The Ghost: Deadly Star

Merrit’s movie theatre in LA, April 10, 1940:

"Ist das du?"

"English you idiot and not here. Go to the restroom."

"Quite looking under the damn stalls. There’s no one here. They’re all out there watching the film. The war’s the best thing that ever happened to the flickers, don’t you know?"

" Very well, the information please."

"Straight to the point. How teutonic. Here you go—photographs of the naval installation as agreed."

"That is all? Photos?"

"What do you want me to do—bomb it for you?"

"A message, mein herr, stragith from Canaris himself: you report to him from now on, not SS."

"I will work for the real reich, not a bally lot of Prussian misfits. Piss off."

"Give it back."

"Sod off, heinie."

Shuffling feet, a mettalic click, a gasp of air, the sound of a body sliding wetly down a wall.

"Couldn’t be satisfied with the old arrangment could you Oskar?"

LA POLICE REPORT, APRIL 11, 1940: STABBED BODY OF GERMAN NATIONAL OSKAR LUFFEL, MEMBER OF THE ABWEHR FOUND IN MERRIT’S THEATRE RESTROOM. FBI WILL TAKE OVER.

"And here as promised, ladies and gentlemen, appearing here at Merrits, the star of the tonight’s feature—Mr. Alan Bolt!"

the theatre-goers cannot believe it. one particularly enthusiastic child was so star-struck after shaking his hero’s hands that he didn’t notice the blood that got on him.

…

Variety, April 14, 1940: Superhero visits Hollywood by Al Shener

Look out Clark Kent! Scientest-superman Jonathan Silver aka the Ghost is in towm this week for a guest appearance on the radio show Pabst Blue Ribbon Town.

"Geez boss, quit scowling."

"A world war—an entire world at war—and what am I doing? A radio plug.

"30 seconds Dr. Silver and remember mention the product clearly."

Silver eyes glared a weird hypnotic light and the radio director fled.

"C’mon Boss," Silver’s aide Evans Kidfast said," at least you get to meet Stinko Schwarz of the Schwarz Brothers."

"A comedian. I’d rather meet a Nazi spy."

…

"Well what do you think?"

"A bit overblown, J.L.," Alan Bolt said, gazing at the 12 foot high poster of himself in pilot garb.

"Wings of the RAF. Your latest foray against evil."

"Yes. A departure. What do you want? You didn’t drag me out of bed just to look at my latest poster."

"The F.B.I. has reopened your file."

"Screw them. They tried it before and it got them nowhere. Handle it sport."

"Dammit Alan, you’re just one star in my studio. I’m not crossing swords with the government just because you love Schickelgruber. Your heinie politics are not going to—"

Bolt grabbed J.L. by the jacket.

"That’s quite enough you slimy Hebrew pig. I’ll continue my heinie politics for as long as I want which hopefully will conclude with your kind floating in the ocean. Just keep collecting your gold from my films and shut your mouth."

Bolt straightened the man’s jacket, flashed a smile and then walked off. J.L. watched him depart and then put his face in his hands.

…..

"You’re so tall."

"Thanks," Silver muttered.

"Did you really capture that sky indian fellow?"

"Sky devil fellow. Yes."

"Dr. Silver, a pleasure, " Bolt said. "Finally the real thing in this town."

"The real thing?"

"A real hero. Not that phony play-acting swordplay I do."

Silver introduced his teammates. Bolt acknowledged all of them except Lewinsky.

"You must come to my yacht. I can tell you don’t like what is on land here."

"Your yacht?"

"How refreshing! One who does not read the fan magazines. My yacht, the Eagle, recently converted into a patrol boat against the yellow peril."

"Sounds like you’ve got my problem: can’t break into the war."

"Ah yes. We’re both too valuable. Me for my films, you for your test tubes. How did you like Stinko Schwarz?"

"Determined to be funny."
"Hah! Detestable man. More worried about money than anything else. Rodent."

Silver’s eyes narrowed.

"Don’t you mean vermin?"

Bolt gestured at the studio heads: "Mustn’t upset the brethren."

"I believe I do remember you now, Mr. Bolt. Movie star joins cavalry unit to purify Hollywood of the jewish Bolshevik peril. Journeys to Spain as an observer."

"I know you as well, Mr. Silver. Pulp hero attacks Silver Shirts, busts up bund meeting."

"It seems we’ve both researched each other."

"Know your enemy," Bolt grinned, " Op, I see a fan coming—a female," Bolt said winking.

Silver watched Bolt depart and then whispered to his teammates who suddenly departed.
"Jonathan Morgan Silver! Scourge of the working class. Pillager of the destitute. The caped social fascist! The—"

"Dobson please your’re drunk," a man said, trying to hold onto the swaying, shouting figure.

"Ever do anything about the real problems in this country? Ever see a poor person from your running board?"

"Dobson Rambo. Screenwriter. Supporter of the Purge Trials and the Pact," Silver said.

"Stalin would’ve killed you in two seconds, fascist, had you not hightailed it out of Spain. I know you, I know you-"

"And I know you Rambo," Silver said, his strange eyes glittering: "I know your maildrops in the night, your whispered conversations in busy subways, your sweaty hands clutching microfilm."

Rambo paled and walked off.

(From the Letters of Dobson Rambo, Bantam 1968: "Superheroes are fascist power fantasies.")

……

"Aren’t you worried someone will walk in on us?"

"What of it, my dear. This is a Hollywood party. They expect these kinds of things."

"I suppose you’ll make me a star."

"No. trite. Overused. I’m really interested in why you have this? Bolt said, holding up a pistol: "Who are you working for?"

"I beg your pardon?"

Bolt backhanded her across the room.

"This sort of thing has increased of late. Jews using your type to get to me. Again, who are you working for?"

The girl ran for the door. Bolt tripped her.

"No one can hear you downstairs. Hollywood parties are notoriously noisy."

Bolt leaned against the door and lit a cigarette.

"Now first we’re going to cut out this crying shit. Second wer’re going to discuss who’s behind this. Otherwise I’ll put this cigarettee to good us."

At that moment, downstairs, a fever raged through Silver’s body as J.L Warren was talking to him.

"As I was saying, you are a natural. Although with that white hair and grey eyes you’d need to be in techincolor otherwise you’d look like a snowball."

"Call the police."

"Huh?"

Silver raced up the stairs and patrolled the hall, stopping where the fever felt hottest in his body. He kicked in a door. Confronting him was a sight that he would take to his grave. He cut her down.

…..

"One more question: you found her first, correct Dr. Silver?"

"Yes."

"Must have been an intruder," J.L Warren said.

"Yes," the cop said.

"He came in the door. Look at the window, the glass. It is outside. He jumped out the window," Silver said.
"Thank you Dr. Silver. We’ll handle it from here."

"Who wiped the graffitti off the wall?" Silver said.

"Grafitti?"

"’Jew whore! Death to Isreal’! You know, the letters written in blood on that wall over there."
"Dr. Silver , this is a local matter. We will handle it."

"Like you handled the evidence?"

"Get out."

"He must be a worthwhile investment, eh J.L? Forget to wash your hands?"

…..

Good Morning America transcript February 3, 1980:

Sol Strauss: Everyone in Hollywood knew about Bolt. But box office was more important to Warren Brothers.

Rona Barret: Did anyone try to stop him?

Strauss: one did.

…

Bolt had not run this far and this fast since he was part of a child gang in Ireland. He stopped in the rain, letting it wash the blood off of him.
Don’t move, Bolt."

Bolt growled and turned. Lewinsky and Kidfast stepped forward, guns drawn..

"Get under the tree. We don’t want anymore evidence washing off of you," Lewinsky said.
"I don’t obey jew-boys. Bolt brought the dead girl’s gun out from behind his back and shot Lewisnky in the chest. As Lewinsky dropped, Kidfast shot the gun out of Bolt’s hand.

"Protecting jews now are we?"

"Shut up."

"Don’t you realize what I represent? Communism’s taking over the world! I’m here to stop it! Do you want your children growing up in a labor camp?"

Kidfast blinked several times. He lowered his pistol: "Beat it."

He watched Bolt depart, picked up the actor’s gun and then fired it into his shoulder.

(The Ghost Trading Card No. 13: Evans Kidfast, the "marksmen." The Ghost’s trigger finger, Kidfast is a former WWI sniper who turned his skill to fighting evil.

KIDS, COLLECT ALL 133 GHOST TRADING CARDS)

"He’ll pull through," Silver said, pulling off the surgical mask. The unconscous Lewinsky lay before him on the operating table.

"What now?" said Kidfast. "Bolt is probably in hiding now that he knows you know."

"Oh I know who to visit."

…

As usual, Rambo was working where he worked best: his bathtub.

"What the hell are you doing here? This is breaking and entering!"

"Spare me the civil liberties lecture. It doesn’t fit you. And stay in the tub; I just ate.

"Oh I know you Mr. Jonathan Ghost! You snitched on Stalin in Spain and are currently hunting down progressives."

"Progressives who are helping out Uncle Joe’s arrangement with Adolf by giving information to Nazi intelligence here in the United States."

"Screw you. Get out."

"I don’t think you understand your position. Kidfast, get the truth serum…"

…..

"What you suspected?" Kidfast said.

"They’re helping each other. Former enemies now swapping information because of the Non-Aggression Pact. Hello, what’s this?" Silver said, as a thick manila envelope fell out of Rambo’s script he was working on in the tub.

"What it is it."
"Holy shit:"

It simply said: Bolt: our man in the government has gotten you in. stay cocooned and out of trouble."

…

From a life of adventure by Dante Lewinsky: "So we lost him. He escaped us—by getting himself involved in the war. His cocoon was top secret work for Uncle Sam. He slipped through the security clearance without a hitch. No one had a file on him in those days. His fascist affiliations were not documented. So they let him in."

Shooting script of the King’s spy starring Alan Bolt (Warren Brothers 1938):

Countess Ann: So you, Lord Richard, the king’s spy, are against him?

Lord Richard: Yes. And he’ll never know until it is too late.

………

"Thank you for coming Jonathan."

"Why all the cloak and dagger?"

"Oh the usual. Threats of saboteurs etc. I think you know Dr. Phillips."

"Of course. Microbiology, Princeton. What is all of this?"

The military figure at the back of the room spoke up: "Dr. Silver, as you probably know from the newspapers, we are probably going to war in the Pacific in less than a year. The Japs are going to destroy our boys in battle. Our boys are civilian soldiers; the japs are raised from birth with samurai swords in their hands. In short, our forces, our training just aren’t cutting it."

"Jonathan, what the general is trying to say is that we need to create a new type of soldier. One built from science. That is why you and the other gentlemen are here tonight."

From a life of adventure by dante lewinsky: "so that’s how it began. The biggest secret of the war—so far. Project Uncle Sam. The creation of the super-citizen soldier. Like the Manhattan Project, the government stuck a bunch of scientests off in the middle of nowhere away from distractions. And like the Manhattan Project, it was riddled with moles."

From the Diary of Jonathan Silver, confiscated by the FBI raid at his headquarters in 1949; later published in select portions by Ramparts: April 14, 1941:"None of us are allowed to see the test subject for the formula. In fact, none of us even know if the test subject is here."

May 8, 1941: "Some of the scientests will not come anywhere near me. Compartmentalization is one thing, but this is ridicolus. Is it awe of me that keeps them away? Or something else?"

JUNE 21, 1941—A DATE THAT SHALL LIVE IN SCIENTIFIC INFAMY
"Gentlemen, there is nothing Amerian ingenuity cannot do. And here, in this laboratory, we are about to prove it. Let me remind everyone that they must stay seated. Bring the subject forward."

A hooded figure comes forward next to the speaker.
"The man’s identity is concealed to protect him and will remain that way. You will simply know him as the True American!"

Silver smirked in the back of the room. He had not liked the name but like everything with this project he was overruled by higher-ups. He looked the room over again as the hooded figure drank the potion. Military guards and the scientests who kept away from him all those months. And one more. A large burly figure seated up front. Silver’s photographic memory clicked in just as the hooded figure finished the serum. Silver identified the figure from a scene twenty years ago: Weimar Germany. 1926. The brownshirt who called him Loder—the one who he took out with the leg sweep.

"Stop the experiment! There is a spy in this room!"

The announcer turned toward the hooded figure and said: "Take him."

Alan Leslie Bolt took off the hood and raced toward Silver with blinding speed. He sent Silver through the window with one blow.

….

"My, my. So trusting. You didn’t even ask for ID. Do the chains hurt?"

"What did the Nazis offer you Williams?"

"It wasn’t the Nazis. You are looking at the Kremlin’s no. 2 man for scientific espionage since 1936.

"Of course. The agreement in the Pact did not just stipulate non-agression. The Nazi and spy networks in the United States have joined forces."

"You don’t sound surprised."

"I was in Spain."

"Hah! Well anyway thanks. You’re research on cell growth helped us lick the problem."
"the American government is surely not footing the bill for this project."

"Oh no. That would be too delicious. Actually a Soviet flush fund filtered through our man in the government. Quite a highly placed agent. Any investigations into what we are doing are crushed by our agent as violating national security. To the world at large, we are a CCC camp."

"So now what? You have your citizen soldier and Trotsky is already dead. Who do you use him against?"

"England."

"Dressed in an American costume of course. Then the Yanks really won’t be coming in the British eyes."

"Excellent Jonathan. You do know our slogans. Good morning. We are having you shot tonight."

……

"Try it again, mein herr."

Bolt, now dressed head to toe in a flag-draped uniform with a swastika in the center, threw the metal boomerang. It sliced the head off the dummy and returned to him.

"what about his speed?" the general said.
"We clocked him this morning. He did the hundred yard dash in 3 seconds."

"Perfect. Now you are a hero," the general said, smiling.

JUNE 22, 1941

"We are Americans again"—an unknown communist party member.

Williams was bleeding profusely but he had to get to the cell. Like it or not, Silver was their only hope. The German scientests and guards were close behind when he got the cell door unlocked. He gasped when he saw an empty cell, broken chains and a message scrawled on the wall:

IT DOESN’T MATTER WILLIAMS. YOU’RE STILL A TRAITOR. AND YOU HAVE HELPED UNLEASH THE ANTICHRIST.

..

"Surrond Herr Bolt. Get him to the plane. Get him to-argh!"

"It is Silver! Shoot him! Fire in all directions."

"Let me handle this," Bolt said, putting on his helmet.

"No, Herr Bolt. This is not the day. We must wait. The Russians and the Americans will not always be partners. Then we strike. Until then we hide."

…..

Science is not always the solution—Dr. Jonathan Silver, 1945.

Because of his hood, we called him the shroud of death. None of us were allowed to go near him—Concentration Camp Guard.

Mengele took us in shifts and hooked us up with electrodes to a hooded figure—Concentration Camp survivor.

…

"An honor sir. Can I get you anything?"

"No Lieutenant. Just the CIA and MP files and some privacy.

….

"I built this," Silver said, flinging the files across the room.

"You built part of him, Jonathan," Lewinsky said.

"I’m responsible. I’m supposed to be leading us to Utopia and instead I’ve led us to hell. It’s not just the rapes. These women were just a snack. Look at what he did in Poland.

…..

"Jews to the left of me! To the right! I’ll wipe them out in the Washington!"

"Slow my friend. You have public opinion on your side. But you must wait. Harp on the red menace a bit longer."

"I need a break."

"Bring our hero some candy," the scientest said into the walkie talkie.

The girl was escorted into the dark room. A red white and blue blur knocked her down.

"The walls are soundproof so scream—I like it."

Bolt began ripping at her clothes. He was about to slap her when he noticed something drip on his foot. He looked down and noticed that it was flesh colored.

Bolt looked at his hands and gasped. Skin was falling off. Bones were begin to appear. The girl smiled. The door flew off its hinges.

Silver stood in the doorway. Behind lay the guards.

"Chemical reaction in her clothes. Harmful only to you. I know you dropped out of school so I’ll make it simple. I built your cells so I know what will destroy them."

Bolt growled and then gasped as the skin from his arms fell off at once in a heap at this feet.
"You are a fraud," he sneered, "You claim you never kill. You are killing me."

"I still am not a killer. You killed yourself. Your evil led you into the trap."

The girl stood up.

"Look at her closely Bolt while you still have eyes. Notice the family resemblence? She is Edith Jacobs, the sister of the girl you killed at the Hollywood party so long ago. Edith is in the Mossad."

Bolt felt the skin of his neck fall off.

Silver smiled: "Yes. A jew was your undoing."

Bolt’s cheeks were peeling off.

"Say hello to the Nazis down there."

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