Daring Mystery Comics #2
Zephyr Jones and his Rocket Ship
In honor of his father, Zephyr Jones completes a rocket that he plans to take him to the planet Mars. Leaving Earth with his friend Corky Grogan, they head off to the read planet. However, some force sets their ship off course and the end up on the planet Sunev instead, home of two races: The Birdmen and the Parrot-Men. Zephyr and Corky are welcomed by the Birdmen and they share with them various scientific secrets from Earth. During this time, Zephyr falls in love with Princess Tonka.
However, the evil traitor General Roudo is plotting to frame the Earthmen as spies for the Parrot-Men. With forged evidence, the General has Zephyr and his pal locked up and awaiting execution. This leaves the Birdmen open for invasion from the Parrot-Men. With the help of Princess Tonka, Zephyr and Corky recover their firearms from their rocket and use them to fight off the invading Parrot-Men. With Roudo revealed as a traitor, and captured he is put to death and Zephyr and Corky are hailed as heroes.
With their time on Sunev over, Zephyr and Corky leave to return to Earth to prepare for their next attempt to get to Mars, but before they leave Princess Tonka leaves Zephyr with a kiss.
Recurring Characters
Zephyr Jones, Corky Grogan
The Phantom Bullet
Allan Lewis is a wealthy reporter for the Daily Bulletin, and while he is the papers best reporter, he never takes his job seriously and can often be found slacking off. After a strange series of murders, Lewis is put on assignment and he finds the story of the most recent murder interesting as it included finger prints that had seven fingers. Finding a feather on the crime scene, Lewis takes it before the police can see it, believing that this could be a lead in the story that will make him able to scoop the competition. Going back to the scene of the crime at night, he catches someone trying to steal the safe from the murdered man's house, however he is attacked by some strange feather wearing men and the thief gets away.
The next day in response for "not getting" the big story, Lewis is assigned to talk to a scientist who has developed a new type of gun. Figuring the story would not be worth his time, he finds that he scientist has been threatened by the killer as well, citing that his gun that fires bullets made of ice -- thereby eliminating the trace of a bullet when police arrive -- is sought after by this crook. The scientist leaves it in Lewis's trust and when he rushes back to the Bulletin he finds out that he scientist was murdered just moments after he left.
Realizing the benefits of using this gun to fight crime, Lewis decides to take the law into his own hands. Disguising his face and dawning a costume he goes to the home of the next target. When an attacker arrives, he shoots him dead, but does not capture his leader. Learning of the next intended target, Lewis in his reporter guise tries to get the story but is shooed away. Going back in his costume, he spots Benny the Beggar a man who has been hired to deliver the ransom notes. Realizing that the letters have addresses that change after they are mailed he realizes the sender is Alvarez Monez. Rushing to Monez's home he finds that Monez has captured a rich womans daughter for ransom.
Learning that Monez had brought African Bird-Men with him from his exploration to Africa and used them to help commit his crimes a fight breaks out. Lewis tricks the savages to jump out a window and while Monez has his back turned, shoots him dead. Later, he reports the story scooping all the other papers, his editor is thoroughly impressed and orders him to find out whatever he can about this "Phantom Bullet" character.
Recurring Characters
Phantom Bullet
Continuity Notes
This is the Phantom Bullet’s only Golden Age appearance. His fate is revealed in Marvels Project #2
Trojak the Tiger Man
Trojak, son of a white man who lived among a tribe in the jungle has grown into a man. Although his adopted tribe has loved and raised him the chief tells Trojak that it's now time for him to go out into the world and be among his people. Along with his faithful pet lion Balu, Trojak goes out into the wilderness.
There he finds a bunch of hunters who are malicious toward their guides. When Trojak intervenes the natives flee into the jungle leaving the white explorers without guides. As they get lost in the jungle they become more frightened and desperate and begin shooting at even harmless animals. Eventually, one of their number, a woman named Edith Alton decides to go back on her own. She is rescued from a lion by Trojak, who is injured in the fight. She nurses him back to health and teaches him English.
He helps her find her comrades and try to find a way out of the jungle, coming across a village, he leaves them to meet with the villagers however something does not sit right with him. When he goes back to the village he finds that the villagers are really savages who seek to kill the white people. Trojak goes to their rescue, calling the animals to stampede through the area. With the savages defeated, Trojak guides the white men back to their boat. As the boat sails away Edith wonders if she'll ever see Trojak again.
Recurring Characters
Trojak, Balu, Edith Alton
K-4 and his Sky Devils
A British fighter plane is caught in a dog fight with a number of German fighters when suddenly he is saved by American pilot K-4 and his comrades Lt. Rene D'Auvergne and Lt. Ronald Wolverston-Clodd who shoot the enemy planes out of the sky and escort the jet back to the air field.
Called to see the colonel, K-4 is told that they have captured the German Gestapo agent Gunther Hesseman and want K-4 to pose as the Nazi and infiltrate a German base who's anti-air craft weapons have made attacking the region difficult for bomber jets. K-4 is dropped in the area and disguised as Hesseman he proceeds to make he manages to fool the German superiors into allowing him to go to the location he is supposed to take out.
At the site of the enemy anti-aircraft weapons, he knocks out each soldier that falls for his ruse after they get him close to the enemy ammo dump. However, K-4 is discovered just after he sets up the ammo dump to explode. Fleeing the Nazi's he is worried that he won't make it out alive however just then a plane carrying his comrades D'Auvergne and Wolverston-Clodd comes to the rescue, lifting K-4 out of the area before the ammo explodes destroying the base. With is mission a success K-4 is commended by his commander.
Recurring Characters
Sky Devils (K-4, Rene D’Auvergne, Ronald Wolverston-Clodd), Nazis
Mr. E
Following a series of strange deaths of wealthy men, sportsman Victor Jay -- Secretly the costumed crime fighter Mr. E -- notices something that they all have in common: They were all share owners of the Snead Oil Company. Suspecting that J.P. Snead, the company owner might be in danger next, Jay goes to his home in his guise of Mr. E.
There he spies on the elderly man and witnesses as he worries over a ransom note. Hearing Snead decide to go through with the ransom and toss it in the fire, Mr. E rushes into the room and tries to recover the note from the flames, and only recovers part of it. Driving away and studying the note, Mr. E notes that whoever is threatening Snead wants to him to pay one million dollars. Suddenly, he is driven off the road by the man who is demanding the ransom: His old foe the Vampire.
Getting out of his car before he can drown, Mr. E manages to swim to shore unseen, leaving the Vampire to believe that Mr. E has drowned. Following the Vampire to an old house, Mr. E is spotted and captured and learns that the Vampire has taken Snead's daughter hostage. He then explains that he ransomed all the stake holders of the Snead Oil Company and then murder the men so that he would not be implicated. He intends to not only force Snead to pay him a ransom, but also sign over his company before murdering him and forcing his daughter to marry him. Mr. E however breaks free and a fight breaks out.
When the police arrive, both Mr. E and the Vampire flee the scene. Later, Victor Jay reads the paper and is satisfied that the Vampires plot has been foiled, but knows that he and his old foe will clash again.
Recurring Characters
Mister E
Continuity Notes
This is Mister E’s only Golden Age appearance. He will resurface decades later and is one of the primary characters in the Twelve limited series.
Laughing Mask
Deputy District Attorney Dennis Burton is secretly the masked vigilante known as the Laughing Mask. He decides to investigate a series of unsolved train crashes that involve the wheels of locomotives falling apart while the train is in motion. Going to the local train yard he spots that men are weakening the wheels with acid.
Hitching a ride on the back of their car he follows the men back to their hideout. There he overhears their boss Lester Deeks's dastardly plot: He intends to cause a series of train accidents so that the owners of the train yard have their license revoked for safety violations. Without the trains to earn them money, he intends to buy the property at a steal.
Knowing what he crooks are up to Dennis changes into his Laughing Mask costume and shoots down all the criminals. With a train about to be sabotaged, Laughing Mask stops the bandits from wrecking the wheels on a train and then also prevents other men from blowing up the bridge to insure an accident. Threatening to kill the last man alive unless he confesses, Laughing Mask leaves him at the police station to admit to his crimes.
Recurring Characters
Laughing Mask
Continuity Notes
The murder of Lester Deeks comes back to haunt the Laughing Mask decades later as seen in the Twelve #5.
For some reason, Dennis Burton changes his identity next issue, becoming Purple Mask. There is no explanation as to why he made this change since, as seen in The Twelve, he later returned to his Laughing Mask identity. I speculate that it might have been a way of avoiding the legal repercussions of murdering Deeks.
