Lucky I brought a gun along! 
Smash Comics #24 is an issue of the series Smash Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of July, 1941.
Synopsis for The Ray: "Spy In a Sawdust Ring"
Someone has murdered a trapeze artist. The Ray, and his sidekick Bud, join the circus to investigate, and in the process stumble upon a spy ring.
Appearing in The Ray: "Spy In a Sawdust Ring"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Bud
Antagonists:
- Pietro
- Vera and her Wonder Horse
Other Characters:
- The Great Ivan (Dies)
Locations:
Synopsis for Midnight: "The Circus Mystery"
Appearing in Midnight: "The Circus Mystery"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Alonzo Schtunk
- Tagu, the gorilla
Other Characters:
- Alice Taylor
- Mr. Dingle
Synopsis for Purple Trio: "On Broadway"
Appearing in Purple Trio: "On Broadway"
Featured Characters:
- The Purple Trio:
- Rocky Hill, strongman
- Tiny Todd, midget
- Warren, ventriloquist
Synopsis for Wings Wendall: "The Invisible Sky-Base"
Appearing in Wings Wendall: "The Invisible Sky-Base"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Spinner Benson
Vehicles:
- Bullet Plane
Synopsis for The Jester: "Frisco Finley"
Bigshot Nick Perselle has out-of-town crook Frisco Finely sprung from police custody on a bail bond to try to frame Inspector Mulligan, by having Frisco sign a fake confession that Mulligan tortured him during interrogation, then trying to have other flunkies shoot Frisco dead with Mulligan's stolen gun. Fortunately, Officer Lane suspected something was up. As the Jester, he tackles Frisco before he can be shot, but knocks him out with a punch so the hitmen think they did their job. After catching them unawares, he follows the trail to Nick Perselle, leaves him hanging from the chandelier by his pants, and reports the would-be frame job to the police. Much to Mulligan's own frustration that the Jester saved his reputation.
Appearing in The Jester: "Frisco Finley"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Sergent Mulligan
Antagonists:
- Nick Perselle
Other Characters:
- Frisco Finley (Dies)
Synopsis for Espionage Starring Black X: "The Sumatra Adventure"
Appearing in Espionage Starring Black X: "The Sumatra Adventure"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Batu
- Colonel Atwater
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Alex Durham
- Osaki
- Kali
Locations:
Synopsis for Invisible Justice: "The Face of Tezcapoca"
From newspaper reports, Kent Thurston determines that enemy saboteurs are operating out of a hidden base in Panama. He goes there, and snoops around for a week, then finds a suspicious-acting Native, and shadows him into the jungle, where he gets ambushed and knocked unconscious with a stone ax. The Natives carry him to the Mayan City of Tempera, and into the Temple of the Twin Gods, where their tyrannical ruler Chac Mool orders him thrown into the dungeon. But Thurston has been playing possum, at least part of this time, and as soon as his two carriers are alone, he twists into action and punches them both out, then dons his Invisible Hood costume, and shadows Chac Mool to a meeting, in a hidden room, with his partner, B-7, and his three henchmen. Their main plan is to blow up the Panama Canal. Chac got his job by throwing Chima, the real king of this city, into the dungeon; now the plan is to sacrifice both Chima and Thurston in a ceremony, before the "Face" of Tezcapoca. Chima is dragged into the room, and Chac learns that Thurston has escaped, and angrily sends his warriors to search for him. He's closer than they think, of course, and he invisibly sneaks into the execution chamber, and gets atop the face-shaped idol, pulls a gun, and shoots the sacrificial spear-man, then pounces onto Chac Mool. He frees Chima, then invisibly mixes it up with the henchmen. Very frustrated, B-7 starts shooting into the melee, but only wounds his own men, before the Invisible Hood knocks him out with a thrown stone ax. Meanwhile Chima overtakes the fleeing Chac, and knocks him into a poisoned pool, where he dies. Later the Mayans greet their restored king and his invisible new friend.
Appearing in Invisible Justice: "The Face of Tezcapoca"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- Chac Mool (Dies)
- B-7 (Dies)
- B-7's three henchman (all die)
Other Characters:
- Chima
Locations:
- Panama
- Mayan city of Tempera
- Temple of the Twin Gods
- Mayan city of Tempera
Synopsis for The Scarlet Seal: "Judy Wilson"
Henry Wilson has agreed to testify against Kuber, the head of a big protection racket, but instead is framed for the murder of a G-Man who was looking into the case. Since he was the first officer on the scene when it all went down, and because Wilson's pretty sister pleads for the Scarlet Seal to look into her brother's frame-up, Barry Moore puts on his Chinese disguise as the Scarlet Seal, and gets involved. While tailing Kuber, he spots the gangster visiting a spiritualist, and comes up with a plan to play on Kuber's superstitious beliefs.
Scarlet Seal confronts Kuber about the murder, takes a bullet from Kuber's gun (thanks to a bulletproof vest under his Mandarin outfit), then appears to fall to his death, into a river outside the window. Over the next few nights Barry sneaks into Kuber's house, wearing luminous paint, masquerading as the ghosts of the dead G-Man and the Scarlet Seal, to haunt Kuber into confessing his crimes. One night the "ghost" of the Scarlet Seal claims the police have already found where he's hidden the damning evidence of his crimes, and in a panic, Kuber drives there and gets knocked unconscious by the Scarlet Seal. After he hands the evidence over to Wilson's sister, she kisses him, much to his surprise. Next time she talks to Barry Moore, after Kuber's been hauled in ranting about ghosts, she says she's glad she "didn't fall for a real Chinaman," and he claims to have no idea what she means.
Appearing in The Scarlet Seal: "Judy Wilson"
Featured Characters:
- Scarlet Seal (Final appearance)
Antagonists:
- Kuber, protection racketeer
- four thugs
Other Characters:
- John Culver, special agent (Dies)
- Henry Wilson
- Judy Wilson (Single appearance) (See Notes.)
Locations:
- Center City
- Police Headquarters
- Lt. Moore's Secret Laboratory & Loft Building
- Corner of Pine & Front, bad part of town
- Kuber's Estate
- Kuber's Office Building
Synopsis for Abdul the Arab: "The Fire God"
Appearing in Abdul the Arab: "The Fire God"
Featured Characters:
- Abdul Ibn Bey (Final appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Hassan (Final appearance)
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
Locations:
- Jeffa
Synopsis for Chic Carter: "The Sword"
Appearing in Chic Carter: "The Sword"
Featured Characters:
- Chic Carter (First appearance as The Sword)
Synopsis for Bozo the Robot: "The Headless Men"
Three very short, very ugly men adopt disguises that make them look taller, and headless, and embark on a series of murderous thefts, killing researchers and scientists, and stealing military technology. The victims all die of heart failure, which turns out to be caused by fright.
Commissioner Hunt calls in Hugh Hazzard and his Iron Man, Bozo, but Bozo is already on the scene, having eavesdropped on the police radio frequencies. His plan is to make himself a target, by publicizing the fact that he was searching for this mystery killer. The bad guys, who all seem to be headless, read about this in the Daily Star, and their leader Gyp, decides to set a trap. He puts out word about the gang's next big job, which lures the Iron Man out to an isolated section of the country. There he spots headless Igor, trying to get his attention then running away, so he pursues him, into two traps: a big rock is dropped on Bozo's head, and simply breaks, and an explosive charge is detonated near Bozo, to no effect. Bozo catches Igor and scares him into squealing on Gyp, then leaves him for the police, and flies to the Headless Men's squalid hide-out, beats up the other two, calls in Commissioner Hunt, and reveals how the dwarfish villains' disguises work.
Appearing in Bozo the Robot: "The Headless Men"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Commissioner Hunt
- Devlin, Hunt's driver
Antagonists:
- Gyp, leader of the Headless Men
- Igor, headless henchman
- other unnamed headless henchman
Other Characters:
- Gus (Dies)
- the coroner
Locations:
- Headless Men's hideout, under the abandoned pier at the foot of Drain Street
Notes
- Last issue for Abdul the Arab by Powell Roberts.
- Last issue of Smash Comics for Chic Carter by Vernon Henkel. This series continued onward in Police Comics, and then in National Comics.
- Invisible Justice: "The Face of Tezcapoca"
- Kent Thurston, B-7, and B-7's three henchmen, all wear regular business suits, here in the tropical Panamanian jungle.
- Presumably B-7 and his spies are soon executed by Chima's Mayans, although this is not seen.
- Last issue for The Scarlet Seal by Harry Francis Campbell.
- Just as Barry Moore meets his new girlfriend, who already suspects his secret identity, the series ends.
- Neither Captain Pat Moore nor the Police Commissioner appear in this story, but the hero does make one last use of his trademark red seal.
- Also appearing in this issue of Smash Comics were:
- Archie O'Toole by (somebody), credited as "Bud Thomas"
- Wun Cloo by Ralph Johns
- "The Hunted Castle" (text story, featuring Jimmy Christian)
See Also
Links and References
