Action Comics#58(1943)

Inside the city prison, the Dummy, dangerous criminal mastermind, plots his escape with the help of his large new companion, Bobo. The air ducts are laced with laughing gas, making everybody in the the prison fall over in fits. Dummy and Bobo escape with handkerchiefs covering their mouths, the guards are unable to catch them. Later at the radio station, the Greg Sanders show is suddenly interrupted by a special news report. Stuff is listening to the radio at the time. He quickly heads to the studio and informs Greg as soon as he steps out. The prairie troubadour changes into his Vigilante outfit right away. The Dummy likes his loot in small packages, Greg reasons, so the Wholesale Jewelry District was the most likely place he'd strike first. Meanwhile, the Dummy has packed himself into a small box for his partner Bobo to deliver to the Jeweler's Exchange. The night watchman lets Bobo, dressed in a deliveryman's uniform, deliver the package to the men working upstairs. After five minutes have passed, the box opens and Dummy climbs out. He walks among the employees in a stiff gait, pretending to be a mechanical toy. The men are amused by this strange little "automated man". Their fun is short lived when the Dummy suddenly pulls out a hose and sprays them in the faces with knockout gas. He gathers the cut diamonds in his top hat, then jumps out the window where Bobo was waiting to catch him. The drop was hard and Bobo falls over in pain. The Dummy chastises his foolish partner just as Vigilante and the Chinatown Kid pull up on the Vig-Cycle. Vig catches the Dummy's leg in his lariat, but Bobo rushes to his aid. However, Bobo may be large, but he's also slow, and Greg uses that against him when he surprises him with a quick jab! Dummy uses the momentary distraction to cut himself loose and drop a smoke bomb between himself and the duo Vigilante and Stuff. He and Bobo escape by stealing the Vig-Cycle. That night in their hideout, the Dummy hatches a plan to get rid of his nemesis, the Vigilante, for good. Bobo says he wants no part of it, he was too afraid of the masked crimefighter. The Dummy lashes him with his cane, slinging verbal abuse at his cowardly cohort until Bobo admits that he was even more afraid of him than of Vigilante. So it is that Greg Sanders, known to be the only one who can get "in touch" with the Vigilante, receives a phone call from Bobo. The trembling lackey has had enough of the Dummy's abuse and wanted to help the Vigilante capture him. He gives Greg the location of the hideout. Vigilante and Stuff drive up to the small woodland cottage, fully expecting a trap. Bobo answers the door and guides them inside. Just as Greg and Stuff thought, as soon as they step into the center of the room, the floor drops out from under them. The Dummy appears peering over them. He gives Bobo a swift kick, sending the unsuspecting brute down into the pit as well. He has outlived his usefulness. A valve is turned, and water starts pouring into the trap room, as the Dummy seals the trapdoor. Greg glances around as Stuff and Bobo panic, when he notices a gas meter on the wall. He removes the casing and lets the fumes seep out. After telling Stuff and Bobo to dive under the water, Vig uses the spur on his boot to create a spark. The gas explodes, blowing off the sealed hatchway that the trio then use to escape. The Dummy is tracked down by Vigilante, who then allows Bobo to get his licks in first. Later, at the police station, Bobo turns himself in along with the wounded and humiliated Dummy.