesome detective right here and now...

Appearing in Larry Steele: "The Nick Orsatti Case (Part 2 of 3)"

Featured Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Nick Orsatti

Other Characters:

Locations:

Synopsis for Cosmo, the Phantom of Disguise: "The Phony Murder of Sir Fenton Carsley"

When a man's body is discovered floating in the Thames, Cosmo finds something off about the case. The victim, Sir Fenton Carsley, was right-handed, yet his jacket was buttoned on the wrong side. Also, his face was almost purposefully mangled, so the only way they could ID him was his wallet, which was perfectly intact despite the water. When Cosmo visits Fenton's niece, Phyllis, to inform her of his death, he learns that she was due to inherit her father's estate on her 21st birthday tomorrow. Pretending to leave, he actually makes a beeline for the shadows. After a short wait, a cloaked figure looms toward the house. Cosmo watches as the figure glares through the front window at the goings-on within. When he suddenly pulls out a gun and aims it inside, Cosmo quickly shoots the pistol out of his hand! The figure tries to flee, but Cosmo tackles him, and they struggle until the robed man is knocked out by a punch to the face! The inspector is called, and he meets Cosmo at the Carlin estate. The figure is revealed to be Fenton, looking quite lively for a corpse! Cosmo explains how Fenton had been his niece's trustee, and he had spent the money to pay off some bad debts and investments he made. Knowing her birthday, and thus her inheritance, was coming up, he tried to fake his death by killing a random stranger and dressing them in his clothes. Then he would simply murder her before she could notice the missing money, avoiding any consequences as a suspect. But now Fenton was headed to jail, thanks to Cosmo.

Appearing in Cosmo, the Phantom of Disguise: "The Phony Murder of Sir Fenton Carsley"

Featured Characters:

  • Cosmo, the Phantom of Disguise

Antagonists:

  • Sir Fenton Carsley (Single appearance)

Other Characters:

  • Inspector Burke (Single appearance)
  • Phyllis Carlin (Single appearance)
  • Mister Conroy (Single appearance)

Locations:

Synopsis for Bruce Nelson: "Bulls Eye"

Bruce visits the jeweler's shop run by old Mr. Kramer to see if his watch had been fixed. But the man who greets him behind the counter is someone he's never seen before. He tells Bruce that Kramer went off to Buffalo after hearing his daughter died. Two things struck Bruce as odd: The first is that he knew Kramer didn't have a daughter, and second was that his glasses were left on the counter and he'd never go anywhere without them. Suspecting something fishy, Bruce leaves through the front door and circles around the side. He slips in through one of the basement windows. There was another door, with voices coming from within. Peering in, Bruce sees only darkness, except for the dim light of a flashlight at the end of the room. In it's shine was a trio of thugs holding old man Kramer hostage and forcing him to open his safe. Bruce carefully creeps up on the men, but in the dark he can't see the pail in his path until he accidentally kicks it. The flashlight goes out, the room is plunged into black, while Bruce holds his breath and stops moving in hopes they don't find him. With the rumbling of a passing streetcar overhead, Bruce moves quickly to the other side of the room. To get a good idea on where the robbers are, he tosses a box at the other wall, which startles them into shooting in that direction. Bruce uses the flash of their guns to pinpoint their approximate location and fires a shot. A grunt, and the clanking of a dropped flashlight, means he hit his target. He weaves to one side as the returning gunfire just misses him. The flashlight rolls over to his feet, so he picks it up and shines it on them, gun in hand. One man is already down, two remain. Bruce turns the light off again, memorizing what it showed him. Kramer was on the ground with a nasty cut on his head where they hit him with the butt of their gun, above the men was a glass jug on a shelf. That was his next target. A tricky shot in the dark, but Bruce gets lucky the first time. Crashing glass and liquid pours over the two gunmen, causing them to scream in agony! The light turns back on and the thugs are on the ground in agony.

All the commotion brings the police down to investigate. Bruce explains to them what happened, how Kramer was being forced by some robbers to get his safe open. An ambulance is called for Kramer, and Bruce also has to leave because he has a date tonight.

Appearing in Bruce Nelson: "Bulls Eye"

Featured Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Gang of robbers

Other Characters:

  • Kramer (Single appearance)
  • Police

Locations:

Synopsis for "The Willow Lane Mystery"

The Clugston brothers owned a treasure trove of gold they had hidden in the mountains. One day when Thomas Clugston decided to take it for himself, he finds the treasure was gone! His brother Andrew was the only other one who knew where it was hidden, except there was no way he could've gone out, being an invalid and bedridden most of his life. A detective looks into things and finds that Andrew had Ben Morgan, owner of the crossroads store, fetch supplies for him. Recently, Ben was given a shopping list which had been encoded with a secret message from Andrew as to the location of the gold. He moved it to a new spot so that Thomas couldn't find it.

Appearing in "The Willow Lane Mystery"

Featured Characters:

  • Chief detective (Unnamed) (Single appearance)

Supporting Characters:

  • Chief's assistant (Unnamed) (Single appearance)

Other Characters:

  • Andrew Clugston (Single appearance)
  • Thomas Clugston (Single appearance)
  • Ben Morgan (Single appearance)

Locations:

  • Willow Lane

Synopsis for Bart Regan, Spy: "The ATLANTIS Aftermath"

The Atlantis docks in France, Bart and Sally step off the boat together hoping to explore the city. Instead, they're greeted by a man from the secret service, whom they follow into his car. Once inside, however, the man pulls a gun on the couple, revealing that he's actually the colleague of the anarchist they stopped from blowing up the ship! He forces them to get out once the car reaches a certain point.

A gendarme, a French policeman, walks up to the trio to try and sell them tickets to the national lottery. Not daring to arouse suspicion, Bart buys one, then lets the gendarme go on his way. The anarchist proceeds leading them, until they come to an old ramshackle barn. They are made to climb up to the loft, which is where they are going to die. Bart and Sally suddenly duck behind some boxes! The anarchist laughs at their attempt, simply climbing up on the rafters to get a better view. He fires one shot at them, missing by a hair. Before he can fire another, a shot rings out and the anarchist falls to the ground dead. The gendarme makes his appearance. Bart slipped him a cigar coupon for the ticket instead of currency, and he just followed them to collect the amount owed.

Appearing in Bart Regan, Spy: "The ATLANTIS Aftermath"

Featured Characters:

Antagonists:

  • An anarchist (Single appearance; dies)

Other Characters:

  • Unnamed Gendarme

Locations:

Vehicles:

  • The Atlantis (steamer ship)

Synopsis for Buck Marshall: "In the Bag"

To solve the murder of Jack Bruce, Buck needs to find information on a strange bullet casing he found with an unknown manufacturer's mark. He learns from the gun shop owner that the factory that makes them went out of business. He sold the last box to Zeke Brown of the X2 Ranch.

But Zeke claims they were stolen out of his pouch before he could use them, but the sheriff doesn't believe it. Buck examines the horse pouch of one of the sheriff's posse, Hank Tuthill. He finds bullets, plus more evidence than he hoped for; documents taken from the scene of the crime listing Hank as a suspect in a cattle rustle case Bruce was working on. Hank spots Buck rooting around in his satchel and pulls a gun on him and the sheriff. But Zeke pulls out his own trusty pistol on Hank, forcing the killer to surrender.

Appearing in Buck Marshall: "In the Bag"

Featured Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Hank Tuthill (Single appearance)

Other Characters:

  • Sheriff
  • Jake Kolb (Single appearance)
  • Zeke Brown (Single appearance)
  • Jack Bruce (Appears only as a corpse)

Locations:

Synopsis for Slam Bradley: "The Flying Circus"

A parachute dive ends with Slam Bradley crashing through the roof of the airport manager's office. Coincidentally, the manager was just about to call on him for help, anyway. Many of their transcontinental planes have been disappearing, along with the passengers and crew. The most likely suspect is Baron Von Goetz, a former World War I pilot who now conducts an aerial circus. If Slam could join up with the circus, meeting up with undercover agent Darrel while doing so, he could keep an eye on the Baron.

A tragedy befalls the circus as soon as Slam arrives. A performer, who happened to be the agent Slam was supposed to meet, had a parachute malfunction and died when he fell from a plane to the ground! Slam offers to take the place of Darrel so they wouldn't be short handed, but the Baron has to test him first. The plane lands, piloted by the Baron's wife. Up in the air, while the Baroness pilots, Slam starts performing crazy stunts like handstands on the wing. His fearless act impresses all watching, and so the Baron allows him to work in the show.

Late that evening, the Baron lifts off in his plane, while Slam follows unnoticed in another. Soon, the Baron flies above a large clipper, ever so slightly lowering until his plane is nearly on top of it. Then, before Slam's eyes, the clipper begins following the Baron's plane off its course in a different direction. The engine in Slam's plane chokes and dies, sending him into a spin-dive! Luckily, he is able to get her running again and make a smooth landing, but the other planes were now gone. The next morning, the news already mentions how another Transcontinental flight had vanished.

That night, Slam notices a figure toss something into the cockpit of the Baron's plane. A few minutes later, the Baron reaches in, pulls out a note, and reads it, a devilish look coming over his face. The note is burned to cinders by a match, meaning Slam wouldn't be able to read it. But he wats. A few days later his patience pays off. The figure again appears. This time, Slam manages to reach the note before the Baron and glances it over. The message mentions the Airline Express, a plane that was scheduled to take off tomorrow night. The Baron's next target, most likely. He replaces the note and hurries away, neglecting to notice his ring had accidentally fallen from his finger. When the Baron shows up, he finds the ring and knows Slam is a spy! Come evening, the Baron asks Slam to join him for an important flight, and that there was no need for a parachute. A few moments later, while aloft the Baron's plane gyrates, and a figure is thrown from the cockpit, screaming on the way down until his body lands with a sickening thud! Meanwhile, the Baroness has successfully intercepted the Airline Express and alters its course to follow her. Behind them, the Baron's plane follows a short distance away, as they pass over the mountain peaks to a hidden valley beyond. The Baroness lowers hers and the transcontinental plane's altitude, landing near all the other vanished planes!

The gang of hijackers who arrived to meet them weren't looking too happy when the Baron's plane lands and out steps Slam Bradley instead of Von Goetz. The Baroness is as surprised as they are. The baron met his demise, and now Slam finds himself a prisoner of those he was working with. He is shuffled into a barbed wire enclosure where the other pilots and passengers were also being held. He learns from one of the captains that the dashboard started going haywire, and he lost all control of the plane. The Baroness visits him later, helping him to escape. She has fallen for him, she confesses, and didn't want to see him executed like the others... An odd development, but Slam takes advantage of her sudden change of heart and takes her plane. As the other prisoners are lined up in front of a firing squad, Slam flies into the guards, firing the plane's machine guns at them. The prisoners seize the opportunity to leap at the demoralized captors and overpowering them. The pilots then take their passengers back up in their planes, as Slam leads them to the nearest airport.

Back at the managers office, Slam explains that the hijackers were planning to alter the planes appearances and sell them to foreign countries.

Appearing in Slam Bradley: "The Flying Circus"

Featured Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Baron Von Goetz (Single appearance; dies)
  • Baroness Von Goetz (Single appearance)

Other Characters:

  • Darrel (Single appearance; dies)
  • several kidnapped aviators

Locations:

Vehicles:

  • Baron's Plane
  • Several Transcontinental Jets

Notes



See Also


Links and References

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