BART REGAN

Full Name:	Bart Regan
Nationality:	American
Organization:	American Intelligence
Occupation	Agent

Creator:	Jerome Siegel, Joe Shuster
Time Span:	1936 - 1937

ABOUT THE SERIES

Bart Regan is an agent with American Intelligence.

As we meet him the first time, he is a federal agent, possibly attached to the Treasury Department and thus like the Secret Service. While it is not specifically stated, he is working a counterfeit case which distinctly falls under their purview. It is obvious from his demeanor and the way he is treated that Regan is an agent in very good standing with the respect of his colleagues and superiors.

Which is undoubtedly why in the second adventure Regan is stunned to be told that his immediate supervisor had "an order from higher up to apparently fire you. In reality you're to be transferred to the secret spy detail". He was directed to report to Room 2048.

It was in that Room that Regan was told the nation was being "harried by foreign espionage agents". He was also told that "while we must protect ourselves, [we] cannot come out in the open" and as a result, Regan would not "represent the United States officially, that if you get in a tight spot we will not be able to recognize and assist you -- you've got to sacrifice your personal life and all thoughts of marriage".

So it was with a very heavy heart that Regan accepted the strange offer and then called his fiancee, Sally Norris, to "falsely tell her he no longer loves her" and that the "affair was a mistake", wishing her good luck. This is important because Sally Norris is not fooled in the least by his strange actions and vows "he'll soon learn I'm hard to shake off".

As Regan proceeds on his first mission, he and his Chief discover that Norris is one very determined young woman. She is also quite resourceful and is able to provide much needed assistance in the success of the assignment. So much so that the Chief offers her a position in the ranks and she gladly accepts.

Thus begins a rather long and eventful new career in the spy game - really the spy-hunter game - for both Bart Regan and Sally Norris. Together for many months they will battle foreign agents and domestic foes, all in the name of their country.

In an impressive number of successful missions, Regan and Norris will work extremely well together and a good number of very bad people will find their plans ruined by this pair of operative.

Oddly, though, after 22 adventures in which Regan and Norris invariably ended each daring and dangerous assignment smooching with considerable zeal, Norris disappeared. As in vanished! Poof! What happened to her is not mentioned. In fact, she is never mentioned again!

Regan will continue to work as an operative for quite a long time afterwards, sometimes with a partner but usually as a solo act.

One more interesting detail to point out. On several occasions it is stated quite clearly that Regan was working all the spy-hunter missions for the Secret Service. Other times, however, it is said he works for the U.S. Intelligence Bureau, or for the U.S. Spy Bureau, or for the U.S. Espionage Bureau. Towards the end of his recorded adventures, where were a few references to his being associated with the FBI. Exactly what government department is in charge of Regan never quite seems to settle on a single name.

COMIC BOOKS, GRAPHIC NOVELS, AND MANGA

Number of Stories:	76
First Appearance:	1936
Last Appearance:	1937

The year is 1936. A very new comic book company named Centaur Publishing would publish a very new comic book magazine with the understandable name of Comics Magazine. Like most such publication that year and for a couple of years thereafter, each issue was an anthology work with a large number of stories about different characters, some of whom would become series and most that would not. While the magazine would last only 5 issues under its original name, it would last another 4 years under a variety of titles.

Issue #2 would see the first appearance of the character Bart Regan. Two up-and-coming comicbook creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, came up with the idea for a federal agent by that name and they would see a story about him appear in that issue under the title of Federal Agent. If those names look familiar, its because two years later they would have another creation of theirs named Superman leap into the comic book world.

Whether the concept of Bart Regan as a federal agent did not go over well with the publisher or with the intended audience or the two J.S.'s chose to move on to other things, there would be no more appearances of Regan in the pages of this magazine, no matter what name it would change to.

Two years later, the still nascent National Allied Publications released its popular Detective Comics (the D.C. of the DC Comics comes from this title) in March, 1937. As the name of the comic suggests, it was devoted to detective stories of all sorts from those with a badge to those with just a desire. Almost oddly, though, one of those many stories in that first issue had to do with a spy, not a detective.

It was here that the J.S.'s would find a new home for their creation of Bart Regan. As before, he was a federal agent, at least for the first panel where he is told his days of working for the government as he had been was over and he was being shunted to a new occupation, that of spy, or rather spy-hunter.

The first appearance would see his name as part of the title in Bart Regan SPY. From then on, though, the name of the series would just be SPY though Regan would remain the star for the entire length of the title.

And it would be an impressive length, lasting 77 consecutive issues. It would miss a handful and then come back for a final 3 appearances before disappearing for good. It would be on hand, though not connected in any way, when the now legendary Batman would make his first appearance in issue #27.

The first story concerning Bart Regan would be spread over the first five issues with each one having 4 pages and making it the longest Regan adventure of all. After that, however, each issue would have its own complete story with some being able to be told in 4 pages and some needing as many as 12, though the majority had 6.

Note: A dozen or so of these stories had titles provided by the writer. Most do not but that terrific source of comicbook lore, comics.org, came up with titles for a bunch of them and I have chosen to use them. In a few cases, some were still lacking. If the title is without quotes, it is the original name of the story. If it is encased in single-quotes, it is a comics.org title. If it has double-quotes, it is mine.

Note: The names of the writers and artists come from the awesome www.comics.org.


0			'The Marked Bill' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerome Siegel (writer), Joe Shuster (artist) Copyright: 1936 Published in Comics Magazine #2, June 1936. Bart Regan is a tad embarrassed when he finds a bill he was carrying turned out to be counterfeit while he was giving a talk on the matter. The bill turned out to have a mark used by a skilled engraver. Regan suspects that the man was forced to print the bills by a crime boss and slipped the mark as a cry for help. Click here to read the story.

1			'The Balinoff Case' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerome Siegel (writer), Joe Shuster (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #1-#5, March-July 1937, 4 pages each for 20 in total. Bart Regan is stunned to be forced to quit being a federal agent and to join the spy department. He reluctantly breaks off his engagement to Sally Norris. That night he assumes a cover identity as an Army captain to offer himself as bait for a foreign agent vamp named Olga who has been plying secrets from young officers. Meanwhile Sally is determined to learn what Regan is up to and will force her way into the mission. Click here to read the story.

2			'The Investigation of Captain Hanley' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerome Siegel (writer), Joe Shuster (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #6, August 1937, 4 pages. Bart Regan and Sally are sent to the Hotel Royale to investigate a Captain Hanley, suspected of selling government secrets. While Regan searches his room, Sally "turns on the sex-appeal" to delay him in the lobby. Click here to read the story.

3			'The Colossus Disaster' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Joe Shuster (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #7, September 1937, 4 pages. The huge dirigible named the Colossus suffered an horrific explosion and crashed. From Room 2048, U.S. Spy Headquarters, Bart Regan and Sally Norris are instructed to see if the disaster had been caused by sabotage. While Regan worries that learning the truth will be 'no simple matter', Norris says she will capture the perpetrator 'armed only with a power-puff'. Click here to read the story.

4			'The Phony Pierre Blanc' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Joe Shuster (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #8, October, 1937, 4 pages. A special envoy from France, Pierre Blanc, is in Washington on official business. Room 2048 worries that his life is in danger and sends Bart Regan and Sally Norris to bodyguard him. They are quite surprised when the man calling himself Blanc insists he needs no such protection. Click here to read the story.

5			'The Vanishing of R-42' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Joe Shuster (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #9, November, 1937, 4 pages. Two days prior to this adventure, the Chief sent Agent R-42 to 'purloin some important dispatches from the Talvanian embassy'. That agent has not been heard from since and Bart Regan and Sally Norris are ordered to investigate and assist if needed. Norris disobeys Regan and ends up saving his life. Click here to read the story.

6			'To Sink the Atlantis' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Joe Shuster (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #10, December, 1937, 4 pages. A tip comes in that warns provocateurs 'intend to harm the steamer Atlantis on its good-will voyage to Europe'. Bart Regan and Sally Norris are ordered to foil any such attempt. This involves becoming passengers for the trip. When no clues are to be found, Norris assumes the role of an anarchist to smoke out the real terrorist. Click here to read the story.

7			'The Atlantis Aftermath' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Joe Shuster (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #11, January, 1938, 4 pages. Arriving in Paris aboard the Atlantis, Bart Regan and Sally Norris are met by a fellow agent of the Secret Service. It turns out, though, that the man was really a confederate of the anarchist they captured, kidnapping the couple for his gang's revenge. Click here to read the story.

8			'Assassins in the Rue Molin' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Joe Shuster (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #12, February, 1938, 4 pages. On their first day in Paris, Bart Regan and Sally Norris are ordered to the Secret Service's office there where they are given their next mission. A man named Rene D'Arnot is "suspected of being a paid assassin of international gangsters, responsible for the death of many American diplomats". The order is that "this man must not live to carry on his reign of terror". Click here to read the story.

9			'The Peter Rawley Case' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Joe Shuster (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #13, March, 1938, 4 pages. Still in France, Bart Regan and Sally Norris are given a new assignment. "The son of a prominent American politician has been squandering a fortune at the gambling casinos. We've orders to curb his extravagances". They are not thrilled to be "nursemaids". Click here to read the story.

10			'The Golden Ray' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Joe Shuster (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #14, April, 1938, 4 pages. After receiving a cable urging them to return to the States at once, Bart Regan and Sally Norris head home where they are immediately handed an assignment on behalf of the Army Intelligence Staff. "Dr. Hornbeck is going to demonstrate his latest startling invention, nature unknown, this afternoon -- You are to guard him from harm." Unfortunately for the scientist, he is murdered before the pair arrive. Regan recognizes the assailant from the description so off they go to capture him and retrieve the new weapon he stole. Click here to read the story.

11			'Mr. Death' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Joe Shuster (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #15, May, 1938, 4 pages. The mission for Bart Regan and Sally Norris is said to be their toughest assignment yet - the "task of apprehending 'Mr. Death', a madman who persists in killing international diplomats". Since no one has lived who could identify him, finding him seems impossible until Norris decides to taunt him into coming after her by placing an ad in evening paper insulting him and leaving her hotel address. Click here to read the story.

12			'A Traitor in Our Midst' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Joe Shuster (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #16, June, 1938, 8 pages. "Valuable secret orders have been vanishing from the U.S. Intelligence Service's files. Upon Sally and Bart has fallen the task of ascertaining the culprit responsible." Certain the thief had to be working at the offices where the thefts occurred, Regan and Norris each take a job in the clerical section. (They wager a hamburger over who will nab the man first.) Catching him is only the first part, though, as they are then told to catch the one buying the intel from the thief. Click here to read the story.

13			The Hooded Hordes Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Joe Shuster (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #17, July, 1938, 8 pages. It is against a band of hooded nightriders terrorizing the city of Meadeville that Bart Regan and Sally Norris are sent next. The direction is simple: "This terrorist organization must be stamped out and its leadership apprehended". Each take regular jobs to fit in and soon Regan is able to inveigle an invitation to join but in the first act of terror he takes part in, he is shot! Click here to read the story.

14			Death's Ruby Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Joe Shuster (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #18, August, 1938, 8 pages. Out on a date, Sally Norris is certain that Bart Regan, who says he is tired of chasing spies, is ready to propose (again) but then a call from the Chief takes him away. The mission is to find the stolen Kahoon Ruby, a gem worth a fortune but with a horrible legacy about it. Spoiler Alert: Regan proposes at the end. Click here to read the story.

15			'Mirror of Doom' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Joe Shuster (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #19, September, 1938, 8 pages. Bart Regan and Sally Norris are literally at the altar exchanging their vows when a bicycle messenger rides in (again literally) with an urgent call from the Chief. Regan races to answer the summons with a much annoyed Norris in tow. A woman named Rosa Rinaldo, a "sabotage expert who sells her services to the highest bidder" is in D.C. and the Chief wants them to learn why. This case has a very messy conclusion. Click here to read the story.

16			'Saving Senator Barkly' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Joe Shuster (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #20, October, 1938, 8 pages. A Senator in possession of some vital papers is thought to be in danger from 'sinister forces' so Bart Regan and Sally Norris are directed to provide protection. Unfortunately, the politician "bull-headedly insists he wants no bodyguard" so they have to do it on the sly. Click here to read the story.

17			'The Affair of Baron Von Muldorf' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Joe Shuster (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #21, November, 1938, 8 pages. A foreign spy named Baron von Huldorf, an agent who works out in the open, is arriving in the States from his home country to work in the Bataria embassy. Bart Regan and Sally Norris are to pretend to be traitors selling secrets to him, actually "harmless information such as he'd undoubtedly dig up anyway" while at the same time preventing him from learning anything useful. Their success sends the Baron home in frustration but irks the heck out of another agent named Lorenzo Rica who decides the pair have interfered too many times. Click here to read the story.

18			'Break-In at the Bartilian Embassy' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Joe Shuster (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #22, December, 1938, 5 pages. An American agent had gone to the Bartilian embassy to 'secure information' but never returned. The folks in the facility claim he never arrived but the Chief is certain they are lying. Click here to read the story.

19			'The Celebrity Deaths' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Joe Shuster (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #23, January, 1939, 8 pages. Day after day, the newspaper headlines cry out about the sudden deaths of dignitaries and celebrities, all from apparent heart attacks. Then a fellow agent of Bart Regan and Sally Norris finds a button from one of the dead men and it turns out to be a microscopically-small radio mechanism that someone is connected with the rash of deaths. Regan and Norris are told to investigate. Click here to read the story.

20			'Subterfuge at Sea' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Joe Shuster (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #24, February, 1939, 6 pages. When a freighter is sunk off Spain and word comes that it had been hauling armaments from America to the Civil War there, which is illegal in the States, Bart Regan and Sally Norris are given the case of finding who is breaking the Neutrality Act. Click here to read the story.

21			'The President's Assignment' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Wayne Boring (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #25, March, 1939, 6 pages. Blindfolded, Bart Regan and Sally Norris are lead by their Chief through a secret passage and are surprised to meet the President. The Chief Executive is worried about the teeming amounts of foreign spies in the States. He wants the pair to "use your ingenuity to trap a spy mob" for later prosecution to frighten all other agents into leaving. They choose the spies from the European nation of Latonia and start their plan by breaking into that country's embassy. Click here to read the story.

22			'The Man Who Torpedoed Congress' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Wayne Boring (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #26, April, 1939, 6 pages. The US "Congress building" is destroyed by a terrific explosion. The Chief informs Bart Regan and Sally Norris an hour later that the reports in the newspapers about it being due to faulty gas pipes were incorrect (timing on all that is very odd). The pair are told to discover what really happened. That leads them to suspect it was bombs directed by radio-control. That leads them to a scientist who has created a sky-torpedo. Norris will be taken for one heckuva ride! Click here to read the story.

23			'The Mysterious Murders' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Wayne Boring (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #27, May, 1939, 6 pages. The death of a Congressman at a dinner was caused by an internal hemorrhage. He was not the only one to die in such a way recently so the Chief sends Bart Regan (no Sally Norris) to find out who is behind the murders and how they are being done. Click here to read the story.

24			'Saboteurs Bomb Steamer' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Wayne Boring (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #28, June, 1939, 6 pages. A steamer from a company in the country of Baralia explodes in the harbor of an American port city. The dictator of Baralia wastes no time in stating it was a "deliberate provocation by a hostile people" and declares war on the U.S. Bart Regan has very little time to find the real saboteurs and avert armed conflict. Instead of having Sally Norris to help, he is joined by fellow agent Jack Steele. Click here to read the story.

25			'Colonel Walsh and the Coastal Defense Plans' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Mart Bailey (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #29, July, 1939, 6 pages. After the U.S. Espionage Bureau (new name there) unscrambles a broadcast of what seems like just weird sounds, they discover a message talking about the need to get important papers from a Colonel Walsh at Fort Lannar. Bart Regan and his partner, Jack Steele, discover that Walsh is being set up for a fall by enemy agents. Click here to read the story.

26			'The Dictator of the United States' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Mart Bailey (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #30, August, 1939, 6 pages. A string of sudden and startling changes in the rhetoric of American politicians in which the speakers were calling for a totalitarian regime with a 'benevolent despot' has Bart Regan alarmed. He asks permission to investigate which the Chief gives. The Chief then calls one of key voices in the new movement to alert him. Regan is stunned then to find his new sometime partner, Jack Steele, on the other side ready to take Regan for a final ride. Click here to read the story.

27			'The Mystery Plane' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Mart Bailey (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #31, September, 1939, 6 pages. Bart Regan is all excited to be given a new assignment, namely to track down a stolen "mystery plane". He had barely started asking questions when he is attacked by three assailants. Pursuit will take him to a mountain with a hidden base inside. Click here to read the story.

28			''Sabotage Under The Sea'' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Mart Bailey (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #32, October, 1939, 6 pages. Sabotage aboard the American submarine, H-21, results in the loss of the vessel and some of the crew. Bart Regan is assigned the task of learning who was behind it. His first clue was the desertion of a man of Metorian descent, that nation being one that "nurses no love for the U.S." This turns out to be the first step in a plan to cripple the Navy to make it easier to attack the U.S. Click here to read the story.

29			'Thoria Invades Luxen' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Mart Bailey (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #33, November, 1939, 6 pages. Armed tanks from invading Thoria, a war-minded dictator-ruled country, thunder into Luxem, a small democratic nation. The leader of that conquered country, Karl Palchek, is taken prisoner and tortured but eventually escapes and makes his way to the States. When word comes that agents from Thoria are out to kill the former leader, Bart Regan is assigned protection detail. Click here to read the story.

30			'The Ambassador to Bolaria' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Mart Bailey (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #34, December, 1939, 6 pages. As he and another man climb the stairs to the U.S. Intelligence Bureau, both are nearly annihilated by machine gun file from a passing car. The other man turns out to be the Ambassador from the nation of Bolaria, a small European country friendly to the U.S. but threatened by its neighbor, Luxor. Someone is determined to stop the talks to get armaments sent to Bolaria. Click here to read the story.

31			'The Unknown Sub' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Maurice Kashuba (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #35, January, 1940, 6 pages. The pleasure boat Swelltime was out on a four-hour cruise of music and enjoyment when it is torpedoed by a submarine. The suspected culprit is the antagonistic nation of Luxor. Bart Regan decides to trail that country's ambassador which will lead him to a lot of scuffles and gun battles and eventually an elaborate hidden submarine facility. Click here to read the story.

32			'The Rantor' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Maurice Kashuba (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #36, February, 1940, 6 pages (1 missing here). Enemy agents from Tortania are determined to blow up the steamer Pantor to use it as an excuse to start a war with the U.S. Bart Regan's job is to keep that from happening but the operatives are very determined, even willing to die trying. Click here to read the story.

33			'The Ring of Death' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Maurice Kashuba (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #37, March, 1940, 6 pages. A 'group of government officials' were attending an important conference when an explosion caused horrible death and destruction. Bart Regan is assigned the job of discovering who was responsible for the carnage and to bring them to justice. The bomb fragments point to the type used by the terrorist society known as the 'Ring of Death' which was supposedly stamped out years before. Click here to read the story.

34			'The Electrical Assassin' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Maurice Kashuba (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #38, April, 1940, 6 pages. An assassin has learned how to make deadly use of electricity and lightning to carry out his killings. Knowing that Bart Regan was his most dangerous opponent, he goes after Regan as well, killing an agent he mistook for Regan. Click here to read the story.

35			'The Chauffeur Spy' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Maurice Kashuba (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #39, May, 1940, 6 pages. A famous inventor named Wilbur Lawson is worried that the design of his newest creation, a radically different anti-aircraft rifle, will stolen since someone has been pilfering unimportant papers from his lab already. He appeals to the U.S. Spy Headquarters for help and they assign Bart Regan. Click here to read the story.

36			'The Forgarian Ball' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Maurice Kashuba (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #40, June, 1940, 6 pages. Bart Regan is told by his Chief that 'Forgaria is taking an unhealthy interest in our defense secrets'. He is handed an invitation to a ball at that country's embassy so he can snoop around. He is nearby when two men assail a third and that third man is most upset that his pen was almost stolen. Click here to read the story.

37			''Norman Novaney - Notorious International Spy'' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Maurice Kashuba (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #41, July, 1940, 6 pages. Bart Regan is visiting the Military Research Building when he is stunned to see Norman Novaney, a notorious international spy, also visiting the facility. When he sees a clerk pass the man a cigarette, he knew he was on to something. Click here to read the story.

38			'The Missing Gas Mask' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Maurice Kashuba (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #42, August, 1940, 6 pages. The Secretary of the Department of Inventive Research visits the U.S. Secret Service headquarters and tells Bart Regan and his Chief that plans for a palm-sized gas mask have been stolen. Regan agrees to look for them. The real thief is a surprise. Click here to read the story.

39			''Assignment in New York'' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Ed Moore (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #43, September, 1940, 6 pages. Told to head to New York on an assignment, Bart Regan decides to fly his own plane there. After talking with a new mechanic, Regan heads out but soon has major problems with the engine and is lucky to make an emergency landing in a farm. He discovers an incendiary machine in the works. That is just the start of problem. Click here to read the story.

40			'The Immigration Case' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Ed Moore (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #44, October, 1940, 6 pages. The head of the Immigration Service comes to the headquarters for the US Counter-Espionage Division and asks for help. Many aliens are being smuggled into the country right through Ellis Island. Bart Regan is assigned the case. Click here to read the story.

41			'Glover Green' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Ed Moore (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #45, November, 1940, 6 pages. Walking down a street in New York, Bart Regan spots 5 guys ganging up on one so he steps in and convinces the 5 to vamoose. Regan was surprised to see the victim had a mark on his forehead of a 'secret order' and the attackers all wore green gloves. He is certain they were all somehow connected to a subversion organization of some sort. When the victim races off without saying much, Regan investigates and comes up against a group calling itself the Green Gloves. Click here to read the story.

42			'Goldfish' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Ed Moore (artist), Ed Moore (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #46, December, 1940, 6 pages. Bart Regan next assignment starts when he is told about the threat from smuggling fifth columnists into the country through Florida from South America. He is told an agent named Powers had looked into it but was found dead. A second agent named Conover was missing. Suddenly the missing agent walks into the office mumbling about finding nothing but goldfish. He says he hates goldfish. And that he sees one floating in the air. And then he follows that vision out the window of the tall building. A strange case indeed. Click here to read the story.

43			'The Roomer' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Ed Moore (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #47, January, 1941, 6 pages. Receiving a call from a scared man claiming to have information 'vital to this country's defense', the Chief has the call traced (but the man does give his address) and sends Bart Regan to investigate. Regan is told by that man that he is the only person outside an organization of agents from a 'great foreign power' that knows the location of a new radio station set up in Central America to 'pump their filthy propaganda into the U.S'. Regan smells a rat. Click here to read the story.

44			'Alien Smugglers' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Ed Moore (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #48, February, 1941, 6 pages. Remnants of the Goldfish gang are still operating an alien smuggling racket out of Miami via the Ten Thousand islands. Bart Regan is given the task of leading the investigation. Click here to read the story.

45			'Sabotage' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Ed Moore (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #49, March, 1941, 6 pages. Bart Regan is starting his takeoff piloting a small plane when it crashes and he barely survives. The joystick had been sawed so it would break when used. Investigations will uncover a plot to get intel on a new plane the U.S. was developing. Click here to read the story.

46			'The Phoney Glasses' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Ed Moore (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #50, April, 1941, 6 pages. While driving with his Chief in the industrial city of Tinsdale, Bart Regan spots from a distance a man wearing glasses with clear glass in them (how?). That man was entering a company with millions of dollars in defense contracts. Certain that fellow was a fifth columnist out for no good, Regan goes into action. Click here to read the story.

47			'This Is Sabotage' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Ed Moore (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #51, May, 1941, 6 pages. Sabotage at the giant Tonville Dam has destroyed the powerhouse and then the dam itself, causing tremendous damage in the town downriver. It falls to Bart Regan to learn who was responsible and bring them to justice. Click here to read the story.

48			'The Secret Flame' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Ed Moore (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #52, June, 1941, 6 pages. When Fulton Aircraft Corporation was test-flying its new Fulton Flame fighter plane, the real test pilot was knocked out and an imposter flew off with the plane. Bart Regan was called in from D.C. to help investigate - and the first thing he does is to get a hotel room and take a nap! Click here to read the story.

49			'The Opium Smugglers' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Ed Moore (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #53, July, 1941, 6 pages. The Chief of the Narcotics Bureau in New York asks Bart Regan's Chief for the temporary use of Regan on an opium smuggling case. The main suspect is someone from the freighter 'Lascar'. Click here to read the story.

50			'Protecting the Panama Canal' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Ed Moore (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #54, August, 1941, 6 pages. Bart Regan has been dispatched to Central America because of rumors that on an island in that region, a foreign power has based a torpedo bomber and plan to use that bomber to blast Gatun Dam "and so render useless the Panama Canal". Click here to read the story.

51			''The Airsick Passenger'' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Jerry Siegel (writer), Ed Moore (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #55, September, 1941, 6 pages. On a plane coming back from an assignment, Bart Regan notices a man switch seats, moving to the back of the plane near where Regan was seated. Shortly after the man buckled his seat belt, the plane experienced engine problems and crashed, killing many in the forward area. Regan is certain the man, who disappears shortly after the crash, was responsible. Click here to read the story.

52			'Jules Vortez' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Ed Moore (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #56, October, 1941, 6 pages. In a follow-up to the previous adventure, Bart Regan had learned the saboteur of the plane he was on had been trying to kill an enemy of country the man was from, a former revolutionary names Jules Vortez. Others are likely after him and Bart Regan is given the job of protecting him en route testifying in Washington. Click here to read the story.

53			'The Fencer' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Ed Moore (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #57, November, 1941, 6 pages. One additional attempt is made to kill the former revolutionary now writer Vortez as Bart Regan tries to get him to Washington. This time it is the head of the spy ring himself that leads the charge, the infamous 'Fencer', said to be the best sword fighter in the world. Click here to read the story.

54			'New Orleans' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Ed Moore (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #58, December, 1941, 6 pages. Bart Regan is in New Orleans, supposedly the planning spot for most revolutionaries in Central America, where he is told that two or three known anarchists are in the city plotting yet another scheme to cause trouble further south. It is Regan's job to root them out. Click here to read the story.

55			'Next Stop... Panama!' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Ed Moore (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #59, January, 1942, 6 pages. Bart Regan heads back south to Panama where yet another plot has been uncovered to destroy the Canal. This time it is cargo ship that will be blown up in one of the locks unless Regan can get aboard it and save the day. Click here to read the story.

56			'Herr Flax' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Ed Moore (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #60, February, 1942, 6 pages. Bart Regan and a colleague named Whitey waylay two fellows on a beach in Florida and take their place to meet a famous foreign, German-speaking saboteur named Flax who is smuggling in a horrible weapon to be used in the States. Click here to read the story.

57			'The Mysterious Green Bottle' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Louis Cazeneuve (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #61, March, 1942, 6 pages. The question that Bart Regan was ordered to find out was what was in the mysterious green bottle? 'Nations battled for it. Men killed to possess its fantastic secret. Why did a few drops of the strange liquid drive inanimate engines speed-mad? One little old fellow with the 1913 car was the only one who knew. Click here to read the story.

58			'The Counterfeiters' Published by DC Comics Contributors: Louis Cazeneuve (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #62, April, 1942, 6 pages. It was idle curiosity that led Bart Regan into investigating why a shopkeeper was so angry at a teenage boy and why the boy would risk jail time to steal a can of cleaning fluid. The answer to both those questions would point to an ingenious counterfeiting racket. Click here to read the story.

59			The Stumbling Saboteurs Published by DC Comics Contributors: Louis Cazeneuve (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #63, May, 1942, 6 pages. A drunk was on hand at a power filtering plant when it was badly damaged in an explosion. Another drunk was nearby when water treatment plant was nearly shut down. Bart Regan suspects an interesting pattern of inebriated people and sabotage. Click here to read the story.

60			Murder in the Monument Published by DC Comics Contributors: Pierce Rice (pencils), Arturo Cazeneuve (inks) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #64, June, 1942, 6 pages. Some pretty unsavory fellows are planning a very nasty accident at the Washington Monument during a late-night visit there by some visiting Latin American diplomats. Click here to read the story.

61			The Case of the...Man Who Sold Death!! Published by DC Comics Contributors: Louis Cazeneuve (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #65, July, 1942, 6 pages. The salesman was very good at convincing people to buy his wares, whether it was a fancy new pen or a typewriter or a pencil or a 'host of other supplies" needed in the offices of government in DC. Unfortunately each of these items proved explosive and Bart Regan was ordered to track this salesman of death down. Click here to read the story.

62			Little Discs of Death Published by DC Comics Contributors: Louis Cazeneuve (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #66, August, 1942, 6 pages. Trailing a suspected spy, Bar Regan is on hand when in a bar the man plays a slot machine he was told not to and the machine pays out big. But it was with strange looking slugs. The saloonkeeper and his cronies were another gang spies who Regan arrests but the machine itself would prove more interesting. Click here to read the story.

63			The Secret Ten Published by DC Comics Contributors: Pierce Rice (pencils), Arturo Cazeneuve (inks) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #67, September, 1942, 6 pages. Following members of a group called the Secret Ten has proven frustrating to Bart Regan as they routinely attend concerts in town where he is certain they are passing along intelligence and receiving orders. Regan is determined to figure out their scheme. Click here to read the story.

64			Adventure of the Peglegged Wildcat Published by DC Comics Contributors: Pierce Rice (pencils), Arturo Cazeneuve (inks) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #68, October, 1942, 6 pages. The Chief promised Bart Regan that his latest assignment was going to be an easy one. He was to just keep an eye on old Jonas Salt to make sure the man stayed out of trouble. Before Regan knew what was happening, he was 'shanghaied, dragged to sea on a wrecked tugboat, torpedoed, shelled, and dumped on the deck of a Nazi sub.' Click here to read the story.

65			The Case of the Sweet-Toothed Spy! Published by DC Comics Contributors: Chuck Winter (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #69, November, 1942, 6 pages. Hunting who the leader of a gang of foreign spies that had been smuggling intel without being detected is the latest job for Bart Regan. He only lead so far was a member of that group willing to talk but when the meeting at a candy store was set up, Regan saw someone had beaten him to the meet with a load of lead. Click here to read the story.

66			The Man Who Looted Lives! Published by DC Comics Contributors: Chuck Winter (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #70, December, 1942, 6 pages. Someone rigged the hammer at a carnival tough-man bell ringing competition to explode, wiping out several workers at a nearby airplane factory. It was the first of several sabotages that Bart Regan must put an end to. Click here to read the story.

67			Death on the Diamond! Published by DC Comics Contributors: Chuck Winter (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #71, January, 1943, 6 pages. To catch a notorious foreign spy, Bart Regan will do two things he has not yet done in his long and storied carrier. He will allow himself to be thrown into prison on a trumped-up charge. And he will then join the prisoner's baseball team! Click here to read the story.

68			The Target Murder Published by DC Comics Contributors: Chuck Winter (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #72, February, 1943, 6 pages. To get their hands on a new cathode-tube gun sight that an inventor has just developed, a spy ring is using its leader's uncanny ability to predict what normal people would do in any situation. Click here to read the story.

69			Corpse Cove!! Published by DC Comics Contributors: Chuck Winter (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #73, March, 1943, 6 pages. The Secret Service Chief is most annoyed with a fellow named Buzz Malky, a known smuggler of aliens into the country because night after night they stop him on his normal run from Cuba to the US but each time his vessel is empty. Bart Regan decides to give it a go. Click here to read the story.

70			The Treachery at the Waterfront Published by DC Comics Contributors: Chuck Winter (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #74, April, 1943, 6 pages. Two semi-professional wrestlers put on a nightly match to entertain the dockworkers. It is so popular it is even broadcast on the local radio station. Bart Regan begins to suspect their matches has something to do with a string of cargo vessel sinking by a U-boat. Click here to read the story.

71			Death Went on Maneuvers! Published by DC Comics Contributors: Chuck Winter (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #75, May, 1943, 6 pages. When mock battles by the US Army prove to be real and soldiers are being killed by their own side, Bart Regan goes looking for answers. He will find it in a monkey who is visiting lots of different offices in DC. Click here to read the story.

72			Decks of Doom! Published by DC Comics Contributors: Chuck Winter (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #76, June, 1943, 5 pages. The Chief tells Bart Regan that 'strange men have been hanging around the docks' and that makes him nervous. Regan's newest task is to patrol the bay area by boat at night to see what the men are up to. Click here to read the story.

73			Taps for the Telegrapher! Published by DC Comics Contributors: Chuck Winter (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #77, July, 1943, 5 pages. Bart Regan is put on a case of finding what happened to a missing telegrapher, a man who disappeared shortly after accidentally delivering a message to the wrong person. The message had to do with jars of jam from Aunt Margery. Click here to read the story.

74			The Gun That Fired Twice! Published by DC Comics Contributors: Chuck Winter (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #81, November, 1943, 6 pages. Someone has been stealing state secrets from guests staying at the King Hotel. After one operative investigating the matter is murdered, the Chief lets Bart Regan take over. Click here to read the story.

75			Peril on Pier 76! Published by DC Comics Contributors: Chuck Winter (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #82, December, 1943, 6 pages. While the war wages on in Europe, enemy spies are hard at work with acts of sabotage along the docks, delaying shipments of valuable supplies and munitions. Bart Regan is ordered to stop the latest rash of activity. Click here to read the story.

76			The Message of the Moccasins! Published by DC Comics Contributors: Chuck Winter (artist) Copyright: 1937 Published in Detective Comics #83, January, 1944, 6 pages. Bart Regan is visiting a friend on an Indian reservation when he discovers the murdered body of a member of the tribe, an inventor. Regan is determined to find out who killed the man and what became of his invention. The culprit is clever enough to use a bear as a weapon. Click here to read the story.

MY COMMENTS

When one talks about the comicbook industry in its infancy, two comicbook heroes from the very early days invariably are mentioned: Superman and Batman. This series about Bart Regan has a connection to both even though the man is not a costumed hero in any regard.

Regan's connection to Superman comes from having been created by same pair of pioneers that would see their Kryptonian hero show up on the newsstands two years later. He connection to Batman would derive from his having found a solid home in the pages of Detective Comics, the birthplace of the Caped Crusader, three years before that Dark Knight was first seen.

Regan would not have anywhere near the staying power and the prestige of these other two but his place in comicbook and spy-fi history deserves a special notation. He was truly one of the first operatives to be told about in illustrated format and he would stick around quite a long time. He deserves to be remembered.

I really had a lot of fun with the series, at least in the first two dozen adventures. The gleefulness with which Bart Regan and Sally Norris went about their missions, and the affection they invariably showed each other at the end of each assignment, was a pleasure to read.

When Sally got the heave-ho with nary a word of goodbye, the series, IMHO, dropped in enjoyment quite a bit, but the quality of the stories remained. The seriousness took a few ratchets higher, naturally, as America neared entry into the Second World War but it was still a shame to see Sally disappear.

GRADE

My Grade: B

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