Marvel Mystery Comics (1939 series) #7

The Human Torch — operating on the police records as officer Jim Hamond — returns to New York and seeks out his friend Johnson, asking for help becoming a policeman. Time passes as the Torch studies hard, graduates from police school with honors, and is assigned to a beat in the slum district. His supervisor warns him to watch out for a crooked small-time politician named Roglo. The Torch confronts Roglo directly and scorches his gun hand when Roglo draws on him, then slaps him and escapes through a window. He next visits the police Captain, who reveals — off the record — that the mayor has authorized the Torch to act as a free agent to bring Roglo down, since the police have no solid evidence against him.

Roglo lures the Torch into a trap at 339 Dawson Street: the Torch's body heat triggers automatic sprinklers that douse his flame, and Roglo's gang — led by a bald henchman called Red — chains him to a furnace in the cellar and wheels up a portable buzz-saw. The Torch reignites, melts his bonds and the gang's weapons, then deliberately lets Red flee in order to follow him to Roglo. He tails Red to Roglo's office and confronts both men. Roglo hurls a kerosene can at the Torch, knocking him out and igniting the building, then flees — planning to blame the Torch for the arson and collect the fraudulent fire insurance. The Torch recovers, rescues trapped civilians, soars over the burning block and draws the flames into the river, then pursues Roglo's getaway car and melts its front wheels. Roglo's driver crashes, and the Torch — turning off his flame — punches Roglo and hauls him to headquarters, booking him for murder.

Marked for Murder

Synopsis

By J.A.R.V.I.S. 2008
Rating:

The story opens in media res: the Angel and Betty Martin are racing along a mountain road when a heavy sedan pulls alongside and forces their car through a railing and into the abyss. The Angel grabs Betty and leaps clear, barely clearing the jagged rocks and splashing into the water below. They climb back to the clifftop, where two gunmen — Hank and his partner — linger to confirm the kill. The Angel steps from hiding and attacks before they can draw, knocking both men down with rapid-fire blows. He then ties one gunman to the hood of the sedan as a human brake and sets the car rolling downhill, terrorizing the man into confessing: Betty's Aunt Emma hired them to kill Betty and her father Henry Martin, so that Emma can inherit Martin's fortune — and Emma is at that very moment planning to poison Martin's wine at a six-o'clock dinner.

With only minutes to spare and forty miles to cover, the Angel commandeers the car and intercepts a state trooper who, rather than arresting him, agrees to provide a high-speed police escort to the Martin estate on Lakeview Drive. As a nearby clock strikes six, the Angel leaps from the car to a tree and swings through the large window of the estate, knocking the poisoned glass from Martin's hand moments before he drinks. He tells Martin that Betty is safe and that the police are waiting outside. Aunt Emma runs for the terrace but the Angel warns her the police have orders to shoot anyone who tries to leave; two gunshots ring out as she attempts to flee. Betty and her father embrace, and the Angel slips away unseen before Martin can thank him.

Characters
Good (or All)

 

Angel
(Tom Halloway)

Plus: Betty Martin, Henry Martin.

Antagonists
Emma Martin.

Rampage in New York

Synopsis

By J.A.R.V.I.S. 2008
Rating:

Prince Namor appears before an undersea monarch who asks what he intends to do about his mistreatment by the Americans. Namor declares he will return to New York City and destroy the entire continent, using the metropolis as his base; he declines the king's offer of the naval fleet, calling this a personal grudge not yet fit to become an international conflict. He speeds north in his private aerial-submarine, parks it hidden in the harbor, and swims ashore. Passing the Statue of Liberty, he announces his intention to conquer and enslave America and claim the statue as his headquarters. He throws out the terrified tourists, declares it his castle, and knocks out a harbor guard who challenges him. Police radio a riot squad; harbor patrol boats converge. Namor dives from the statue's torch, spots a ferryboat, tears off its rudder and steers it directly into the path of a giant ocean liner, causing a spectacular collision. Satisfied, he climbs ashore while police squad cars deploy steel animal nets and tear-gas bombs — all of which Namor brushes off, scattering the officers and striding through the gas unaffected.

Namor walks to City Hall and crashes through the Mayor's window to issue an ultimatum: he will rule the country, and neither the National Guard nor the army can stop him; if the city values its citizens' lives, it will not resist. The Mayor refuses and calls the Governor to mobilize the National Guard. In retaliation, Namor rips the support pillars from an elevated train line, sending the entire "El" crashing to the street in a massive wreck. He then scales the Empire State Building, tears off its upper spire, and hurls it down to the street below. At this moment Dorma, an Atlantean woman, appears and pleads with Namor to return home, warning that his destruction serves no real purpose. The Human Torch arrives on the scene to confront Namor, leaving the two adversaries face to face as the story concludes on a cliffhanger.

Characters
Good (or All)

 

Sub-Mariner
(Namor)

Plus: Betty Dean (Betty Dean Prentiss), Emperor Tha-Korr.

The Framing of the Masked Raider

Synopsis

By J.A.R.V.I.S. 2008
Rating:

The story opens mid-action: the Masked Raider and his horse Lightning thunder to the aid of Nat Parker and his son, who are being ambushed on the road by a gang of masked outlaws. The Raider drives off the attackers but not before Nat is winged and the boy badly wounded. He rushes both to a doctor, where the boy is confirmed to be out of danger. The Raider spots the brand of the Bar-Y ranch on a dead horse left by the outlaws, but before he can act on this clue, the local Marshal arrives and — unable to distinguish the Raider from the criminals — arrests him for the shooting. Parker tries to vouch for him, but the Marshal is unconvinced and hauls the Raider to jail.

That night the Raider whistles for Lightning, who strains against the bars and rips them free. Putting his mask back on, the Raider rides to Parker's ranch to investigate. Parker reveals the gang has raided his cattle, stolen his horses, and killed his ranch hands. As Parker speaks, a shot comes through the window — the Raider fights off the intruder, who escapes, and then rides to the Bar-Y. There a ranch hand tackles him and the gang ties him up, but Lightning unties his bonds while a guard's back is turned. The Raider knocks out the guard and flees. Finding the Bar-Y deserted, he spots a fire in the distance: Parker's ranch house is ablaze with Parker cornered inside. The Raider charges in, drives off the gang in a running gun battle alongside Parker, and the outlaw leader surrenders — revealed to be the Marshal himself, who was orchestrating the raids to steal Parker's land, which unknown to Parker is rich in minerals. The Raider rides off, leaving Parker to thank a stranger who is already gone.

Characters
Good (or All)

 

Masked Raider
(Jim Gardley)

Plus: Lightning (horse).

The Felons and the Flood

Synopsis

By J.A.R.V.I.S. 2008
Rating:

Massive flooding along the Ohio River has left hundreds of victims out of reach of human aid. Professor Zog, a millionaire humanitarian, dispatches his wonder-robot Electro to the disaster zone in a specially equipped plane, piloted and directed by two remote operators via a television headpiece that lets them see through Electro's eyes. The robot wades through the floodwaters, tears apart debris with ease, and carries survivors to safety — including hoisting an entire shack full of people clear of the torrent. While this rescue operation continues, the gangster "Boss" Sarpo and his ruthless crew exploit the flooding to loot banks and stores in unguarded towns, with one crook reaching a submerged safe in diving gear. Local citizens resist from rooftops but are outgunned, and a brave defender is killed. Sarpo's gang uses electric drills and dynamite to smash through walls, leaving a trail of destruction across multiple towns.

High above the scene, Electro's operators spot the firefight and direct the robot to attack the bandits directly. Electro wades in, weathering a barrage of hand grenades and rifle fire, and scoops up Sarpo's gangsters in its vise-like arms. Sarpo himself slips away and plants a charge of dynamite, burying Electro under a collapsed building. The robot erupts from the rubble, tracks Sarpo to the Midby Zoo, where Sarpo's accomplice — a dishonest zookeeper — cuts loose the elephants to stop Electro. The robot seizes one elephant by the trunk, whirls it through the air and hurls it into the others, then smashes through a wall and captures both Sarpo and the zookeeper. The militia takes the prisoners, the flood victims are all rescued, and a newspaper headline proclaims Electro has saved thousands. In his prison cell, Sarpo vows to kill Professor Zog and seize control of Electro to become supreme ruler of the underworld.

Characters
Good (or All)

 

Electro
(Robot)

Plus: Philo Zog (Philo Zogolowski).

Antagonists
Boss Sarpo.

Kidnapped by the Duke

Synopsis

By J.A.R.V.I.S. 2008
Rating:

At a subway station, the mystery detective known as the Ferret — accompanied by his pet ferret Nosey — helps a woman in a red hat who trips on the stairs and twists her ankle. He offers her a taxi, but a thug named Duke and his accomplice Batty are already waiting: the injured ankle was a ruse, and the cab is part of a trap. Duke holds a gun on the Ferret, calls him by name, and the taxi speeds toward a deserted mansion on the Hudson known as Knowles' Castle. When the cab briefly stops for a red light the Ferret breaks for it, but is pistol-whipped back into the cab. Inside the mansion the Ferret discovers a prisoner: Cynthia Bryant, the candy-store heiress, who has been held for a week even though her father paid the ransom two days ago. Duke forces the Ferret to sign a bank check made out to Broderick, vice-president of the First National Bank, authorizing payment of fifty thousand dollars to the bearer. When the Ferret refuses, a large thug beats him unconscious, and Batty and Duke scheme to frame both the Ferret and Cynthia for a double killing.

Bound and subjected to the dripping-water torture, the Ferret whistles softly, and Nosey appears and gnaws through his ropes. Free, the Ferret creeps along the balcony and overhears Duke below, still pressuring his unwitting accomplice — the woman in red, now revealed to be Broderick in disguise. The Ferret leaps from the balcony onto the kidnappers, overpowers Duke and Batty, and retrieves a gun. He confronts Broderick, tears off the disguise, and deduces the ruse from a tell — when Broderick lit a cigarette in the taxi, he struck the match toward himself, as a man would, rather than away from himself as a woman naturally would. The Ferret phones the Commissioner and turns over the gang, including Broderick, with Cynthia Bryant freed.

Characters
Good (or All)

 

Ferret
(Leslie Lenrow)

Plus: Cynthia Bryant, Nosey (ferret).

Antagonists
The Duke.

The Deadly Scheme of "Red" Skelton

Synopsis

By J.A.R.V.I.S. 2008
Rating:

Ka-Zar — raised in the Belgian Congo by Zar the lion after losing his parents in a plane crash — spots a seaplane landing on a nearby lake, his first sight of what the Oman (white men) call machinery. The passengers are Professor Rice, a famous and wealthy botanist searching for rare plants, and his daughter Mara. Their pilot is secretly the renegade flyer "Red" Skelton, wanted by police on two continents. Ka-Zar watches from the jungle and distrusts the pilot's cruel face, particularly when Skelton makes unwanted advances toward Mara. Prevented from intervening when the Professor appears, Ka-Zar races to find Zar and explain the situation. Meanwhile Skelton drops his pretense: the plane was never damaged, the botanist was lured into the jungle deliberately, and Skelton demands Professor Rice sign a bank authorization for one hundred thousand dollars in cash — and also insists Mara agree to marry him as a condition of their rescue. When the Professor furiously attacks Skelton, the renegade shoots him through the heart. Mara flees in panic into the jungle.

Ka-Zar returns to camp to find the Professor dead and Mara gone. He sends Zar to follow Mara's tracks and protect her, then investigates the seaplane. Inside he finds a small metal cigarette lighter, accidentally spins the flint wheel, and is startled when the flame ignites a pile of oily rags. He leaps from the burning plane into the lake just before the interior becomes a full blaze. Skelton, still pursuing Mara through the jungle, spots the smoke and realizes his plane is gone — he blames Mara, threatens to shoot her, and fires at Ka-Zar when the jungle man charges out of the brush to stop him. The bullet misses its mark and Ka-Zar drives his knife into Skelton's throat, killing him. Mara, unafraid, approaches Ka-Zar and introduces herself. She tells him she wishes to remain in the jungle now that her father is dead, but Ka-Zar insists civilization is no place for her to abandon. Zar returns bearing a message from the elephant Trajah: a large caravan of white men is passing through the jungle. Despite Mara's protests, Ka-Zar places her on Trajah's back and escorts her to the caravan so she can find her way safely home.

Characters
Good (or All)

 

Ka-Zar
(David Rand)

Plus: Trajah (elephant), Zar (lion).

Antagonists
Red Skelton.