Appearing in "Mystery of the Shocker"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Shocker (Dalt Kendall) (First appearance; dies)
Races and Species:
Locations:
Synopsis for "Mystery of the Shocker"
Madeline Joyce has rushed to the bank to put her Uncle Jim's most recently purchased war bonds into the safe before closing time. Inside the bank she spots a strange pale skinned man approaching the teller window. The man demands the teller to give him all the money. His robbery is interrupted by the bank security guards. However to the surprise of everyone, the man -- calling himself the Shocker -- fires bolts of electricity that electrocute the guards to death allowing him to escape.
Madeline, jolted by the blast herself, shakes it off and chases after the Shocker's getaway car. Noticing that he is being followed, the Shocker causes a car accident to block Madeline's path. Madeline then changes into Miss America and flies after him. They reach the docks and Miss America fails to catch the Shocker before he can dive into the harbor. She decides to wait until he comes up for air, but the Shocker fails to surface.
Going to police headquarters to see if the authorities know anything, Madeline hears of yet another bank robbery being committed by the Shocker. Rushing after him, she follows him back to the harbor once again and fails to stop him from diving into the water. This time going after him Miss America is forced to pull back as the Shocker begins unleashing his electrical charge in the water.
Suspecting that there must be secret underwater location that the Shocker is accessing Madeline pays a visit to the Department of Docks and Harbors in her civilian guise. There she is shown plans for a tunnel that was abandoned years ago during construction that feeds into that section of the harbor. Learning the location of the tunnels entrance, Madeline goes to investigate. Inside she finds a man guarding the tunnel and poses as a journalist to try and gain access to the tunnel. When the man refuses to let her by, she trips him up, knocking him out.
Changing back into Miss America, Madeline then travels down the tunnel and finds the secret lab of the Shocker. Having detected her presence the Shocker welcomes her in and shows her his tank of large electric eels, telling her that he bred them to colossal size and began studying them to the point where he was able to mimic their abilities. He then attacks her, but she flies up to the top of the high ceiling to avoid his blasts. Locked in a stale mate, Miss America pretends to knock herself out by flying into the roof. When the Shocker gets close enough, Miss America fights him knocking him into his tank of eels who then devour him.
Returning home, Madeline learns from her Uncle Jim that the authorities had gassed and killed the Shocker's eels before shutting down the tunnel.
Appearing in "Don't Be A Pin-up Girl..."
- Appearances not yet listed
Synopsis for "Don't Be A Pin-up Girl..."
Text article
Appearing in "Hear the Blue Bells Ring"
- Appearances not yet listed
Synopsis for "Hear the Blue Bells Ring"
Text story. Includes a number of illustrations. The two main illustrations are credited to Louise Altson, but the other two are in a different style and include no credit.
Appearing in "Are You Having Dating Problems?"
- Appearances not yet listed
Synopsis for "Are You Having Dating Problems?"
Advice column.
Appearing in "Janie's Awakening..."
- Appearances not yet listed
Synopsis for "Janie's Awakening..."
Text story. Includes some illustrations.
Appearing in "A Wallflower Blooms..."
- Appearances not yet listed
Synopsis for "A Wallflower Blooms..."
Photo story.
Appearing in "An Almost Girl..."
- Appearances not yet listed
Synopsis for "An Almost Girl..."
Interview with actress Jeanne Crain. Includes coverage (and photos) of the film "In the Meantime, Darling".
Appearing in "Are You Lonesome?"
- Appearances not yet listed
Synopsis for "Are You Lonesome?"
Advice column. John F. Oliven, M.D., gives advice to teens feeling lonely.
Appearing in "Big Sister"
- Appearances not yet listed
Synopsis for "Big Sister"
Text story.
Appearing in "For Girls Only!"
- Appearances not yet listed
Synopsis for "For Girls Only!"
Advice column.
Appearing in "Dear Betty Ann: -"
- Appearances not yet listed
Synopsis for "Dear Betty Ann: -"
The writer "Vickie" (Victoria Allen Dunford) writes a letter to a friend, narrating tales of Hollywood celebrities.
Appearing in "Your Voice and You"
- Appearances not yet listed
Synopsis for "Your Voice and You"
Advice column.
Appearing in "Tricky Tests for Teens..."
- Appearances not yet listed
Synopsis for "Tricky Tests for Teens..."
Advice column.
Appearing in "Tops for Teens..."
- Appearances not yet listed
Synopsis for "Tops for Teens..."
Fashion article. It includes photographs of actress Joyce Reynolds, but does not credit the photographer.
Appearing in "Happy Sitting"
- Appearances not yet listed
Synopsis for "Happy Sitting"
Humor cartoon
Appearing in "Charm Rou-Teens..."
- Appearances not yet listed
Synopsis for "Charm Rou-Teens..."
Grooming and make up tips.
Appearing in "Beauty Isn't Everything"
- Appearances not yet listed
Synopsis for "Beauty Isn't Everything"
Advice column.
Appearing in "It's Fun To Act"
- Appearances not yet listed
Synopsis for "It's Fun To Act"
Advice column.
Appearing in "Hollywood's Younger Set"
- Appearances not yet listed
Synopsis for "Hollywood's Younger Set"
Article on actresses Gloria de Haven, Diana Lynn, Shirley Temple, and Ann Blyth.
Appearing in "Introducing Patsy Walker"
Featured Characters:
- Patricia "Patsy" Walker ⏵ (First appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- Mickey Walker (First appearance)
- Robert "Buzz" Baxter (First appearance)
- Hedy Wolf (First appearance)
Antagonists:
- Nazis (Mentioned)
Other Characters:
- Mary Walker (First appearance)
- Stanley Walker (First appearance)
- Swoon Strong (First appearance)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- United States of America
- California
- Centerville (First appearance)
- 23 Mill Road (First appearance)
- Centerville (First appearance)
- California
Synopsis for "Introducing Patsy Walker"
On a quiet night at the Walker home, Mary and Stanley Walker tell their son Mickey to keep quiet as his sister Patsy is trying to study. Upset that the quiet is interrupting his comic book reading, Mickey checks in on Patsy to find that instead of studying she is listening to the music of Swoon Strong a musical heart throb. Mickey attempts to blackmail his sister into his silence when their mother comes walking in. Patsy is quickly able to make it appear she is studying ruining Mickey's plans of extorting her out of money to go to the movies.
Deciding to go out, Patsy is followed by her kid brother. Walking past the local Orpheum Theater, Patsy is surprised to see that Swoon Strong will be performing there that very night. Running into her classmate Hedy Wolf, Patsy is horrified to learn that Hedy is going to attempt to ask Swoon out on a date with her to the school dance. With no money of her own, Patsy tries to convince her brother to give her the 38 cents needed to get into the show. Mickey refuses and Patsy chases him around the ticket booth for the duration of the concert. After the performance, Hedy exits the theater with Swoon, revealing that her attempt to get Swoon to date her is a success, much to Patsy's dismay.
Heartbroken Patsy returns home but none of her family members understand why she is so saddened. The following day at school, Buzz Baxter asks Patsy to go with him to the dance. Still upset over missing the opportunity to ask Swoon, Patsy denies his request telling him she wants a real mature man to go with her. She rushes home later that day deciding that if she cannot go to the dance with Swoon Strong, she will not go at all. That evening, Mickey shows Patsy an article about Swoon Strong that makes her change her mind. Changing into a dress, she rushes to Buzz's home and drags him to the dance. There, Patsy reveals to everyone that Swoon Strong is bald and wears a wig, humiliating Hedy and Swoon. Back at home, Mickey is content that he was able to get his sister to pay him enough money to see a movie everyday of the week in exchange for letting her read the article about Swoon's secret shame.
Notes
- Defenders #89 reveals that the Patsy Walker stories published between 1944 and 1965 were the fictional works of Dorothy Walker on Earth-616 that were based upon the real-life story of her daughter Patricia, who later becomes the costumed hero Hellcat.
Trivia
- The cover of the issue is a photograph of model Dolores Conlon wearing a Miss America uniform. There was no penciler involved. Conlon was reportedly 15 years old at the time of the issue's publication. The hairstyle on the cover is attributed to Michel, a hair stylist employed by Helena Rubenstein.