Crash Comics Adventures #5
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeCrash Comics Adventures #5 (November 1940) is the final issue of the short-lived Temerson anthology that launched Cat-Man — one of the Golden Age's most durable jungle-hero/vigilante hybrids — and its cover marks the character's first appearance on a comic book cover. The issue's direct numbering continuity into Cat-Man Comics #v1#6 makes it the pivot point at which a throwaway anthology slot became a character-driven franchise that ran through 1946 under multiple publishers. Its roster of talent — Jack Kirby scripting the Solar Legion strip, Irwin Hasen drawing Cat-Man, and pioneering Filipino-American artist Pagsilang Rey Isip contributing stories — makes it a genuinely polyglot early Golden Age artifact rather than a typical house-style filler book. It is also the final Golden Age appearance of Strongman, the character that had anchored the series from issue #1.
In "Alec & the Reign of Yang," The Streak ventures to Antarctica on a mission to locate a missing U.S. explorer believed to have claimed valuable resources for the nation. After rescuing the stranded Admiral from an avalanche, he faces a shocking betrayal when the Admiral’s assistants reveal themselves as Fifth Columnists. Dan Gormley handles both pencils and inks for the story, while Bert Whitman delivers the cover art.
In "null," Jo, the Cat-Man, takes on a high-stakes mission to stop a wave of spies infiltrating the country through forged passports, convincing the Chief of the Secret Service to put him in charge. To prove his worth, he must survive a series of deadly traps—each one a lethal test designed to eliminate the agents who came before him.
In "null," The Streak ventures to Antarctica to locate a missing explorer whose urgent mission was to claim the region’s iron, gold, and oil for the U.S. Upon finding the Admiral buried under snow, he pulls him to safety—only to face a sudden threat from the man’s own assistants, who reveal themselves as Fifth Columnists.
Young explorer Bob Preston accepts a commission from the N.Y. Museum of Cultural History to locate the long-lost tomb of Tut Shah-Hi'Amen deep in the Arabian desert, accompanied by Professor Dale. When the expedition finally uncovers the pharaoh's resting place and its riches, Bob discovers that his own crew harbors deadly intentions toward the treasure—and him.
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Crash Comics Adventures was published by Frank Z. Temerson's Tem Publishing Co., Inc., which operated out of editorial offices at 381 Fourth Avenue, New York, with a publication office in Meriden, Connecticut. Temerson — a self-made pulp and distribution entrepreneur who had previously co-founded Ultem Publications and sold those titles to Centaur — launched the series in May 1940 as a superhero-and-adventure anthology; it ran for exactly five issues before the title was retired and its numbering carried forward into the Cat-Man Comics series. Issue #5's cover was produced by Bert Whitman, while interior contributions came from a notable ensemble including Jack Kirby, Irwin Hasen, George Storm, Dan Gormley, and Pagsilang Rey Isip, though precise writing credits for most stories remain unverified and are attributed only tentatively via Jerry Bails' Who's Who.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Final issue of Crash Comics Adventures (November 1940 cover date; on-sale circa September 1940), published by Tem Publishing Co., Inc. under Frank Z. Temerson — the series ran exactly five issues from May through November 1940.
- Cat-Man (David Merryweather) appears here in his second overall comic-book appearance and his first appearance on a comic book cover; his origin and debut were in Crash Comics Adventures #4.
- Cat-Man's nine-lives mythology is already in play: GCD notes that in this issue's story he loses his second of nine lives, establishing the recurring death-and-resurrection device that defined the character throughout Cat-Man Comics.
- The issue's numbering flows directly into Cat-Man Comics v1#6 (#1 on the cover), making Crash Comics Adventures #5 the de facto predecessor issue to a franchise that lasted until 1946 across Temerson, Holyoke, and Continental Magazines imprints.
- This is the final Golden Age appearance of Strongman (Percy van Norton); decades later, after the character entered the public domain, Marvel Comics introduced their own Strongman in Invaders (Marvel, 1993 series) #1–4.
- Issue #5 also contains the last appearances of Blue Streak and the Jane Drake Detective feature within the Crash Comics run.
- The creative roster includes Jack Kirby (Solar Legion script), Irwin Hasen (Cat-Man art), George Storm, Dan Gormley, and Pagsilang Rey Isip — an early Filipino-American comics professional who contributed both story and art throughout the series.
- The cover of this issue was later reprinted in the Fantagraphics hardcover Action! Mystery! Thrills! Comic Book Covers of the Golden Age: 1933–45 (December 2011), attesting to its recognized place in Golden Age cover history.
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Reprints
Reprinted in Citizen Smith Comics #9 (1944), Mr. Miracle Comics #4 (1944), Secret Agent Z-2 Comics #7 (1944), The Blue Streak Comics #8 (1944), Catman Ashcan #2 (1996), Golden-Age Men of Mystery Digest Special #1 (2001), Action! Mystery! Thrills! Comic Book Covers of the Golden Age: 1933-45 #[nn] (2011), Golden-Age Greats Spotlight #9 (2012), Gwandanaland Comics #1801 (2018), Gwandanaland Comics #943 (2018)
Key issues in Crash Comics Adventures
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