Captain America Comics #47

Aug 1

Aug 1 Captain America Comics #47

The Crime Dictator

An army of criminals have been gathered by a costumed criminal calling himself Crimorto, a self-styled dictator of crime. He has called the gathering of crooks in order to make an effort to destroy Captain America and Bucky. When the gathered crooks ask him how they will defeat the star-spangled hero, Crimorto orders a nation wide crime spree of death and destruction. As the cold blooded slaughter begins, the authorities send out a call for Captain America to help end the violence. Listening to the radio broadcast, Steve Rogers and James Barnes decide it is time for Captain America and Bucky to act.

When the two heroes go into action they are spotted by Crimorto who prepares a suitable trap for the two heroes. When they hear a woman's scream for helps, they rush to her aid. In a building they spot a bunch of crooks attacking a trio of people. While one of the crooks makes off with a woman, a man is wounded. Cap and Bucky fight off the remaining crooks and see that the man needs a doctor. They chase after the crook that has ran after the girl passing through a mist that transports them just outside Crimorto's castle. Rushing into the castle, the two heroes spot Crimorto with the girl as his prisoner. When they attempt to attack Crimorto, an army of thugs come out of hiding armed with bludgeons. As Captain America and Bucky fight through them, Crimorto flees with the girl through a secret passage.

After fighting off the crooks, Cap and Bucky follow after them and find him on the top parapet of the castle. There, Crimorto throws the girl, but Cap manages to grab her. Held at bay by lightning bolts fired from Crimorto's hands, the heroes pull back. The girl then shows them another passageway that will bring them behind Crimorto and tells them that the source of the villain's power is in his cape. Facing Crimorto one-on-one, Cap deflects the criminals bolts with his shield. This allows Cap to get close enough to remove Crimorto's cape.

With his cape removed, Crimorto's castle begins to crumble, and Cap knocks the villain out. Cap, Bucky and the girl manage to flee just as the castle collapses seemingly slaying Crimorto, however Cap is not convinced the villain is dead and that they will see him again.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Bucky

Horror in Room 1705

The Human Torch and Toro are in Atlantic City on vacation where they take in Professor Kilgory's puppet show. While the jokes are lame, the two heroes are impressed by the show, especially Percy the puppet that appears to be very life like. Deciding to return to their hotel, they not a woman with a lot of jewels checking into their hotel.

Later that night, the Torch and Toro are awoken by a woman's scream. They rush to the room where the scream has come from and find that the woman they saw earlier had been murdered and her jewels stolen. Spotting an open window, the Torch and Toro flame on and go outside to search for the killer. On the roof they find Professor Kilgory who attacks them with a pipe, knocking them out while their flames are off. Recovering after Kilgory has fled, the Torch and Toro hear another scream from within the hotel. Rushing back, they find the man in the room above the murdered woman has also been killed.

When they cover the body, the room is visited by Kilgory who asks if there is anything he can do. The Torch, recognizing him tells him as their attacker, tells him to call the police. While Kilgory is distracted they go to Kilgory's dressing room to check his puppets. They find that all the puppets except for Percy have recently shown wear and tear from recent use.

Rushing back to Kilgory's room, they catch him packing his room. When they attempt to stop him they are attacked by Percy -- really a man with dwarfism posing as his puppet in order to pull off robberies. The Torch and Toro easily knock out their opponents and turn them over to the authorities.

Recurring Characters

Human Torch, Toro

The Monster of the Morgue

A group of Nazis meet in secret to discuss how to plant their bombs on the docks but have been unable to due to the guards that are posted there. They are met by Professor Todt, who chastises the men for not using their imaginations to complete their tasks.

Later at the docks, Private Steve Rogers and James Barnes are relieved from guard duty by Sgt. Duffy. Just as the pair are leaving a massive explosion rocks the area. Checking the rubble for survivors Steve and James help find survivors. Later, back at base, Steve and James are asked by General Haywood to go down to the morgue to identify bodies and are told that Sgt. Duffy is included among the missing.

At the morgue, Steve and James meet with the head of the morgue to try identify their bodies. Later, both Professor Todt and one of his fellow spy enter the room. When they run into Steve and James by mistake, the spy tries to start a fight but Professor Todt orders him to stand down so that they can resume their plan. As they look at the bodies, Steve and James conclude that none of their fellow soldiers are among the dead. They then hear the mortician arguing with Todt and his man. Steve and James fight them off and Professor Todt warns Steve that they will meet again. When questioning the mortician they learn that Todt has claimed more bodies from the morgue than anyone else.

Realizing that something must be up, Steve and James rush off to report to General Haywood and then return to keep an eye on the morgue. That night, Professor Todt and his men return to the morgue to steal the bodies and kill the mortician. Soon Captain America and Bucky arrive to find the spies stealing the dead bodies from the morgue. As they attack Professor Todt, the Nazi spy blasts them with knock out gas and flees the scene.

They wake up at the spies hideout and learn that Professor Todt and his men are going to rig the dead bodies with explosives and dump them into the water to blow up American ships at sea. Leaving Cap and Bucky while they set up their traps, Cap and Bucky manage to free themselves and rush to the docks. There they take command of a ship and converge on the boat piloted by Professor Todt and his men. Cap and Bucky storm their boat and set the boilers aboard the ship to explode, killing Todt and their men.

Later, back in their civilian guises, Steve and James find out that Sgt. Duffy was found alive, but injured, and visit him in the hospital to find that he is still his usual cranky self.