All-Star Comics #50

Issue Details

Synopsis

THE PROPHESY OF PERIL! The JSA are making a public appearance at Midwestern University to be recognized for their contributions to the field of crime detection. It so happens the Flash has an appointment to keep as Jay Garrick, having attended MU himself. At the meeting he and several other alumni meet with a professor who had them write predictions for how their futures would turn out back during their student days. Garrick, for instance, was right in his prediction that he'd become a research scientist (while noting nobody could've predicted something like him becoming the Flash). One of his former classmates, Paul Turnbull, panics and throws his own prediction into the fire rather than let anyone see it. The event so discomfits Jay Garrick he decides to ask his Justice Society teammates their thoughts. Dr. Mid-Nite posits a theory on how they might be able to read Turnbull's prediction after all, via the impressions on the piece of paper from the Flash's prediction since they were written on the same notepad. They quickly learn why Turnbull refused to let anyone read his prediction: in it he declares to become "the most unique and daring criminal of all time!", Mr. Alpha, who will carry out five daring crimes based on five fields of science. They search Turnbull's hotel room and find four travel brochures, leading the assembled heroes to deduce they were from Turnbull casing the sites of his daring robberies. The professor points out this is only four, and he promised five, only to hear a call for help and find out the first crime's already been committed: the theft of a million dollars donated by Fred Kincaid, one of the former students to participate in the prediction activity also. The watchman reports Alpha used his knowledge of chemistry to make the safe brittle and easy to smash open. After looking at Turnbull's records to have a guess at his crimes, the JSA split up to try and stop Mr. Alpha in the act. Hawkman and Atom head to a river valley just before some levees are bombed open, and submit to their heroic instincts and help repair the damage before anyone can be harmed. Meanwhile Mr. Alpha robs a collection of priceless antique glassware, and traps the JSA members in a basement he promptly floods before making good his escape. As Alpha leaves he thinks he spots a shadowy figure watching him, but brushes it off. Black Canary and Dr. Mid-Nite scope out a beach resort just before a hurricane blows in, and like their teammates prioritize helping with disaster relief over tracking down Mr. Alpha. Realizing one of the biggest casinos in town is at the eye of the storm, and as such wouldn't be threatened by the hurricane, the heroes hurry there and catch Mr. Alpha in the act of robbing it. Dr. Mid-Nite tries one of his blackout bombs, but Mr. Alpha's costume is coated in phosphorous, allowing him to see in the blackness and knock the two heroes out, leaving them to be burned to death in the casino. Wonder Woman and Flash check out a zoo where exotic animals are kept in captivity without cages or bars, until one of the caretakers warns them the generator that powers the security measures has stopped working and the rare animals can easily escape now. The heroes get things working again quickly, but meanwhile Mr. Alpha's snuck into city hall, having banked on everyone leaning out the windows to see the tropical birds that escaped so as to let him sneak in unnoticed. The pair of heroes catch up to Mr. Alpha but are electrocuted into unconsciousness by wiring inside his outfit. For his last feat, Mr. Alpha tries to steal a car worth exactly a million dollars. Green Lantern catches up to him but is taken out by Mr. Alpha throwing a cable from a battery charger into a pool of oil at the hero's feet. As Mr. Alpha drives away, he knows soon Green Lantern will be fried to a crisp by the current. A shadowy figure comes in and saves Lantern just in time, who the hero pursues and is surprised to find is Paul Turnbull, who'd saved the other JSA members from their deathtraps too. The JSA track down Mr. Alpha and unmask him as Fred Kincaid, the only other person who know about the Mr. Alpha prophecy Turnbull wrote down.