HY SCORE

Full Name:	Henry 'Hy' Score
Nationality:	American
Organization:	FBI
Occupation	Agent

Creator:	George Merkle
Time Span:	1940 - 1943

ABOUT THE SERIES

Hy Score is an agent with American Military Intelligence.

The time period for the first recorded adventure of this tall, handsome, and as we are told in the opening lines of narrative, "young, athletic-type" man is the Summer of 1940. Trouble is already well underway across Europe and North Africa and even players not yet officially in the midst of conflict are deeply engaged in espionage activity to attain any level of superiority they can. We find our protagonist in the arid region of the Arabian Peninsula as he embarks on a new and dangerous mission.

His full name is Henry Score but all of his friends, and most of his enemies, use the nickname of 'Hy'. His usual form of identification, at least as we meet him, is that of a journalist for an American newspaper as we are told in that he has used that cover many times successfully. We then will follow him pretending to be a reporter while actually a spy for the American Secret Service (not the former Treasury department, though). Later, however, we will find him reporting directly to the F.B.I. so his employment can be described at best as fluid.

Playing a major role in most of Hy Score's adventures, starting with the 6th one, is Kitty, niece of a druggist who is pulled into a case involving a foreign spy on the loose. Kitty is shown to be quite independent and forceful and, while not constantly on hand, will be around enough to be an influence on the operative.

Regardless of his employment status, Score is constantly at work and will find his case load vary a bit, from a simple whodunnit to going up against major war machines like the Japanese.

COMIC STRIPS

Number of Arcs:	14
Number of Strips:	175
First Appearance:	1940
Last Appearance:	1943

The moderately short life of the Hy Score comic strip took place in the interesting and novel feature that was the "Chicago Tribune Comic Book". For more information on this innovation, check out the comments in the comic strip section of the Lew Loyal page.


1			Hy Score In Arabia Strips: 1 - 11 Dates: 06/30/1940 - 09/08/1940 Contributors: George Merkle (writer and artist) Secret Agent Hy Score and his colleague, Hodson, are in Arabia to retrieve from the spy cell who stole them American war plans. They will have to deal first, though, with a dangerous and barbaric bandit leader named Brutan. Along the way they will rescue a female nurse/nanny named Lorna and her young charge, a small girl named Penny. Click here to read some or all the story.

2			Hy Score Aboard The S.S. Zanabar Strips: 12 - 20 Dates: 09/15/1940 - 11/10/1940 Contributors: George Merkle (writer and artist) Secret Agent Hy Score is back in the States and given a new assignment. He and Agent Bunny Waters are to investigate suspected opium trafficking using a cargo/passenger ship called the S.S. Zanabar. Click here to read some or all the story.

3			Hy Score On The Trail Of Opium Runners Strips: 21 - 24 Dates: 11/17/1940 - 12/08/1940 Contributors: George Merkle (writer and artist) Surviving the dangers of the cargo ship, Hy Score and fellow agent Bunny Waters head to San Francisco where they know the opium traffickers are headed. Their plan is to track down who is behind it all. Note: this is a sort of bridge arc, renamed by the author, to show the transition off the ship and the end of that portion of the overall adventure. Click here to read some or all the story.

4			"The Matter Of The Headless Spy" Strips: 25 - 32 Dates: 12/15/1940 - 02/02/1941 Contributors: George Merkle (writer and artist) It turns out that the opium trafficking was all part of a much larger espionage operation run by a man known as 'Big Boy', a genius with doctorates in multiple disciplines and the skill to create a hood of invisibility to keep his true identify. All that is seen above the man's shoulders is his long cigarette holder and a pair of pince-nez. Click here to read some or all the story.

5			"The Matter Of The Bald Baron" Strips: 33 - 47 Dates: 02/09/1941 - 95/18/1941 Contributors: George Merkle (writer and artist) Now it is revealed that Hy Score really works with the FBI. His boss tells him that something is up in Florida at the estate of a Wayne Rodney that Score should investigate. Arriving there, Score finds Rodney has just been shot. Looking into the matter, he will find himself up against an enemy spy ring led by a bald man called the Baron. Click here to read some or all the story.

6			"The Matter Of The Ailing Enemy Spy" Strips: 48 - 68 Dates: 05/25/1941 - 10/12/1941 Contributors: George Merkle (writer and artist) Barely surviving his previous adventure, Hy Score recoups in a hospital even as other enemy agents plot his murder. Involved in this new matter of a spy ring operating in Florida is a very sick spymaster and the efforts of his men to force an older pharmacist to "cure him". Also playing a part is the pharmacist's niece who is determined to get Hy to help her help her uncle. Click here to read some or all the story.

7			"The Matter Of The Writer's Murder" Strips: 69 - 84 Dates: 10/19/1941 - 02/01/1942 Contributors: George Merkle (writer and artist) Hy Score's newest assignment takes him to the territory of Alaska and the investigation of the murder of a prominent writer of history, said to be "an important person in American life". The author had invited several people to stay the week with him and Score is certain one of them was the murderer. Note: this is a simple whodunit. Click here to read some or all the story.

8			"The Matter Of Bruno Moto" Strips: 85 - 98 Dates: 02/08/1942 - 05/10/1942 Contributors: George Merkle (writer and artist) When Hy Score is informed that a POW has escaped and is loose in the area, he goes tracking. The escapee is a highly dangerous enemy spy by the name of Bruno Moto and he is working for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Score is now out to recapture him and break up Moto's spy cell in Alaska. Click here to read some or all the story.

9			"The Matter Of Spy Trawler" Strips: 99 - 107 Dates: 05/17/1942 - 07/12/1942 Contributors: George Merkle (writer and artist) In pulling down the Japanese spy cell in the previous adventure, Hy Score has learned that an "innocent" fishing trawler is really connected with the enemy fleet and Hy is determined to track down the connection to break it up. Click here to read some or all the story.

10			"The Matter Of Deserted Isle" Strips: 108 - 118 Dates: 07/19/1942 - 09/27/1942 Contributors: George Merkle (writer and artist) The previous adventure 'ended' when the spy fishing trawler was lost in a hurricane. Hy Score and Kitty are the lone survivors, floating on debris for days until they come to a deserted tropical isle. Now they must find a way to survive. Click here to read some or all the story.

11			"The Matter Of The Japanese Sub Base" Strips: 119 - 139 Dates: 10/04/1942 - 02/21/1943 Contributors: George Merkle (writer and artist) In a very long adventure, Hy Score, Kitty, and her Uncle discover their deserted island is not so deserted as one part of it is really a Japanese sub resupply station. Soon all three are captured and sentenced to die but Score is determined to destroy the base. Click here to read some or all the story.

12			"The Matter Of The Homecoming" Strips: 140 - 145 Dates: 02/28/1943 - 04/04/1943 Contributors: George Merkle (writer and artist) In a relatively short transition 'adventure', we will follow Hy Score as he and Kitty and an injured Uncle are rescued and brought back to the States. Eventually, Score and Kitty will make their way across the country to Score's very fancy estate. Click here to read some or all the story.

13			"The Matter Of The Badger Game" Strips: 146 - 164 Dates: 04/11/1943 - 08/15/1943 Contributors: George Merkle (writer and artist) Hy Score will be given an interesting case to handle, using Kitty as his assistant. Someone is draining the bank accounts of very rich men and leaving them to commit suicide. After keeping the latest victim from doing so, Score learns an extensive badger game is ongoing and he decides he must be the next 'victim'. Click here to read some or all the story.

14			"The Matter Of Punchie" Strips: 165 - 175 Dates: 08/22/1943 - 10/31/1943 Contributors: George Merkle (writer and artist) Having taken down the conman's operation in the previous adventure, Hy Score and Kitty are surprised to find a young boy who has become the de facto ward of the conman. Punchie is the lad's name and he is more than a handful. Even as Score and Kitty move towards a lasting relationship, they know they have to do something with the boy. Note: the last strip has the boy falling down a short cliff and hurting himself badly and Score needing to rush him to the doctor. With the entire strip ending, we never know what happens next. Click here to read some or all the story.

MY COMMENTS

I was pretty hooked on this series when I first can across it and my interest continued right up to the last adventure. That one started good, went odd, and then began a trip back to interesting before it was abruptly ended on a - literal and figurative - cliff hanger (okay, not hanging but falling).

The artwork was quite good and the plotting was hurried but enjoyable. I would have liked for the series to continue but that was not to be.

The format in which the stories were first presented was revolutionary and memorable.

GRADE

My Grade: B

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