Human Torch Comics #21

Jul 31

Jul 31 Human Torch Comics #21

Death Writes A Diary

The evil Snowball, a man who hates heat and loves the cold goes over the diary of his life. His obsession with the cold started as a child when he would go out into the snow wearing only his clothes, leading to swift punishment from his mother. By the time he was 47 he got a job delivering ice however he quickly lost his job when he spent a hot summers day sitting on a block of ice a customer had ordered. He next got a job as a waiter in 1941 and was fired for spending too much time in the cold room. In 1943 he was fired from his job as a bank teller for stripping off his clothing after the air conditioner broke down. In 1944 Snowball had gotten a job developing snow makers for films in Hollywood, a dream job for him. However that all changed the day that the Human Torch and Toro were hired to appear in a film. Upset by their flames and heat, Snowball doused their flames and was fired. As Snowball walked off the set to plan revenge against all those who fired him, a curious Torch and Toro decided to investigate his past.

First, he went to the head office of the ice company where he used dry ice to force the owner to provide the combination to the safe, and leaves after tying the dry ice to his former bosses bare feet. Then, he went to the restaurant he used to work and gunned down the head waiter who fired him in the cold room. Returning to bank, Snowball then used a freeze machine disguised as an organ grinder to kill the crew of the film he was fired from. He is caught in the act by the Human Torch and Toro, but tries to escape with a bunch of money. When the two heroes try to stop him, Snowball uses his getaway car to douse them with a fire retardant and manages to escape.

Later, Snowball kidnaps famous ice skater Tina Svenka and holds her hostage for a ransom hoping to lure the Human Torch and Toro into a trap. When the two heroes track Snowball down they are soon doused with ice cold water that threatens to freeze them on the spot. Having deduced Snowball's aversion to heat, the Torch and Toro have come prepared and train heat projectors on the villain who then buckles and surrenders. He is then quickly knocked out by the flaming duo who take him to the police. Finishing his final journal entry in prison, Snowball is then led down death row where he will be executed for his murders. Watching from afar, the Torch and Toro remark about he villain and then find his diary. The Torch writes the final lines in it "the end".

Recurring Characters

Human Torch, Toro

The House that Changed Color

The Torch and Toro are on vacation at Sea-Shore. While on the beach, the two begin practising their observation skills. When the Torch asks Toro to recall the colour of a house they saw in a painting at the nearby Sea Cove Art Shop, Toro believes that it is yellow, but the Torch remembers that it is red. Unable to come to an agreement, they both fly to the gallery to confirm who is correct. When they arrive the painting is gone, and the shop owner tells them that it was just sold, however confirms Toro's recollection by saying that the house in the painting was yellow, however the Torch is still convinced he remembered seeing a red house in the painting. While they browse around the shop, they are told one of the patrons is Lynn White, who works for the local paper who has bought many paintings at the shop previously.

Later, while back on the beach, the Torch and Toro witness Mr. White getting shot by an unknown gunman. However, when they chase the killer, he causes a rock slide that endangers eyewitnesses on the scene, forcing Torch and Toro to use their flame powers to save the crowd and allow the killer to escape. With no other leads, the pair begin investigating White. At the sheriffs office they learn that White was previously a European correspondent during the war prior to returning home. Having searched White's house, they had determined that White hasn't worked since returning from Europe, but despite this a large sum of money was deposited into his account. Another interesting point is that they did not find any paintings at the house, even though the shop owner claimed White bought many.

Still puzzled over the different coloured house in the painting, the Torch and Toro go to the original painter to clear up the matter. However the painter shocks them by saying the house in the painting was originally grey. However, when the Torch starts pressing for answers the artist retracts and says the house was yellow. Before they can inquire any more the shop owner sneaks up behind the two and knocks them out. They are then stuffed in an oversized suit of armour to suffocate to death. However, when they come around, the Torch and Toro move around enough to cause the suit of armour to fall over and knock the helmet off giving them enough air to flame on and melt free.

The flaming duo track down the artist and the dealer as they are making a sale of the painting, which they had slightly altered -- and it turns out to be a genuine piece of art by an Italian artist named Delisse. The Torch and Toro quickly round up the men and learn that they had set up an intricate art theft scheme: While Mr. White was in Europe he stole works of art, which the painter then altered with temporary paint to make them look like worthless imitations that would fool customs. After bringing the paintings to the United States, they then removed the alterations and sold them to crooked art buyers. The Torch and Toro learn that they killed White because he was asking for to big of a cut. With the plot exposed, the art thieves and their client are turned over to the police.

Recurring Characters

Human Torch, Toro

Murder in Blackout

At a yacht outing, the lights suddenly go out and when a candle can be lit, the owner -- George Whitaker -- is found stabbed to death. The police are called to the scene but they cannot find any evidence to determine who the killer is.

A year later, Mr. Blake, one of the witnesses to the murder gets a letter from George's son Edmond asking all three witnesses to attend a party on the yacht that night at 11:30. A similar note is sent to Mr. Walters, and George's widow while she is being fitted for a dress. She faints in the presence of reporter Betty Dean who reads the note and decides to get involved. She calls her friend Namor and informs him that Edmond vowed to catch the person who killed his father. Namor decides to go out and investigate on Betty's behalf.

Meanwhile, out at sea, Edmond and the party guests drop anchor and in the club salon he confronts them with the fact that they all had a motivation to kill his father. He points out that Walters was a rival criminal lawyer, and that his step-mother could have done it for money. Edmond however, does not have a motivation to suspect Mr. Blake. However, he reveals he will learn the truth through a specially developed truth serum that he had developed. As Namor boards the ship he is attacked by thugs who knock him out with a boat anchor. When he revives he arrives to late to prevent Edmond from being stabbed to death and his truth serum bottle broken.

Determined to solve the murders once and for all, Namor locks the three suspects in the room and begins examining the fuse box and finds that it had been tampered with. Soon Betty arrives, having taken a boat rid up to the yacht to see how things were progressing. Coming up with a plan to ferret out the killer, Namor finds a perfume bottle that resembles the bottle of truth serum and fills it with water. He then presents it to Mrs. Whitaker, but before he can "inject" her with it a man comes into the room and attempts to steal it. When Namor tries to stop the thief he takes Betty at gunpoint forcing Namor to stand down. Namor is then knocked out and both are chained up and taken back to the mobsters hideout to be eliminated.

However, before the mobsters can kill Namor, Namor pulls a trick, telling them that he recently learned where bank robber Slip Wilson hid the $100,000 he recently stole. Wanting to claim the money for themselves, and not trusting Namor to give them the right location, the mobsters inject him with the "truth serum". The water revitalises Namor's strength and he breaks free from his bonds and begins pounding on the mobsters. Despite his best efforts though, Namor is struck by an oven that causes a fire. The mobsters then flee, blocking the door to prevent their escape. Namor comes around and frees Betty and they both smash out a window into the water below.

With Namor believed dead, the Sub-Mariner swims back to the yacht and tells the suspects that he "caught" the gang and they revealed who the killer was. Calling Namor's bluff, Mr. Blake blows his cover by threatening to blow everyone up with a grenade. However when Mrs. Whitaker faints again, she knocks into Mr. Blake, distracting him enough for Namor to toss him overboard where his explosive goes off. Namor dives overboard to recover the body and arriving paramedics on the scene tell him that Blake will live long enough to see the electric chair in prison.