Crossover Cover: Super Sidekick Sleepover Slaughter

Slasher hunter Cassie Hack and her partner Vlad battle a slasher killing a group of teens who have used a device called “the godbox” to gain superpowers and adopt the mantles of 1940s superheroes Nightmare, the Black Fury, Crash Kid, Fantomah, Flamingo, the Heap, and U.S. Jones. Crimebuster, Daredevil, and Airboy are mentioned, and pictures of those three, Black Angel, Judy of the Jungle, and Captain Fight are shown. Nightmare’s sidekick Sleepy appears in flashback. The original Fantomah was imprisoned by the Crime Cabal, which consisted of Dr. Mortal, the Great Question, Dr. Dracula, the Puzzler, and an unidentified fifth individual. Fantomah is eventually freed and takes her revenge on the current Crime Cabal. Many of the characters referenced here are Golden Age comic book characters. Nightmare and Sleepy appeared in Clue Comics, published by Hillman. Airboy, the Heap, and the Black Angel were also published by Hillman, and are already in the CU. Crash Kid appeared in two issues of Rural Home Productions’ Cannonball Comics. Fantomah, created by the notorious Fletcher Hanks, appeared in fifty issues of Jungle Comics, published by Fiction House. Captain Fight appeared in Fight Comics, another Fiction House title. Flamingo was a costumed aviator who appeared in the Aviation Press title Contact Comics. The Black Fury appeared in Fox Features Syndicate’s titles Fantastic Comics, V...Comics, and Blue Beetle. U.S. Jones appeared in Wonderworld Comics and two issues of his own series, both also published by Fox. The villainous Dr. Mortal was the subject of his own strip in Fox’s Weird Comics and The Flame. Bart Hill, aka Daredevil, appeared in Silver Streak Comics and his own series, both published by Lev Gleason, and is not to be confused with the later masked vigilante who called himself Daredevil, Matt Murdock. Crimebuster appeared in every issue of Boy Comics, another Lev Gleason title. Dr. Dracula was the archnemesis of Captain Battle, who appeared in Silver Streak Comics as well as his own self-titled series. Judy of the Jungle appeared in Nedor’s Exciting Comics. The Puzzler was a foe of Nedor’s best-known hero, the Black Terror. The Great Question is the arch foe of the Centaur character Amazing Man. It is as yet uncertain whether Captain Battle, the Black Terror, and Amazing Man themselves exist in the CU. I have been unable to identify the fifth member of the original Crime Cabal. With the exception of Fantomah, most of these characters have no superpowers or very low-level powers; they must be CU versions of their comic counterparts, and of course their exploits must have been less colorful than the comics depicted.