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"Batman: "The Horde of the Green Dragon"": Two millionaires are kidnapped, and one chauffeur is murdered, leaving Batman only one clue: an axe. Then Batman gets another clue, from his old ally, the informal "mayor of Chinatown", Wong, who tells him that the Tong of the Green Dragon is behind

Quote1 Wing, have the car at the back entrance, tonight -- THE CRIMSON IS GOING TO RIDE! Quote2
Lee Travis

Detective Comics #39 is an issue of the series Detective Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of May, 1940.

Synopsis for Batman: "The Horde of the Green Dragon"

Two millionaires are kidnapped, and one chauffeur is murdered, leaving Batman only one clue: an axe. Then Batman gets another clue, from his old ally, the informal "mayor of Chinatown", Wong, who tells him that the Tong of the Green Dragon is behind the kidnappings. The Green Dragons are also in the opium business. Batman gives Robin strict instructions to stay behind, then calls on Wong, to gather more information. But when he arrives, he finds that Wong has been killed by the Hatchet Men. Wong left a clue, which will lead somebody to Pier Three, but it won't be Batman, because he's brawling with the hatchetmen and falling out a window; he lands badly and is knocked out, but so are some hatchetmen.

Robin meanwhile has ignored his orders and stealthily followed Batman to Wong's. He finds Wong's clue, and heads to the waterfront, not noticing that he now has a stealthy follower, a hatchetman from the team that attacked Batman earlier. Robin gets captured, and is forced to duel against a very capable Mongolian swordsman, armed with only a wooden sword. That's not going very well for Robin, but Batman shows up, and a lengthy brawl ensues, at the end of which the Tong leader has been beaten senseless, and the kidnapped millionaires have been freed. Batman is now a local folk hero in Chinatown.

Appearing in Batman: "The Horde of the Green Dragon"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Green Dragon Tong (Single appearance)
  • Hatchet Man (Single appearance)

Other Characters:

  • Henry Crandall (Single appearance)
    • Crandall's chauffeur (Dies)
  • John Cobb (Single appearance)
  • Wong (Dies)

Locations:


Synopsis for Bart Regan, Spy: "The Chauffeur Spy"


Appearing in Bart Regan, Spy: "The Chauffeur Spy"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

  • Bart's Boss

Antagonists:

  • Lawson's Chauffeur
    • two thugs

Other Characters:

  • Wilbur Lawson, inventor
    • his well-armed laboratory guards
    • Mr. Carlgart, office manager
    • Thorpe, craftsman
    • Lawson's Housekeeper (Mentioned only)
  • Highway Patrolman

Locations:

  • Washington, D.C.
    • U.S. Spy Headquarters
    • Lawson Development Laboratories
    • Bart's Suite
    • Lawson's Home

Items:

  • Anti-Aircraft Rifle Plans

Vehicles:

  • Lawson's Limousine
  • Thugs' Sedan (damaged)

Synopsis for Red Logan: "Cobra on the Loose"

An inheritance-coveting uncle uses a cobra to murder his niece in order to obtain her share of his brother's fortune. Uninvited, Red Logan involves himself in this matter and resolves it, saving the murderer's other niece from the same fate. The uncle dies from a snakebite and the snake is shot dead by Logan.

Appearing in Red Logan: "Cobra on the Loose"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

  • Ivan
  • Inspector Enright

Antagonists:

  • Uncle Beming (Dies)
  • Sighi, snake charmer

Animals:

  • Cobra (Dies)

Other Characters:

  • Cecile Beming
  • Cecile's Sister, (Appears only as a corpse)
  • quack doctor
  • Arthur Brand, Cecile's Fiance

Locations:

  • London
    • Beming Residence
    • London Daily Mail Building
      • "Times-Courier" office
    • 30 Troll Race
    • Logan's lodging house

Synopsis for The Crimson Avenger: "Switch the Switch"

Agents of an unidentified hostile nation manage to salvage some remote-controlled mines, left over from the previous World War, in New York Harbor, and succeed in destroying at least one U.S. Navy ship, before the Crimson Avenger gets into their control center and shuts them down.

Appearing in The Crimson Avenger: "Switch the Switch"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

  • Wing
  • Mac, Ace Reporter

Antagonists:

  • three spies

Other Characters:

  • Patrol Boat C.O.
  • Jenkins, USN officer

Locations:

  • New York City Area
    • Globe Leader, newspaper office
    • undisclosed location
      • secret control room for WWI-era naval mines
    • Sea Wall outside New York Harbor

Items:

  • Leftover WWI Naval Mines

Vehicles:

  • Navy Patrol Boat (damaged)
  • Travis' Limousine
  • two friendly nation naval Cruisers

Synopsis for Speed Saunders, Ace Investigator: "The Case of the Siva Statue"


Appearing in Speed Saunders, Ace Investigator: "The Case of the Siva Statue"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

  • Danny, assistant (First appearance)

Antagonists:

  • Traetan Siva Cult (Single appearance)
    • four assassins

Other Characters:

  • Daphne Reid
  • Mr. Reid
  • Captain Holmes, NYPD

Locations:

Items:

  • Ivory Statuette of the Traetan Siva

Vehicles:

  • Assassins' Black Sedan
  • Saunders' Black Sedan

Synopsis for Steve Malone: "Morton Hijacking & Co."


Appearing in Steve Malone: "Morton Hijacking & Co."

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters

  • Happy, assistant

Antagonists:

  • Morton Supply Company
    • his hijackers: Wiper, Joe, Mike, others

Other Characters:

  • two truck drivers (Dies)
  • Detective Sergeant
  • Officer Steve
  • Officer Mike

Locations:

  • State Highway
  • Police HQ
  • Morton Supply Company, Wholesalers

Synopsis for Cliff Crosby: "Larson's Boy Gets Kidnapped"


Appearing in Cliff Crosby: "Larson's Boy Gets Kidnapped"

Featured Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Al Larson, political boss
  • Ted Andrews, mobster
    • his mob: Mugsy, Duke, Pete, others

Other Characters:

  • cop
  • kid
  • Tribe of Indians
    • Medicine Man
    • Warriors
  • Red Larson

Animals:

  • Alligator
  • Constrictor Snake

Locations:

  • Florida
    • vacant lot
    • Larson Residence
    • newspaper office
    • Kitty-Kat Club
    • Everglades
    • City Jail

Synopsis for Slam Bradley: "The French Impersonation"


Appearing in Slam Bradley: "The French Impersonation"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • French Apache Gang (Single appearance)

Locations:

Notes

  • Published monthly by Detective Comics, Inc.
  • Bart Regan, Spy gets head-konked unconscious with a pistol, and later gets hit on the head several more times, also with a pistol.
  • Batman: "The Horde of the Green Dragon" is reprinted in Batman Archives, Volume 1 and Batman Chronicles Vol 2.
  • Cliff Crosby is vacationing in Florida, from whatever his occupation is. Three issues into the series, we haven't yet been told what it is.
  • Final panel of the Speed Saunders story asks readers how they like Danny, Speed's new assistant. Next issue, he won't be back.
  • Also appearing in this issue of Detective Comics were:
    • "Here It Is!" (full page ad for the current issue of Batman #1)
    • "Superman Is on the Radio!" (1/2 page ad for Superman's radio show)
    • Detective Comics Monthly Book Review No. 2: Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift (text article)
    • Detective Stamp Page: "Stamp Items" (text article)
    • "White Trap" (text story), by Fredric Wells
    • "The "Big Six" Comic Magazines Still Lead the Field!" (full page ad, same art as last month's ad, for the current issues of Action, Adventure, All-American, Detective, Flash, and More Fun Comics)

Trivia

  • Bart Regan smokes cigarettes.
  • Whitney Ellsworth signed his text story as "Fredric Wells."


See Also

Recommended Reading

Links and References

Superboy Vol 4 69
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