The OWL - Scourge of the forces of darkness!

The Owl debuted in CRACKAJACK FUNNIES #25 (July 1940) and ran through the end of the title, issue #43 (January 1942). Then he jumped over to POPULAR COMICS, where he ran from #72-85 (Feb 1942-March 1943).

P.I. Nick Terry didn't have any powers, but he did eventually have a bunch of nifty gadgets. In CRACKAJACK #32 (February 1941), reporter Belle Wayne became his partner, Owl Girl.

Read all about The Owl at Toonopedia.

This particular 7-page story looks as if it was originally done in 8. The last page looks like two pages squished together: with almost twice as many panels as the previous 6 pages, and such a non-linear layout, that they added arrows and panel numbers to direct the reader. Crazy.

from
CRACKAJACK FUNNIES #29 (November 1940)
story by Leonard Steinman?; art by Frank Thomas

gee whiz! it's PHANTASMO, Master of the World!

Woo Hoo! I've always wanted to read a Phantasmo story. And now I was finally able to get one for (relatively) cheap on eBay!!
I'm not sure which issue of THE FUNNIES this one is from. It was coverless, and the information on the Grand Comic Book Database is sparse for this series. But I did narrow it down a little. This is from issue #46, 49, 51, 52, 53, 55 or 56.

from
THE FUNNIES #unknown (1940-41)
story by ?; art by E.C. Stoner

Not too sure about Phantasmo's buddy, Whizzer. (Nice name, though...)
On page 4 he deduces that the problem is probably from the drinking water. Then on page 5 he almost drinks it because he "nearly forgot!" In, what, 30 seconds!?
And Phantasmo refers to him as a "smart lad."
Maybe I'm not too sure about Phantasmo either, now that I think about it...

PHANTASMO: The Master of the World!

They just don't design super hero costumes like they used to!! Here's Phantasmo! Who premiered in THE FUNNIES #45 (July 1940), from Dell Comics.

From International Hero:

Powers/Abilities: Able to separate his spirit from his body, enabling it to act independently. While unfettered by his mortal form, his spirit can grow to giant size, fly, become invisible and has superhuman strength. However it remains vulnerable to injury inflicted on its corporeal counterpart, and if the body is killed, so too would the spirit.

History: Having spent 25 years in Tibet as a student of the Grand High Lamas, an unidentified American returned home armed with their magical knowledge to fight crime. Adopting the alias Phil Anson, he would separate his spirit from his body to become Phantasmo, Master of the World; since his mortal form remained his main vulnerability, he hired bellhop Whizzer McGee as his bodyguard.

I love the cover to #48. How many hands did this have to pass through that nobody caught the coloring "error!?" "Oh, he's nekkid." "That's alright." LOL!

THE FUNNIES #45 (July 1940)	THE FUNNIES #48 (Oct 1940)
THE FUNNIES #52 (Feb 1941)	THE FUNNIES #55 (May 1941)

On the cover to #52, the cowboy in green looks like he's jonesin' to dive into the prize package!
Alas, the poor baddie on #55 is being denied the phantastic Phantasmo phall...oh, sorry! But the poor guy -- he really looks upset!!