More Fun Comics #67 is an issue of the series More Fun Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of May, 1941.
Synopsis for The Spectre: "The Incredible Robberies"
A series of unearthly robberies takes place, carried out by ghostly thieves, who are unhurt by bullets. Witnesses see loot melting into thin air. Detective Corrigan's boss is sure the Spectre's responsible, but Corrigan, who's really the Spectre himself, knows better.
An occult dabbler called Deeja Kathoon contacts the chief and claims he has knowledge that will let him capture the Spectre. This is no mere boast, as during a seance Kathoon is indeed able to force the Spectre to appear and freeze in place! It's only through an effort of supreme willpower that the Spectre manages to dematerialize.
Deeja Kathoon has no noble ambitions for his spiritual powers, however. He's of course the one behind the bizarre robberies, forcing actual ghosts to steal for his benefit. The Spectre tries to impersonate one of these felonious apparitions (whose appearance, when visible, is very much like his own), but again Kathoon proves himself the Spectre's better, seeing through his disguise and controlling him to go destroy a hospital.
Fortunately the Spectre is stopped in the nick of time, with the Ring of Life spontaneously appearing, to break the spell over him. Kathoon tries to escape in a rocketship, but the Spectre chases him down and destroys it. Not content with merely killing his rival once, Spectre grabs Kathoon's ghost and hurls it into a "fiery nebulae," destroying the master of the occult forever. Then using his ghostly powers, Spectre makes all the stolen loot grow wings and fly back to where it belongs.
Appearing in The Spectre: "The Incredible Robberies"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Chief of Police, Cliffland
Antagonists:
- Deeja Kathoon (First appearance; dies)
Other Characters:
- police chief of Cliffland
Locations:
Items:
- the Ring of Life
Synopsis for Detective Sergeant Carey: "The Sky Hijackers"
Appearing in Detective Sergeant Carey: "The Sky Hijackers"
Featured Characters:
- Detective Sergeant Carey, City Police
Supporting Characters:
- Sleepy, City Police
Antagonists:
- hijacker gang: 3 gunmen (2 shot, 1 dies)
Other Characters:
- Stewardess
- Pilot
- Co-pilot
Locations:
- City Airport
- the mountains
- Ruff Mountain
- secret airfield, west side
- Ruff Mountain
Vehicles:
- two 2-engine airliners
Synopsis for Congo Bill: "Great Medicine Bird"
Appearing in Congo Bill: "Great Medicine Bird"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Professor Kent
Antagonists:
- Gordon Slade, as "Great Medicine Bird" (Single appearance; dies)
Other Characters:
- South African Police (some die)
- Bantus: Ju-Ju, Chief, others
Locations:
Items:
- $100,000 worth of uncut diamonds
Vessels:
- small rented sloop
- small motor launch
- small boat
Synopsis for Captain Desmo: "Adventure in Central America"
Appearing in Captain Desmo: "Adventure in Central America"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Gabby
Antagonists:
- Bandits
- Senor Defaldo, planter
- gunmen and other servants
- Dr Mause, brains of the fifth column (Mentioned only)
Other Characters:
- Rena Roberts, reporter
- Crane, star reporter
Locations:
- Central America
- mountain trail
- Rancho Defaldo
- fifth-column airfield
Vehicles:
- Desmo's fighter plane
- many fifth-column fighter planes
Synopsis for Radio Squad: "Riddle of the Statuette"
Larry and Sandy witness a drive-by shooting and pursue the car, but the killers' car dodges onto a side street and into a very well camoflaged garage door. The shooting took place in front of an antique shop, from which, after questioning the proprietor, Larry impulsively buys a statuette. This creates a big problem for the antique merchant, because this statuette conceals an important secret, and he is being leaned-on by his boss, known to him only as "the Evil One." These are spies, and now are potentially exposed. The proprietor and his boss each sends a gunman to go after the cop who bought the statuette.
The drive-by car emerges from its hiding place, catches Car K-7 out on the street, and crashes into it, knocking it on its side! The store manager's gunsel retrieves the statuette and flees the scene. When the cops recover, they push their car back upright, get in, and drive away. They visit Larry's friend Lorna, at the settlement house where she does social work. They tell her about having and losing the statuette, and just then the Evil One and two torpedos step into the room, brandishing weapons. The Evil One packs a paralysis ray gun, which stops Sandy and Larry in their tracks! The spies grab Lorna, along with a young boy from the settlement house, and are gone before the cops can shake off the ray's effects. When they do, they re-trace their steps in the squad car, and one of them spots and recognizes the punk from the antique store. One of them beats some information out of him, right there on the street, and he shows them how the trick garage door works. Larry and Sandy invade the spy hideout. They outfight the gang and grab the boss's ray gun, then quickly capture all the spies. The young boy, Lorna's co-hostage, turns out to be Prince Ivor, from a recently overrun foreign nation. Ivor is in the U.S. on a fund-raising tour, and the Evil One's spies had been after him because of it. The statuette had some of this information concealed on it, hence the desperation of the villains in attempting to recover it.
Appearing in Radio Squad: "Riddle of the Statuette"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Lorna Drake, social worker
- Police Commissioner
Antagonists:
- drive-by shooters
- "the Evil One" (wears a monocle)
- his hitman
- antique shop proprietor
- Mouse, henchman
Other Characters:
- Mr. Sanders, FBI
- young Prince Ivor
Locations:
- New York City
- antique store
- trick garage
- East Side Settlement
Items:
- Paralysis Ray Gun
Vehicles:
- Radio Car K-7
- heavy black drive-by sedan
Synopsis for Lance Larkin: "The Flying Dragons"
Appearing in Lance Larkin: "The Flying Dragons"
Featured Characters:
- Lance Larkin, Free-Lance Adventurer
Animals:
- Satan, Larkin's giant stallion (See Notes.)
- "Pterodactyls" (See Notes.)
Antagonists:
- Mongol outlaws, large band (six or more are killed)
- Ape-men, an army of them (eight or more are killed)
- Hu, the Horse God (might not be real)
Other Characters:
- Marsha
- Caravan men: Marsha's uncle, others (massacred)
Locations:
- Dutch East Indies (Mentioned only)
- Sumatra (Mentioned only)
- French Indochina
- South China Sea (Mentioned only)
- Asia
- Khirgiz Steppes of southern Siberia
- Twin Buttes
- "Land of the Flying Dragon"
- platinum mine
- Khirgiz Steppes of southern Siberia
Synopsis for Biff Bronson: "The Mystery Message"
Biff Bronson and Dan Druff witness a drive-by shooting and get a cryptic note from a dying FBI agent. This embroils them in an FBI case, in which they help to disrupt an assassination attempt against the visiting Minister from Bulovia. In the Minister's opinion, the attempt was engineered by a third country.
Appearing in Biff Bronson: "The Mystery Message"
Featured Characters:
- Biff Bronson (Final appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Dan Druff (Final appearance)
Antagonists:
- four assassins: "the Scar," others
Other Characters:
Locations:
- FBI Office
- 57th Street
- Opera House
Synopsis for Sergent O'Malley of the Red Coat Patrol: "Death in the Saloon"
Appearing in Sergent O'Malley of the Red Coat Patrol: "Death in the Saloon"
Featured Characters:
- Sergeant O'Malley, of the Red Coat Patrol
Antagonists:
- "Tug" Blacklor, town bully
Other Characters:
- many drunk lumberjacks
- Joe (Dies)
- some dancing girls
- barkeep
Locations:
- Canada
- Northern Timber Lands
- Beaver Run, town
- Entertainment Palace, saloon
- Beaver Run, town
- Northern Timber Lands
Vehicles:
- 2 pairs of skis
Synopsis for Doctor Fate: "The Origin of Doctor Fate"
- 1920: As a young child, Kent Nelson was exploring Mesopotamia with his father. Sven Nelson was an archaeologist who believed that the Pyramids were not created by Egyptians, but by beings from another planet. Nelson had found an old temple in the desert, and while he was in the Chamber of History reading inscriptions, young Kent wandered off alone. The boy found a fully colored statue, extremely tall, of Nabu the Wise, who telepathically signaled him to operate a nearby lever. This brought Nabu back to life, but also released poisonous gas that flooded the outer temple and killed Kent's father.
- To repay him for his loss, Nabu promised to teach the young child the secrets of the universe. He said that through learning molecular control of his body, he had grown to almost half a million years old, and was born on the planet Cilia, as it passed Earth in orbit. Nabu raised Kent into young manhood, and taught him skills such as levitation and telekinesis. Nelson grew to love Nabu as he had loved his own father. Nabu hoped one day to return to Cilia. Kent Nelson's training went on for an unknown length of time, and at the end of it he was an adult, and Nabu told the newly-named Doctor Fate that his mission was to do good and fight against evil, then Nabu passed on his amulet, cloak and helmet.
- While returning to America, Kent met a woman named Inza Cramer in Alexandria who would become his traveling companion.
In the present day Kent Nelson and Inza Cramer are attending a dinner party in New York City, where they meet a man who believes he is being haunted. The man is a believer in reincarnation and had made a pact with several friends to help them return to life in case of their death, but finds that their spirits are now trying to claim his soul. Kent returns to his tower in Salem, and comes back as Doctor Fate. Driving the ghosts back easily, he realizes he must stop them at their source by visiting the underworld of Charn.
Inza insists on accompanying Fate through the Charnal Regions and into a world of shadows. Seated on a great stone throne is the gigantic Negal, wielding an immense thorned club in one hand and a horned skull in the other. Fate confronts him and orders him to never again invade the Earth; Negal mocks; Fate gestures; the skull in Negal's hand vanishes. Fate repeats his terms and Negal accepts them. The worlds of the dead and living will remain unmixed.
Appearing in Doctor Fate: "The Origin of Doctor Fate"
Featured Characters:
- Doctor Fate (Kent Nelson) (First appearance chronologically) (Origin) (Flashback and main story)
Supporting Characters:
- Inza Cramer (Flashback and main story)
- Nabu the Wise (First appearance) (Flashback only)
Antagonists:
- Negal, Ruler of Charn (First appearance)
- his manlike shadows
Other Characters:
- Sven Nelson (First appearance; dies) (Flashback only)
Locations:
- 1941
- New York City
- Charn, a netherworld
- 1920
- Egypt
- Alexandria (Mentioned only)
- Mesopotamia
- Valley of Ur
- Cilia, a planet (Mentioned only)
- Egypt
Items:
Notes
- Published monthly by Detective Comics, Inc.
- Last issue for Biff Bronson by Albert Sulman and Joseph Sulman.
- Captain Desmo's sidekick Gabby is from Brooklyn.
- Last issue for Congo Bill by Whitney Ellsworth and George Papp, in this magazine. Next month Congo Bill changes artists, moves to Action Comics, and is replaced here by Clip Carson.
- Doctor Fate:
- "The Origin of Doctor Fate" is reprinted in Justice League of America #95, DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #9, Weird Secret Origins, and The Golden Age Doctor Fate Archives Vol. 1.
- In this story, young Kent was on the archeological expedition with his father in 1920 (date on his father's tombstone), and he stayed with Nabu until circa 1940, when his mystical training finished. Later retcons imply that this period was very much shorter, and that Nabu mystically aged Kent. See Doctor Fate Origins.
- Nabu the Wise does not confirm nor refute the elder Nelson's theory about the pyramids, and does not reveal why he remained immobile for thousands of years.
- Lance Larkin:
- In More Fun Comics #64 and #65, Lance's black stallion was named "Omar." In this episode the horse is sent to Vietnam from Arabia, by steamship, but now is named "Satan."
- Shooting a rifle one-handed, on galloping horseback, Larkin can hit six out of six shots.
- Larkin is knocked unconcsious with a thrown warclub, twice.
- Those "pterodactyls" look very different from normal pterodactyls, but that's what Larkin calls them.
- Larkin knows the "Plains Sign Language," thus is able to communicate with the Asian Ape-Men.
- The "Land of Flying Dragons" is covered by hovering mists which preserve there the same climate as that of a million years ago.
- Radio Squad: Sandy and Larry are knocked unconscious in a car crash.
- The Spectre: "The Incredible Robberies" is reprinted in The Golden Age Spectre Archives Vol. 1.
- Also appearing in this issue of More Fun Comics were:
- Facts by Henry Boltinoff
- Yes, It's True
- "Star Man" (1/2-page ad for the current issue of Adventure Comics #62)
- It's A Fact
- "The Flash Wins" (full-page color ad for the current issue of All-Star Comics #4)
- "Daredevil" (text story), by George Shute.
- "The 'Big Six' Comic Magazines Still Lead the Field!" (full-page color ad for the current issues of Action Comics, Adventure Comics, Detective Comics, All-American Comics, More Fun Comics, & Flash Comics)
Trivia
- That "automatic rifle" of Larkins is technically a "semiautomatic."
See Also
Recommended Reading
- The Spectre Recommended Reading
- Adventure Comics (Volume 1): Adventure Comics #431– #440
- Countdown to Mystery
- Crisis Aftermath: The Spectre (Volume 1)
- Day of Judgment
- Day of Vengeance
- Final Crisis: Revelations
- More Fun Comics (Volume 1)
- Spectre (Volume 1)
- Spectre (Volume 2)
- Spectre (Volume 3)
- Spectre (Volume 4)
- Tales of the Unexpected (Volume 2)
- Wrath of the Spectre (Volume 1)
- Doctor Fate Recommended Reading
- The Book of Fate (Volume 1)
- Countdown to Mystery (Volume 1)
- Doctor Fate (Volume 1)
- Doctor Fate (Volume 2)
- Doctor Fate (Volume 3)
- Doctor Fate (Volume 4)
- Fate (Volume 1)
- The Flash (Volume 1): The Flash #306– #313
- Helmet of Fate (Volume 1)
- Immortal Doctor Fate (Volume 1)
- JSA (Volume 1)
- More Fun Comics (Volume 1)