Captain America Comics #12
The Terrible Menace of the Pygmies of Terror
Dr. Edward Elmgren and his expedition have returned from the Amazon with a discovery that is "more valuable than gold!" This proclamation gets the interest of Steve Rogers and James Barnes who decide to scope out Elmgren's press conference as Captain America and Bucky to make sure that there is no trouble from any would-be thieves. At the press conference, Elmgren reveals his discovery: a concentrated shrinking formula which he collected from a tribe in the Amazon, capable of shrinking human flesh in size.
That night, a crook named Knuckles Samson breaks into Elmgren's home to try to steal the formula sample and the doctor's notes. As he breaks into the doctors desk he is stopped by a costumed man calling himself Dr. Crime. Dr. Crime kills Knuckles with a poison dart and begins to collect the coveted formula. By this point, Captain America and Bucky — having spied Knuckles breaking into the house — have spotted Dr. Crime and smash into the house to try to stop him. Although the two heroes have the upper hand, Dr. Crime manages to get away when he smashes a vial of liquid smoke to make his escape, however he only makes off with the formula and not Dr. Elmgren's notes on how to recreate it. Elmgren suddenly enters the room, having been roused from sleep by the commotion. Captain America explains everything to him before the two heroes rush off into the night.
The next morning Steve and James are given grief by Sgt. Duffy who noted that they sneaked out the previous night. Fed up with their constant insubordination he orders them to participate in the evening's benefit show for soldiers. This requires Steve and Bucky to dress up as show dancers with fans and frilly dresses. Meanwhile, Dr. Crime's examination of the shrinking formula is interrupted by some crooks who break into his lab and threaten to rob him. Crime simply tosses the formula at the crooks, causing them to shrink in size. He then tells his newly acquired "pygmies of terror" that he intends to use them to commit crimes, promising to restore them to their natural height later. He then sends his miniature mob to rob the home of a rich banker.
By this time, Steve and Bucky are getting air on the fire-escape at the theater during intermission when they hear the banker's screams. Changing into Captain America and Bucky, the two heroes rush into action but arrive too late to save the banker. Searching the mansion for his killers Bucky spots the small crooks but they manage to knock him out and escape with Dr. Crime and their stolen loot. When Cap finds Bucky laid out on the floor, he finds his tale hard to swallow but believes the boy anyway. They then rush back to the theater to resume the performance, getting grief from Duffy for being late.
At the second intermission they pay a visit to Dr. Elmgren to see if he can determine who Dr. Crime might be. Elmgren suggests that it might be his colleague Paul Wong. The two heroes pay Wong a visit, and when he refuses to let them into his home they smash through the door. Before they can get an explanation from Wong, he too is killed by a poison dart fired by Dr. Crime. The two heroes knock Dr. Crime down, but he manages to squirt them with the shrinking formula and takes them prisoner.
Back at his lab, Dr. Crime places Cap and Bucky in a cage with a house cat, but the two heroes manage to beat the feline and break free from their cage. They then battle Dr. Crime's gang, knocking them out and tying them up with sewing thread. They get the upper hand on Dr. Crime who has captured the final two scientist who could reveal his identity. They hopp onto his shoulders and threaten to stab sewing needles through his ear if he does not create an antidote for their condition. Restored to their normal size, they knock out Dr. Crime and restore his captives. Unmasking Dr. Crime they are shocked to find that he is in reality Dr. Elmgren himself, having developed his costumed identity hoping to capitalize on his discovery through ill gotten means. Rushing back to the theater, Cap and Bucky realize they are too late and the benefit show is over. Sgt. Duffy is waiting for them angrily in the empty theater waiting for them to return so that he can make them clean the theater up.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Bucky, Doctor Crime, Sgt. Mike Duffy
The Case of Rozzo the Rebel
Steve Rogers and James Barnes are assigned as bodyguards of President Alvaro, the leader of the South American nation of Oroco. Watching Alvaro's arrival is Rozzo, a bola expert from Alvaro's past who has an axe to grind with the Orocan leader. When Alvaro and his bodyguards leave the port, they are attacked by Rozzo and his gang. The president knocks Steve and James aside when Rozzo throws a bola at them. With everyone distracted, Steve and James change into Captain America and Bucky and lend Alvaro a hand, sending Rozzo and his gang fleeing. While Alvaro is shouting after them, Cap and Bucky change back into their civilian guises unnoticed.
Arriving at Alvaro's hotel room, the president tells Steve and James of his past dealings with Rozzo. He explains that years ago he was but a simple Gaucho who moved cattle in his country, which at the time was under the control of a dictator. One day, Rozzo noticed that Alvaro had no money and gave him half of his under the promise that should Alvaro earn money of his own he would give half to Rozzo. Soon civil war broke out in Oroco, and Alvaro joined the rebel forces that were seeking to oust the current dictator. Alvaro rose in the ranks and was ultimately chosen to be the leader of the country following the defeat of the dictator. When the last of the enemy army was defeated, Alvaro was shocked to learn that their commander was none other than Rozzo. Meeting with Rozzo privately, Alvaro refused to give Rozzo partial control of the country — believing his leadership was not a profit but service — and then had Rozzo exiled from the country and escorted to the United States.
With his tale told, Alvaro decides that he wants to go out on the town. Steve turns down the offer to join him, but says he will arrange to get Captain America and Bucky to go with him. Cap and Bucky take Alvaro to the Club Cantina. Rozzo is in attendance and he approaches a dancing girl named Lotta and tells her to give a flower to the president after her performance. When she tosses it at the president at the end of her dance, Cap notices that it's really an intricate explosive and blocks its explosion with his shield, saving the president's life.
A fight soon breaks out, and while Captain America and Bucky are busy fighting Rozzo's men, they are knocked out from behind and Rozzo makes off with Lotta and President Alvaro. When they come around a police officer is on the scene and demands that they return with him to police headquarters for questioning. Refusing, they rush off and take the president's car to follow after the crooks, having overheard that they went to a place called "Swamp Citadel". Following them to a nearby swamp, Cap and Bucky are forced to fight for their lives as Rozzo's men drop rocks on them. Getting to the top of the hill, they force one of Rozzo's minions to point out the location of a cable car system that will take them to the Swamp Citadel.
Cap and Bucky arrive just before Rozzo can begin torturing Lotta to make Alvaro live up to his promise. During the fight the structure of the Swamp Citadel is compromised and it begins to flood. While Rozzo's men drown, Cap, Bucky, Lotta, and the president manage to escape. Their hopes that Rozzo had drowned are soon quashed as Rozzo — having grabbed the bottom of their cable car — announces his survival and vows to get back at the president at a later time.
The following day, Steve and James resume their civilian identities and are present when Alvaro gets a telegram for Rozzo challenging him to a duel to settle things on the roof of the hotel. Alvaro decides to accept this challenge and orders Steve and James to stay behind. Changing into Captain America and Bucky, the two heroes rush to the roof where they find a dummy put out in Rozzo's place. They are tied up with a bola so that they do not interfere with the duel. When Alvaro arrives they begin sword fighting, however Rozzo has given him a cheap sword that breaks early on in the duel. By this time, Cap has freed himself and Bucky by cutting through their bonds with the sharp end of his shield. Cap gets in the middle of the fight and then throws Rozzo to his death. Later, back in his identity of Steve Rogers, he accepts a decoration of honor from President Alvaro on behalf of Captain America.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Bucky
The Flaming Horror
An apartment complex is set on fire, and a woman's elderly father is trapped inside. Larry Scott is on the scene of the blaze and rushes in as Father Time. He finds the old man and discovers that he has been shot. Bringing him outside to his daughter, Father Time listens as the dying old man explains that he caught the property owner, a man named Brettei, set the house on fire to collect the insurance and shot him for catching the act. Spotting Brettei and his men, Father Time chases after them to get them to confess to their crimes.
Hiding out in a train yard, Brettei and his men knock out Father Time and tie him up. They place him under a freight car of the train about to pull out of the station hoping to crush the hero. They neglect to take Father Time's scythe and when Father time revives, he uses it to break himself free just moments before the train begins moving again.
Rushing back to the scene of the blaze, Father Time spots as Brettei and his men kidnap Mary to go and eliminate her before she can tell the D.A. about their involvement with the blaze. When another woman who witnessed the kidnapping begins to scream, one of Brettei's men attempts to silence her. Father Time stops him and forces him to reveal the location of his boss's hideout: Dugan's Warehouse.
There Father Time catches Brettei and his men before they can toss Mary (tied to a cement slab) into the water below the warehouse. Father Time beats the group of thugs in a fight and ties them up for the authorities before disappearing off into the night.
Recurring Characters
Father Time
The Silent Death
Jerry Hunter is shocked when a bunch of British citizens chase him down the street wanting to lynch him. Getting to the offices of the London Star he learns that Guy Stanford — the editor of the Tattler Newspaper — has accused him of helping the Nazis by printing a story about the positions of British ships.
Deciding to tell a story to win back the British public, Hunter exits out the back door to try to find a scoop. Along the British country side, he notices a strange cloud of smoke coming in off the channel. Pulling out a piece of chemically treated paper, it confirms his suspicions: the cloud is no ordinary phenomenon but poison gas unleashed by the Nazis to poison all of Britain. Rushing back to the London Star, he has an emergency pamphlet printed warning the people about the poison and providing instructions on how to make a serum that will make them immune to it.
He then gets airplanes to fly all over Britain to airdrop the leaflets. As they are doing so they are attacked by a Nazi plane. Hunter stops the attack by dropping a parcel of pamphlets on the Nazi plane's propeller causing it to crash. Among the wreckage, they find the body of Guy Stanford — who turns out to be a Nazi spy. Having been affected by the slow acting poison, Hunter passes out but awakens in a hospital to learn that his aid helped save Britain and he is being hailed as a hero.
Recurring Characters
Headline Hunter
