More Fun Comics #60

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CGC records 39 graded copies for More Fun Comics #60 (1940). Population is the number recorded by this grading source, not the total print run or all surviving copies.

The Spectre: "The Menace of Xnon"

Using a dimensional portal, an unseen entity steals a gold shipment, plus the entire express train on which it is riding, and three or more plainclothes Cliffland policemen, including Jim Corrigan's friend Wayne Grant. A giant image of the Spectre flickers into existence at the same spot, then vanishes. Policemen on the scene mistakenly conclude that only the Spectre could have done this amazing theft.

The next morning Jim Corrigan gets assigned to the case. He invisibly flies toward Consgrove, the site of the train theft, but before he even leaves town he is instinctively attracted to jewelry store robbery. The robbers are escaping in a car, which vanishes into a dimensional portal, flying thru featureless black space, with the Spectre chasing close behind. They soon arrive at a huge globe, and inside the globe, the Spectre sees the missing express train, and several buildings. He enters the globe, and observes as the jewelry robbers report to their master, Xnon, who is very pleased with their bag of loot. The Spectre then spots the abducted gold guards, toiling as slaves under the lash of a taskmaster. The Spectre teaches the slave driver a harsh lesson, but is interrupted by Xnon, who is amazingly able to see the invisible Spectre. Xnon has a Power Rod, it's a mind-control weapon, and with it he compels the Spectre to become visible. He then commands the Spectre to return to Cliffland and massacre an assembly of police!

Struggling against the compulsion to commit mass murder, The Spectre flies toward the earthly plane, and arrives in Cliffland during a police parade. The Spectre lifts a finger, and fiery bolts leap forth, shattering the pavement! He misses the marching cops, but his next bolts strike closer and closer to them. At the last instant, the Spectre's own body explodes! An invisible force yanks the Spectre away from the scene, into black space. There the Spectre converses with The Voice, describes his present situation, and asks for help! In reply, a ring appears on the Spectre's finger; it is the Ring of Life! It immediately removes Xnon's mind-control "spell".

Spectre flies back to the Fourth Dimension, turns invisible, and invades Xnon's lair. Xnon now is unable to detect him, as the Spectre places a Spell of Indifference on the villain's thugs, and loads the kidnapped cops and the stolen gold aboard the stolen express train, and conveys all of it to Earth. Cops in Cliffland are completely puzzled about why the train-stealing Spectre would return the train, but Spectre returns at once to Xnon's sphere, and confronts the super villain. Xnon's mind-controlling Power Rod is ineffectual; and the Spectre explosively destroys the mighty globe and all its criminal inhabitants. Xnon's metal armor enables him to survive this cataclysm, but a moment later he's fighting the Spectre hand-to-hand, and losing. The Spectre causes Xnon to be imprisoned inside the heart of a meteor, which then flies away at an astronomical speed.

Later on at Cliffland Police Headquarters, Jim Corrigan and Wayne Grant and the Chief have a conversation about capturing the Spectre. Grant is not so sure the Spectre is bad, and the Chief sets aside that question; he still expects Corrigan to arrest the Spectre, and Corrigan vows to do so. | Appearing1 = **Featured Characters:** * The Spectre), (Jim Corrigan)) **Supporting Characters:** * **The Voice** * Wayne Grant) * Police Chief of Cliffland **Antagonists:** * Xnon) * two robbers: Bill, other * slave driver **Other Characters:** * squad of Treasury Police * Sylvester, elevator operator **Locations:** * Consgrove, New Jersey * Cliffland, New Jersey * Xnon's base, an extradimensional Globe **Items:** * Xnon's Power Rod * Ring of Life (No man-made mechanism is capable of resisting it.) **Vehicles** * Black Chief Limited

| Writer2_1 = Joe Donohoe | Penciler2_1 = Joe Donohoe | Inker2_1 = Joe Donohoe | StoryTitle2 = Detective Sergeant Carey: "The Golden Flames" | Synopsis2 = Three big arson fires in the same week have killed eleven people. Sgt. Carey and Sleepy are dispatched to aid the arson squad in stopping this. Looking through the most recent arson site, they find an odd-smelling glass vial in a baby carriage, in an unburned part of the ruins. At the Modern Police Laboratory they learn that the vial had recently contained some Z34, the most highly combustible substance known to science, which is only manufactured at the Dorne Chemical Company. Carey remembers that the Scarpus Gang had been busted for a robbery at that plant, some time earlier, but been released for lack of evidence. Carey's Captain details a squad, with Sleepy in Charge, big enough to surveil all members of the Scarpus Gang, around the clock.

This pays off, when Sleepy spots Scarpus himself hanging around a loft building, and calls in Sgt Carey. They chase Scarpus up five flights of wooden stairs, to the top floor of the building, and then he shows them an empty glass vial in his hand, and a pack of matches. He's left a trail of Z34 behind himself the whole way up to this loft. He has an ultimatum for them, but Carey simply steps in and punches him out, which causes him to drop his lit match, and just like that the whole stairway is ablaze. But the Fire Department arrives very quickly and after dropping Scarpus into their catch net, then drop one at a time themselves. Carey's boss shows up with the news that the owners of the buildings were behind the arsons, and that they, and the Scarpus Gang, were already being rounded up. | Appearing2 = **Featured Characters:** * Detective Sergeant Carey) **Supporting Characters:** * Police Captain * Sleepy **Antagonists:** * Scarpus Gang **Other Characters:** * Fireman McNally * Police Chemist **Locations:** * Police Headquarters ** Police Laboratory * Dorne Chemical Company * loft building at Eleventh and Green Streets **Items:** * Z34, the most highly combustible substance known to science.

| Writer3_1 = Whitney Ellsworth | Penciler3_1 = George Papp | Inker3_1 = George Papp | StoryTitle3 = Congo Bill: "The Monkey-Men" | Synopsis3 = Gloria flies her seaplane and her new guides, Congo Bill and Professor Kent, ever farther up the river system, until they finally must continue on foot. They encounter a tribe of Monkey-Men, which turn out to be organized under the leadership of the missing Mr. Desmond, Gloria's dad, who has amnesia. These Monkey Men are very dangerous, and they have a lot of trouble with them, amidst which Mr. Decker gets hit in the head, and thus regains his memory. Father and daughter are reunited, and everyone returns to the plane. | Appearing3 = **Featured Characters:** * Congo Bill) **Supporting Characters:** * Professor Joe Kent **Other Characters:** * Gloria Desmond * Mr. Desmond **Antagonists:** * small tribe of monkey-men many get bullet wounds, the rest flee **Locations:** * Africa ** Congo River Tributaries

| Writer4_1 = Ed Winiarski | Penciler4_1 = Ed Winiarski | Inker4_1 = Ed Winiarski | StoryTitle4 = Captain Desmo: "Adventure In India" | Synopsis4 = | Appearing4 = **Featured Characters:** * Captain Desmo) **Supporting Characters:** * Gabby **Antagonists:** * Von Stern * The Great One ** his many Thuggees **Other Characters:** * British Commissioner * Sir James Dalton, Colonial Office * Agent Fuller **Locations:** * India **Vehicles:** * Desmo's fighter-plane * many RAF bombers

| Writer5_1 = Jerry Siegel | Penciler5_1 = Chad Grothkopf | Inker5_1 = Chad Grothkopf | StoryTitle5 = Radio Squad: "Phony Cops" | Synopsis5 = | Appearing5 = **Featured Characters:** * Radio Squad) ** Sandy Keene) ** Larry Trent) **Supporting Characters:** * NYPD **Antagonists:** * Blackie Jenks ** bank robbers in police uniforms * Wayle, shirt maker **Other Characters:** * Willie Jones, newsboy **Locations:** * 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 War Zone" | Synopsis6 = Bulgonia invades Moravia. Lieutenant Bob Neal and Ensign Tubby Potts are reassigned, as military attaches, to the U.S. Embassy in Edlam, Moravia. They sail to Moravia aboard the S.S. Eagle; this takes two weeks. Along the way they encounter two Bulgonian secret agents, who at first try to bribe them into changing loyalties; this offends Bob, who beats them both up. Then the passenger liner hits a naval mine, and begins to sink! Amid the chaos of abandoning the ship, the spies escape. Bob and Tubby bring a lifeboat full of rescuees to the U.S.S. Lincoln, which has responded to the Eagle's final SOS, and which conveys the survivors to Europe.

In Europe, at an important train station, just across the border from Moravia, Neal and Potts again encounter the two spies. Then their train to Edlam is attacked by Bulgonian bombers! The conductor evacuates all passengers off the train, but the bombers completely miss the train, leaving it undamaged. Very puzzled, everybody re-boards, but when Bob and Tubby get back to their compartment, the two spies are there ahead of them, guns out. They both get knocked unconscious, stuffed into mailbags, and dumped off the train, then flown away in a Bulgonian bomber.

In Bulgonia, they are locked up in a dungeon, from which they escape. They steal a military plane and fly to Moravia. Along the way they disrupt a Bulgonian bombing raid on a hospital. After crash-landing in Moravia, Neal and Potts are taken into custody by the Moravian police. Their story is confirmed by the U.S. Embassy, and soon, by the State Department as well. | Appearing6 = **Featured Characters:** * Lt. Bob Neal) **Supporting Characters:** * Ens. "Tubby" Potts **Other Characters:** * Moravian Police **Antagonists:** * Eric, Bulgonian spy * other Bulgonian spy **Locations:** * Bulgonia * Moravia ** Edlam, capital * New York City ** Naval Headquarters * Atlantic Ocean **Vehicles:** * S.S. Eagle, passenger liner * U.S.S. Lincoln * Moravian passenger train * Bulgonian bombers

| Writer7_1 = Albert Sulman | Penciler7_1 = Joseph Sulman | Inker7_1 = Joseph Sulman | StoryTitle7 = Biff Bronson: "The Menace of Dr. Zabkin, Part 1" | Synopsis7 = In the basement of Biff's own apartment building a mad scientist is using secret chemicals to transform ordinary men into freaks, to be sold off to carnivals and sideshows. Biff gets captured by these fiends, and in one short hour they plan to change him into a midget. | Appearing7 = **Featured Characters:** * Biff Bronson) **Antagonists:** * Doctor Zabkin, freak maker * Kapek, freak seller * Colosso **Other Characters:** * Mister Teeny * Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Man * Mister Sliver * Mister Plump **Locations:** * Biff's apartment building ** Zabkin's basement laboratory **Items:** * Zabkin's Secret Chemicals

| Writer8_1 = Jack Lehti | Penciler8_1 = Jack Lehti | Inker8_1 = Jack Lehti | StoryTitle8 = Sergeant O'Malley of the Red Coat Patrol: "The Hitch-Hikers" | Synopsis8 = | Appearing8 = **Featured Characters:** * Constable O'Malley), RCMP **Supporting Characters:** * Red Coat Patrol * Black Hawk * Flame, O'Malley's Wolf-Dog **Villains:** * two desperados **Other Characters:** * father & daughter tourists **Locations:** * Canada ** Canadian Forest Preserve *** Mountain Highway *** O'Malley's Cabin *** Elk Horn River **Vehicles:** * red roadster * row boat

| Writer9_1 = Gardner Fox | Penciler9_1 = Howard Sherman | Inker9_1 = Howard Sherman | Letterer9_1 = Howard Sherman | StoryTitle9 = Doctor Fate: "The Menace of the Little Men" | Synopsis9 = While driving through the Catskills, Inza Cramer) spots a number of little green men, about a foot tall, plotting to attack New York City with advanced weaponry. She drives to Salem, to the Tower of Fate, where she informs Doctor Fate) about the villains. Carrying Inza, Fate flies to New York, where the attack is already under way! Gigantic buildings are shattered with terrible rays; thousands of civilians are killed in the wreckage. Military aircraft counterattack, but are simply no match for the invaders' weapons, which sweep them from the sky. Then Dr. Fate arrives.

Leaving Inza on a rooftop, Fate engages the invaders, and very quickly backfires their hand-weapons against them, and knocks their aircraft to the ground. Then he and Inza follow up by hurring to the spot where she first spotted the little men. At the bottom of a cliff in the Catskills, she leads him to a cave, inside which they find three giant purple men; Fate identifies them as the Norns. They boast of having created and armed the tiny invaders; harsh threats are exchanged, then Doctor Fate destroys the life-creating power of the Norns, and seals the entrance to their cavern home. He then returns to his Tower, to muse about the legends about the rulers of our destinies, those great brains sealed forever in a cave! | Appearing9 = **Featured Characters:** * Doctor Fate) **Supporting Characters:** * Inza Cramer) **Antagonists:** * Norns ** Little Men **Locations:** * Catskill Mountains * Tower of Fate * New York City **Vehicles:** * Norn aircraft * U.S. dive bombers

| Notes = * Published by Detective Comics, Inc.. * **Biff Bronson:** Doctor Zabkin's concentrated formula includes 7 drops of pituitary extract and 3 drops of "Hormone A". * **Congo Bill** gets head-konked unconscious, with a club, his third such concussion. * **Detective Sergeant Carey**: "The Golden Flames" title appears atop the first page, but no persons or objects in the story are actually called "Golden Flames". * **Doctor Fate:** ** *The Little Men* is reprinted in The Golden Age Doctor Fate Archives Vol. 1 (Collected). ** The tiny homunculi invading New York City smash several skyscrapers, and kill thousands of civilians. Afterward, this carnage is never mentioned again. * **The Spectre:** ** *The Menace Of Xnon* is reprinted in The Golden Age Spectre Archives Vol. 1 (Collected). ** The "Black Chief Limited" is a steam-powered streamlined express train, running between eastern New Jersey (Cliffland area) and (at least) eastern Kentucky (Fort Knox area). ** The Spectre can turn a flying bullet into a living butterfly with a wave of his hand. ** In this issue's story, a fifth conversation takes place between **The Voice** and The Spectre, in which the Spectre gives an accounting of his activities since his resurrection. With these, The Voice is pleased. The Spectre describes his current situation, which which The Voice is not pleased. The Voice confers on the Spectre, the Ring of Life, and tells him, "No man-made mechanism is capable of resisting it." ** Per the caption in the 8th panel of the 9th page of this story: "...the mighty globe and all its criminal inhabitants are blown to fragments." At minimum two jewelry robbers and one slave-overseer were in the globe at that time, therefore Spectre's body count > 11. * Also appearing in this issue of *More Fun Comics* was: ** "Combat" (text story), by Ted Allen ** Monthly Book Review: "The Swiss Family Robinson" by David Wyss, (text article) ** *Silly Situations* (1-panel gags) by Hal Sherman | 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:767237

GCD: 1041

PANEL PROFITS: 2347762