More Fun Comics #57

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Graded population

CGC records 46 graded copies for More Fun Comics #57 (1940). Population is the number recorded by this grading source, not the total print run or all surviving copies.

The Spectre: "The Return of Zor"

Using telepathy, Zor commands world-renowned scientist Professor Dale Ericks to build a mechanism of unknown purpose, which then activates itself and projects Ericks across the depths of infinity, to the weird castle where Zor is imprisoned, and then compels Ericks to free Zor from a paralysis ray. Ericks' reward is to take Zor's place. Once free, the evil spirit travels to Earth and murders Police Sergeant Dexter, and frames Jim Corrigan.

Zor battles the Spectre, in a fierce exchange of comets, but Zor has more powerful knowledge of physics. Zor then enlists the aid of murderer Pedro Gonzalez, by magically interrupting his hanging. Pedro kidnaps Clarice Winston and ties her to a log and sends it over a waterfall. The Spectre is prevented from interfering by an invisible wall created by Zor. **The Voice** tells the Spectre that evil is vulnerable to the mystic Ectobane Tree. The Spectre zooms to the distant country of Lugania, magically harvests some Ectobane trees, rapidly builds a coffin, returns to the waterfall, paralyzes Zor, and places him inside it. He then rescues Clarice by reversing the waterfall, and transforms Gonzalez into a tree. Zor is then banished to the depths of the universe. | Appearing1 = **Featured Characters:** * The Spectre), (Jim Corrigan)) **Supporting Characters:** * Clarice Winston) * **The Voice** **Antagonists:** * Zor) * Pedro Gonzales transformed into a tree **Other Characters:** * Wayne Grant) * Professor Dale Ericks paralyzed and displaced to the far side of the universe * Sergeant Dexter **Locations:** * Earth: ** Cliffland, New Jersey ** Lugania * depths of the Universe **Items:** * Ectobane Wood

| Writer2_1 = Joe Donohoe | Penciler2_1 = Joe Donohoe | Inker2_1 = Joe Donohoe | StoryTitle2 = Detective Sergeant Carey: "The Royal Lurma Diamond" | Synopsis2 = | Appearing2 = **Featured Characters:** * Detective Sergeant Carey) **Supporting Characters:** * Sleepy **Items:** * Royal Lurma Diamond

| Writer3_1 = Whitney Ellsworth | Penciler3_1 = George Papp | Inker3_1 = George Papp | StoryTitle3 = Congo Bill: "The Return of the Skull" | Synopsis3 = | Appearing3 = **Featured Characters:** * Congo Bill) **Supporting Characters:** * Professor Joe Kent * O'Toole, a chimpanzee **Antagonists:** * The Skull ** six Spearmen **Locations:** * Africa ** Congo River ** Belgian_Congo|Belgian Congo, 1940 **Items:** * treasure from the Lost City **Vessels:** * Kent's motorized river boat

| Writer4_1 = Ed Winiarski | Penciler4_1 = Ed Winiarski | Inker4_1 = Ed Winiarski | StoryTitle4 = Captain Desmo: "The Society of Assassins, Part 5" | Synopsis4 = | Appearing4 = **Featured Characters:** * Captain Desmo) **Supporting Characters:** * Gabby **Antagonists:** * Society of Assassins many die ** Grand Assassin of Algiers **Locations:** * Algiers, Algeria, 1940 ** Tree of the Seven Hills ** Assassin's Castle

| Writer5_1 = Jerry Siegel | Penciler5_1 = Chad Grothkopf | Inker5_1 = Chad Grothkopf | StoryTitle5 = Radio Squad: "The Disappearing Baby Carriage" | Synopsis5 = | Appearing5 = **Featured Characters:** * Radio Squad) ** Sandy Keene) ** Larry Trent) **Supporting Characters:** * New York City Police Department **Antagonists:** * **Locations:** * New York ** New York City **Vehicles:** * Radio Car K-7

| Writer6_1 = Robert Hirsch | Penciler6_1 = Russ Lehman | Inker6_1 = Russ Lehman | StoryTitle6 = Lt. Bob Neal of Sub 662: "The Parachute Murders" | Synopsis6 = | Appearing6 = **Featured Characters:** * Lt. Bob Neal) **Supporting Characters:** * Tubby Potts **Vessels:** * Sub 662

| Writer7_1 = Albert Sulman | Penciler7_1 = Joseph Sulman | Inker7_1 = Joseph Sulman | StoryTitle7 = Biff Bronson: "The Fortune-Teller" | Synopsis7 = Biff wakes up to find Dan eating a heavy meal at 3 in the morning, noting he'll probably get a nightmare from having a heavy meal in the middle of the night. The next day Dan introduces a plumber who tells fortunes as a hobby, and they invite him to entertain at their next club meeting. Dan also points a friend of theirs, the nervous Kennedy.

At the club meeting the fortune teller's predictions overwhelm Kennedy's nerves and he passes out, but a doctor's examination pronounces him dead. Dan goes to Kennedy's apartment to get his things in order, when his landlady asks why they didn't obey the letter Kennedy always carried with him. Nonplussed by her question, Dan's told Kennedy had a condition that made him seem dead, but putting him in a bed and leaving him for a while would bring him out of it, and he always carried a letter explaining this. Dan is horrified because they found no such letter and Kennedy was already buried that morning. Just then he wakes up: Biff was right, a heavy meal right before bed gave him a nightmare. Dan has another helping, planning to continue the dream to find out what happened to Kennedy's missing letter. | Appearing7 = **Featured Characters:** * Biff Bronson) **Supporting Characters:** * Dan Druff

| Writer8_1 = Jack Lehti | Penciler8_1 = Jack Lehti | Inker8_1 = Jack Lehti | StoryTitle8 = Sergeant O'Malley of the Red Coat Patrol: "The Card Cheat" | Synopsis8 = A murderer escapes town with a captive child, and O'Malley must track him down. He does so. | Appearing8 = **Featured Characters:** * Constable O'Malley), RCMP **Supporting Characters:** * Red Coat Patrol * Black Hawk * Flame, O'Malley's Wolf-Dog **Antagonists:** * murderous kidnapper **Locations:** * Canada

| Writer9_1 = Gardner Fox | Penciler9_1 = Howard Sherman | Inker9_1 = Howard Sherman | Letterer9_1 = Howard Sherman | StoryTitle9 = Doctor Fate: "The Fire Murders" | Synopsis9 = Fires of unknown origin kill a series of wealthy men and women, some of whom are known to Inza Cramer. She ascertains that each of them had received threats, and had refused to pay for protection. When she tells Dr. Fate what she knows, he is attacked by a fiery globe! Fate magically sends that globe straight back to where it came from, plus takes flight and follows it. On a rocky coast he finds an isolated steel castle. This is the stronghold of a sorcerer called Mango the Mighty, and it is defended, with a flock of *Maylayan Poison Bats,* a giant flying fireball, and an undead army called the *Legions of the Styx.*

This villain also manages to kidnap Inza Cramer, but it works out badly for him. Fate rescues Inza, and transforms the sorcerer into a tiny statue of clay, which Inza seals in an ebony cabinet. | Appearing9 = **Featured Characters:** * Doctor Fate) **Supporting Characters:** * Inza Cramer) **Antagonists:** * Mango the Mighty) * The Legions of the Styx **Other Characters:** * wealthy victims of Mango several die **Locations:** * New York ** New York City * a rocky coast ** a steel castle **Items:** * Cloak of Destiny * tiny clay statue of Mango, in an ebony cabinet

| Notes = * Published by Detective Comics, Inc.. * **Captain Desmo:** ** Desmo gets knocked unconscious with a club. ** Desmo and Gabby break the Fourth Wall in the final panel. Captain Desmo explains how he made an explosive out of a pack of playing cards, and Gabby plugs next issue's story. * **Congo Bill:** ** Professor Kent also smokes a pipe. Congo Bill wears shorts in the jungle. ** *O'Toole*, the chimpanzee, joins Bill's team. ** Bill and Joe and O'Toole now have a motor launch full of treasure, and the Skull is still at large. * **Doctor Fate:** *The Fire Murders* is reprinted in Superman #252, and The Golden Age Doctor Fate Archives Vol. 1 (Collected). ** In his fight with the Legion of the Styx, Doctor Fate's mystical "life force" powers are useless against the dead. But just last issue, Fate sent a very similar undead army fleeing from him, by threatening to cremate them. So was he bluffing in #56, or is he already losing some of his powers now? ** Inza Cramer seals the inert clay sorcerer in an ebony cabinet. This implies that Mango is not as dead as a tiny clay statue should be. ** This is Inza's first kidnap. * **Spectre:** *The Return of Zor* is reprinted in Superman Vol 1 252, The Greatest Golden Age Stories Ever Told (Collected) and The Golden Age Spectre Archives Vol. 1 (Collected). ** Clarice gets kidnapped for the 4th time, this issue. ** In this issue's story, a fourth conversation takes place between **The Voice** and The Spectre, in which he is advised of the magical properties of Ectobane wood. * Also appearing in this issue of *More Fun Comics* was: ** "Wild Stallion" (text story), by Alec Mayne | Trivia = | Recommended = | Links =

Creative credits

Writers: Jerry Siegel, Joe Donohoe, Whitney Ellsworth, Ed Winiarski, Jerry Siegel, Robert Hirsch, Albert Sulman, Jack Lehti, Gardner Fox

Interior art: Bernard Baily, Joe Donohoe, George Papp, Ed Winiarski, Chad Grothkopf, Russ Lehman, Joseph Sulman, Jack Lehti, Howard Sherman

Source records & attribution

Panel Profits keeps each source identity attached to its edition record.

COMICBASE: comicbase:767234

GCD: 881

PANEL PROFITS: 2347759