Marvel Mystery Comics (1939 series) #5

Jim Hamond — the Human Torch living in secret as a civilian — is visiting his friend Johnson when Johnson's shortwave radio picks up a distress call from Orton, an island town on Lake Superior cut off by a blizzard and desperately in need of medical supplies. Jim and Johnson commandeer a grounded rescue plane at Newark Airport over the field superintendent's objections and fly toward Orton. Meanwhile, two escaped convicts — Blake and Hank — have broken out of the Orton county jail and, spotting the plane crash-land in a snowbank, steal the medical supplies and set the aircraft ablaze, leaving the pilots for dead. The Torch's flames shield both men; he carries Johnson to safety and then ignites his body to melt the snow ahead of them. They locate a coast-guard cutter called the Delson, iced in on the lake, and the Torch skims its hull to melt a path to open water. When Blake and Hank's plane bombs the cutter, the Torch plunges into the freezing lake trying to intercept it. Escaping through an ancient iron-ore mine tunnel beneath the glacier, he bursts into Blake's hideout, finds the medicine gone, and gives chase on foot. He hurls rings of fire that encircle the fleeing dog sled and herds Blake and Hank — and the stolen serums — directly into Orton. On the frozen lake Blake and Hank attempt a final escape, but the Torch melts the ice beneath them and they drown. The sheriff thanks the Torch as the serums are recovered.

Adventure of the Overturned Cars

Synopsis

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

A young man in civilian clothes helps officer Mulligan right a suspiciously overturned car outside the First National Bank, then slips into the adjoining alley and reveals himself as the Angel. Scaling the bank building by rope, he spots armed men inside forcing a woman — Miss Mary — to act as lookout. The Angel hoists Mary to the rooftop for safety, then swings down on his lasso to tackle the gang. A bullet severs his rope mid-swing; he catches a fire escape with one hand, dangles a thug named Nick as a human shield, and subdues the crew on the ground floor. The gang's leader, Slugger, knocks out Mulligan and the robbers flee with their loot in a passing taxi. Nick, refusing to be abandoned, tears loose from the Angel and draws his gun; the Angel disarms him with a punch and leaps atop the speeding cab. He kicks the driver and a companion out of the vehicle and forces the taxi into a lamp post, then beats the dazed Slugger to the ground outside the wreck. The Angel ties all four robbers in front of the bank with their stolen money, lowers Mary safely to the street, and slips away before police arrive.

Characters

Good (or All)

 

Angel
(Tom Halloway)

Plus: Miss Mary.

Antagonists
Slugger.

On the Side of the Surface Men

Synopsis

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

Having escorted the rescued American freighter Marie to the neutral port of Durnhaven, Namor bids farewell to the crew and dives to his flagship. He telepathically orders Lieutenant Mogar to set course for the undersea ice-palace in the Antarctic, where Namor appears before the Emperor and requests permission to return to the United States. The Emperor reluctantly consents, and Namor flies solo to New York Harbor. Spotted on the docks by two officers, he is fired upon, takes to the air, and is knocked unconscious when his cloak snags a police monoplane's landing gear and he falls into a fire department life-net. Chloroformed by an ambulance doctor, Namor is taken to the police station, where policewoman Betty Dean — recognizing him from their prior encounter — persuades the sergeant to release him secretly in exchange for his help at an emergency. A flooded subway tunnel at Fifth Street is trapping passengers in a wrecked train; Namor dives in, rights overturned cars with his bare hands, and carries victims to the exits. Discovering a man-made hole in the tunnel wall, he follows it to a vault door, which he rips from its hinges, and traces the water's source to the U.S. Treasury's secret bullion vault, where a gang disguised as sandhogs — led by Mills Gilligan — has tunneled through from the subway and diverted a reservoir channel to mask the operation. Namor waits for them to enter the vault, then bursts through and batters the gang senseless. Treasury guards arrive to make the arrests, and Namor explains to the sergeant how he unraveled the scheme.

Characters

Good (or All)

 

Sub-Mariner
(Namor)

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

Antagonists
Mills Gilligan.

Mystery of the Poisoned Arrows

Synopsis

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

Sheriff Ben Wallis of Fade-Out and his deputy are returning from a ranch murder when they witness a stranger shot from his horse by an arrow near Robber's Rock. The stranger is dead. Back in town, five such murders have preceded this one; Bart Simms, a man in the crowd, publicly mocks Wallis's inability to solve them. When the coroner reveals poison on the arrows, local suspicion falls on "Injun Joe", a man Ben once freed on a horse-stealing charge and who is known for his skill with a bow. The real force behind the killings is Grimsey, a shadowy figure with power over Fade-Out's lawless element, who is also running against Wallis in the upcoming election. Riding out to Robber's Rock to look for overlooked clues, Ben is surprised by the Masked Raider, who knocks him out long enough to hear Ben's account and concludes someone wants the sheriff out of office. The Masked Raider pins a warning note to Grimsey's door with one of the murder arrows. Eavesdropping on Grimsey's hideout, he learns that Manuel — not Injun Joe — is the actual archer, and that Grimsey plans to use the poisoned arrows to kill Ben at Robber's Rock. On their way back to town the Masked Raider and Ben find Injun Joe pinned under a boulder, left there by Manuel to frame him. They free him, and Ben challenges Grimsey to a face-off at Robber's Rock at sundown. When Manuel draws his bow, the Masked Raider shoots the arrowhead away from a hidden position, saving Ben's life. Grimsey and Manuel are arrested, and Ben is re-elected sheriff.

Characters

Good (or All)

 

Masked Raider
(Jim Gardley)

Plus: Ben Wallis.

The Tyrant of Torpis

Synopsis

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

Professor Philo Zog, inventor of the remote-controlled wonder-robot Electro, summons Operative 1 and Operative 4 to headquarters. The little republic of Molivia is under invasion by the armies of Kalph Belgri, dictator of Torpis, who seeks to conquer the country entirely. Zog sends the two operatives by trans-ocean clipper to Molivia's capital, Braka, where they are received by King Sangor and granted use of the royal palace as a base. From a steel-walled turret room the operatives set up their television and remote-control apparatus, link up with Zog in the U.S.A., and bring Electro under Operative 4's full command. As Belgri's troops advance on the palace and bombers reduce the courtyard to craters, Electro soars across the ocean and descends over the battlefield. Machine-gun fire, rifle volleys, and direct cannon hits all bounce harmlessly off the robot's steel body. Electro hurls soldiers into the air, smashes machine-gun nests, crushes a bombing plane in its iron grip and dashes it to the ground, lifts tanks overhead and crumbles them, and tears through Belgri's lines until the entire invading army breaks and retreats in panic. Hearing of the rout, Dictator Belgri panics and kills himself. The war ends, and Electro soars aloft to return to his master.

Characters

Good (or All)

 

Electro
(Robot)

Plus: Philo Zog (Philo Zogolowski).

Antagonists
Kalph Belgri.

King of the Counterfeiters

Synopsis

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

While driving, mystery detective the Ferret and his pet ferret Nosey pick up a police radio call and arrive at a shooting scene, where Commissioner grudgingly gives Ferret a scrap of blank paper taken from the dying victim, Frankie, who was on his way to meet Ferret with information. Back in his private laboratory, Ferret applies chemical tests to the paper and develops a hidden message — a price list for counterfeit bills and an address: 41 Catherine Street. Tailed from his house and machine-gunned in his armored car, Ferret crashes but survives, noting that the attack confirms the paper is important. He enters the darkened address through a window, is captured by the gang inside, beaten, and locked in a room. Nosey squeezes through a hole in the wall, gnaws Ferret's bonds free, and Ferret escapes out a window. He lures the pursuing gang into an alley, trips them with a rope, and beats them down. Waiting inside, he identifies the arriving boss as Rickey, a notorious European counterfeiter driven out by the war. Nosey leaps at Rickey's face, giving Ferret his opening; he disarms and subdues the man, then explains the entire scheme to the Commissioner.

Characters

Good (or All)

 

Ferret
(Leslie Lenrow)

Plus: Nosey (ferret).

Fifth Episode Return of the Oman

Synopsis

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

In the Belgian Congo, Ka-Zar confronts the emerald hunter Kivlin and orders him out of the jungle. Kivlin returns to camp shaken and reports his encounter to his partner De Kraft — the murderer of Ka-Zar's father, John Rand, whom Ka-Zar knows as "Fat Face." De Kraft, privately planning to kill Kivlin and keep all the emeralds himself, recognizes that the "jungle god" the native workers fear must be Rand's surviving son. He sets off alone to find Ka-Zar, discovers the ruins of the Rand home and the twin graves with fresh flowers, and deduces the boy is alive. Meanwhile Ka-Zar raids the supply tent and smashes the camp's guns against a rock. Returning to find his weapons gone, De Kraft attacks Kivlin on suspicion, but Kivlin breaks free and flees — only to be shot dead by De Kraft, who then sets a trap. That night Ka-Zar watches the darkened camp and returns a second time for more firearms; De Kraft blinds him with a flashlight and takes him captive. He ties Ka-Zar to a tree at the center of camp and turns him over to the native workers — led by their chief Aorangi — who hurl spears ever closer to his body and slash him with knives. Ka-Zar's monkey companion Nono secretly retrieves Ka-Zar's knife and cuts his bonds. Ka-Zar seizes Aorangi and kills him; the panicked natives scatter into the jungle. De Kraft fires wildly as Ka-Zar charges; Ka-Zar strikes him in the chest, and his knife flashes in the firelight — De Kraft is dead, and John Rand's murder is avenged. Ka-Zar lets out a lion's victory roar.

Characters

Good (or All)

 

Ka-Zar
(David Rand)

Plus: N'Jaga (leopard), Nono (monkey), Zar (lion).

Antagonists
Paul De Kraft (Fat Face).