Smash Comics #19

In "Slash Scraponi's Escape," the imprisoned mobster Slash Scarponi, serving a twenty-year sentence on Bedlam Island, still pulls strings from behind bars through a corrupt warden. When rookie hero Happy Terrill starts closing in on his operation, Scarponi realizes he can't afford to stay locked up—and plans a daring breakout to settle the score.

In the frozen reaches of the Arctic, Kent and Chuck make a desperate crash landing only to stumble upon a hidden tropical valley where prehistoric creatures roam and cavemen still thrive. Led by the fierce Belthor, the tribe claims their land is kept warm by underground steam—and that their freedom is threatened by outsiders drilling for oil.

Abdul, a desert adventurer, receives a remarkable hunting falcon and decides to test its tracking abilities in the sands—only to discover its true worth when he infiltrates a slave-smuggling ring led by the ruthless Princess Shauri. Posing as a captive to gather evidence, Abdul finds himself bound and hidden inside a hollow carpet bound for Bagdad, and must rely on his falcon's extraordinary instincts and the courage of his companion Hassan to expose Shauri's operation and survive the treacherous desert chase that follows.

In "null," Tom takes flight when his passenger plane is hijacked on a route to Alaska, thrusting him into a dangerous mission to expose a covert enemy scheme—where American transports are being repurposed as bombers. Written by an unknown hand and illustrated by an unknown artist, the story unfolds with tense urgency as Tom races to protect the home front from a threat hidden in plain sight.

Chic Carter, a star reporter for the Daily Star, joins the Gordon Bruce Aerial Expedition to Tibet in search of the mysterious Lamas of the Red Dragon—but when their plane lands, a fateful invitation to the Grand Lama's temple sets in motion a deadly trap. A treacherous high priest frames the outsiders for murder, forcing them to fight their way through an angry mob and into a hidden chamber where an ancient, savage beast awaits.