Smash Comics #13

In "Devil's Island," a 1940 installment from Smash Comics #13, the shadowy operative Black X is dispatched to the infamous penal colony to prevent the dangerous thief Moran from handing over the secret to a revolutionary new gun—though the real threat may not be the prison itself, but what lies within Moran’s mind.

Wun Cloo springs into action when the bank president calls him in to solve a baffling case: money keeps vanishing from a locked vault each night, and suspicion falls on Old Clutchcopper, a mysterious figure living nearby who's been lending the bank funds. When Clutchcopper learns that Wun Cloo has been hired to catch him, he unleashes a mechanical threat to stop the defective detective before he can uncover the truth.

When a ruthless villain called the Golden Dragon kidnaps Thomas Clark and forces him to produce munitions for a world conquest scheme, the Invisible Hood must infiltrate the Dragon's fortress to stop him—but discovers the villain has been holding Joyce Clark captive for two years under a hypnotic spell. As the Hood works to free the prisoners and expose the Dragon's plans, he'll need all his cunning to outmaneuver a foe with deadly traps, loyal followers, and nothing left to lose.

King Archie O'Toole dedicates a brand-new railroad to his kingdom and takes a joyride on its inaugural train—until the villainous Gil O'Teen sabotages the tracks and makes off with the golden spike to pawn for quick cash. Archie tracks down the culprit, recovers the spike, and finds a clever way to keep his commuters moving despite the wreckage. It's a lighthearted romp full of slapstick chaos and good-natured heroics.

In the waning days of vaudeville, three former performers—Tiny, Rocky, and Warren—find their careers slipping away, only to discover a new stage in the fight against crime. With nothing left to lose and a shared knack for theatrics, they forge an unlikely alliance, turning their talents into weapons against the city’s underworld.

Philpot Veep spots a man in a prison-made suit entering a bakery, then a clothing store—and his suspicions are piqued. Working with his companion Waldo, Philpot begins to unravel what looks like a carefully planned scheme, one piece at a time.

A woman approaches detective Philpot Veep with a puzzling problem: her husband's nose has turned an alarming shade of red, and she fears the worst. With his trusty associate Waldo at his side, Veep sets out to uncover the harmless—or perhaps surprising—cause behind the man's prominent proboscis.

Abdul the Arab and his tutor Hassan answer a desperate call from Sheik Tell Akib, whose flocks are being ravaged by the bandit Ahmed the Bedouin—a cunning thief who always manages to slip away. Abdul devises a bold plan to infiltrate Ahmed's gang, using a clever trail of copper coins to guide Hassan and reinforcements to the hidden mountain stronghold. When a violent storm threatens to bury them all, the mission spirals into chaos, and Abdul must reckon with a foe far more dangerous than anyone anticipated.

Captain Cook of Scotland Yard hunts the elusive criminal mastermind known as "The Key" through the shadowy streets of London's Chinatown, following a trail of escaped convicts and mysterious deaths. When a poisoned Chinese prisoner vanishes from a prison transport and resurfaces in the criminal underworld, Cook and Sergeant Kelly pursue their suspects into the depths of Chinatown itself—only to find themselves trapped and face-to-face with the mysterious figure who controls an army of enslaved men. As Cook uncovers the truth behind "The Key's" operation, he discovers far more than he bargained for in this dangerous game of cat and mouse.