All-Star Comics #16

Issue Details

Synopsis

THE JUSTICE SOCIETY FIGHTS FOR A UNITED AMERICA Trying the age-old tactic of divide and conquer, Adolf Hitler sends eight of his handpicked agents to America to incite racial, religious, and class hatred and thereby weaken the country for his gain. Hawkman stumbles onto the plot and captures one of the agents. He enlists the aid of the other seven Justice Society members to stop the remaining agents.  Hawkman tells his story about how he broke up a fight between two long-time friends: the son of the local steel mill owner and the son of the union representative. He learns that a new factory worker, in an attempt to start a strike, has been spreading rumors that the mill owner has been getting rich off war contracts and cheating union workers. Hawkman and the boys track down the new worker and uncover a Nazi spy ring. Hawkman forces the spy to confess to the union. The spy also confessed to the seven other plots being hatched around the country.   Having been alerted to this new menace, the heroes depart to thwart the sabotage efforts.  Doctor Mid-Nite seeks out Tony Scarlotti, Jr., the son of a big-time gangster gone straight. Tony, Jr. got a black eye sticking up for kids being targeted by prejudice. While Dr. Mid-Nite is there, an old business associate of Tony, Sr. turns up, and threatens to tell about Tony's past crimes unless he spreads racial and religious prejudices, but Dr. Mid-Nite kicks the man out. In an effort to stir up prejudice, the associate (actually a Nazi agent) decides to kidnap and murder Tony, Jr., in hopes of starting a race riot. Dr. Mid-Nite sees the kidnapping, and rescues the boy, but is faced with a tough fight against armed thugs. Tony, Sr. arrives to help Dr. Mid-Nite, but is fatally shot during the fight.  The Atom goes to the "killer" mine, a coal mine renowned for its many accidents. Taking advantage of the fact that the owners are foreign born, Nazi agents have been spreading rumors that adequate safety equipment hasn't been put into use, so the owners can kill off the union labor and hire cheaper non-union labor. To prove the safety equipment is in place, the Atom leads a team of miners into the mine. But the saboteurs place dynamite in the braces and cause a cave-in. The Atom singlehandedly holds up the mine, allowing the others to escape. After the collapse, he wiggles out from under the wreckage, discovers evidence of the explosion, and captures the spies.  Doctor Fate unravels a scheme where a Nazi spy poses as a fortune teller who predicts things, and then has his team make the predictions come true to earn people's trust. Once this is accomplished, he predicts fighting against Hilter is hopeless, and tells people not to contribute to the war effort or listen to the U.S. Government. When Doctor Fate tells the fortune teller’s customers the truth, they don’t believe him. He therefore has to break into the Nazi spy headquarters to obtain the proof that all of the predictions were false. To break up a Nazi-sponsored newspaper, Sandman, tells a newsboy the truth about the paper. The boy sets off to enlist his friend's help, while Sandman finds where the newspaper is printed and rounds up the entire staff. When Sandman returns, he finds that the newsies have already beaten up a pair of Nazi agents sent to stop them from telling people that the paper was only propaganda. Starman has to deal with agents who are trying to make farmers stop growing grain by convincing them that middle-men are making too much profit. At the local town hall meeting, the agents successfully plead their case. When Starman arrives and beats the agents, the farmers turn against him, believing he is working on the side of the profiteers. Starman escapes with the help of some local youth. When the farmers begin to cast ballots about whether or not to plant, Starman steals the ballots, with an angry mob behind him. He then drops all of the ballots in front of the agents, who begin picking them up. The youths pelt the agents with slingshots. The agents then give away their identities when they begin swearing in German. The Spectre witnesses a Nazi agent frame a Polish immigrant for breaking into a factory safe. The agent uses his newfound respect he's earned by catching the thief to spread hate about immigrants. When the Spectre confronts the agent, other people defend him, so instead, he tortures the agent in his sleep to learn his secrets. Afterwards, he gathers up other members of the community to eavesdrop on the agent when he wakes up and radios Berlin, revealing the truth.  Johnny Thunder sneaks into a meeting of enemy agents spreading propaganda. Of course, Johnny believes what he hears, and begins planning an armed show of force. He asks his Thunderbolt for help, but the sight of the Thunderbolt causes the leaders to bolt for the door. Once Johnny tracks them down, he is immediately attacked. He is aided in his escape by a double agent, who is a German American. Of course, the escape fails, and in desperation, he throws their papers out the window, which attracts the attention of a nearby police officer. Johnny has the Thunderbolt keep him alive long enough for the German American to force the agents to surrender. The Thunderbolt rounds up the agents and delivers them to the arriving police.  The Justice Society meets up later at a movie theater for a giant war bond rally. The members talk about national unity and bring men and women from all walks of life on stage to talk about how they are contributing to the war effort.