Cult of Evil

At the home of the wealthy Joshua Cranton, a chain letter arrives in the mail that promises doom if the chain is broken. Despite his granddaughter Cora's protests, Joshua decides to continue the chain and suddenly enters a hypnotic trance and suddenly leaves. Worried, Cora calls the Human Torch and Toro to help.

The pair follow after Joshua and witness two men about to jump him. When the pair attempt to stop the kidnapping they are sprayed with a knock out gas and pass out. When they come to they return to the Cranton house where the Torch deduces that the letter must give off a hypnotic gas when written on and get Cora to write on it so they can see where she goes.

Meanwhile, Joshua is taken to the home of the Black Master, leader of a cult called the Legion of Black Worshipers. Seeking to become a powerful organization in the world, they have used the drugged letter to put wealthy individuals under their trance in order to have their fortunes signed away to the cult. When the Black Master senses that Cora is under his hypnotic power, he orders her to come to his hideout to be a witness to the contract that her grandfather is to sign.

The Torch and Toro follow and secretly sneak inside the house and witness a meeting of the Legion members. Before the wealthy slaves can be made to sign their contracts the two flaming heroes fly into action. However, when they attempt to nab the Black Master he douses them in his hypnotic gas and forces them to stand down. He then places the pair in coffins made of ash that are impervious to their flame powers and has the pair buried alive. As the gas wears off, the Torch and Toro luck out when a grave robber unearths them allowing them to escape.

When they go back to the house to capture the Black Master, he attempts to cut the heroes into ribbons with a spinning saw blade trap. Unfortunately for the Black Master, his robe gets caught and he becomes a victim of his own weapon. With the Black Master dead all those under his thrall are freed and Cranton thanks the Torch for his help.

Recurring Characters

Human Torch, Toro

Witness to Murder

The Human Torch and Toro are out on the street where they read newspaper reports about the Waxy Jordan murder trial, where a star witness -- a soda clerk named Gorman was to testify against Jordan. To their surprise, they see Waxy Jordan out on the streets and call the chief of police. The chief tells them that Jordan was able to make bail and that the police have failed to get Gorman into protective custody, as Gorman is basking in the attention he is getting from the case. With Gorman planning on spending the evening at the Green Parrot nightclub, the police, Torch and Toro decide to go to make sure that Gorman remains safe.

At the club they spot Wax Jordan in attendance as well, but the chief of police is sitting at the same table to insure that Jordan does nothing to eliminate the man testifying against him. When a photographer goes to snap a photograph of Gorman, the witness suddenly falls down dead. They find a poison dart on Gorman's neck and when the Torch stops Waxy from leaving, his is forced to let him free due to lack of evidence tying him to Gorman's death.

Remembering the photographer, the Torch and Toro get a copy of the photograph he took of Gorman at the moment of his death and the Torch sees evidence that proves that Jordan killed the boy. Rushing to Waxy's hideout, the Torch and Toro easily defeat his goons and take Jordan into custody. When turned over to the police, the Torch shows them the photograph showing that Jordan fired the poison dart from a blow gun disguised as a cigarette.

Recurring Characters

Human Torch, Toro

The Carnival Murders

The Sub-Mariner arrives in Atlantic City and spots a woman being accosted by a pair of men. Breaking up the attack, the woman gets away and Namor soon learns that the girl was Dotty Benson, a swimmer who is wanted in connection with a murder. When the two men leave, Dotty reappears and throws a rock at Namor. Only stunned, Namor catches up to the girl and demands answers. She tells Namor that she was in a dispute with Jack Hillary, the owner of the swimming show that she is part of at the Grand Seaside Hotel. The dispute was over getting a raise and Dotty had invited Hillary to her room to discuss the matter. After she offered him a slice of cake, Jack died of poisoning. Insisting that she is innocent, Dotty convinces Namor of her innocence and hides her out at the cottage that Betty Dean is vacationing in while he tracks down the real killer.

Going to the Grand Seaside Hotel, Namor begins questioning the other female swimmers about the incident. He overhears one of the girls warning another swimmer named Jean -- who believes Dotty is innocent -- not to eat a candy that Dotty gave her before she was accused of the murder. Namor also meets Ed Miles, the groups trainer who tells him that Red Head Lil also had issues with Hillary, prompting Lil to punch Ed out in anger. Lil tells Namor that Larry Kent, another star of the show also had beef with Hillary and that there may be evidence in his locker proving him as Hillary's killer. When Namor attempts to question Kent, Kent tries to fight Namor and is quickly knocked out. Searching Kent's locker, Namor finds a letter from Hillary refusing to break Kent's contract with the swimming troupe.

When the performance goes on the day, Jean dives into the water and suddenly died, when the coroner examines her body it is determined that she died of poisoning, solidifying Dotty's guilt in everyone's eyes but Namor. Betty pulls Namor aside to tell him that Dotty is still safe in her cottage. The pair are unaware that they are being overheard by the two men who tried to nab Dotty earlier.

When Namor goes back to Betty's cottage to question Dotty, he spots a boat speeding away with the two men and Dotty as their prisoner. Namor rescues her and they both jump ship just before it collides with another cruiser. Knowing that the men are connected to the man responsible for killing Hillary, Namor goes to the police and suggests a plan to catch the real killer. Namor then rounds up all the suspects to a sit down dinner to discuss the situation. After the meal is done, Namor informs them all that Dotty had prepared the meal. When everyone but Ed Miles freaks out, Namor accuses him of murdering Jack Hillary. Realizing the jig is up, Ed attempts to escape by jumping out a window but Namor quickly nabs him. When turned over to the police Ed admits to killing Hillary, stating that he stole $10,000 from Hillary and murdered him to cover it up, but Jean threatened to blackmail him hence killing her as well. With Ed in police custody, Dotty's name is cleared and Namor dives back into the ocean before he can be thanked for his help.

Recurring Characters

Sub-Mariner, Betty Dean