Hit Comics #16
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeHit Comics #16 is a well-preserved snapshot of Quality Comics' anthology formula at the precise moment American popular culture was pivoting toward wartime themes in mid-1941 — months before Pearl Harbor made such content obligatory. The lead Hercules story, 'The Dockside Saboteurs,' places Joe Hercules directly in the Allied cause, fighting enemy agents sinking supply ships, and was selected decades later for inclusion in Fantagraphics' scholarly anthology Take That, Adolf!: The Fighting Comic Books of the Second World War (2017), which recognized it as a meaningful artifact of comics' pre-war propaganda turn. The issue also showcases the remarkable depth of Quality's talent pool at this period, with Reed Crandall on interior art and a cover whose pencil credit — long attributed to Crandall — was formally reassigned to Lou Fine by consensus of Crandall scholarship in 2021, illustrating how Golden Age attribution questions continue to generate active historical research.
In "The Dockside Saboteurs," Betty uncovers a web of deception after witnessing a murder at the airport and seeing an innocent man arrested. Written by Toni Blum and illustrated by Al Bryant, this 1941 Quality Comics thriller follows Betty’s determined quest to clear the accused, with dynamic artwork and a tense, grounded mystery. The cover by Lou Fine captures the story’s gritty wartime atmosphere.
In "The Dockside Saboteurs," Hercules springs into action when he learns of a sinking Allied supply vessel, racing to the scene to save lives. Once the ship is secured, he volunteers to stand guard, determined to uncover the saboteurs behind the attack.
In "The Murder of Moe Jukes," Betty finds herself caught in a web of suspicion after witnessing the killing of a notorious racketeer at the airport—only to see a young man arrested moments later. Determined to uncover the truth, she takes it upon herself to clear his name, navigating a dangerous mystery that begins with a single, shocking moment.
When a Chinese man is murdered in Chinatown and the District Attorney receives a chilling death threat, his Assistant District Attorney Rick Raleigh transforms into the Red Bee to crack the case—armed with his fists, his wits, and his loyal pet bee Michael. As Raleigh pursues the killers through a dangerous web of opium smuggling, he finds himself trapped in a deadly game where his enemies will stop at nothing to silence him. Can the Red Bee outmaneuver a ruthless gang and expose the truth behind the murder?
In "The Anti-Neon Machine," Neon finds himself trapped by Scar Lioni’s sinister invention—a powerful tractor beam that defies his usual defenses. With his physical form at risk and his powers pushed to the limit, Neon must decide how far he’s willing to go to break free.
When a U.S. destroyer explodes in Rio de Janeiro harbor, G-5 rushes to the scene to uncover who's behind the attack. The daring espionage agent must navigate enemy spies, assassination attempts, and a dangerous underworld operation in his race to stop further sabotage and protect American ships. With enemies closing in from all sides, G-5 relies on his wits and combat skills to expose the conspiracy before it's too late.
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The issue went on sale August 6, 1941, per the U.S. Copyright Office's Catalog of Copyright Entries, though its cover date reads October 1941. It was produced under the editorial hand of S.M. Iger — the same Jerry Iger whose studio supplied much of Quality's early art — and published under Quality's indicia imprint, Comic Magazines Inc. The cover pencil credit was carried for decades as Reed Crandall's work, but in August 2021 the Reed Crandall Appreciation Society on Facebook reached a scholarly consensus reassigning those pencils to Lou Fine, with the inker remaining unknown, a reminder of how fluid attribution was inside the Iger shop's assembly-line production model.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published October 1941 (on-sale date August 6, 1941, per U.S. Copyright Office records) by Quality Comics, indicia publisher Comic Magazines Inc.
- Edited by S.M. 'Jerry' Iger, who ran the studio subcontracting art to Quality throughout the early Golden Age.
- Cover pencils were long credited to Reed Crandall but were reassigned to Lou Fine (with unknown inker) in August 2021 by consensus of the Reed Crandall Appreciation Society.
- Lead story 'The Dockside Saboteurs' features Joe Hercules battling Axis saboteurs who sank an Allied supply vessel — early pre-Pearl Harbor wartime content drawn by Reed Crandall on interiors.
- The Hercules story from this issue was selected for reprinting in Take That, Adolf!: The Fighting Comic Books of the Second World War (Fantagraphics, 2017), a curated retrospective of WWII-era comics.
- Additional strips in the issue include Betty Bates ('The Murder of Moe Jukes,' art by Al Bryant), a Dan Tootin humor page by Jack Cole, a Red Bee story, the Strange Twins, Lion Boy, and Ghost of Flanders — reflecting Hit Comics' wide anthology format.
- Hit Comics ran for 65 issues from July 1940 to July 1950; issue #16 falls squarely in its early Hercules-headlined era, before Stormy Foster (debuting in #18) and Kid Eternity (debuting in #25) reshaped the lineup.
- Despite the issue's wartime tone, it predates the U.S. entry into World War II by roughly four months, placing it among comics that helped normalize Allied-sympathetic narratives for American readers before December 7, 1941.
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Men of Mystery Comics #97 (2015), Take That, Adolf!: The Fighting Comic Books of the Second World War #[nn] (2017)
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