All-Select Comics #5

The Bamboo Knife Butcher

While listening to the radio one night, Steve Rogers and James Barnes hear the a news broadcast that focuses on the Mrs. Mallon, wife of an international mine owner whose son had gone missing on a trip and is feared dead. Suspecting that he son Jim is still alive Mrs. Mallon calls out to Captain America to help investigate her son’s disappearance. Steve decides to take up the case and soon Captain America and Bucky are at the Mallon estate.

There they are welcomed by Mr. Smallen, Jim's uncle, and the butler who is a jungle savage. Smallen explains that all the work staff on the estate are people from the various places where the Mallon family owns mines. Meeting with Mrs. Mallon, Captain America is shown a box containing a shrunken head. Finding the wrapping paper has a complete address on it in crude writing gives Captain America a clue and he leaves with Bucky to begin his investigation.

Outside on the Mallon law, the duo are attacked by the savages that are part of the Mallon wait staff. The two heroes easily fight their attackers off and duck out of sight to see where they end up going. When their attackers hop into a car and drive off, Cap and Bucky jump onto the back bumper and ride on. When they risk being spotted, they jump off the car and pay a taxi driver to follow after them. The car stops at a nearby condo building where the men get out and enter. Cap and Bucky question the doorman who tells them that the characters went up to the penthouse which is owned by Mr. Smallen.

Captain America and Bucky rush upstairs where they are overpowered by the savages. Cap allows themselves to be captured and brought to their leader who reveals himself to be Smallen. Smallen reveals that he kidnapped his own nephew in order to eventually kill him, believing that the locals at the mines are superior over white people and that they all must be killed. Jim Mallon is brought out to be beheaded along with Captain America and Bucky, but Cap breaks free and begins fighting the savages off.

Freeing Bucky and Jim, Cap leaves them to deal with the savages while he goes after Smallen. Fighting him on the penthouse roof, Cap is forced to knock him off the building, sending Smallen falling to his death. With the battle over, Jim explains that his uncle was driven mad and began being influenced by the local savages that lived around his family mines.

Recurring Characters

• Captain America

• Bucky

The Shadow Of The Stalking Death

Passing by the Relasco Theater, the Human Torch and Toro notice that the old theater is putting on comedy and girly shows on now, straying from its usual fare -- Shakespearean tragedy. At the mention of a girly show, Toro insists that they go inside and see the show.

Backstage, the cast and crew begin the final preparations before curtain call unaware that a mysterious figure is watching them. In the dressing room of lead actress Bobby Rondell's dressing room the figure throws a knife at the door with a note. The note warns the produce, a man named Jimmy, from continuing with his offensive play and is signed by someone calling himself "The Past". Thinking it the work of a practical joker, Jimmy decides to go on with the show. However in the middle of the performance a beam from above the stage falls down and falls on Bobby in the middle of the play.

The Human Torch and Toro rush to the stage but are too late to do anything for the girl as she is dead. Checking the scaffolds above the stage, the two flaming heroes find that someone deliberately caused the beam to fall down. Hearing another scream, the Torch and Toro go back stage to find that Bobby's understudy has been murdered as well. As question everyone, the Torch takes note of Tim, the prop man and night watchman. Jimmy tells them that in the theaters heyday he was the greatest actor that graced the stage. They begin searching the theater for clues as to who is the killer, finding the make shift room that Tim keeps in the prop storage.

Without finding many clues, the Torch decides to try and trap the killer instead. To this end they put a dummy of Jimmy out and leave it for the Past to attack. When the killer attacks the dummy, the Torch and Toro chase after him. However the Past's knowledge of the theater layout allows him to slip away from the two heroes and get away. Continuing after him, the Torch and Toro are caught in a fireproof net and knocked out. They soon find themselves rigged to a asbestos lined torture device that will crush them after 60 minutes and are left to die. The Torch saves their lives by being able to twist a hand free and use his flame powers to disable the timing mechanism.

The two heroes arrive just as the Past is making yet another attempt on Jimmy's life. With the Torch and Toro charging toward him, the Past leans back on a railing causing it to break and sending him falling to the backstage floor to his death. With the threat over, the Torch unmasks the Past, revealing him to be Tim, the only likely suspect for the murders.

Recurring Characters

• Human Torch

• Toro

Speed For Sale

At the hideout of gangster Ed "Mock" Turtle, the crime boss organizes yet another heist of the local auditorium but are waiting on one of his goons to return with the stolen floor plan. When the Turtle's minion arrives, he tells his boss that he was followed back to their hideout by the Whizzer. The Turtle tells his men not to worry about the Whizzer and that he will be able to deal with the super-speedster.

When the Whizzer finally arrives and begins beating on the Turtle's men, the Turtle pulls out a machine gun and begins shooting. While the hero dodges the bullets, the Turtle manages to sneak up behind him and strike the hero with a chair knocking him out long enough for the Turtle and his men to flee the scene.

With the only clue to the Turtles crime being the stolen plans, the Whizzer races to the Red Cross charity drive that is happening there that night and uses his speed powers to help collect all the money from the audience. When the Whizzer turns over the money one of the volunteers gives him a glass of punch. Gladly drinking it, the Whizzer realizes too late that it was drugged and becomes very dizzy. The Turtle and his men then steal the charity money and try to escape.

Realizing the drugs have effected his speed powers, the Whizzer still chases after the Turtle and his getaway car even though he cannot run at his top speed. The Turtle tricks the Whizzer into running into a hall of mirrors and traps him inside while he goes off on his next heist. The Whizzer's returning speed powers allows him to be able to find the exit quickly and chase after the Turtle and his men. He catches up to the Turtle and his men just as they finished robbing the Hamilton Racetrack and manages to outrun their getaway car and take the Turtle and his men prisoner, turning them over to the authorities.

Recurring Characters

• Whizzer

The Mystery Of The Great Lakes

As an American steam liner ships supplies across the Great Lakes, the crew notices a pair of strange turtles approaching their ship. Suddenly the ship is rocked by a huge explosion that sinks the vessel, leaving the authorities baffled. With Coast Guard cutters being unable to find any trace of Nazi U-Boats in the waters, the Sub-Mariner is called in to investigate.

Diving into the Great Lakes, Namor begins his patrols when he comes across more of the strange turtles that were seen earlier. He then watches as one of the turtles approaches another supply ship which is soon sunk by an explosion. Noticing that another one of the turtles has some strange para-scope coming out of its back, the Sub-Mariner realizes the "turtles" are really one-man Nazi submarines in disguise. Namor attacks the "turtle" ripping it apart the spy inside quickly drowns.

Without any clues to the spies home base, Namor hears the call of his friend Betty Dean from the shore. Swimming to her calls, he learns that she is also in the area on a hunting trip. She tells him that she has spotted some suspicious duck hunters and believes that they might be the Nazi spies that he is looking for. Overhearing this, the Nazi spies and their leader Herr Swastika decide the girl and her friend know too much and attempt to shoot them down. Namor rushes at them and while he is busy beating up the spies, Herr Swastika manages to get behind him and knock him out. With Betty captured as well, Namor is taken down to the Nazis secret base and lock them in a cell that is devoid of water hoping Namor will eventually die.

Left alone, Namor finds some flint rock and uses the gunpowder from shells in Betty's pockets to blow open the cell door. Revitalizing himself with water Namor and Betty fight their way to the surface but fail to stop Herr Swastika and his men from piloting some of their turtle subs to the local water treatment plant at Niagara Falls to destroy it. Namor manages to swim the falls and arrive just in time to redirect the turtles torpedoes back at themselves blowing them all up except for the one piloted by Herr Swastika. Namor then smashes his vessel open and knocks out the Nazi spy, turning him over to the authorities. With the crisis over, Betty tells Namor that she is going to enjoy the rest of her duck hunting trip.

Recurring Characters

• Sub-Mariner

• Betty Dean

• Nazis