Hit Comics #25 is an issue of the series Hit Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of December, 1942.
Synopsis for Kid Eternity: "The Kid Who Died Too Soon"
A boy and his grandfather are killed in a U-boat attack on a civilian steamship, but when the lad reaches the Pearly Gates, his name is not on the list to have died that day. So Mr. Keeper, who was responsible for this clerical error, brings back the boy's spirit into his body, and the lad lives again, and is endowed with great powers, including invisibility and intangibility. But most important: by speaking the word "ETERNITY", the boy could call upon any person in mythology or history, to aid him in any given situation.
Appearing in Kid Eternity: "The Kid Who Died Too Soon"
Featured Characters:
- Kid Eternity (First appearance) (Origin)
Supporting Characters:
- Shazam (Disguised as Saint Peter) (See Notes section)
- Mr. Keeper (First appearance)
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Kid Eternity's grandfather (First appearance)
- Hercules (Summoned Soul)
- Samson (Summoned Soul)
- George Washington (Summoned Soul)
- The Unknown Soldier of WWI (Summoned Soul)
- Abraham Lincoln (Summoned Soul)
- Daniel Troop
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Synopsis for Betty Bates: "The Death-House Blues"
Appearing in Betty Bates: "The Death-House Blues"
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Synopsis for Ghost of Flanders: "A Lesson for Bill Jones"
Young Bill Jones gets his draft notice and panics. He's afraid to be killed in the war so he tries to hang himself, but chickens out and flees the country, by stowing away on an airliner then jumping out with a parachute, to land in a foreign country and start a new life. (That's pretty brave for a self-styled coward, but this irony is completely lost on Jones.) Bill buys some citizenship papers from a shady character named Pedro, then rejoices that he's safely out of the war. The very next day, this tiny unnamed nation declares war against the Axis Powers, placing Jones once again in danger of getting conscripted.
That night, Hans Schmutz shows up at Bill's room, proposing a deal: Hans wants citizenship papers for this still-unnamed country, so he can join (or actually infiltrate) its armed forces, and offers in exchange a birth certificate from his native country, the United States. This would re-establish Bill's U.S. citizenship, making him safe from the South American country's draft. Bill happily accepts this deal. As soon as the two go their separate ways, Hans finds a local cop and rats out Bill, who now has papers identifying him as Hans Smutz, who just so happens to be wanted for murder. Bill punches one cop and flees into the jungle, sobbing and frenzied and cursing his luck.
In the jungle, he encounters the Ghost of Flanders, who is there for the specific purpose of bringing him back. Ghost found him "very easily" based on a conversation with Bill's parents. He also reveals that Hans Schmutz is a Nazi agent, wanted in the U.S. for the murder of an FBI agent. Bill teams up with Ghost to hunt down Schmutz, and an hour later they've found him, out on the street of this unnamed town. Bill runs ahead of the Ghost of Flanders and punches Schmutz until he falls down.
Bill still doesn't want to go back to America, but the Ghost of Flanders gives him a rousing pep talk that changes his mind. They fly back to the USA in the Ghost's biplane, and the next day he joins the Army. Two months later there's a newspaper story about the badly wounded Pvt Jones being awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by the President for an act of battlefield bravery.
Appearing in Ghost of Flanders: "A Lesson for Bill Jones"
Featured Characters:
- The Ghost of Flanders (Final appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Bill Jones
Antagonists:
- Hans Schmutz
- Pedro
Other Characters:
- local policeman
Locations:
- unnamed country in South America, south of the Equator
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Synopsis for Stormy Foster: "Men with Two Faces"
Dr. Van Veldt is surgically changing the appearance of Japanese spies, enabling them to pass as white Americans, until The Great Defender ends his racket.
Appearing in Stormy Foster: "Men with Two Faces"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Ah Choo
- Doc Vaughan
Antagonists:
- Dr. Van Veldt (Dies)
Other Characters:
Locations:
- Southern California
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Vehicles:
Synopsis for Bob and Swab: "The Incendiary Comic Book"
Appearing in Bob and Swab: "The Incendiary Comic Book"
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Synopsis for Don Glory: "Prisoner in a Chinese Laundry"
Appearing in Don Glory: "Prisoner in a Chinese Laundry"
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Synopsis for Bill the Magnificent: "Magnificent Bill"
Appearing in Bill the Magnificent: "Magnificent Bill"
Featured Characters:
- Bill the Magnificent (First appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Peggy Wilson
- Pop Wilson
- Roscoe, newsreel reporter (character / narrator)
Antagonists:
- Commissioner Harris
- his hoodlums: Rocks, and two others
Other Characters:
- Serge Grator
Locations:
- Middleburg
Notes
- First issue for Bill the Magnificent.
- Bill's magical power invocation is "Jeepers Creepers!" Peggy knows this and so does Roscoe, but Bill can't always remember it.
- This issue's story is the final appearance of Ghost of Flanders for many years until Batman/The Shadow.
- Kid Eternity:
- Kid Eternity is able to call upon mythological characters, right from his first episode.
- During his tour of the Land of Eternity, Kid Eternity sees the spirit of the Unknown Soldier of WWI, and he doesn't look very much like the Ghost of Flanders. That may be because Kid Eternity is on Earth-S, and the Ghost of Flanders is in the Quality Universe.
- The Kid Eternity story is untitled here. It is given its title when it is reprinted in Secret Origins #4.
- When Kid Eternity's origin was expanded later to link him to the Marvel Family in World's Finest #280, it was revealed that the Saint Peter who appeared in this story was really the wizard Shazam.
- Stormy Foster, the Great Defender:
- The Great Defender gets head-konked unconscious with a pistol grip, and later gets another konk with a board; these are his 4th and 5th known concussions.
- Stormy kills two minions by catching and returning a thrown hand grenade; body count > 7.
- Falling into a steel-decked ship's hold from a great height, Stormy grabs Van Veldt on the way down and wrestles him into position to be fatally landed upon; body count > 8.
- Doc Vaughan's name is back to being spelled with two "a"s in it.
- This issue of Hit Comics also featured:
- Dan Tootin: "Hair Seed", by Jack Cole
- Tommy Tinkle, by Arthur Beeman
- Final appearance of Tommy Tinkle.
Trivia
- Cover credits controversy clarified: "Previously credited to Mac Raboy. Letter from Busy Arnold to Jerry Bails published in Alter Ego #67 states that Mac Raboy never worked for Quality at any time."
- Writer credits controversy clarified: "Otto Binder is credited as writer by Jerry Bails but Martin O'Hearn disagrees."
See Also