What's This? A movie studio.
The facts: The Star-Spangled Kid inherited Stellar Studios in Infinity Inc. #3 (June 1984), was adopted as Infinity Inc.'s HQ in #12, wasn't then seen until #14, and not a regular staple until #24. That's weird. What's weirder, perhaps, is that Infinity Inc. isn't the Studio's first appearance. Of course it isn't. Because Roy Thomas. For that, we have to go back to 1948 and All-Star Comics #44, where the Studio is the site of a battle between the JSA and Evil Star (no, not THAT Evil Star). It has appeared now and again, usually in connection with the JSA.
How you could have heard of it: In 2009 and 2010, the Studios oddly made a few appearances, in JSA All-Stars (fine), but also Justice League of America and Manhunter. Otherwise, its last appearance had been 1988. Don't really expect anyone to remember Stellar or any of its movies.
Example story: All-Star Comics #44 (December 1948) "Evil Star Over Hollywood" by John Broome, Irwin Hasen and Bernie Sachs
Lest I be forced to read/cover two Infinity Inc. books in a row, yes, I'm going back to the Studios' first appearance. And we jump into it right away, with a filming sequence for a "Stellar" production...
Ah yes, Thief in the Night. I've never seen it, but there was a remake in 1972.
Of course, it's comics, so when a character disappears in a puff of smoke, it's not special effects, it's actually HAPPENED. Maybe that's why we can't watch 1948's Thief in the Night. They never finished it on account of its star vanishing. Next thing you know, Fred T. Fanum, the studio's young production head, receives a threat from "Evil Star" - the same thing will happen to him unless he stops production on the film. Call the casting agent! We need to put the brakes on, NOW! But why WOULD a super-villain care about this? Fanum has a theory.
But how does one get in touch with the JSA? You'd think there'd be easier ways than giant marquee signs begging for help, but it works. The Justice Society shows up in Hollywood that very night. Maybe it has to do with cinephile Jay Garrick bring a great admirer of Fanum's fearlessness. Black Canary has the right idea - she asks to read the script for clues as to Evil Star's motives. But Fanum can't give her that. You can't trust super-heroes with spoilers, is that it? No, the reason is much weirder.
The mystery man's script was great, and he wasn't just saying that because he was held at gunpoint. From the evidence here, my guess (and it's Dr. Mid-Nite's too, so I'm in good company) is that the script, about a thief who becomes the "Czar of all Hollywood rackets" is based on too true a story and would out a certain someone. Indeed, his true identity is revealed in the last, withheld, chapter. So we're filming with only half a script here. Hey, it's been known to happen. Some of the heroes get a tour of the studio, and seem to be celebrities to the celebrities.
You MIGHT recognize Bogie & Becall and Hope & Crosby (is this Bob Hope's first appearance in a DC Comic? He would go on to have his own series!). We also see the film vault, the props room, the trained animal cages - a lot of valuable stuff, and those "Hollywood rackets" are responsible for a rash of thefts in Tinseltown - and Peter Lorre, too!
In JSA fashion, the heroes split up (but at least PAIR up), and the duos tangle with Evil Star on the sets/locations used on Thief in the Night. The villain gets the better of Mid-Nite and Flash on an action shoot at Lake Arrowhead. Hawkman and Wonder Woman are put into a dockside side as "comic relief" (what has this movie become that, suddenly, the cops are throwing cream pies?) and catch some of Evil Star's crooks before being gassed by him, too. Meanwhile, the Atom and Black Canary are still getting a look at how the sausage is made, and listen in as Fanum orders vintage props from a movie rental agency salesman called Pompton. Well, he soon becomes our #1 suspect when he disappears on his way out of the office.
Cary Grant cameo! (There are others, but none I can definitively identify.) Racing to find him, the heroes catch him stealing the silver residue left after film is washed and there's a lot of running across soundstages. The heroes get ambushed by the gang, and now it's up to Green Lantern, solo artist, to solve the whole thing. He's following the threat's postmark to a tiny town full of sets that a guy named Faber wanted to turn into a second Hollywood. Alan accuses his secretary of being the mystery scriptwriter, but denies the truth of it. But maybe he's just nervous because his boss, really Evil Star, is hiding in the wardrobe department. One escaped death trap later, the JSA return to stop Evil Star's latest scheme, ransoming 5 million dollars out of Fanum. They rumble Pompton as the villain and capture him. AND get their just desserts.
Almost makes me want to flip through Infinity Inc. issues to see if the artists ever put the footprints in the sidewalk there. Almost. I've only got one life to live. All told, this was a pretty fun story that made great use of the movie studio as a setting. No wonder it was reprinted in the 70s (Justice League of American #115), and thus well-remembered by Roy Thomas (you'll find that his deep Golden Age cuts USUALLY have their source in a reprinted story).
Okay, darnit, made me look. At least at its first Infinity Inc. appearance (issue 3), and don't see any footprints anywhere. This is where I would have put them, though:
Missed opportunity.
Who's Next? A build-a-figure.
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