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

Issue Details

Issue #20
Published Spring 1944
Cover Price 0.10
Pages 52
Editing Sheldon Mayer
Notes Pencil & ink credits from Craig Delich (April 30, 2004). Pencil & ink credits confirmed by Stan Aschmeier. The cover is replicated on the splash page except that the head-view of Wonder Woman on the cover was pasted on and is missing from the splash page. The Monster will next appear in the "Special All-Star Squadron Preview" in Justice League of America #193 (August, 1981). All story synopses and notes by Craig Delich (Dec. 2005).

Cover Details - "A Movie That Changed a Man's Life"

Characters Johnny Thunder [Earth-2]; Dr. Mid-Nite; Hawkman [Carter Hall]; Sandman [Wesley Dodds]; Wonder Woman [Earth-2]; Starman [Ted Knight]; Atom [Al Pratt]; Dr. Fate; Spectre [Jim Corrigan] (all as the Justice Society of America/JSA); The Monster
Genre superhero
Pencils Joe Gallagher; Stan Aschmeier (re-drew Johnny Thunder's head)
Inks Joe Gallagher; Stan Aschmeier (re-drew Johnny Thunder's head)
Notes Pencil & ink credits from Craig Delich (April 30, 2004). Pencil & ink credits confirmed by Stan Aschmeier. The cover is replicated on the splash page except that the head-view of Wonder Woman on the cover was pasted on and is missing from the splash page. The Monster will next appear in the "Special All-Star Squadron Preview" in Justice League of America #193 (August, 1981). All story synopses and notes by Craig Delich (Dec. 2005).
Reprinted in All Star Comics Archives (DC, 1991 series) #5

4 page Justice Society of America story "The Movie That Changed a Man's Life [introduction]"

Characters Johnny Thunder [Earth-2]; Dr. Mid-Nite; Hawkman [Carter Hall]; Sandman [Wesley Dodds]; Wonder Woman [Earth-2]; Starman [Ted Knight]; Atom [Al Pratt]; Dr. Fate; Spectre [Jim Corrigan] (all as the Justice Society of America/JSA); The Monster
Synopsis Jason L. Rogers attends the meeting of the JSA to tell them about a Monster who has been robbing his banks, dynamited his factories....even broken into his home. Rogers says that this fiend has been giving him problems ever since a picnic years back, shot on film, and when that film was shown, his wife passed out from the shock. Later, Rogers was left plans for more schemes by the Monster and has now brought them to the meeting for the members to deal with. After they leave, the Monster suddenly appears and taunts the JSA, threatening to drive Roger's mind from his body.
Genre superhero
Script Gardner Fox
Pencils Joe Gallagher
Inks Joe Gallagher
Notes Sandman and Doctor Fate do not have individual chapters in the book, no doubt due to the actions of the War Production Board cutting back on paper use [as described in issue #16]. Gardner Fox, however, does report writing chapters for both characters that were not used. The reason is found on page "D" of the introduction where panel 5's word balloon has clearly been re-lettered to send Sandman and Fate to Roger's home.
Reprinted in All Star Comics Archives (DC, 1991 series) #5

5 page Hawkman story "The Movie That Changed a Man's Life [chapter 1]"

Characters Hawkman [Carter Hall]; The Monster
Synopsis As Hawkman speeds towards his destination, he notices that a man is being attacked below near a bog. He alights and dispatches the thugs, then takes off for the home of Harlan Walsh, steel baron, not realizing the man he saved has news about the Monster. Meanwhile, the Monster threatens Walsh to rebuff the Feathered Fury when he arrives...or else! Hawkman leaves and is approached by the man he saved....the twin of the man inside, who is really Marvin Walsh, the black sheep of the family, and in the employ of the Monster. Hawkman re-enters the home, who captures Marvin, and who tells Hawkman where the Monster's gang hides out.
Genre superhero
Script Gardner Fox
Pencils Sheldon Moldoff
Inks Sheldon Moldoff
Reprinted in All Star Comics Archives (DC, 1991 series) #5

5 page Spectre, The story "The Movie That Changed a Man's Life [chapter 2]"

Characters Spectre [Jim Corrigan]; The Monster
Synopsis The Ghostly Guardian comes upon the Monster getting ready to blow up a building, so quickly he rescues all the people in that building, then tosses the crumbling structure into space. The man he saves, named Walter Noonan, is a friend of Jason Rogers, perhaps his only friend, and he tells Spectre about how the Monster came to him one evening and told him to become Roger's enemy or that his business would be ruined. Either pay $50,000 up front or risk getting a dam blown up that his company had just built. Spectre tells Noonan to agree to the Monster's terms so that he can trap him....but the Monster smells a rat and sets a trap of his own. When the Monster arrives for the payoff, it goes off without a hitch. To the Monster, that is good because he would have blown away Noonan at the first sign of the Spectre. On the way back to the hideout, the Spectre appears to capture them all, but the Monster somehow gets away.
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

5 page Atom story "The Movie That Changed a Man's Life [chapter 3]"

Characters Atom [Al Pratt]; The Monster
Synopsis The Monster intends to rob a payroll in an office building, so the Mighty Mite arrives on the scene in time to see a strange aircraft hovering over the building and lowering a magnet. The magnet attracts the safe from the office and the Atom hops aboard the magnet being drawn back up to the strange ship to confront the crew. As the sky-craft lands on a roof, a net is thrown over the Atom, trapping him. The Monster shows up and suddenly the Atom cowers in fear and faints! Upon awakening, the Monster puts him up against the wall to shoot him, when Atom throws a brick, hitting a lever and starting up the magnet, attracting all of the thugs guns. Atom mops them up, but the Monster escapes in the aircraft.
Genre superhero
Script Gardner Fox
Pencils Joe Gallagher
Inks Joe Gallagher
Reprinted in All Star Comics Archives (DC, 1991 series) #5

1 page Justice Society of America public service announcement "For the March of Dimes"

Characters Johnny Thunder [Earth-2]; Dr. Mid-Nite; Hawkman [Carter Hall]; Sandman [Wesley Dodds]; Wonder Woman [Earth-2]; Starman [Ted Knight]; Atom [Al Pratt]; Dr. Fate; Spectre [Jim Corrigan] (all as the Justice Society of America/JSA)
Genre superhero
Pencils Joe Gallagher
Inks Joe Gallagher
Notes Makes a plea for the March of Dimes. Revised artist credit by Craig Delich (Dec. 2005). Credit formerly given to Frank Harry.
Reprinted in All Star Comics Archives (DC, 1991 series) #5

2 page Hop Harrigan text story "Ghost Plane"

Characters Hop Harrigan; Tank Tinker
Synopsis Time after time bombs hit Allied airfields, destroying planes, but no plane is ever seen or heard. Hop and Tank set out to solve the mystery, only to discover that a hot-air balloon is the culprit.
Genre aviation
Pencils Jon L. Blummer [spot illo only of Hop]
Inks Jon L. Blummer [spot illo only of Hop]
Letters typeset
Reprinted in All Star Comics Archives (DC, 1991 series) #5

5 page Dr. Mid-Nite story "The Movie That Changed a Man's Life [chapter 4]"

Characters Dr. Mid-Nite; The Monster
Synopsis Dr. Mid-Nite awakens strapped to an operating table as the surgeon, Horatio Hill, relates how the Monster had drugged the doctor at a party. He was then called in to operate on an important Sensator, who died on the table. Hill then lost his medical license and all hope until the Monster approached him to operate on rich people to give them disfigured faces, who would then be blackmailed in order to get their true faces back. The Man of Night is told that he was overcome by some of the Monster's thugs and that Hill must now operate on Mid-Nite's brain to make him hopelessly insane. But Hill cuts our hero loose just as the Monster shoots Hill as a traitor. Before he dies, Dr. Hill tells Dr. Mid-Nite how to restore the people's faces.
Genre superhero
Script Gardner Fox
Pencils Stan Aschmeier
Inks Stan Aschmeier
Reprinted in All Star Comics Archives (DC, 1991 series) #5

1 page Doiby Dickles & Green Lantern public service announcement "Doiby Dickles Goes on a Case: Paper Salvage!"

Characters Green Lantern [Alan Scott]; Doiby Dickles
Genre superhero
Pencils Paul Reinman
Inks Paul Reinman
Reprinted in All Star Comics Archives (DC, 1991 series) #5

1 page Fat and Slat filler "Fuller Phun and Archibald Club"

Genre gag
Script Ed Wheelan
Pencils Ed Wheelan
Inks Ed Wheelan
Reprinted in All Star Comics Archives (DC, 1991 series) #5

5 page Starman story "The Movie That Changed a Man's Life [chapter 5]"

Characters Starman [Ted Knight]; The Monster
Synopsis Starman arrives a millionaire Ira Young's estate knowing the Monster is due to strike there somehow. Jason Rogers happens to be there as a guest and is being shown the new planetarium when gas strikes down Rogers and friends, and thugs begin to pick the people's pockets. Starman dives right into action, and while he is busy bopping the bad guys, the Monster loots the unconscious victims and flees. Giving chase, the Astral Avenger is saved from being fried by artifical lightning by his gravity rod, saves the stolen money, but misses out on capturing the Monster.
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 Movie That Changed a Man's Life [chapter 6]"

Characters Johnny Thunder [Earth-2]; Johnny Thunder's Thunderbolt; The Monster
Synopsis As Johnny walks the streets, he noticed two Policemen laughing their heads off, and tell Johnny that the jewelry house is being robbed. Going inside, Johnny is overcome by the gas used on the Police and is taken to the Monster's hideout, where upon the Monster tells Johnny he is going to chop his head off. The Thunderbolt prevents that from happening and helps brother John to round up the gang. Thunderbolt takes on the Monster himself with little success and the Monster flees away into the night.
Genre superhero;humor
Script Gardner Fox
Pencils Stan Aschmeier
Inks Stan Aschmeier
Reprinted in All Star Comics Archives (DC, 1991 series) #5

4 page Justice Society of America story "The Movie That Changed a Man's Life [conclusion]"

Characters Johnny Thunder [Earth-2]; Dr. Mid-Nite; Hawkman [Carter Hall]; Sandman [Wesley Dodds]; Starman [Ted Knight]; Atom [Al Pratt]; Dr. Fate; Spectre [Jim Corrigan] (all as the Justice Society of America/JSA); The Monster (villain)
Synopsis The JSA, after having foiled the Monster's plans, returns to Rogers home and wants to see the film that caused the ruckus in the first place. But the film is blank, having faded over the years. Yet Rogers insists he can restore the film and goes into the dark room to do so. Much time passes and the members decide to enter the dark room to see why it is taking so long, and they find Rogers missing and the restored film on the floor, but just then the Monster intervenes and attacks the JSA members as he tells them that Jason Rogers is his twin brother, whom he hates. After a struggle, the Monster is hit by a lethal ray and is fatally wounded. The members then show the movie, which distinctly shows Rogers transforming into the Monster. Dr. Mid-Nite concludes that while the two were twins, the Monster had never developed a body....just a mind, which would often inhabit Roger's body without his knowing it, and Roger's 4th dimensional body as the Monster was caught somehow on film. Meanwhile the Monster has reverted to his Roger's appearance and, now knowing the truth, dies at peace.
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