All-American Comics #52 is an issue of the series All-American Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of September, 1943.
Synopsis for Green Lantern: "The Spotlight on Crime"
A trio of gentleman hunters discuss the nature of the hunt, and how men hunt men. One of them, Ketchum, suggests matching wits with the great champion of justice, Green Lantern, and wagers $10000 against the other two that he could be a worthy adversary, and even find ways of turning GL's own weapon--light--against him. As the new villain dubbed the Silhouette, Ketchum places a personal ad challenging Green Lantern to puzzle out clues to when and where he'll strike. Alan Scott discerns the clue as being opening night at the Metropolitan Opera, where the villain's set up gimmick light bulbs that burst and release knockout gas. GL remains conscious and attacks his new adversary, who blinds him with a flashlight and punches Green Lantern through the side of the prop dragon they'd been fighting inside, knocking him out. This proceeds for some time, with more light-based clues to crimes Green Lantern's unable to decipher, and Ketchum growing steadily more unhinged at the feelings of power his crime career give him.
Finally Alan Scott manages to decipher one of the Silhouette's clues to mean he plans to rob a baseball game. At the game, Green Lantern shows up and batters the villain's gang around, and knocking out who he thinks is the mastermind, colored all in black like their previous encounter. However this was actually a decoy, and the real Silhouette bops him on the head with a wooden bat before taking GL and Doiby captive. Although the colleagues he made his bet with declare Ketchum the winner, he decides to kill them along with Green Lantern and go on being the Silhouette. He smashes an oil lamp in the vault with them, starting a fire while he goes to carry out his next robbery. Green Lantern starts using light to his own advantage, such as by smashing the chandelier and using the glass shards to cut his ropes before putting out the fire. Next, by holding the notepad Silhouette used to map out his next crime to a heavy light to show the identations, and reveal he plans to put out a lighthouse and wreck a freighter carrying a load of valuable coffee beans.
Green Lantern and Doiby show up at the lighthouse and start a knock-down drag-out fight with the criminals. A desperate Silhouette tries to blind Green Lantern with a flashlight again, but this time the hero's ready for that trick and knocks his enemy down before he can use it. Instead grabbing an axe and running at GL, Silhouette slips on his own fallen flashlight and plunges into the surf to his death. Since the crooks smashed the light before he had a chance to stop them, Green Lantern uses the light from his ring as a makeshift beacon to guide the ship to safety.
Appearing in Green Lantern: "The Spotlight on Crime"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Ketchum, The Silhouette (Single appearance) (Dies)
- Joe, henchman
Other Characters:
- Blade, big-game hunter
- 3rd big-game hunter
- Lighthouse Keeper
Locations:
- Adventurer's Club
- Metropolitan Opera
- Baseball Stadium
Items:
Vehicles:
- S.S. Southern Queen, Coffee Freighter
Synopsis for Atom: "The Loneliest Man in the World"
Appearing in Atom: "The Loneliest Man in the World"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- Raymond Macon, science fraud
Other Characters:
- Chandler Walker, medical scientist
Locations:
Synopsis for Dr. Mid-Nite: "The Aging Death"
Appearing in Dr. Mid-Nite: "The Aging Death"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Monk (Dies)
- at least three hench (One dies.)
Other Characters:
- Jim Olcott, banker
- Jed Cassidy
Locations:
- Keystone City area
- Towers City Intersection
- United Chemical Company
Items:
- Monk's Metabolism Machine, artificial rapid aging ray device
Synopsis for Scribbly and the Red Tornado: "Nobody on the Paper"
At the newspaper where Scribbly works, everybody else except the excitable editor, and Elmer the typesetter, has quit, and joined the armed forces. The frenzied editor, Macklin, is determined to get an edition out even if the three of them have to print it by hand! Which they do.
When Scribbly doesn't get home that day, his mother calls Ma Hunkle to ask about him, and Ma figures what's going on at the paper. She and the Cyclone Kids leap into action. When they arrive at the newspaper office, the editor starts ordering them around, too, piling on one insane workload after another, and they find themselves going along with it. One way and another this tiny handful of people puts out that day's edition, then the next day's, then the next, and they weirdly start to enjoy it. As soon as he hears that THAT has happened, Macklin retires, on the spot, and leaves to join the Army, so he can finally get some rest.
Appearing in Scribbly and the Red Tornado: "Nobody on the Paper"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Other Characters:
- Mr. Macklin, editor
- Old Elmer, typesetter
Locations:
- New York City
- Vine Street, Hunkel's Grocery
- Morning Despatch Newspaper Office
Synopsis for Red, White and Blue: "Kicking the Swastika Round"
Appearing in Red, White and Blue: "Kicking the Swastika Round"
Featured Characters:
- Red, White, and Blue
- Red Dugan, USMC
- Whitey Smith, USA
- Blooey Blue, USN
Supporting Characters:
- Doris West, G2
- Mr. Digges, G2
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Wilbur Snoope
- Sarah Snoope
- Professor Gleddon
Synopsis for Hop Harrigan: "Transoceanic Transport"
Appearing in Hop Harrigan: "Transoceanic Transport"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Army Air Transport Command
- Sanchez
- Tail-End Chollie
- many others
- Hippity
- Geraldine (Gerry)
- Miss Snap
- Prop Wash
- Tank
Antagonists:
- Spies
- Luftwaffe
- Herr Lousemeir (wears a monocle) (Dies)
- Lousemeir's untrustworthy Japanese partner (Dies)
Other Characters:
- Mayan Chiefs and Medicine Men
Locations
- Pernambuco, Brazil
- Mayan Pyramid
Vehicles:
- World's First Transoceanic Glider Train
- German Seaplanes
Notes
- Published monthly except May, August, November, and February, by J.R. Publishing Company.
- The Atom gets head-konked unconscious with a pistol-butt.
- Dr. Mid-Nite is knocked unconscious by a bullet-wound to his shoulder.
- An unnamed scientist builds a "metabolism machine" capable of artificially aging persons via radiation. It also has a reverse setting. After this story, this amazing technology is never used, seen, or mentioned again.
- Green Lantern is punched unconscious by the Silhouette, with a right hook. Later he is head-konked unconscious with a baseball bat. Doiby Dickles is also knocked unconscious twice.
- The Silhouette meets his apparent demise by falling off a lighthouse deck. The story's closing caption raises the question of whether he is really dead, but there is no record of him returning, to hunting or to crime.
- Hop Harrigan: After this issue, Tank, Wash, Gerry, and Miss Snap drop out of the cast, at least for the next few issues.
- Also appearing in this issue of All-American Comics were:
- Good Books Worth Reading: "Lions on the Hunt (by Theodore J. Waldeck)" (text article) by Josette Frank
- 1/2 page advertisement for Comic Cavalcade #3, and 1/2 page advertisement for Green Lantern #8
- Mutt & Jeff (newspaper strip reprints) by Bud Fisher
- Cicero's Cat (newspaper strip reprints) by Bud Fisher
- Jimmy Stone: "No Evidence, Part One" (text story) by Evelyn Gaines
- Full-page advertisement for Wonder Woman #5, Mutt & Jeff #10, All-Flash #11, and All-Star Comics #17
- Full-page advertisement for Hop Harrigan's All-American Flying Club.
Trivia
- Stan Aschmeier signed his Dr. Mid-Nite story as "Stan Josephs".
See Also