Captain America Comics #39
Terror of the Ghost Harpoon
On leave, Steve Rogers and James Barnes take a fishing trip to Nantucket Massachusetts. Arriving in the town where famous writer Herman Melville penned the classic tale "Moby Dick", they learn from a local old man of a curse of the "ghost harpooner", warning them that death awaits all who stay and cautions them to leave. Entering a nearby inn the two soldiers walk in on a meeting between local fishermen and a woman named Molly, the current owner of a ship called the Moby Dick. She cannot convince the men to man her ship following the Ghost Harpooner killing her father and others on the ships last voyage. However a local sailor named Tom rallies the men to step up and take the job. Before names can be taken a harpoon smashes through the window and fatally stabs one of the sailors. Steve and James follow the men outside to find the killer but all they find is the crazy old man who claims that the Ghost Harpooner was responsible for the killing.
Told to butt out, Steve and James go back to their room and decide to enjoy their vacation. This all changes when they hear a fight going on outside their room. Rushing out to investigate they find a group of men beating up Tom. When Molly gets Tom to a doctor, Steve tells her that it was too dark to see their attackers. Steve tells James that the best thing to do is to sleep and investigate in the morning.
However, the next day Steve and James arrive on the docks to find that the Moby Dick pulled away hours earlier than scheduled. They learn that with Tom in no condition to pilot the ship, Molly had decided to take the crew out on the whaling ship instead. Changing into Captain America and Bucky, the pair get a local fisherman to take them near the Moby Dick aboard his motorboat and then swim the rest of the way to the ship to board as quietly as possible. As they get aboard the ship they narrowly avoid getting struck by a harpoon and then are attacked by some of the sailors. Cap and Bucky easily manage to fight them off.
Going below deck they hear Molly crying as the crew refuses to go further on their voyage due to another death being attributed to the Ghost Harpooner. With the crew about ready to jump ship, a member of the crew named Silas offers to buy the ship for less than what it is worth. Hearing this, Captain America and Bucky crash in before Molly can sign the paper accusing Silas as the killer. Just then the old man comes in with a harpoon ready to kill Silas for going back on their deal. As it turns out Silas implicated the old man into killing people with the harpoons under the pretense that when they obtained the Moby Dick they would destroy it.
When the old man fails to slay Captain America with a shield both he and Silas flee. The old man climbs up the sails and jumps into the water to drown. While Silas is chased up by Captain America. Fighting along side the mast, Captain America dodges a lunge from Silas who ends up falling to the deck to his death.
With the conspiracy exposed and the killers dead, Molly can continue her voyage uninterrupted.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Bucky
Let's Play Detective
Detective Mike Trapp exposes the killer of wealthy Cyrus Crane, revealing that his secretary Miss Walton was responsible.
Recurring Characters
Mike Trapp, Pepper Burns
Riders of Death
Sgt. Duffy allows Steve Rogers and James Barnes to leave the base. The two go to the next town over where they happen to stop by a window where they see the marriage between Lt. Hale and Mary Crawford, daughter of Harry Crawford -- owner of the Crawford Munitions Factory. The nuptials are interrupted by a gang of bikers calling themselves the Death Riders who smash the building and set it on fire.
Steve and James change into Captain America and Bucky, and manage to knock down one of the bikers while the rest of the gang escapes. Unmasking him, they are surprised to find that he is Japanese. The man tells them that they have been charged with destroying the Crawford plant. Grabbing the mans motorcycle, Cap and Bucky chase after the rest of the Death Riders but they suddenly disappear into the night. The return to the ruins of the wedding and explain the situation to Crawford and learn that his factory is building bombers that will be sent to attack Tokyo. Captain America and Bucky assure him that they will stop the Death Riders before they can succeed in their mission.
As Hale and Mary begin planning to continue with their wedding plans, the Death Riders plan to kidnap Mary and her father. As the ceremony continues in the ruins of the original attack, the Death Riders return and grab Henry and his daughter. Lt. Hale rushes to Captain America and Bucky who are helping with the fire fighting effort. The trio race after the Death Riders in a jeep but they once more disappear.
Deciding that the secret lies in the defense plant, they backtrack there to search for clues. Back at the Death Rider's hideout, Henry and his daughter refuse to tell when the guards change at the plant even at the risk of torture prompting the Death Riders to go and attack the plant anyway. There Captain America, Bucky and Lt. Hale gather the workers and stop the attack on the plant. With Mary and Henry still hostage, the three heroes then grab robes from some of the Japanese men and trail back on their motorcycles. There, posing as members of the Death Riders, Captain America tells them that the plant has been destroyed but only they three remain.
They are admitted aboard a truck and brought back to the Death Rider's secret hideout. There they reveal themselves making short work of the gang and their leader and free Henry and Mary. After the wedding is completed, Steve and James return to base late and Sgt. Duffy assigns them to KP duty again.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Bucky, Sgt. Duffy
Rockets of Doom
With the technology to build rockets that can be launched across Europe to the United States, Adolf Hitler orders his scientist Carl von Brummel to initiative their backup plan. A month later, Manhattan is attacked by missiles seemingly launched from across the ocean. Reading about it in the newspaper, Steve Rogers and James Barnes decide to investigate the attack.
Searching the damage done in New York they find some men poking around the wreckage as well. Hiding out, they overhear that they learn that the me at the wreckage are Nazi spies. Captain America and Bucky rush to the spies and beats most of them into submission. When one spy agrees to talk, Captain America and Bucky are attacked from behind. When they come around, the spies are gone missing. Coming around they recall the mention of a sub, and rush to military intelligence to warn them. There the commanding officer allows the two heroes to borrow a plane so that they can search the coast for the submarine responsible for the attacks.
While patrolling the coast, Captain America and Bucky are shot down by the Nazi spies and crash into the ocean. Finding a nearby ship, Captain America and Bucky climb aboard and asks the crew to call the coast guard but soon learn that they are the Nazi spies. Attempting to fight back, Cap and Bucky are subdued and tied up. They then witness as a Nazi sub rises out of the water and is loaded with rockets from inside the ship they are aboard.
Breaking free from their bonds, Captain America and Bucky sneak aboard the Nazi sub where they realize that the sub uses its torpedo tubes to launch the rockets at New York. As Carl von Brummel prepares for his next attack on the city, Captain America and Bucky lock the torpedo tubes and abandon ship. When the next load of torpedoes is fired the sub explodes killing all aboard, ending its threat.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Bucky, Nazis (Adolf Hitler)
The Case of the Talking Crystal Ball
Detective Mike Trapp is hired as security for a masquerade party of the Van Asters in order to prevent the possible threat of Mrs. Van Asters priceless diamond studded masquerade mask. When the mask is pilfered during a blackout, Mike Trapp deduces that it is the butler who stole the mask.
Recurring Characters
Mike Trapp. Pepper Burns
Tarbu's Mission of Death
Professor Tarbu, a supposed medium, convinces Mrs. Blaire that he can contact her dead son, solider Jimmy Blaire, despite the protests of her daughter Jane. Meeting Tarbu, Mrs. Blaire is shocked when the supposed image of her dead son appears and recommends that his mother trust her entire fortune to Professor Tarbu to invest on her behalf. She us unaware that Tarbu is really a fraud who is seeking to take her money away from her.
Jane, concerned about her mothers decision gets into contact with the Human Torch and Toro and asks them to investigate Professor Tarbu's claims. As she explains the situation, a man overhearing the conversation from the window shoots her. The Torch sends Toro after the shooter while he sees to get Jane help. However, before Toro can capture the shooter he runs into traffic and is fatally run down.
Rushing to the hospital, Toro learns that Jane will live and he and the Torch then rush off to confront Professor Tarbu. When they arrive at Tarbu's home, they are gassed and placed in a glass cylinder where Tarbu attempts to spin them to death. However, when they are being placed into the cylinder, Toro strikes Tarbu, managing to swip the gem from the top of his headpiece. With this gem, the Torch is able to jam the gears in the spinning mechanism stopping the death trap.
Melting through the glass cylinder the Torch and Toro give Tarbu chase. Trying to escape in a panic, Tarbu smashed through a window and falls to his death. The Torch and Toro then return Mrs. Blaire's money to her and she vows never to trust her financial future to a fortune teller again.
Recurring Characters
Human Torch. Toro
