All-American Comics #39

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Graded population

CGC records 14 graded copies for All-American Comics #39 (1942). Population is the number recorded by this grading source, not the total print run or all surviving copies.

Green Lantern: "The Mystery of the Theatre of Fear"

Mr. and Mrs. Johnson see a play where a kidnapped boy and his nurse are killed when their ransom isn't delivered in time, which terrifies Mrs. Johnson into wanting to make sure their own boy is alright. As soon as they get home, they receive a threatening call to deliver $10k or they'll never see their child again. He gets the money and goes to deliver it, only for the Johnson boy and his nurse to arrive back from the movies as soon as he's gone. Captain Riley's assigned to the case of this swindling and investigates the theater where the Johnsons saw the play, thinking there's likely a connection. He runs into Irene Miller, who's going to be acting in a new production that night, and Alan Scott's on the scene also. The news of the swindle makes Scott suspicious and he decides to be on hand too as Green Lantern. Just as before, after the play, "Radio Bombing," Apex Broadcasting receives a threatening call that they'll be bombed.

Green Lantern and Doiby catch the criminals in the act, and he melts the bomb into nothing with his ring, but the hero is knocked unconscious by a sock full of rocks and the hoods escape with him. Doiby and Captain Riley chase after them in Doiby's cab, and in the course of the chase Green Lantern regains consciousness and in trying to knock him out again one thug hits the driver instead. Green Lantern saves Doiby and Riley from crashing with a wall of force but the crooks get away in the process. They find Forbes, the head of the theater, tied up, and he blames Green Lantern (who's gone back to Apex to make sure Irene Miller's safe). Forbes declares he isn't intimidated by this and plans to go ahead with the next night's production, "The Murdered Police Captain" (which makes Captain Riley nervous).

"The Murdered Police Captain" portrays Green Lantern as a masked gangster out to get the only man who can threaten his racket, Captain Riley, who the actor then dives at with lethal intent. Fortunately he's saved by the arrival of the *real* Green Lantern, who after quickly subduing the assailant speeds off to Apex Broadcasting, where Forbes has pulled a gun on Irene Miller. She's discovered he was really the one who wrote those plays, and had lied about them being wired in by an author in Arizona. Green Lantern gets there just in time and Forbes' bullet bounces off the hero's body, shielded from harm against all metals, and rebounds back to its source instead, killing Forbes. The next day, Irene Miller's not amused by Alan Scott asking the would-be actress for an autograph after the night she'd had.

Creative credits

Writers: Bill O'Connor, John B. Wentworth, Bill Finger, Charles Reizenstein, Sheldon Mayer, Jon L. Blummer, John B. Wentworth

Interior art: Howard Purcell, Ben Flinton, Irwin Hasen, Stan Aschmeier, Sheldon Mayer, Jon L. Blummer, Howard Purcell

Source records & attribution

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

COMICBASE: comicbase:42325

GCD: 2207

PANEL PROFITS: 2335889