Horror of the Ghost Fiend

An American fighter plane en route to Basra is shot down by Nazi planes and an important document is recovered from the wreckage and altered by Nazi agents and then given to their operatives known as the Wisp to smuggle into Mecca.

When the news reaches the United States the Human Torch and Toro get a call Major Brant who requests their audience. When they arrive at Army Intelligence, Brant explains that the document was a defense agreement between the United States and British authorities in Arabia. Brant suspects that the document might have been altered to turn the people of Mecca against the United States by a false threat of destroying the holy land. They accept the case and head to Basra to get further orders. Along the way spot a Nazi sub and blow it out of the water.

There they learn that a Nazi spy known as the Wisp is said to be the one whom is attempting to smuggle the altered document into the country. The trouble is that military intelligence does not know the true identity of the Wisp. Exiting military intelligence, the two heroes stpo a suspicious looking British couple in the town market and watch as they hand a sheet of paper to a fig vendor.

They decide to follow the vendor to see where he goes and follow him to a native dive where he meets up with the man who gave him the slip of paper. The fig vendor tells his allies that he has been followed. A fight breaks out and the English man fled the scene. They are told by the fig vendor to find the British man and the Torch and Toro follow after him. Arriving at the residence of the man and the woman, they tell the woman of the house that her husband is a Nazi spy. She feigns being devastated but is really in league with her husband and drops a gas capsule that knocks the two heroes out.

The man has the Human Torch and Toro placed on a press that lowers every five minutes insuring the heroes will be crushed to death in 25 minutes while they go and deliver the doctored document. However, when left alone the Human Torch and Toro manage to break free. The Torch and Toro confront the man they believe is the Wisp and are shocked to find that he has nothing but a blank page and that he was nothing more but a decoy. Suspecting his wife, they rush in on the Kahn's throne room and catch the woman before she can hand over the forged document. The Torch unmasks her revealing her to be a much younger woman and really the Wisp, and foiling her mission.

Recurring Characters

Human Torch, Toro, Nazis

The Four Trials of Justice

Steve Rogers and James Barnes are out for a stroll when they pass into the resort town of Lakehorst. They are shocked to see a fence has been put up around the town and even more surprised to see a woman trying to leave the town limits being stopped by a man in a Nazi uniform. The pair change into Captain America and Bucky and attack the Nazi soldier. When they question the girl about what has happened, all she knows is that a large plane landed somewhere nearby the night before.

Suddenly, Captain America and Bucky are ambushed by their old foe the Red Skull and an army of Nazis. They attempt to gun down the heroes, but they manage to escape and decide to investigate the town. Within the town, the Red Skull is furious that Captain America and Bucky got away as they stand in the way of his plan: As Germany is losing the war, the Red Skull has begun a plan to take over the United States and turn it into a Nazi country from within.

Captain America and Bucky arrive in the town and rescue a group of vacationers who are being held prisoner and getting them food giving them freedom from want. He tells the people there that as Americans they are entitled to freedom from fear. Tracking the Red Skull to the outside of a church, Captain America prevents him from destroying it, protecting the peoples freedom of religion. The Red Skull manages to knock out Cap and Bucky and they are then taken to a local pool that has been drained and attempts to toss them into it from the diving board.

Captain America springs back and fights off the Nazis and frees Bucky. The pair then track down the Red Skull again who is threatening locals to accept the Nazi way of life or die. In protecting their freedom of speech, Bucky distracts the Red Skull long enough for Captain America to ambush him. Easily subduing the Red Skull and his men, Captain America and Bucky turn them over to the authorities. He tells the people gathered that he is ever there to defend every Americans basic freedoms. As the Red Skull is being led away Bucky quips that their old foe wishes he had freedom from Captain America.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Bucky, Nazis (Red Skull)

Smash the Tunnel of Terror!

The Sub-Mariner is relaxing in his kingdom when the area is shaken up by an earthquake. Finding the quake suspicious, Namor swims to Australia the location of its general location. Going there, military intelligence has no detection of an earthquake and dismiss it as nothing more than a figment of Namor's imagination. As Namor heads back to the beach, he is suddenly attacked by Japanese soldiers led by Captain Krashyu who appear to have materialized out of nowhere.

Namor fights them off with the aid of Australian soldiers, but Captain Krashyu and his men flee. Namor follows after them but finds nothing, when he is suddenly ambushed when they appear from behind through a secret doorway. Knocking Namor out, they drag the creature down into the underground tunnel below which has been dug by the Japanese from Singapore to Australia to stage an invasion.

Telling this to Namor, the Sub-Mariner is then tossed into a room that is filled with molten lava, hoping that the extreme heat to dry out the hero and kill him. However, Captain Krashyu does not anticipate that the moisture in the steam can revitalize the hero, giving him the moisture he needed to revitalize his strength and break out.

Rushing down the tunnel, Namor catches up with a Japanese invasion force being held by a Japanese general and Captain Krashyu. Namor takes hold takes control of a jeep and drives it to a cache of explosives and sets it to blow up the tunnel, causing it to flood drowning all the Japanese soldiers in the process. He returns to Atlantis and opts not to tell the Allied Forces about the tunnel as it is no longer a threat.

Recurring Characters

Sub-Mariner, Imperial Japan

The Beachhead Blitz!

On the coast of France the Destroyer meets with an Allied soldier who hands him plans for an invasion of France. He tells the Destroyer that it is a false documents made to lead the Nazis into a trap. The Destroyer takes the plans and allows himself to get spotted by a Nazi soldier and purposely blurts out that he has a secret invasion plans and disappeared.

The soldier naturally goes to his superior officer and tells him what he has learned. The superior officer then orders for the capture of the Destroyer. When they chase after him in his car, the Destroyer manages to fight off his attackers and steal the car and makes an escape. The Destroyer leads the Nazis to a hideout of French resistance fighters. There he tells the resistance fighters of the plan and tells them to help keep up the ruse. The resistance fighters sacrifice their lives to maintain the ruse and the Destroyer is knocked out and taken prisoner.

The commanding officer takes the invasion details from the Destroyer and has him locked up in a prison. The Nazis then prepare to meet the invasion force in Chapelle. However, this goes according to the Allied plans and while the Allied Forces wipe out the Nazis on the beach, the Destroyer breaks out of his cell and flees into the night ready to terrorize the Nazis again.

Recurring Characters

Destroyer, Nazis

Continuity Notes

• Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #3 attributes the appearance of the Destroyer to Kevin Marlow.