Data courtesy of the Grand Comics Database under Creative Commons license.

Issue Details

Issue #19
Published Winter 1943-44
Cover Price 0.10
Pages 60
Editing Sheldon Mayer
Notes There's a full page on the JJSA in this issue, including a JJSA secret code message in the Dr. Mid-Nite code. All story synopses and notes by Craig Delich (Dec. 2005).

Cover Details - "Crimes Set to Music"

Characters Hawkman [Carter Hall]; Starman [Ted Knight]; Dr. Fate; Spectre [Jim Corrigan]; Sandman [Wesley Dodds]; Dr. Mid-Nite; Atom [Al Pratt]; Johnny Thunder [Earth-2]; Wonder Woman [Earth-2] (all as the Justice Society of America/JSA)
Genre superhero
Pencils Joe Gallagher
Inks Joe Gallagher
Notes There's a full page on the JJSA in this issue, including a JJSA secret code message in the Dr. Mid-Nite code. All story synopses and notes by Craig Delich (Dec. 2005).
Reprinted in All Star Comics Archives (DC, 1991 series) #5

3 page Justice Society of America story "The Crimes Set to Music [introduction]"

Characters Carter Hall]; Starman [Ted Knight]; Dr. Fate; Spectre [Jim Corrigan]; Sandman [Wesley Dodds]; Dr. Mid-Nite; Atom [Al Pratt]; Johnny Thunder [Earth-2]; Wonder Woman [Earth-2] (all as the Justice Society of America/JSA)
Synopsis Chairman Hawkman has disappeared, and as the members make ready for a meeting that will not take place, hawks begin arriving with fragments of sheet music, each one with a single note on it. The members all gather at a deserted country house to try and figure out what the notes mean. Wonder Woman sits at a piano in the house and plays one of the notes. Immediately, a small panel opens in the piano and out falls a hammer with a note attached, giving a name and address, along with a cryptic notation. Each member takes one of the notes to follow them up to see if they lead to the whereabouts of the Feathered Fury.
Genre superhero
Script Gardner Fox
Pencils Joe Gallagher
Inks Joe Gallagher
Reprinted in All Star Comics Archives (DC, 1991 series) #5

5 page Starman story "The Crimes Set to Music [chapter 1]"

Characters Starman [Ted Knight]
Synopsis Starman heads to the home of Mark Nelson, puzzling over the cryptic remark about a fiddle. Entering the home, he sees someone attempting to smash a fiddle, and saves the fiddle and kayos several thugs as well, who tell him a guy over on West Boulevard hired them to smash it before they flee. The Astral Avenger waits for Nelson to return....a young musician who can only compose on that Stradivarius violin, which once belonged to his teacher before he died. Just then, the thugs return to finish the job, but Starman finishess them for the Police. He then heads over to West Boulevard to see if Hawkman is there.
Genre superhero
Script Gardner Fox
Pencils Stan Aschmeier
Inks Stan Aschmeier
Reprinted in All Star Comics Archives (DC, 1991 series) #5

5 page Johnny Thunder story "The Crimes Set to Music [chapter 2: Johnny Thunder Stops a Kidnapping]"

Characters Johnny Thunder [Earth-2]; Johnny Thunder's Thunderbolt
Synopsis Johnny is heading over to the home of Charles Norris by bus, and he converses with the very thugs that are going to kidnap Norris, bragging about how he is going to protect the man! The crooks offer to help brother John and they arrive at the house, entering by window. They trick Johnny into trying a stunt while they go into another part of the house and snatch Norris. Fortunately, Johnny blurts out the magic words and the Thunderbolt shows up to save the day and save Norris, then both head out to find Hawkman.
Genre superhero;humor
Script Gardner Fox
Pencils Stan Aschmeier
Inks Stan Aschmeier
Reprinted in All Star Comics Archives (DC, 1991 series) #5

5 page Dr. Fate story "The Crimes Set to Music [chapter 3]"

Characters Dr. Fate
Synopsis Doctor Fate is on his way to the home of noted singer, Arturo Carasa, before the threat to take his voice away succeeds. As they talk, gas suddenly is pumped into the room and Fate grabs the man and heads out the window to the roof where both find that they have lost their voices! Communicating by written note, Fate tells the singer that he must go on as scheduled, hoping to smoke out the rats involved. Carasa "sings" as Doctor Fate plays a record, and it does indeed smoke out the men involved, whom Dr. Fate immediately puts a wrap on. Telling Carasa that he'll get his voice back in a day or two, he drops the thugs off at the local jail and then starts out to track down the missing Hawkman.
Genre occult; superhero
Script Gardner Fox
Pencils Jon Chester Kozlak
Inks Jon Chester Kozlak
Reprinted in All Star Comics Archives (DC, 1991 series) #5

5 page Atom story "The Crimes Set to Music [chapter 4: The Atom Solves a Fingerprint Mystery]"

Characters Atom [Al Pratt]
Synopsis The Atom visits a young lady, daughter of Arnold Murray, on death row as she awaits her fate in the electric chair. Knowing her fingerprints were found at the murder scene, the Mighty Mite decides to visit the murder scene for any overlooked clue. He spots a plaster mold of Claire Murray's hands....complete with fingerprints on them, and he now knows that she is somehow innocent of the crime. He next visits the sculptor who made them, and learns that the original molds were stolen one week earlier. Changing to Al Pratt, he visits the local newspaper office and plants a story in the next edition, asking for the thief of the hands to see him privately at a certain address. The man shows up and attempts to kill Al, and, switching to the Atom, follows the thief to his hideout, kayos him and finds the hand molds that prove the young lady's innocence. Turning them over to the authorities, Atom then heads over to West Boulevard to find Hawkman.
Genre superhero
Script Gardner Fox
Pencils Joe Gallagher
Inks Joe Gallagher
Reprinted in All Star Comics Archives (DC, 1991 series) #5

5 page Sandman story "The Crimes Set to Music [chapter 5]"

Characters Sandman [Wesley Dodds]; Sandy the Golden Boy
Synopsis Sandman & Sandy are out to reach pianist Theodor Koronski before a mysterious robed individual can cut his fingers off.....at least, that's the dream that the famed musician has. Unfortunately, as he relaxes and begins to play his favorite tune, a sharp blade above the piano falls toward his fingers. Fortunately, Sandman and Sandy arrive in time to save him and question him as to if he has any enemies. While they are talking, several thugs outside the musician's apartment attempt to kill the crime fighters and finish the job to cripple Koronski. But the duo has set a trap that the criminals fall into and wrap them up in short order, then head out to seek Hawkman.
Genre superhero
Script Gardner Fox; Jack Kirby (partial re-write)
Pencils Jack Kirby
Inks Joe Simon
Notes Writer credit from Craig Delich (April 30, 2004). Re-writes confirmed by Jack Kirby.
Reprinted in All Star Comics Archives (DC, 1991 series) #5

5 page Dr. Mid-Nite story "The Crimes Set to Music [chapter 6]"

Characters Dr. Mid-Nite
Synopsis Dr. Mid-Nite's job to to save master composer, Loring Merkeroff, but is knocked out during the ensuing fight and awakens to find the composer gone. Searching the room, he sees that Merkeroff wrote a clue to his kidnapper on sheet music at the piano, so the Man of Night follows the lead. Meanwhile, the composer has been taken to an operating room where a surgeon is to deafen the composer so he can't finish the opus he is working on. Dr. Mid-Nite takes his place, cleans up the opposition, frees Merkeroff and heads out toward West Boulevard.
Genre superhero
Script Gardner Fox
Pencils Stan Aschmeier
Inks Stan Aschmeier
Reprinted in All Star Comics Archives (DC, 1991 series) #5

5 page Spectre, The story "The Crimes Set to Music [chapter 7]"

Characters Spectre [Jim Corrigan]
Synopsis The story opens in ancient Peking, China, where a bell has been cast by a lowly bell-caster, loved by a royalty. Because of this, he is literally cast into a giant bell, leaving a curse just before he dies. Years later, the bell broke and it was re-cast into a set of Carillon Bells, and are now owned by Armand Baulaire, who plays them for a living. Armand learns of the curse and is hesitant to keep them....he heads home and is confronted by a pair of Chinese "ghosts" he thinks are associated with the curse. Fortunately, the Spectre reads also of the curse and arrives at the home in time to deal with the intruders. The Ghostly Guardian informs Armand that the curse is phony and to keep playing.
Genre superhero; occult
Script Gardner Fox
Pencils Bernard Baily
Inks Bernard Baily
Letters Howard Ferguson
Notes Letterer credit by Craig Delich (Dec. 2005).
Reprinted in All Star Comics Archives (DC, 1991 series) #5

1 page Hop Harrigan text story "Hop Harrigan Over Torres Strait"

Characters Hop Harrigan; Tank Tinker
Synopsis Hop is given orders to discover what happened to a hospital ship that left Cape York, Australia, a few days back on its way to Port Moresby to pick up wounded soldiers.
Genre aviation
Letters typeset
Reprinted in All Star Comics Archives (DC, 1991 series) #5

5 page Justice Society of America story "The Crimes Set to Music [conclusion]"

Characters Sandman [Wesley Dodds]; Atom [Al Pratt]; Spectre [Jim Corrigan]; Hawkman [Carter Hall]; Starman [Ted Knight] (all as the Justice Society of America/JSA); Hector Bauer (villain)
Synopsis Of the eight young budding musicians of 40 years ago, only one of them, Hector Bauer, has not made a success of himself in the music world, and he is very bitter about it. But he goes to see his old friends who have made it and they agree to give him a chance to perform his symphony that evening. On his way to the concert hall, Hector is hit on the head and loses his memory, and only a newspaper article about the concert brings back his memory. Unfortunately, the symphony is a failure, and, as years pass, Hector Bauer broods and plans revenge on those who did succeed. The JSA breaks into Bauer's home on West Boulevard and releases Hawkman, who decides to tell his story.
Genre superhero
Script Gardner Fox
Pencils Joe Gallagher
Inks Joe Gallagher
Notes Wonder Woman does not appear in the conclusion.
Reprinted in All Star Comics Archives (DC, 1991 series) #5

5 page Hawkman story "The Crimes Set to Music [chapter 8]"

Characters Hawkman [Carter Hall]; Hawkgirl [Shiera Sanders]; Herman Bauer (villain)
Synopsis The Feathered Fury relates how he and Shiera were attending the seasonal opening of the Music Academy when they note a queer man intently staring with absolute hatred at the guest soloist, Charles Norris. Shiera sees a gun in the man's coat, so Carter changes to Hawkman and follows the man behind stage, and stops a murder only to be knocked out for a few moments. When he comes to, he sees the man running from the theatre and jump into a car, which he follows from the air. As Hawkman enters the home of this man, he is sprayed with a special liquid that tightens Hawk's skin muscles to marble-like rigidity, then he is imprisoned. As the man, now identified as Hector Bauer, begins to tell Hawkman what he intends to do, Hawk muses how he can warn the JSA what has happened and who to save from this madman. He discovers that he can still whistle, so he calls the hawks to bring large leaves to him and he uses a forefinger dipped in ink to write the notes to the JSA members. Once done, Bauer returns and sprays the Hawkman with a solution that will free him in five hours.
Genre superhero
Script Gardner Fox
Pencils Sheldon Moldoff
Inks Sheldon Moldoff
Notes This is the only time in All Star that Hawkman's chapter is found at the end of an issue.
Reprinted in All Star Comics Archives (DC, 1991 series) #5