Champ Comics #25
Human Meteor
Duke O’Dawd and his partner Toby are having a slow night picking up taxi fares. Suddenly, they get a fare who offers to pay them a large tip if they can get him to the airport. At the airport, the man hurries to get onto the plane. While Duke tries to make sense of this, Toby notices that the man left a map in the back seat of the cab and rushes onto the plane to hand it to him. This is just moments before the plane prepares to take off with Toby on board. When the boy hands over the map to the passenger, he suddenly pulls a gun and tries to hijack the plane. While back on the ground, Duke can’t find Toby and begins asking around for the boy and learns that he boarded the plane just moments before it took off.
Changing into the Human Meteor, Duke flies after the plane, figuring that Toby was pulling this stunt intentionally. However, as he catches up with the aircraft he spots the gunman and realizes that there is a serious danger onboard. When the Human Meteor forces his way on board the man. The gunman then reveals himself to be Franz Tanner a German spy as he tries to leap out of the plane with a parachute. The Human Meteor catches up with the spy and tosses him back onto the plane where he is restrained. The hero then takes a closer look at the map and discovers that it is of the California Coast. Noting an X on the map, the Human Meteor theorizes that this is where Franz Tanner was planning to go.
After having the passengers bail out of the plane, the Human Meteor and Toby fly to the rendezvous point where they discover a group of Nazi and Japanese spies hiding out. In the ensuing battle, Toby is grabbed by a Japanese spy who tries to flee across the Pacific in a plane. When the Meteor tries to follow after them, he is attacked by Japanese Zero fighters. While the hero is busy smashing these fighter planes, Toby is taken aboard a Japanese aircraft carrier where he is threatened with torture. Thankfully, the Human Meteor arrives and rescues Toby and then, with a bomb snatched off the deck of the carrier, blows up the Japanese ship. The pair then quickly return home where Duke’s mother has a large meal waiting for them.
Recurring Characters
Human Meteor, Toby
Continuity Notes
This is the last Golden Age appearance of the Human Meteor. After Harvey Comics copyright on the character expired he entered the public domain. This allowed Roy Thomas to use the character as a villain in Invaders (Vol. 2). Outside of the Human Meteor’s origins, it is unclear how many of his Harvey Comics continuity is also true in the Marvel Universe. However, none of the Harvey era material conflicts with the Marvel material so at this point it is all a matter of personal interpretation.
