The Fantastic Thriller of the Walking Corpses

After a series of strange disappearances, Doctor Jack Castle is called in by the police to investigate the nature of the crime when they are attacked by a strange green skinned zombie. Before it can seriously harm anyone, it is gunned down by Captain Benson, and after recognizing the zombie as one of the missing men, Castle decides to investigate the case.

Going around the city asking about the missing people in their last known whereabouts turns up no leads. Eventually Castle decides to check out the electrical bills for the waterfront area, the common ground. Finding that a old ramshackle house was using massive amounts of electricity, Castle goes to check it out and is captured by one of the zombies.

He is taken past rows of people who are being transformed into zombies, including a woman who has just recently been captured. Going past the various traps, including giant birds. Jack is taken to the master who is a massive scientist who, after years of being tormented over his size has learned many forms of science such as the power over life and death, and the various elements. Deciding that Jack Castle shall be his next victim, the master ties him to the machine. Realizing that hypnosis is part of the conversion process, Jack resists the machine's electrical ray prompting the master to overload his machine causing it to explode which frees Jack.

Dr. Castle decides to save the girl, when he is confronted by the master. He is surprised to find that he has super-human strength and easily defeats his foe. Rescuing the girl, he manages to fight off the giant birds by blowing gale force winds. They flee from the burning building as Jack is surprised again when he is able to leap high above the crumbling building. Dropping the girl off he returns to police headquarters to tell his tale. The captain notices that Jack's face is glowing and notices that it happens whenever Jack gets angry as a result of the scientist's electrical ray and his zombie machine's explosion. Jack decides to take up a crusade against crime with his newfound powers and takes on the identity of Fiery Mask.

Recurring Characters

Fiery Mask

Continuity Notes

The Twelve #3 reveals that the origin story depicted here is actually a lie made up by Jack Castle himself. This is to cover up the shame surrounding his true origins as they are revealed in the Twelve #9.

Soldier of Fortune, John Steele

An American soldier John Steele is on the Western Front of World War I as the Germans are pounding the area. Coming across a spy named Marie who tells Steele that she needs to get the stolen secrets back to the general. Steele offers to take her through the battlefield. He captures an enemy tank and they escape through German ranks.

When their tank is incapacitated, Steele grenades a dugout of soldiers and steals a German motorcycle to continue their escape. Being followed by a bomber plane, John and Marie dive into a foxhole and knock out the German soldiers inside and use their anti-aircraft guns to shoot the plane out of the sky. Finding their motorcycle intact they continue on their journey.

John manages to get Marie to the general but is disappointed when the girl, to whom he has developed a liking, drives away with the officer.

Recurring Characters

John Steele

Continuity Notes

This is John Steele’s only Golden Age appearance. The character is revived decades later, returning in the Marvels Project limited series as well as appearing in Secret Avengers #5-12 & 29

The Texas Kid, Robin Hood of the Range

The Texas Kid spots a bunch of raiders setting a rancher's house to fire and plunges to help. Chasing off the masked attackers on his horse named Spot, the Kid rescues the rancher Benito Thompson from the burning house. The rancher has been shot and unfortunately dies just before he can tell the Kid who was responsible for the raid on his home.

Riding into nearby Placer City, the Texas Kid finds a hat dropped by one the attackers and decides to wear it to get the owner to reveal himself. Sure enough, when he stops at the local saloon the bandit demands to have his hat back leading to them recognizing the Texas Kid as the man who ambushed them. The Texas Kid manages to flee the scene and secretly follows his attackers to their hideout. Shooting out a lamp, he steals their loot and having overheard who they are going to terrorize next, he comes up with a plan.

Determining that the land owners all have mortgages to be paid to Banker Wells, the Kid deduces that the banker must have something to do with raids. Going to the next target, a man named Humboldt, the Kid gets him to help out with a plan. After allowing the bandits to steal his final payment, Humboldt rides into the town with bills torn in half from the loot that Kid stole. He quickly tosses them along with a note into the bank demanding Wells to meet the bandits at their hideout while Humboldt proceeds to tip the sheriff.

Sure enough, when the Texas Kid follows the bandits to their cave hideout, Wells implicates himself by coming and accusing the bandits of trying to backstab him. The Texas Kid battles the bandits until the sheriff arrives with Humboldt and arrests the outlaws and Wells. Afterward, the Texas Kid rides off into the desert.

Continuity Notes

This Texas Kid should not be confused with Lance Temple who also operated as the Texas Kid during the American Frontier.

Although this is the only appearance of the Texas Kid he had a brief mention in Marvel Western Outlaw Files #1 as well as a profile in Marvel Mystery Handbook 70th Anniversary Special. In the latter profile it is confirmed that the story above takes place in the year 1879.

Monako Prince of Magic

Monako the magician witnesses a car speeding toward a girl and uses his magic powers to create a bridge to pull her to safety. Recognizing the woman as his friend Josie, he also spots his old foe Mr. Muro in the car that almost hits her. Monako learns that Josie's brother Al has perfected a new type of explosive for the government. She tells that Muro is after the secret formula and tried to stop her from warning Al. The pair rush off with a taxi to Al's house.

Meanwhile, Al has trained the formula to memory and has burned all his notes before Muro and his men arrive. Realizing the notes have been destroyed they knock out Al and take him as a prisoner. Seeing Muro's men speed away, Monako sends his "vision", an astral projection of himself, along with a cab hired to follow Muro's car while they investigate Al's house. Learning that Al had been captured Monako checks on his vision and watches as it finds the location of Muro's hideout, but is barred from entering by a closed door.

Going to the location, Monako uses his powers to shrink in size and sneaks inside through the keyhole. Returning to his normal size he illuminates footsteps of villains but falls through a trap door where Muro and his men get the drop on him. Monako creates a number of phantom illusions of himself but Muro is not fooled and drops a steel cage over Monako to catch him. After Al refuses to give out the formula even after hours of torturing, the two men are tied to a rack where an ax pendulum swings down. Muro leaves them hoping impending death will pressure Al into talking.

Left alone, Al is starting to crack but Monako talks to the ax ordering it to release them. The ax says, "Okay!" and leaves the ceiling to cut their bounds. Monako shrinks both of them to escape into a crack in the wall. Figuring that Muro will go to Al's lab they race there. Muro, noticing the escape, captures Josie and takes her to another of his hideouts, an old tugboat in the river. He devices a bomb from a can of gasoline and a long lighter fuse and leaves her tied up next to it. Realizing that Muro hasn't arrived at the lab yet, Monako prepares a trap by leaving a can of the secret powder for him to find. When Muro reaches for it, the can talks and projects an image of Monako spooking Muro and his guards. He flees back to the boat and leaves on a waiting seaplane. Monako and Al follow, and rescue Josie before the bomb explodes, but Muro escapes. Monako does not believe this is the last he's heard of his old foe and promises to watch him more closely.

Recurring Characters

Monako

Flash Foster at Midwestern

Flash Foster is a star player of the Midwestern football team and dating Connie Hodges. Their team could cinch a Rose Bowl spot with a win in their next game against underdog Hale; however, gambler Nick Bruno intends to fix the game.

Kidnapping Connie at a dance the night before the big game, he confronts Flash with his henchman Pat and warns him that Midwestern win could be dangerous for Connie. Angrily, Flash tries to beat the men to reveal his girl's whereabouts but gets pistol-whipped unconscious till the morning. Flash decides to play for real, but he's so worried about the fate of Connie that his mind is distracted from the game and finally his coach pulls him off. When his pal Shorty tells him that he'd spotted Nick Bruno, the boys take the coach's car and race to his hideout. Because they are speeding, they get the attention of a motorcycle cop who rides after them.

The officer arrives just in time to see Flash bare handedly knockout armed Bruno and his men. Leaving Shorty to explain the kidnapping plot to the police, Flash rushes off with Connie back to the game where Flash manages to win the game in the nick of time, sending Midwestern to the Rose Bowl.

Recurring Characters

Flash Foster

Continuity Notes

This is Flash Foster’s only Golden Age appearance. He will resurface decades later as a main character in All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes limited series.

Case of Perrone

Detective "Doc" Denton is a member of the police and also a master surgeon. Following the release of a mobster named Perrone from the hospital, Doc is sent to find a means to capture Perrone. Getting Doctor Stewart to agree for Denton to impersonate him, Doc allows himself to be "bought" into Perrone's service, by pretending to be a cash strapped doctor.

Later Perrone sends his men to pick up Doc to get treatment for his injured arm. He goes along, but not before telling Nurse Andrus to call the police to raid Perrone's place. In order to keep up the ruse, Denton is also arrested as an accomplice along with Perrone's gang. Perrone, however, manages to escape.

Allowing the cover story about Dr Stewart helping criminals to get into the press, Doc and Nurse Andrus go searching for Perrone's gang and track him to the small town of Louisville. There Denton witness Perrone and his men committing an another hold-up where Perrone is shot to arm again. Perrone and his gang, seeking for help, are surprised to find Doc practicing in town. However, this still makes Perrone suspicious especially when Doc notices a strange "eye infection" that is contagious and requires all the gang members to be inoculated.

When Nurse Andrus and Doc come up with a "vaccine" that actually causes temporary blindness, they convince Perrone that there is "nothing wrong" with the dose by injecting Andrus with the solution first. Because of the solution's delayed reaction, Andrus and Doc manage to inject all criminals before they are struck blind and tip off the police. Denton fools the criminals to think his pipe as a gun and holds them at "gunpoint" until police arrives to arrest them.

Barney Mullen, Sea Rover

During World War II, in Portugal, Barney Mullen is hired to ship a load of gold filigree to the port of Rotterdam. That would take him into waters in the midst of the ongoing war with each factor trying to sink or capture an unknown ship. "It sounds interesting", says Mullen and agrees to take the dangerous job.

On their voyage, Barney and his crew find trouble right from the start. They fail to loose an attacking warship in a cloud of fog, but fortunately for Barney, the cruiser is sunk by an enemy submarine. Some of his crew decides that the trip is too dangerous and attempt to mutiny, but Barney manages to defeat the mutineers with the loyal seamen. With some of the men injured, they have to pull to port on a small French fishing village to get a medical treatment.

After the men are treated by the doctor, the French authorities learn that Barney is shipping gold and try to detain him. Two French officials try to get a bribe from Barney to let his ship continue but the captain tosses them into the water and leaves the port. However, approaching their destination, one of his ship's steam boiler blows up sinking the ship. When the crew escape in life boats and pull up to the port in Rotterdam, Barney informs an agent of the shipping company that the gold was not lost: knowing that the trip would be dangerous he had the gold secretly stashed aboard the lifeboats. Considering how much he was getting paid for the job, Barney wasn't concerned about losing his boat to get the job done.