Captain America Comics #43

Aug 1

Aug 1 Captain America Comics #43

The Shadows of Death

A small New England town is terrorized by a series of strange murders where no victims bodies or trace evidence is found, all that is witnessed is the shadow of a massive creature attacking its victims, leading the people of the town to believe they are being stalked by a strange Shadow Monster. However, this all changes the day that a baseball game at a nearby quarry stops when the ball is hit into the quarry. When one of the players goes to fetch the ball, he is killed, those witnessing it seeing only the shadow of his attacker. Nearby, Steve Rogers and James Barnes are riding a motorcycle back to base when they a rock strikes their motorbike. Recovering they spot the shadow of the monster and go and investigate.

Arriving on the murder scene they talk to the locals and meet Karl Shaffer. Karl tells them that he is convinced that his uncle John's painting of a shadow monster has come to life and begun killing people. When Steve asks to meet Karl's uncle, Karl tells him his uncle is away on business. They are soon greeted by two government agents from the War Department who have been surveying the area. When Steve asks them what they are looking for, they tell him that information is classified.

Later, Steve and James change into Captain America and Bucky and decide to pay John Shaffer a visit at his castle home. Approaching the front door they are jumped by the Shaffer butler who is startled by their shadows. Welcoming the two heroes into the home, the butler takes Cap and Bucky where John keeps his art work while he goes and gets John -- who is apparently in town despite Karl's claim he was not. As they examine the works of art, Cap and Bucky are shocked to see one painting of the Shadow Monster looks as though the Shadow Monster escaped the painting leaving a white outline of canvass in its place.

While they are examining the works of art, they are attacked by a man whom they easily subdue and expose as a Nazi spy. Knocking the spy out they search his body and finds a flashlight with a silhouette of the monster attacking someone, proving that the "Shadow Monster" is a hoax. They are soon confronted by John Shaffer who demands to know what the two heroes are doing in his home when they hear cries for help. Rushing into another room they find the butler stabbed to death clutching an article from the American Mining Journal that states a small supply of Zorite -- a special metal that is useful to the war effort -- has been found in the area.

Realizing what the Nazis are in the area for, Cap and Bucky continue to search the Shaffer home for clues when they step through a trap floor and fall into a pit of water. There they are confronted by a man hiding in the shadows who boasts that the two heroes will drown in the pit. Cap and Bucky manage to escape and follow their attacker through the tunnels to the outside. There they find John Shaffer knocked out and wearing the same outfit as their attacker. Waking him up, they learn the real attackers jumped him and put him in the costume so that the authorities would think that John was responsible for the "Shadow Monster" murders.

Spotting the real "Shadow Monster" escaping in a passenger truck, Cap and Bucky jump aboard. Climbing to the cab of the truck, Cap unmasks the "Monster" as Karl who refuses to be taken prisoner and drives the truck off the road. Cap and Bucky bail out as the truck drives off a nearby cliff and explodes. Later, Cap explains to the authorities Karl's entire plot to secure the Zorite supply for the Nazis.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Bucky, Nazis

Mystery of the Wingless Bat

Nazi agents led by the Bat use specially made helium balloons to drop bombs on an American military glider school located on the top of a mesa. Unaware of how the attacks are being carried out the United States military, the story hits the newspapers. Reading about it, the Human Torch and Toro decide to lend a hand in solving the mystery.

As the Nazis plan their next attack, the Torch and Toro meet with military brass to discuss the matter when another bombing begins. Rushing outside the Torch and Toro are spotted by the spies and they soon find the balloons containing the explosives. Tracing them back to their source, they attempt to stop the spies but have their flames doused with specially made bombs. Held at gunpoint they meet the Bat who explains his plan to them.

Planning on decimating the rest of the base that night, the Bat has his men take the Torch and Toro down into the cellar of their hideout and bounds them in asbestos straitjackets to be disposed of later. Left alone, the Torch has Toro loosen the bonds on his jacket with his teeth. Freeing themselves, the pair then flame on and stop the Bat and his men just as they have unleashed their first wave of balloon bombs. Rushing outside, the redirect the bombs back at the Nazi base, destroying it in a massive explosion killing the Bat and his men.

Recurring Characters

Human Torch, Toro, Nazis

The Death that Came Out of Nowhere

On an island on the South Pacific, Steve and James are on duty when they are suddenly attacked by missiles. Changing into Captain America and Bucky they rush back to base to warn the commanding officer about the attack. To their surprise the missiles appear to have a mind of their own. After the attack a note from Baron Hitso is parachuted over the pace that warns them that they will be destroyed. With the military unable to find any bombers in the area, they are stumped as to how the bombs are being dropped on them. Cap and Bucky vow to find out when they are contacted by televisor by Baron Hitso who once more warns the American forces that they will be wiped out.

While the military steps up guards, Captain America and Bucky obtain a plane to patrol the island and find the source of the bombs. As they fly over the island they witness a missile whip past them. Unable to dodge the missiles which appear to be able to redirect themselves at them, Cap and Bucky abandon ship. Checking the ruins of the plane they find a part of the shell that hit them and find that it has no rifling marks on it that would suggest it was fired from a cannon. Taking this information back to the commanding office, Cap and Bucky learned that direction finders have been able to pinpoint the location of Baron Hitso's base.

Captain America and Bucky take another plane and fly to the location where they find that Hitso and his men have built specially made missiles that contain Kamikaze pilots who direct the missiles like small aircraft at their targets. Attacking the Japanese forces on the base, Cap and Bucky are soon overpowered and taken prisoner. Hitso then decides to eliminate them by placing Bucky into one of the missiles and sending him off to destroy the American base. Breaking free, Captain America knocks out Hitso and his men and realizing that the missiles are controlled remotely from Hitso' lab, recalls the missile containing Bucky rescuing the boy. He then redirects the other missiles launched to come back and destroy Hitso's base while he and Bucky escape by plane.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Bucky, Imperial Japan

The Sea Dragon

On the pacific coast, Steve Rogers and James Barnes are boarding a troop ship heading out into the Pacific. As they board, Sgt. Duffy boasts about how he never gets sea sick. Ten days out to sea the boredom of the voyage is cut short when an apparent sea monster begins attacking the ship convoy. With one of the vessels being sunk, Steve and James change into Captain America and Bucky to see what they can do to stop the monster.

Manning the ships guns, Cap and Bucky attempt to shoot the sea monster, but it attacked their ship apparently swallowing up Bucky in the attack. Cap dives in after Bucky and climbs into the monsters mouth. There the pair find that the monster is not alive at all, but made of metal. Crawling down it's mouth they find that it is really a submarine piloted by Japanese agents led by Dr. Yokotio who invented the device.

Cap and Bucky attack the Japanese and during the chaos, Yokotio attempts to flee the scene by making the sub submerge. However, with the "creatures" mouth hatch still open, the sub begins to flood. Cap and Bucky manage to escape out of an emergency hatch leaving Yokotio and his men to drown. The sub sinks to the ocean floor where the pressure crushes the vessel causing it to explode. Cap and Bucky then return to their ship and change back to their civilian identities. Later, much to their amusement they catch Sgt. Duffy being sea-sick off the side of the boat.