Smash Comics # 37 (November 1942)
The
timeline for this story mirrors the temporal timeline of its readers.
In other words, this takes place one month after the events of Smash Comics #36.
In that story, Midnight was brought back from the dead by a mysterious
professor. In exchange, Doc Wackey agreed to offer his own life to the
mysterious figure in one month's time.
As
the story begins, Midnight still doesn't know that he was actually
dead. Instead, he remains under the impression that he was "merely"
unconscious for a week.
This brings us to the first major plot hole of this story. Despite the fact that Midnight's death was "worldwide" news; despite the fact that there was a graveside burial; and despite the fact that Dave has been back among the land of the living for a month, the reader is supposed to believe that somehow Wackey and Gab have kept secret the truth of his death from a guy who's day job is working in the news industry!?
At any rate, a knock upon the door announces the arrival of said
"mysterious professor," come to collect his bond. With a tear in his
eye and sniff of his sinuses, Doc walks away from his friends with nary a
word about who's at the door or where he's going.
Shortly
after Doc's departure, Dave begins asking questions and Gabby spills
the beans like a two year-old eating ice cream in a brand new car. Dave
announces that "not on [his] tintype!" will Doc be sacrificing himself,
and he and Gab head out to rescue the third member of their
triumvirate.
Meanwhile, Wackey is getting some sort of
serum injected directly into his spinal column [from the looks of
things] by the mystery fellow
whose name Doc still doesn't know!!!
The mystery prof tells Doc that he should experience a "hot flush...then a sudden increase in your tempo of living"
(sounds like the dude is selling Viagra in the Villages)
Anyway,
within moments Doc has raced out of the exam room--apparently now
imbued with superhuman speed! Our mystery prof proclaims his experiment
to have been a "success" but then says he'll now have to capture Doc
for "further observation."
Okay, so here's plot hole #2. If the guy intended for the serum to give Wackey superspeed (and I can only guess he did, since he pronounces the test "successful") then why didn't
he have the old codger strapped down to that exam chair in the first
place?! Would that've been too much trouble? Would it have been more difficult than tracking down and trying to recapture a superhuman speedster through the city?
The
mystery prof isn't in pursuit five minutes before he bumps into
Midnight and Gabby. Naturally, Midnight offers the obligatory threats
about how lost data will be the least of the mystery prof's worries if
Doc doesn't come through this healthy.
Grammar
Nazi Moment: In attempting to explain what he's done to Wackey, the
mystery prof has injected Doc with a "self-concocted fluid." Yes, I get
the guy's meaning, but isn't his grammar here bad? I'm no English
teacher, but the way he's constructed this sentence seems to me like
it's saying the fluid concocted itself! (Was anyone editing this writing?)
Meanwhile, Doc is zipping about town single-handedly constructing houses and dominating foot races.
So,
there's a couple things on this page that warrant comment. First, I'm
used to comic book characters saying odd things. Up 'til now Luke
Cage's "Sweet Christmas!" was my fav...
but
now I think I'll have to start working, "By the great horned spoon!"
into everyday conversation. Here I thought the Tick had come up with
something weirdly unique with his catchphrase...but maybe not after
all.
