Captain America Comics #34

Aug 1

Aug 1 Captain America Comics #34

The Cult of the Assassins

Private Steve Rogers and James Barnes are shipped to India where they are selected to be part of an honor guard for a meeting between Indian and American officials including Viceroy Wavell. As the gathering begins, none are aware that a Princess Ramasi is commanding her followers -- a group of Dacoits who believe her to be the daughter of god Kali -- to assist in the assassination of Wavell.

When Kali enters the palace she pretends to faint, prompting Rogers to scoop her up. While everyone is focused on the princess, the Diacots manage to sneak into the palace unobserved. Ordered to bring the princess up to one of the rooms upstairs, Kali pretends to get better until she realizes that Rogers had placed her near Wavell's room and once more begins to act "faint" in order to turn attention away from her minions. However, this fails as James spots something going on and they rush into Wavell's room. The Diacots flee, and the military officials on the scene find that Wavell's secretary had been strangled to death with a scarf. Furious that her minions killed the wrong person, Kali leaves the scene as well. Steve and James are then ordered to patrol the property to try and find the Diacots and bring them back to face justice.

When out on patrol for the killer of Wavell's secretary, James is almost strangled to death by an attacker, but is saved by Steve. They then break from their unit to investigate as Captain America and Bucky. They make the connection between the attack and Princess Ramasi's fainting spells and decide to pay her temple a visit. There they sneak inside where they witness a massive ceremony to Kali where a white man is about to be sacrificed to the gods. Cap and Bucky fight their way to the man and rescue him. Taking him to safety, they learn that he is the head of British-Indian intelligence and that "Kali" is really a Japanese spy.

Searching the palace they find a cache of weapons but are caught by Kali who holds them at gun point. Recognizing Captain America as Steve Rogers, and having fallen in love with the hero, Kali decides to give him the chance to live by not interfering with her plot to convince the Diacots to revolt against the government. Refusing to stand down, Captain America grabs Kali and uses her as a human shield to keep the Diacots away. As the heroes attempt to flee the intelligence agent grabs the plans of Kali's revolt for later study.

As they attempted to flee, Kali -- deciding her mission is a failure -- then commits suicide, sending the Diacots into a fury. As the battle rages on, oil lamps are knocked over causing a massive fire which only Cap, Bucky and the British intelligence agent manage to escape. With Kali dead and her plans for invasion in the hands of the authorities, Captain America and Bucky return to their civilian guises. Back at base, Sgt. Duffy is exasperated to find a reason how Rogers and Barnes were able to go AWOL for 24 hours an not receive a single reprimand.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Bucky, Sgt. Duffy, General Haywood

The Stage of Death

The Central Opera House is the scene of a murder when the great Caboto is killed and dumped on the stage right at his cue in a play. Witnessing this murder are Private Steve Rogers and James Barnes who decide to investigate further. This is the third murder in a row and when Steve and James begin asking around the only suspicious activity reported are noise complaints that specify hearing music late at night.

When a police man on patrol hears organ music coming from the auditorium, he goes to investigate. There he finds the deformed body of the Great Rosso who frightens the officer so badly that he is an easy mark for attack. As he brings the officer to his inner sanctum as Captain America and Bucky begin to investigate the noise as well. Rosso attempts to explain that he was betrayed by others and that he must take back what is his. The officer, realizing that he is dealing with a madman, attempts to subdue him but is strangled to death for his trouble.

Rosso then tosses the body into the auditorium as Captain America and Bucky arrive. The two heroes attempt to subdue Rosso, but he gives them a chase through the various secret passages beneath the Opera. As they are seeking their foe, Bucky is knocked out and dragged to Rosso's hideout where he places the boy in a coffin and begins playing the organ while waiting for Captain America to arrive. Captain America arrives just as Rosso finishes playing and is about to stab Bucky to death. As they are fighting, Bucky comes around and crawls out of the coffin. When Cap gives Rosso a good punch, the blow sends the crazed killer landing into his own coffin. When the lid snaps shut it pushes down is knife into his chest killing him instantly and ending his threat.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Bucky

Invasion Mission

Captain America has been summoned to an American military command post in Southern Italy where he is asked by the commanding officers to prevent any hitches in a plan to invade the area and remove the Nazis occupying the region. Accepting the mission, Captain America and Bucky leave by submarine that night.

While at a Gestapo outpost, the commanding officer there are preparing a surprise for to counter the coming invasion, however there are concerns that the Italian generals might tip off the Allies to the situation. In order to quell this, the Gestapo chief orders that all Italian military personnel to be detained. After, they begin fortifying the central point of the planned invasion, a heavily fortified base that has a heavy concentration of firearms and weapons in the region.

When the sub carrying Captain America and Bucky arrives at shore, it is spotted letting the two heroes off. However, when the guards who spotted them attempt to capture the two heroes, they are easily defeated. However, this does not prevent word from getting back to the Gestapo chief and he orders patrols be placed on every road to try and capture him. Captain America and Bucky soon arrive in an Italian village where they meet with their contact, a young Italian woman who tells them to rendezvous with another man on a bicycle on a nearby bridge. When Captain America and Bucky arrive there and begin talking to the man on the bike, they are suddenly surrounded by Nazi forces. Their contact is killed and the two heroes begin to fight their attackers.

Fleeing to the resistance hideout, they are surrounded by Nazi agents and taken prisoner. They are forced to witness as their female contact is whipped by the Gestapo chief, but she manages to warn them of the heavy fortification of weapons. Captain America and Bucky break free, save the girl and flee the scene. The Gestapo chief then calls his minions and orders them to stop the heroes before they can warn the Allies of the trap.

However, Captain America and Bucky go to the castle -- with the invasion coming in hours, they take control of one of the hidden cannons in the castle and use it to blow up the defenses, leaving the Nazis vulnerable and easily conquered. With their mission as complete success they are thanked by the military for a job well done.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Bucky, Nazis

The Mad Mole's Folly

The Human Torch and Toro speed to the aid of a man who is attacked by a Nazi spy for betraying Nazi Germany and is murdered. Despite their efforts, the killer manages to get away. Searching the dead body they learn the man is named Peter Lauber a worker at the Hartford Cannon Plant. Going to Peter's wife and telling her the bad news, she tells them that Nazi saboteurs were working there and threatened to kill her husband if he did not assist them. The Torch decides to pose as a worker in order to infiltrate the spies and oust them.

Meanwhile, at the hideout of the spies, the killer meets with his leader known as the Mole and tells what happened. This does not change the Mole's plans to blow up the plant. The next day, under the alias and confronts the killer -- named Otto Heinkle -- and gets him to confess that he is a Nazi spy. Pretending to be a German loyalist who blew up plants on the west coast he convinces Otto to tell him the location of their secret hideout.

When Otto goes to tell the Mole of their "new" man, they are shocked when the Human Torch and Toro arrive to apprehend them. The Mole shoots Otto dead for his failure, and then gives the two flaming heroes chase. When the heroes flame off to follow after the crooks they are caught off guard and knocked out by cloths filled with chloroform. The Mole and his men then place the two heroes in glass vats that will spin them to death. However, before the Mole can kill the two heroes the FBI arrive on the scene and surround the Mole and his minions. All the spies are gunned down except for the Mole who is taken into custody and the Torch and Toro are freed.

Learning the location of the bomb, the two rush to the plant and find the bomb. Unable to disarm it, they take it to where it can do more good than harm: dropping it on the Mole's hideout, destroying it in a massive explosion.