All-Select Comics #8

The China Wall Mystery

Steve Rogers and James Barnes are assigned guard duty along the Great Wall of China. While on their patrol, they hear noises from within the wall and go down to investigate the source of the noise. Inside the Great Wall, they soon come under fire of Japanese soldiers attempting to sneak into China via the wall. They change into Captain America and Bucky and attempt to fight back by the Japanese soldier shooting at them manages to escape.

They run into a Chinese man named Lao-Chung, telling them that he knows the ancient secrets of the Great Wall, he offers to help the two heroes in defending it from the Japanese invaders. Opening a secret passage way, Lao-Chung leads Cap and Bucky to a secret tunnel where they find a Japanese invasion force working their way through the tunnel. Finding the enemy camp, Cap and Bucky swing into action with fists flying. When a Japanese soldier threatens Lao-Chung with a gun, he is killed by some kind of energy bolt. However, soon Cap and Bucky are knocked out and taken prisoner. They are brought before the commanding officer who sentences them to death. The two heroes are then tied up and put in the path of a moving tank.

However, before the tank can crush them Lao-Chung appears out of nowhere and when the tank fires at him, it's shells have no effect on him. Cap and Bucky free themselves and take control of the tank and use it to destroy the Japanese camp and tank fleet. Following after the rest of the Japanese army, Cap and Bucky are once more pinned down by enemy fire. Once more to their surprise, Lao-Chung stands in the way, seemingly unharmed by the bullets, until the Japanese run out of ammunition. Cap and Bucky strike down the Japanese soldiers and when one attempts to attack Lao-Chung, he slays the attacker by merely raising his hand.

With the invasion force on the move, Cap and Bucky are about to rush off and warn headquarters, but Lao-Chung tell them it is unnecessary as with the raising of his hands, Lao-Chung causes the tunnel to collapse over the invaders killing them all. As the tunnel comes down, Lao-Chung shocks the two heroes as he too walks into the falling rubble and is seemingly killed. When Cap and Bucky exit the Great Wall, they find a tomb for Lao-Chung, who apparently helped build and defend the Great Wall from the Mongols thousands of years ago. Resuming their civilian guises and returning to their posts, Steve and James wonder if the man they encountered was a ghost or not.

Continuity Notes

• Captain America

• Bucky

• Imperial Japan

Death Cargo

The Human Torch and Toro return home from the movies and find a telegram waiting for them in their home. It is from Agnes Turett who informs the Torch that there is destined to be a dreadful event that will occur at midnight at the Chrysotile Mines outside of Taunton, Pennsylvania and that three lives are in danger. With midnight two minutes away, the Torch and Toro race to the Chrysotile Mines as fast as they can.

Although they are late, they arrive just as they hear gunshots and capture the gunman as he is fleeing a house. Not far they find the dead body of Mr. Truett the mines own. When questioning the supposed shooter he tells the Torch that when he arrived at the mine he was shot at. Examining the gun, the Torch finds that it had not been fired. They learn the man is Walter Crosley the manager of the mine and that Mr. Truett was the father of Agnes. Hearing a car starting, the Torch has Toro stay with Walter while he goes to investigate.

The Torch forces the car to crash, and when the two occupants attempt to flee, but stop when the Torch flames on. One of the men is named Rawlings who is the assistant manager of the mien who tells the Torch that he was going to the police and panicked when the Torch suddenly appeared. When the Torch asks why they didnt' call the police, Rawlings states that Walter threatened them with his gun. Taking them back, it turns out that nobody is willing to fess up to the shooting of Mr. Truett, and so the Torch contacts the police and leaves them to deal with it.

That night while in bed, the Torch's mind is occupied by the strange situation and how Walter is likely in trouble unless Agnes appears and supports his story. They begin to wonder what happened to Agnes after she sent them the telegram. The next morning, the Torch and Toro pay a visit to the chief of police and learn that Agnes confessed to the murder of her father. Learning that she turned herself in at dawn, the Torch doesn't believe in the confession. Calling the local Western Union, the Torch learns that Agnes was sending the telegram right at the time that her father was killed.

Questioning Agnes in her cell, they learn that she was in a relationship with Walter which her father did not approve. Refusing them to get married, Mr. Truett threatened to kill Walter. Later he invited Walter to the mine while Agnes was home, and saw that her father was taking his gun with him. Going to question Crosely next, they learn that he had been released from custody. Racing to Crosley's home the Torch and Toro find it invaded by a gang of thugs attempting to kill Walter. Catching the hired killer in a ring of fire, they learn that Rawling ordered the hit on Crosely.

Learning that Rawlings is at the mine, Crosely contacts the authorities and then the trio check out the abandoned mine. Inside, they soon find out they were tricked into going into a trap when suddenly the dam keeping water out of the mine shaft is blasted causing the mine to fill with water. When the Torch and Toro attempt to burn their ways out, they learn that the mine is loaded with asbestos. Seeking an escape as the tunnel begins to rapidly flood, they find a portion of the mine that is not made of asbestos and burn their ways free. Noticing that the rock they melted through is glowing, Crosely becomes irradiated and tells them that Rawlings is at a meeting before passing out.

Rushing to the office, the Torch and Toro confront Rawlings and get him to confess he was preventing the Turett's from finding out that their abandoned mine was filled with a pitch blend of radium and was hoping to buy it for cheap. With Rawlings turned over to the authorities, Torch and Toro visit Crosely in the hospital whom they learn is going to marry Agnes after he recovers.

Continuity Notes

• Human Torch

• Toro

Air Base

Out in the Pacific, American soldiers wonder how the Japanese manage to pick off their B-21 bombers. The attacks always happen near Jubi island where a Japanese base has recently been destroyed and no other bases can be found.

Learning of this problem, Jap Buster Johnson gets permission to operate on a solo mission to learn the truth. Flying over Jubi Island, Johnson is attakced by Japanese Zero fighters and his plane is damaged forcing him to land on the deserted island... Or at least what he thought was deserted. No sooner than he has landed has Johnson been surrounded by Japanese forces who demand his surrender.

The commanding officer shows Johnson that they have build an underground hanger that lifts their planes to the surface making for easy sneak attacks. Johnson then fights free and attacks his captors. Knocking them aside, he turns on the switch that lifts the enemy flee to the surface so they are seen by passing American bombers. Stealing a Japanese plane, Johnson uses it to fly to safety as the island is decimated by American bombs. Before he can become a target in his stolen enemy fighter, Johnson abandons ship and is later picked up by his comrades and brought back to base.

Continuity Notes

• Jap Buster Johnson

• Imperial Japan