Flashback #7

In "The Coming of the Comet," John Dickering—transformed by a mysterious gas lighter than hydrogen—leaps into a new life as a hero with eye beams that disintegrate anything they cross. Armed with a vow to do good, he targets a typhoid racketeer, confronting his associates and then taking the mastermind, Dr. Archer, high into the sky. The story doesn’t reveal what happens next, only that the moment hangs in the balance.

In "For America and Democracy! [Chapter 3]," the Grim Ghost arrives in Pittsburgh to uncover sabotage at local munitions factories, only to witness a Fifth Columnist worker planting steel wool in gun barrels—leading to a desperate rescue and a deadly betrayal. As the Spectre uncovers a series of future attacks aimed at destroying a factory and stealing top-secret military plans, he thwarts each one with quiet precision. But when a sudden shift pulls him into a realm of dazzling, hostile rays, he must rely on the power of the Ring of Life to survive the onslaught.

In "For America and Democracy! [Chapter 4]," Hour-Man races to Oklahoma to stop Captain Erdner from destroying the state's oil wells. Disguised as Rex at a remote facility, he uncovers a web of sabotage and murder, knowing the Grey Shirts are behind the plot. With time running out, he dons his heroic mantle and springs into action to prevent catastrophe.

In the 1973 anthology Flashback #7, the story "null" follows Fu Chang, a man whose mysterious chessmen hold powers beyond imagination, as he uses them to unravel a perilous mystery. When his girlfriend Tay Ming is in danger from a fearsome Dragon, Fu Chang calls upon his unseen god, summoning the enchanted pieces to life in a daring bid to save her.

In "For America and Democracy! [Chapter 5]," Dr. Fate is dispatched to New England to investigate sabotage at the Atlantic Seaboard naval yards, deploying his Cloud of Darkness to hunt down evil. The search leads him to fishing smacks crewed by Grey Shirts, whom he overcomes, then uses terrifying creatures from the deep to extract their secrets. After summoning the FBI to take the captives into custody, Fate consults his crystal to uncover the mastermind behind the plot—revealing the name Klaver—before warning Sandman and the Flash.