Smash Comics #82

In "null," a 1949 adventure from Smash Comics #82, the song thief Danny makes a deal with the reclusive Woodland Boy, offering peace in exchange for the rights to his hit song—setting up a tense standoff between fame and solitude.

When an archaeologist arrives at Black X's apartment with a cryptic dying message about the "Fire Beetle," the suave spy and his faithful companion Batu find themselves drawn into a dangerous case involving a stolen indigenous treasure and a murderer willing to kill again to keep it hidden. As Black X pieces together clues and confronts those searching for the artifact, he must outmaneuver both Inspector Beef Burton and a group of visitors with their own claims to the sacred object—all while the real killer works to silence anyone who might expose them.

Lady Luck accepts an invitation to appear as a contestant on "Solve It," a radio mystery quiz show—but while she's occupied solving the broadcast's staged crime, real criminals use the program's coded spot announcements to orchestrate an actual robbery. When Lady Luck, along with her companion Peecolo, discovers the culprits' clever scheme, she springs into action to stop them and crack the case before returning to deliver her solution on air.

When rookie cop Chuck Lane pursues armed criminals into a theater, he discovers that the stage's mysterious headliner, Mandu the Magician, and his assistant Ali are the culprits behind a shooting that wounded Detective McGinty. Now the Jester must use his wits and showmanship to expose their guilt and bring them to justice before they escape into the night. What unfolds is a dizzying collision of magic, deception, and performance as the two sides battle it out on stage.