Justice Society of America cover by Frank Harry. Story art by Bernard Baily, Sheldon Moldoff, and Howard Sherman. The Atom, Johnny Thunder, Doctor Mid-Nite, Hawkman, Wonder Woman, Starman, Doctor Fate, the Spectre, and the Sandman appearances.
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COVER DETAILS
Title:
Insects Turn to Crime!
Characters:
Justice Society of America [The Atom [Al Pratt]; Johnny Thunder; Dr. Mid-Nite [Dr. Charles McNider]; Hawkman [Carter Hall]; Wonder Woman [Diana Prince]; Starman [Ted Knight]; Dr. Fate [Kent Nelson]; The Spectre [Jim Corrigan]; The Sandman [Wesley Dodds]]
Pencils:
Frank Harry
Inks:
Frank Harry
STORY DETAILS
Title:
Insects Turn to Crime! Introduction
Characters:
Justice Society of America [Hawkman [Carter Hall]; The Sandman [Wesley Dodds]; Dr. Mid-Nite [Dr. Charles McNider]; Starman [Ted Knight]; The Atom [Al Pratt]; Dr. Fate [Kent Nelson]; The Spectre [Jim Corrigan]; Johnny Thunder; Wonder Woman [Diana Prince] (Secretary)]
Synopsis:
Chairman Hawkman displays a wax exhibition of a miniature insect world for the JSA members to look at as they arrive at the JSA meeting, and explains what a new master criminal is doing to use insect hormones to create a race of super men-insects to commit crimes! Johnny Thunder comes in late...walking on the ceiling and buzzing like a fly, which demonstrates to the members the urgency of their task to find this madman and defeat his minions.
Pages:
3.000
Script:
Gardner Fox
Pencils:
Joe Gallagher
Inks:
Joe Gallagher
Notes:
The splash page does NOT list the story's title.
Title:
Insects Turn to Crime! Chapter 1
Characters:
Hawkman [Carter Hall]; Abner Mason; group of thugs [Slick; rest unnamed] (villains); The Termite Men (Abner's unnamed son; rest unnamed] (villains)
Synopsis:
Abner Mason writes to Hawkman about his son, who has been taken by a gang of termite men to the deserted Cartwheel house. The termite men were being used to rob banks, after disabling bank guards with a gummy substance. The Feathered Fury tracks down the gang, but is overcome by the gummy substance and left suspended over a fire that had been set to kill him in the house. But the heat melts the substance and Hawkman escapes, tracking down the thugs and termite men.
Pages:
5.000
Script:
Gardner Fox
Pencils:
Sheldon Moldoff
Inks:
Sheldon Moldoff
Title:
Insects Turn to Crime! Chapter 2
Characters:
The Sandman [Wesley Dodds]; Serge Astrakoff (scientist); group of thugs (villains); Borer Men (villains)
Synopsis:
Serge Astrakoff has discovered a way to make rubber from plants, and he tells Sandman that one evening, while working in his lab, he heard a strange noise and some men that looked like giant snails, bored up from underneath his lab and stole the synthetic rubber formula. The Sandman follows the trail of the "borer-men" and disables them with gas and captures the thugs and secures the formula.
Pages:
5.000
Script:
Gardner Fox
Pencils:
Pierce Rice
Inks:
Arthur Cazeneuve
Title:
Insects Turn to Crime! Chapter 3
Characters:
The Spectre [Jim Corrigan]; The Water Bug [Chick Demsey] (villain, reforms); the Water Bug's Gang (villains, all reform)
Synopsis:
The Spectre battles a man known as the Water Bug, who, in reality, is Chick Dempsey, world record holder in a dozen swimming events. Unable to get work after he graduated from college, Dempsey is approached by the King Bee and goes to work for him. He's glad when the Spectre nabs him and then helps the Ghostly Guardian to round up the rest of the gang.
Pages:
5.000
Script:
Gardner Fox
Pencils:
Bernard Baily
Inks:
Bernard Baily
Letters:
Bernard Baily
Notes:
Letterer credit from Craig Delich.
Title:
Insects Turn to Crime! Chapter 4
Characters:
Dr. Fate [Kent Nelson]; Fred (airliner pilot); Brown (airliner pilot); Hasher (villain); Hasher's gang (villains); The Hornet Men (villains)
Synopsis:
An airliner is attacked by hornet men, who force the plane down, and take it away, leaving the passengers stranded. Dr. Fate just happens to pass by the area and is seen by one of the members of King Bee's gang: the Hasher! He reports back to the rest of his gang that Fate is in the area, and sends up the hornet men after him. Fate makes short work of them, then captures Hasher and his gang, then discovers paperwork from the King Bee, and heads out after him.
Pages:
5.000
Script:
Gardner Fox
Pencils:
Howard Sherman
Inks:
Howard Sherman
Letters:
Howard Sherman
Notes:
Letterer credit by Craig Delich.
Title:
Insects Turn to Crime! Chapter 5
Characters:
Dr. Mid-Nite [Dr. Charles McNider]; Fred Norman (bank employee); Jim (Fred's friend, flashback, death); gang of thugs (villains); The Spider Men (villains)
Synopsis:
Fred Norman had a fear and hatred of spiders, due to the fact that his friend Jim, whom he had been camping with, was killed by one ten years earlier. Working late in a bank, Fred was startled to see some human spiders invading the bank to steal some loot. Later, Dr. Mid-Nite convinces Fred that he can beat his phobia and together they face these minions of the King Bee. After throwing his blackout bomb into the area to frighten the spider-men, Fred runs out, reconsiders and comes back in to sock one of the thugs whom he thought to be one of his spider enemies, thus over-coming his fear.
Pages:
5.000
Script:
Gardner Fox
Pencils:
Stan Asch
Inks:
Stan Asch
Title:
Hop Harrigan at New Guinea
Characters:
Hop Harrigan; Tank Tinker
Pages:
1.500
Pencils:
Jon L. Blummer (illustration of Hop Harrigan)
Inks:
Jon L. Blummer (illustration of Hop Harrigan)
Letters:
typeset
Notes:
This text story does NOT appear in the Archives.
Title:
Insects Turn to Crime! Chapter 6
Characters:
Starman [Ted Knight]; gang of thugs (villains); The Ant Men (villains)
Synopsis:
The city faces the threat of ant-men, who have the power to crush a car in their bare hands. They are being used by the King Bee's thugs to rob local banks, and when the Astral Avenger arrives, he tries to figure out a way to handle them safely without killing them. When Starman discovers that the ant-men are controlled by a microphone through antennas on their heads, Starman pounds the thugs and brings the ant-men under control with that microphone.
Pages:
5.000
Script:
Gardner Fox
Pencils:
Pierce Rice
Inks:
Arthur Cazeneuve
Title:
Insects Turn to Crime! Chapter 7
Characters:
The Atom [Al Pratt]; Percival Norman; unnamed head of Entomology; group of thugs (villains); The Grasshopper Men (villains)
Synopsis:
An emerald necklace called the Green Glacier tells the story of how it was stolen by Grasshopper Men from Carteret's House of Jewels. Arriving on the scene, the Atom directs the grasshopper thieves into a field of grain while he overcomes the human criminals and takes the Glacier into his safe-keeping.
Pages:
5.000
Script:
Gardner Fox
Pencils:
Joe Gallagher
Inks:
Joe Gallagher
Notes:
The necklace narrates this story.
Oddity: The Atom is pictured without his cape on page 5, panel 5.
Title:
Insects Turn to Crime! Chapter 8
Characters:
Johnny Thunder; The Thunderbolt [Archibald]; group of thugs (villains); The Fly Men (villains)
Synopsis:
Already under the influence of the fly hormone, Johnny goes to the diner where he ate the funny tasting bologna laced with that hormone. He is immediately forced to eat soup also containing the ingredient, and is given a set of wings so he can fly with the rest to commit yet more crimes. Johnny has enough presence of mind to suggest ways to capture the group and the Thunderbolt handles the details, then they head for the King Bee's residence.
Pages:
5.000
Script:
Gardner Fox
Pencils:
Stan Asch
Inks:
Stan Asch
Notes:
Johnny never once says "Cei-U," but the Thunderbolt acts as if he had.
Title:
Whitey's First Round-Up
Pages:
0.670
Script:
Josette Frank
Letters:
typeset
Title:
Insects Turn to Crime! Conclusion
Characters:
Justice Society of America [Hawkman [Carter Hall]; Johnny Thunder; Dr. Fate [Kent Nelson]; The Spectre [Jim Corrigan]; Dr. Mid-Nite [Dr. Charles McNider]; The Sandman [Wesley Dodds]; Starman [Ted Knight]; Atom [Al Pratt]]; The Thunderbolt [Archibald]; The King Bee [Elmer Pane] (villain, bug exterminator)
Synopsis:
Elmer Pane, a lowly bug exterminator, has been made fun of all his life due to his interest in bugs and his career. One day he is able to isolate insect hormones, crystallize them, and find a way of ingesting them in humans to do his bidding. Having overcome Pane's weird creations, the JSA shows up at the King Bee's residence and overpower him, finding the antidote for the hormones which they will use on the King Bee's innocent victims to restore them to their real selves.
Pages:
5.000
Script:
Gardner Fox
Pencils:
Joe Gallagher
Inks:
Joe Gallagher
Notes:
Wonder Woman does not appear in the conclusion.
Exclusive to Heritage members: GoCollect price report for this certified comic.
CGC Census Report*
Grade
0.5
1.0
1.5
1.8
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
5.0
5.5
6.0
6.5
7.0
7.5
8.0
8.5
9.0
9.2
9.4
9.6
9.8
9.9
10.0
Total
Universal
1
0
0
2
1
1
2
7
7
5
10
7
5
6
5
6
4
3
1
0
2
2
0
0
0
77
Qualified
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
Signature Series
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Restored
1
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
2
1
2
0
0
3
0
0
2
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
15
Total
2
0
0
2
1
2
4
7
9
6
12
7
5
9
5
6
6
3
2
1
2
2
0
0
0
93
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