Adventure Comics #228

Clark Kent's Bodyguard

written by by Alvin Schwartz, art by John Sikela

After a heavy rain, Superboy repairs the damage to a local bridge. Returning later that day, as Clark Kent, he is stopped by a mysterious man who refuses Kent access to the bridge, until the man can test it for structural soundness. After checking the bridge, Kent is allowed to continue on his way. Kent encounters the man a second time, that day, when he cautions Kent on walking too close to a work site. The man reveals himself to be a private detective, hired to serve as Kent's bodyguard, until such time as Kent can testify in an upcoming trial. A man, named Stevens, has been accused of stealing plans from an engineer, named Wilbur. Kent's eyewitness testimony, however, puts Stevens in a meeting with another man, Colonel Hawkins, at the time of the armed robbery.

Unfortunately for Stevens, Hawkins died in an automobile accident before he could testify on Stevens' behalf. Stevens hires the bodyguard to make sure no harm befalls Kent, before he can clear Stevens' name, at trial. Under the ever watchful eye of the bodyguard, Kent finds it increasingly difficult to protect his secret identity, as Superboy. When Kent spies a tornado heading for Smallville, the bodyguard rushes him into a cellar, before Kent can act. Feigning terror, Kent climbs into a steel trunk, then "accidentally" allows the lid to slam shut, locking him inside. While the bodyguard feverishly works to free Kent from the steel trunk, Kent burrows out the bottom, tunneling through the ground, to emerge, on the street, as Superboy. Superboy dissipates the tornado, then returns to the trunk, as Kent, before the bodyguard can pry the lid off to "free"him.

The next day at school, Kent is attacked by Wilbur's son, Willie,who believes Kent is lying about seeing Stevens with Hawkins. The bodyguard breaks up the "fight", before Kent can get hurt. After school, Kent spies Willie placing himself in a precarious situation, and fears the worst. Using his X-Ray vision on a car mirror to momentarily blind the bodyguard, Kent switches to Superboy, just as Willie begins to fall into high tension lines. Superboy grounds the charge in the wires, before Willie hits them, then catches Willie before he hits the ground. Willie was attempting to run away, on account of his father's trial. Willie reveals to Superboy that he was there when Stevens robbed his father. The Boy of Steel accompanies Willie back to the Wilbur residence to investigate the matter further. After Willie reenacts the events as he saw them, Superboy heads off to play out a hunch.

Moments later, a dead ringer for Stevens shows up at Stevens' home, demanding more money. Stevens refuses to give in to the blackmail, and sends the man on his way. Grabbing his revolver, Stevens travels 10 miles outside of Smallville, to neighboring Granville, and the home of a has-been actor, named Jack Marden. Before Stevens can kill Marden, Superboy intervenes and hauls both men off to jail. Later, at the Wilbur residence, Superboy reveals that when Willie told him that Stevens had held the gun, on Mr. Wilbur, in his left hand, Superboy suspected a double of Stevens was in play, as Stevens is right-handed. Pretending to be the double, at Stevens' home, confirmed Superboy's suspicions, ultimately leading to his arrest of both Stevens and Marden.

The Floating Hall Of Fame

written by Bob Haney, art by Ramona Fradon

Aquaman convinces his friend, Captain John, that the driftwood busts John sculpts, of famous historical figures, would make for an excellent attraction. For the next two weeks, John sails up and down the coast, displaying his "Floating Hall of Fame" to all interested parties. One such admirer, Hubert Reese, offers to buy the entire collection for $50,000.00, at tour's end, and asks that the collection be delivered, at that time, to his hacienda in Port Valdes. That night, thieves board Captain John's boat, and make off with the driftwood carvings. Before the thieves can get far, one hundred octopi tentacles break the surface, hoisting luminous squid into the air, lighting up the sky. A whale lifts the thieves' boat's propeller out of the water. The thieves abandon "ship" and swim for the shore. Rather than give pursuit, Aquaman merely returns John's carvings to him. The thieves make another attempt at robbing John's Floating Hall of Fame. As the thieves depart, Captain John waves a red flag at a flying fish. The fish joins up with dozens of flying fish to form an S.O.S in the sky.

Aquaman answers the distress signal, on the back of a marlin, and pursues the thieves. A wall of sea turtles forms in front of the theives' boat. Once again they dive into the sea to flee Aquaman. Once again, Aquaman lets them go, in favor of returning the stolen carving to John. At tour's end, John delivers the driftwood busts to Reese, in Mexico, receiving the second half of his payment. At his home, with the thieves, Reese reveals that several of the busts are filled with smuggled diamonds. Aquaman, however, arrives at that moment, with the Mexican authorities trailing behind him. Back on Captain John's boat, Aquaman had noticed a fresh layer of salt on the carvings, revealing them to be fakes. Searching them, he had discovered the diamonds. Aquaman realized that the thieves were throwing the real carvings overboard, upon stealing them, and replacing them with the fakes. In this way, John was tricked into smuggling the diamonds into Mexico, for Reese. The scheme revealed, Aquaman turns Reese and his associates over to the Mexican police.

The Ozark Archer

art by George Papp

Oliver Queen and his young ward, Roy Harper, are paid a visit by Pearly and Zeb Queen, Oliver's cousins from the Ozarks. A feud between the Ozark Queens and a man named Jed Mansfield has broken out. All members of the Queen family are being called in to help fight the Mansfields. Shortly after Oliver and Roy meet with Grandpa Queen, Jed Mansfield arrives, demanding the Queens' land. Oliver & Roy make themselves scarce, and change into their costumes. As the Green Arrow and Speedy, the ace archers sneak up on Mansfield, and his men, quickly disarming the lot of them. To Queen's surprise, Mansfield is familiar with the Green Arrow. On the advice of the Green Arrow, Grandpa Queen sends Pearly, under a flag of truce, to arrange a meeting with Mansfield. At that meeting, Green Arrow and Speedy are ambushed by Mansfield's men.

Narrowly dodging the barrage of gunfire, Green Arrow and Speedy take out Mansfield's men, before they can reload their weapons. Mansfield flees, with Green Arrow and Speedy pursuing at a discreet distance. Mansfield leads the ace archers to a cabin, hidden away high in the hills. Inside they find Mansfield holding another Jed Mansfield captive. The real Jed Mansfield. With the imposter revealed to the Queen family, the Queen/Mansfield feud ends as abruptly as it started. The man posing as Jed Mansfield is the same man who had tried to buy the Queens' land, weeks earlier, after having discovered uranium on it. Green Arrow and Speedy return to the city, leaving the Ozark Queens to wonder what became of cousin Oliver, and Roy.

Also in this issue:

• Varsity Vic humor page by Henry Boltinoff
• This Business of Boxing article