Amazing Comics #1

Horror of the Murdering Magician

Watching a transport ship of troops preparing to ship out for India to fight the Japanese, the Young Allies decide to lend a hand. With a bunch of Boy Scout uniforms, the boys manage to slip aboard the ship posing as soldiers, but are soon found out once the ship makes it out to sea and they are put on potato peeling duty for the duration of the trip until they can be sent back home. Soon their ship is locked in combat when it is attacked by Japanese forces. The Young Allies lend a hand in the battle, with Toro using his flame powers to down the attacking Japanese Zero fighters.

Arriving in India, the Young Allies are then sequestered to the American Consul until arrangements can be made to send them back home. Bored and disappointed that they cannot accompany the troops the Young Allies begin to look around the consul, and find a bunch of Indian men rifling through a desk. Attacking the men, the Young Allies are surprised when the thieves lead -- Tehru the Master Magician of India -- seemingly teleports away. The boys are soon out numbered and nearly overpowered. When Toro attempts to use his flame powers to burn a way out his friends are stopped by the reappearing Tehru who has his men take the boys prisoner. Toro follows after them waiting for an opportunity to rescue his friends to arise.

Taking the Young Allies to a nearby Indian town, Tehru uses his magic tricks to convince the locals to fight on the side of the Imperial Japanese and orders them to put the Young Allies to death. However, Toro comes to their rescue and frees them, using his flame powers to make the locals believe him to be an Indian god. Before they can stop Tehru and his men, Japanese soldiers arrive and take the Young Allies prisoner again.

Taken to the Burma border, the Young Allies and Tehru are brought before Colonel Sakiomo. As Tehru and Sakiomo plot to use Tehru's illusions to get the drop on the American troop in the area. While their enemies are busy, Jeff begins tampering with the mirrors that Tehru uses to cast his illusions. Later, as the Young Allies are dragged out to the ambush to witness the attack, Tehru's mirrors fail to create an illusion that renders the Japanese soldiers invisible. Spotted by the American troops, the Japanese are slaughtered. While Colonel Sakiomo commits suicide for his failure, Tehru attempts to flee for his life, but ends up falling through a leopard trap and is impaled on the spikes at the pits bottom.

For their part in foiling the Japanese attack the Young Allies are given an official commendation from the United States military.

Recurring Characters

• Young Allies

  • Bucky

  • Toro

  • Knuckles O’Toole

  • Jeff Vandergill

  • Tubby Tinkle

  • Whitewash Jones

• Imperial Japan

The Mad Minute

Local crook Maxie Murdock has organized what he believes to be the perfect crime. While a fake bank robbery takes place to preoccupy the Whizzer, he has two other gangs of men in different parts of the city to rob a jewelry store and the Acme Art Gallery. Sure enough when the midnight bank heist goes off the Whizzer speeds to the scene of the crime. When he captures the crook, he gloats over his employers apparent victory over the Whizzer, giving him a note from Murdock (calling himself the Crime Clocker) gloating over his victory.

Beating the crook into a confession about the other crimes, the Whizzer then races off to stop the jewelry heist, turning the crooks over to the police. After subduing the art gallery crooks, the Whizzer allows them to escape so that he can track them back to their employers hideout. Sure enough, the crooks lead the Whizzer right to Maxie Murdock who is easily defeated by the Whizzer and turned over to the authorities.

Recurring Characters

• Whizzer

Swastika Murder Case

Jeff Hartley is a star witness for a sedition trial involving a high profile member of society. Before the trial he receives a note from some local Nazi spies warning him against testifying or risk his life. Hartley contacts Detective Mike Trapp who arrives with Pepper Burns to investigate the threats on Hartley's life. Returning to his office, Mike believes that he can determine who sent Hartley the note, however before he can he gets a phone call from Jeff who tries to warn Trapp before being fatally shot.

Arriving at the scene of the crime, Trapp questions Hartley's butler, whom Trapp deduces is the Nazi spy who killed Hartley and arrests him.

Recurring Characters

• Detective Mike Trapp

• Pepper Burns

• Nazis

The Face, Master of Evil

In the Valley of Death, a captured American soldier are brought to the Japanese agent known as the Face and are horrified by his gruesome visage. When the soldier attempts to break free, he is easily subdued by the Face's men and is ordered to death. The following day, as the Destroyer travels through the Valley of Death he hears the cries of the soldier. Coming to his aid, the Destroyer is warned of the Face before the soldier dies of his fatal wounds.

Returning to an American base the Destroyer explains to the commanding officer what happened and decides to return to the Valley of Death and pay the Face a visit. Traveling to the location of the Face's palace, the Destroyer purposely triggers an alarm sending Japanese soldiers after him. The Destroyer then easily dispatches the soldiers and steals one of their uniforms and uses it to sneak into the Face's palace. Inside, the Face learns of the failure to capture the Destroyer and orders his men to finish the hero or face his wrath.

Spotted, the Destroyer seeks cover in a storage room where he finds a box of gas capsules. Tossing one at the approaching guards he is horrified to see that the fatal gas causes the faces of its victims to dissolve into a similar visage of the Face. Knocked out from behind, the Destroyer is brought before the Face who tells the Destroyer that he is about to deploy the first of his ships carrying the lethal gas to use against the enemies of Japan.

Breaking free, the Destroyer beats the Face's men, during the fight the Face is accidentally shot by one of his own men and is killed. The Destroyer then rushes to the air strip on the compound and tosses the pilot from the plane carrying the lethal gas. The Destroyer then uses the plane to escape from the Valley of Death, using the gas aboard the ship to kill all the Japanese soldiers in the Face's castle.

Recurring Characters

• Destroyer

• Imperial Japan

Continuity Notes

• Per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #3, the appearance of the Destroyer here is attributed to Kevin Marlow.

The Voice of Doom

The Barnes family is spending a peaceful evening listening to the radio when suddenly the programming is interrupted by a man calling himself the Voice of Doom. He demands that Allen Barnes that death will soon come to him and his family. Recalling the Voice of Doom as the same man who threatened to kill their wealthy neighbors the Wentworths, the Barnes family worries about sharing the same fate. Dismissing the threat as nonsense, Allen looks around his house to be sure of his doubts. As he looks about the house, the Voice of Doom comes out of the shadows and chokes Allen to death.

Passing by outside is Sgt. Jeff Dix who hears Allen's cries and comes to his aid, finding his dead body. Hearing other screams, Dix rushes into the other room to see the Voice of Doom attacking Allen's wife and daughter. Knocking the Voice aside, Dix barely avoids a thrown knife and when he attempts to capture the Voice, the villain dives out of a window and manages to escape.

Unable to catch the Voice, Dix returns to the Barnes home and questions the family. Allen's daughter believes that the killer may be targeting them due to the fact that her uncle recently passed away and his will has yet to be read. Suspecting that the Voice of Doom is attempting to eliminate the family to somehow get at their uncles fortune, Dix decides to stay on hand. Turning on the radio, they get another broadcast interruption by the Voice of Doom who vows to kill the rest of the Barnes family and those who would interfere in his business.

Deciding to track down the Voice's signal, Dix places a call to his friend in the Signal Corps to help track down the signals origins. Tracking the signal to a shack out in the country, Dix gets the jump on the Voice of Doom. However the Voice is prepared to deal with intruders and activates a radio device that causes Dix to choke. When the soldier passes out, the Voice decides to let him live a while longer while he finishes his job and departs.

When Dix comes around he rushes back to the Barnes house and arrives just as Mr. Avery, the family lawyer arrives at the home for the will reading. Noticing that Avery has an identical scratch on his face that the Voice obtained during their scuffle, Dix easily lambastes Avery, revealing him to the Voice. With Avery defeated, Dix leads him out to the authorities certain that he will die on the electric chair for his crimes.

Recurring Characters

• Sargeant Dix