Hit Comics #20
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeHit Comics #20 (February 1942) represents Quality Comics' anthology format at its wartime peak, assembling an unusually deep roster of Golden Age talent — including Reed Crandall on covers and Max Elkan on interior art — across more than a dozen recurring features. The issue sits squarely in the run of Stormy Foster, the Great Defender, one of Quality's most distinctive vitamin-powered heroes, whose strip here engaged directly with wartime public-health anxieties through a story about a saboteur weaponizing a diphtheria outbreak. As a document of how Golden Age anthology publishers marshaled their full creative stable in response to World War II, and as a companion piece to the broader Hit Comics run that would soon pivot to the debut of Kid Eternity in issue #25, it captures the series at a transitional creative moment. The issue's Statement of Ownership, which cites S. M. Iger as editor, is also a primary-source artifact illuminating the behind-the-scenes power structure between publisher Everett M. Arnold and the Eisner-Iger shop.
In "The Deadly Scheme of Dr. Bork," FBI Chief Weever enlists the Ghost to deliver crucial documents to the War Department—only to find the mission complicated by a towering German brute whose near-superhuman strength turns the task into a desperate fight for survival. Written, drawn, and inked by George Brenner, this 1942 wartime thriller blends espionage and pulp action with a distinctive visual flair. The cover, by Reed Crandall and Max Elkan, captures the tension with a striking image of the Ghost in combat.
In "The Deadly Scheme of Dr. Bork," the shadowy scientist unleashes a chilling plan to poison the city’s milk supply, turning a public staple into a weapon. With the cure locked away in their own hands, Dr. Bork’s twisted ambition hinges on fear—and profit—before the hero can stop them.
Dan Tootin' hawks a dubious "Elephant Extract" guaranteed to make anyone big and strong—but when an unsatisfied customer demands his money back, things take a hilarious turn in this one-page comedy from Ralph Johns.
Betty Bates finds herself drawn into a murderous backstage scheme when theatrical producer Victor Ralley is shot dead during a Broadway performance starring Rene Balbo. As shadowy figures move against her in the wings and Balbo's cane becomes a key piece of evidence, Betty must uncover what binds the actor to a vengeful former dancing partner determined to ruin him. The truth lurks in jealousy, revenge, and a calculated frame that aimed to destroy Balbo's career—no matter who had to die along the way.
In "The Spy Snatchers," the Ghost is tasked by FBI Chief Weever with delivering crucial documents to the War Department—only to face off against a towering German brute whose near-superhuman strength makes the mission perilous. The story unfolds with tense urgency as the hero navigates the threat, proving his worth in a high-stakes showdown.
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Hit Comics was executive-edited by Everett M. Arnold, Quality's publisher, and the creative pipeline ran through the Eisner-Iger studio, whose editor S. M. (Jerry) Iger is formally credited in the Statement of Ownership printed in this very issue — a rare direct confirmation of Iger's working authority over the title. Reed Crandall, by this point a mainstay of Quality's output, supplied the cover art; he had been drawn into the Quality orbit after Arnold spotted his fine-line illustration work and hired him away from the Iger shop. The interior features were divided among a large pool of contracted contributors including Max Elkan (Stormy Foster), George Brenner (Ghost of Flanders), Klaus Nordling (Bob and Swab), Al Bryant (Betty Bates), and Arthur Peddy (Don Glory), reflecting the assembly-line anthology model typical of Quality's wartime production.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published February 1942 by Quality Comics as part of the Hit Comics anthology series (vol. 1, #20), cover-dated February 1942 with an apparent on-sale date in December 1941.
- Cover art is by Reed Crandall and features the character Don Glory; Crandall served as Quality's primary cover artist across multiple anthology titles during this period.
- The lead Stormy Foster feature — an 11-page story titled 'The Deadly Scheme of Dr. Bork' — depicts villain Dr. Bork attempting to trigger a diphtheria epidemic by contaminating the milk supply, a wartime public-health-themed plot by writer/artist Max Elkan and Arthur Peddy.
- Stormy Foster (the Great Defender) is depicted in his civilian identity as a bespectacled drug-store soda jerk who gains the strength of ten men by taking a 'super-vitamin'; his only disguise as the Great Defender is a false moustache.
- The Statement of Ownership printed inside this issue cites 'Editor: S. M. Iger,' providing primary documentary evidence that Jerry Iger's studio held editorial control of the title for publisher Everett M. Arnold.
- Issue #20 falls within Stormy Foster's cover-feature run on Hit Comics (#18–23), placing it near the midpoint of the character's headline tenure before the series underwent a complete line-up overhaul with the introduction of Kid Eternity in issue #25 (December 1942).
- Contributing creators on interior stories include Klaus Nordling (Bob and Swab), George Brenner (Ghost of Flanders), Al Bryant (Betty Bates), Arthur Peddy (Don Glory), Jack Cole (Dan Tootin humor page), and Witmer Williams (Red Bee), making this one of the most creatively crowded single issues of the run.
- The Ghost of Flanders story in this issue involves FBI Chief Egbert Weever tasking the Ghost with delivering sensitive wartime documents to the War Department — a plot thread reflecting the direct integration of WWII espionage themes across nearly every feature in the book.
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