Human Torch Comics #7
The Agent of Death
The Human Torch and Toro come to the aid of their friend Captain Jim who is attacked on the docks by a pair of men. They learn that he is to head a convoy of ships bringing supplies to American soldiers stationed in the East Indies. Believing that there will be trouble, the pair convince Jim to take them along and the old sailor agrees to hire them as deck hands. As Jim's ship sets sail the next day, he is unaware that there are spies in their midst reporting their activities to Agent X, a Japanese military commander.
While at sea, the Torch and Toro are assigned to paint the deck of the ship along with the rest of the crew. Paying lose eye to the Chinese ship hands, Toro realizes that they are walking differently than most Chinese people. Pointing this out to the Human Torch, the two deduce that they must be Japanese spies dressed up as Chinese workers. Taking a look at their painting job from higher grounds, the two heroes notice that the spies are painting a signal marker with luminescent paint. They wait until the spies are done and swing into action with their flames blazing. During the fight, they melt off the fake masks that the Japanese spies were wearing to make them appear to be Chinese and subdue them.
Soon the ship is attacked by Japanese fighter planes, which the Torch and Toro easily deflect. Knowing that the fighters must have come from a aircraft carrier or an island they check the map and decide to investigate the nearby islands. But first they leave to warn the lead ship in the convoy, when they stop a sub in the water. The flaming duo rush out and destroy it, realizing that it was a decoy piloted by radio control. This was all a distraction allowing a pair of Japanese P.T. Boats to get close enough to the convoy to attack. The Torch and Toro destroy them and then note that one of the island is moving. Racing toward it they break their way in, finding that it is a secret Japanese base.
As they fight their way through the facility, Agent X attempts to trap them by dropping an asbestos net on the duo. However, the Torch and Toro burn through the floor under them and try another way up. They get trapped in a room where they are showed with Foamite, but the Torch tosses Toro up at the roof, allowing the lad to burn through it and pull the Torch out. Following the line from an intercom that Agent X used to mock them, the duo find him in his control room and attack. Toro is busy leaving a line of fuel from the ammo dump to their location, while the Torch deals with Agent X. X escapes through a secret hatch onto a P.T. Boat. Torch and Toro follow after, but not before Toro can light the line of fuel. They manage to escape the facility in another boat, but when it explodes their boat is wrecked and they are knocked into the water.
The Human Torch rescues Toro from drowning and they are picked up by Jim's ship. Having overheard Agent X ordering his men to place mines out in the water, the Torch gets the entire convoy to stop. Searching for Agent X, the duo find a secret Japanese base on an island, capture Agent X and destroy the facility as well. They then tie Agent X to the masthead of Jim's ship and force him to lead them through the minefield. When the convoy gets to port in the West Indies, Agent X manages to free himself. Preferring death to capture, he runs into a soldier's bayonet killing himself instantly.
Recurring Characters
Human Torch, Toro, Nazis
The Case of the Attempted Dreadnaught Disasters
The Human Torch and Toro are stationed at a naval yard to prevent enemy sabotage. When the most recently completed boat is set to drop water, the Torch and Toro notice that someone had set it to slide backward. Stopping a damaging crash, they note that someone had knocked loose the chocks that were keeping the ship in position. Toro would soon catch some spies before they could get away and with his flame powers force them to reveal the location of their headquarters.
Along with their fellow police officers, the Torch and Toro surround the building. Entering first, the flaming heroes fall through a trap floor and end up trapped in an asbestos lined room with a chunk of dry ice that threatens to smother their flames and suffocate them. Mocked by their opponent via intercom, the Torch rips the device out allowing air from the adjoining room to seep in and using their flames they melt through the walls. There they catch another bunch of spies and rush off to another room. There they run into a spy wearing an asbestos lined outfit and carrying a gun loaded with bullets made out of firebrick. Unable to harm their opponent, the two heroes surrender and are brought out to a truck. There the drive attempts to light a cigarette, and the Torch commands the flame on the match to burn his hand. Angry, the driver attacks his cohort in the asbestos suit allowing the Torch and Toro to swing into action. As Toro subdues the driver, the Torch disarms the man in the asbestos suit and uses his flame powers to overheat him and force him to reveal who their boss is. The man in the asbestos suit does not know but tells the Torch and Toro that some of his fellow spies were heading out to destroy both the Brooklyn and Williamsburg bridges.
Splitting up, the Torch prevents spies from destroying the Brooklyn Bridge. But one of their packages manages to damage the rails, but the Torch uses his powers to fix them. Rushing off to aid Toro, they also stop the destruction of the Williamsburg Bridge. Capturing the spies there, they learn that they are led by a man named Hans Gentoff who is operating from a radio station in the Sky Towers Building. There, the Torch and Toro keep Hans and his minions busy until the police arrive on the scene to arrest them.
Recurring Characters
Human Torch, Toro
Sub-Mariner Slaughters the Japs On Wake Island
Following the Wake Island disaster, Betty Dean has grown upset that she has received no word from her brothers Lloyd, Jimmy, and Frank who were part of the Navy unit that battled there. With no other options left she sends out telegram to the Sub-Mariner asking for his aid in finding her brothers. Receiving the message, Namor decides to fly to New York City and meet with his old friend and see how he can aid her. Hearing of her missing brothers, Namor agrees to help try and find them.
With his new drill-snout aerial sub, the Sub-Mariner, Betty and a small crew of Atlantean soldiers fly to Wake Island, clashing with Japanese forces along the way. There, Namor sends a landing party to investigate the land, and they find it bombed out and deserted with not a living soul present. Unconvinced that the island is deserted, they dive below the waters and find a secret underwater tunnel below the island. There, they find a underground facility commanded by Colonel Yama of the Japanese military.
As Yama and his men attempt to escape in airplane, the Sub-Mariner goes after them in his aero-sub, but only manages to shoot down two of the three planes, the third manages to escape with Colonel Yama aboard. Rejoining the others, they search deeper into the facility and clash with more soldiers, finding the Dean brothers and other soldiers held captive. Freeing them, the Navy soldiers fight off the Japanese invaders while Namor and the others leave for the nearest Navy outpost to inform them of what happened.
After reporting in and leaving the Dean brothers with the Navy, Namor decides to use his forces to assist the Americans in liberating the island of Guam from Japanese forces. Attacking the island with their mosquito fighters and transparent bolos, they are spotted by Colonel Yama who orders his men to shoot into the waters below. Namor orders a full scale counter attack and personally boards Yama's planes. There he forces the Japanese Colonel to bomb his own soldiers, destroying their base on Guam. Namor then punches Yama out of the plane and leaves him to fall to his death, before fleeing on a mosquito plane, and leaving Yama's bomber to crash on the island.
With the Japanese soldiers softened up, the Navy arrives with guns blazing and Namor decides to leave the Americans to finish the battle they started.
Recurring Characters
Sub-Mariner, Betty Dean, Imperial Japan, Folma
Continuity Notes
This story makes reference to the Battle of Wake Island, a real-world battle between the United States and Japan that lasted most of December 1941 and ended with Japan occupying the island. Although this story ends with the United States retaking the island, in the real world Wake Island remained under Japanese control until the commanding officers surrendered in September 1945.
