Comic Title: Action Comics #21
Publisher: DC (Detective Comics, Inc.)
Address: 480 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY
Cover Date: February 1940
Approx. On Sale Date: December 27, 1939 Copyright Date December 24, 1939
Source: Library of Congress, Periodicals 1940
Until 1958 DC did not report actual on sale dates to the copyright office
The publication dates listed in LoC records are NOT release dates.

Frequency: Monthly
Cover Price: $0.10
Page Count: 64
Editor: Fredric Whitney Ellsworth

Title: (The Doll Murders)
Pages: 10

Feature(s):
Tex Thomson

Writer/Artist: Bernard Baily

Feature Character(s)

• Tex Thomson (last appearance in Action Comics #20; next appearance in Action Comics #22)

Supporting Character(s)

• Bob Daley (last appearance in Action Comics #20; next appearance in Action Comics #22)
• Gargantua T. Potts (last appearance in Action Comics #20; next appearance in Action Comics #23)

Villain(s)

• Maurice Oliver (no further appearances)

Other Character(s)

• Colonel Rushmore (dies in this story; see comment below; no further appearances)
• Mr. Wendt (a wood expert; no further appearances)
• A police inspector (no further appearances)

Comments:
This story was not originally titled.

It is unclear as to whether the Colonel Rushmore that appears in this story is the same man that appeared in the fifth story of Action Comics #13. Both were friends of Tex, but the original was a murderer. No mention is made in this story about him being a criminal or why he is again friends with Tex. Therefore it is assumed that despite the identical names, the Colonel Rushmore that appears here is a different individual than the man from Action Comics #13.

Synopsis:
Tex is called to the home of Colonel Rushmore who has received a death threat and a wooden doll depicting him with a knife in the chest. Tex advises Rushmore to ignore the threat while another friend Maurice Oliver suggests that Rushmore should pay off the potential killer. Before a decision can be reached, Rushmore is killed by a knife, just like the doll.

Tex returns home and receives a doll of himself. He traces the wood used on the doll back to Oliver. He digs into Oliver's background and learns that the man is a former convict. He summons Oliver and the police to his house, then exposes the killer. Oliver is then taken into custody for killing Rushmore.