North of the Border

In the governent buildings located in Quebec City, Canadian military and political officials are meeting to discuss plans that will give them the edge in the war against the Nazis. All of them agree to take the plans over to Premiere McKenzie King to be passed along to discussed with President Roosevelt. They are unaware that they are being spied upon by Nazis led by Baron von Hartmann the German Consular to Canada who plans to kidnap General Bedoin to learn the secret. Von Hartmann also has another plan in mind in order to make it rich. Soon, as the General is leaving Parliament he is captured by spies.

The following day, Steve Rogers and James Barnes arrive in Quebec City to enjoy their weekend furlough enjoying the winter festivities in the area. They come across a newspaper article about General Bedoin's kidnapping. The two then take a dog sled ride back to their hotel where they chance to stumble upon the German spies chasing what appears to be a young boy they call Ramon. Steve and James fight off the men and help Ramon get away. Hiding out in their hotel room, the two soldiers find that Ramon has over twenty thousand dollars in his possession. But when Steve asks him why, Ramon does not say a thing and flees. As he does he drops a note with an address and a note to bring some war plans. Steve puts the pieces together that the General must be held hostage and is being held for ransom for the money and the war plans. Changing into Captain America and Bucky they follow after Ramon. They spot Ramon across the street from the address waiting. Cap sends Bucky back to the hotel to see if he can learn anymore information and Cap pays a visit to Ramon. When Cap demands answers he is surprised to find that Ramon is not a boy, but a girl. She tells him that he name is Ramona Bedoin, the daughter of the kidnapped General. She explains the whole story about the ransom for her father but tells the Star-Spangled hero that she is afraid to go through with it.

Spotting the Baron entering the property, Cap notices that they can spy into the house from the top of the hill behind the property, and begin watching. They are soon spotted and captured by Nazi spies but only Cap is knocked out. When Captain America comes around, he finds himself tied up inside the house. The Baron enters the room and boasts over his defeat of Captain America and muses about holding him for ransom before killing the hero as well, but leaves telling him that they are going to an island across from an ice bridge to deal with the General first. Seeing his hotel room from out the window, Cap flashes a message to Bucky telling him what is going on, but Bucky is soon captured by the spies as well. Trapped in the house, Cap is then rescued by Ramona who helps him break loose. The pair rushes to the hotel room and see that Bucky had managed to write a note in ink telling them that he was taken to the island.

Taking a dogsled they race after the getaway car hoping to get to the island before they do. However, the spies reach the house on the other end of the ice bridge first and Bucky is taken inside. There he is bound to a chair where he is forced to watch the Baron question the General. When Bedoin refuses to tell his secret, the Baron has hay placed about the Generals feet and prepares to light it on fire. At that time, Captain America and Ramona arrive and battle through a sentry placed on the end of the ice bridge and smash their way into the house. They arrive just as Bucky tips himself over and smothers the flames about to burn the General. The flames burn away the ropes binding the young hero and Bucky lends Captain America a hand fighting the Nazis. With the Barons surrender, the spies are turned over to the authorities to face a firing squad and our heroes bid farewell to their Canadian friends.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Bucky, Nazis

Continuity Notes

• There are a few factual errors in this story. First, McKenzie King is referred to as the Premiere of Canada. This is not correct. MacKenzie King was the Prime Minister of Canada. Second, this story states that Canada’s parliament buildings are located in Quebec City, Quebec. Actually, they are located in Ottawa, Ontario.

The Man-Hole of Death

With the mysterious disappearance of wealthy men in the financial district of the city, financial clerk Chase Stewart has a police escort take him to the bank to make a deposit at the end of the night, however the man is somehow nabbed out from under the officers nose and disappears without a trace.

The case attracts the attention of the Human Torch and Toro who decide to investigate. Examining the facts of all the recent disappearances, the Torch notes that they all happened in the same ten block radius. The two flaming heroes begin patrolling the area. Toro spots a business man leaving one of the offices and begins to follow him and witness a rope comes out from under a manhole cover and lasso the man, pulling him down into the sewers below. Signaling the Torch, Toro races after the man but has his flames doused with sewer water and is punched out.

The Torch arrives just as the Sewer-Man is tossing Toro into the rushing waters beneath the city. The Torch recovers Toro and lets his guard down while attempting to revive his partner. The Sewer-Man tosses a makeshift explosion at the hero, but he deflects it into the water nearby. The Sewer-Man attempts to flee with all the stolen money he killed for but the Torch burns out the wood plank he attempts to cross the sewers on and falls into the water where he is swept away by the currents. A few days later while reading the paper Toro tells the Torch that they found the Sewer-Man's drowned body.

Recurring Characters

Human Torch, Toro

Blitzkrieg To Berlin

Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes attend a USO Circus Show being put on for the troops. After the show they just miss the truck that is supposed to bring them back to camp. Forced to walk back to base, they soon find themselves caught in a lightning storm and seek cover in a nearby house. When they open the door they just barely dodge a booby trap that launches knives at whoever opens the door. Curious as to why the house has been trapped they decide to go inside and investigate. As they do so, Steve falls through a trap floor and then Bucky is attacked by men who come out of a secret passage way in the wall, they knock the boy out and take him prisoner. When Steve and Bucky come around they find themselves tied up. They are greeted by a Nazi spy who tells them that they are leaving from Long Island aboard a Nazi U-Boat with maps detailing American military bases and defense plants to Captain Hunzel in Germany. As he leaves, he lights a bundle of TNT to eliminate the two soldiers.

Steve and James manage to break free of their bonds and escape the house before it explodes and after changing into Captain America and Bucky the duo race after the spies in a motorcycle. Arriving just as the spies are boarding the U-Boat, the two heroes leap into action but are easily outnumbered and taken prisoner by the U-Boat captain who believes the heroes should be brought before their leader before being executed.

After a long trip to Nazi Germany, Captain America and Bucky are brought before Adolf Hitler himself who mocks the two heroes defeat. Cap and Bucky break free from their bonds and attack Hitler but have to flee when the guards try to shoot them. In the massive Nazi headquarters they jump two unsuspecting guards and steal their uniforms so that they can move around as unnoticed as possible. Their search around the complex leads them to a warehouse where massive Nazi sub is being loaded up with tanks for an invasion of the United States. Spotted by the guards, the two heroes attempt to fight back but are knocked out by gas and are tossed into a cell to be executed. To their horror the floor of their cell begins to slide back to reveal a pit of fire. But before it can retract all the way and send them to a fiery death, a panel in the ceiling opens and they are pulled to safety by a French man. He explains that he and his fellow French resistance fighters were captured and forced into slave labor for this plot. However, after discovering secret passages in the building they had been sneaking off explosives and now have enough to destroy the entire base.

Captain America and Bucky then lead the enslaved French fighters in a revolt against the Nazi oppressors. They easily take the warehouse after the explosives are set up, Captain America offers to sacrifice his life to set off the bombs. The French leader refuses and sends Cap, Bucky and the other French men to flee as he goes to set off the bomb. When Nazi reinforcements arrive they manage to fatally shoot the man, but he makes sure to fall on the plunger of the explosives setting them off and destroying the warehouse and all the weapons inside.

With the warehouse destroyed, the remaining French resistance fighters decide to stay in Germany to cause trouble for the Nazis. Wishing them luck, Captain America and Bucky go to a nearby airfield where they steal a Nazi plane and use it to fly back home to the United States.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Bucky, Nazis

Roddy Colt Steps Out

An emergency meeting of the local Air Raid Warden Messengers is called and Roddy Colt rounds up all the youth volunteers to see what the situation is. They are told by the organizers that five thousand dollars raised for the USO had been stolen from their treasury. When its suggested that they call the police, the head of the wardens declines to do so feeling that it would effect the moral of those who support the war. The head of the committee then decides to hand out everyone an envelope and asks the person who stole the money to anonymously return it, no questions asked. When the envelope returns empty.

The following idea, Roddy comes up with an idea and gathering the youth volunteers he meets with the head of the wardens. He suggests a way to get the stolen money back: Putting on a play as a fundraiser where they would put on what they believe who stole the money, making it seem like a fictional story. Roddy is convinced that this will help them reveal who the guilty person is, with a surprise ending with Roddy posing as the Secret Stamp (nobody is aware that Roddy is really the secret stamp).

The night of the play everyone is on the Air Raid Warden committee is in audience and when the play reaches it's climax where the Secret Stamp makes his appearance and is about to tell who the thief is, someone in the audience attempts to shoot him. What they hit is really a mirror casting the Secret Stamp's reflection and succeeds only in revealing himself. With the true thief captured, the rest of the committee rushes back stage to thank the Secret Stamp but only find Roddy Colt tied up. He tells them that the Secret Stamp had "jumped" him and took his place to reveal the real thief, this protecting his secret identity.

Recurring Characters

Secret Stamp