Kid Komics #4

The Scourge of the Jap

The Young Allies are on the waterfront watching as Allied ships come to shore when suddenly, one of the ships crashes into the pier. Climbing aboard the ship, the Young Allies investigate and discover that the entire crew has fallen asleep. Searching the lower levels of the ship, they run into a Japanese operative calling himself the Sandman. When the youths try to attack their foe, the Sandman tosses sand in Bucky’s eyes and another handful at Toro to douse his flames before fleeing. Recovering from the attack, the Young Allies try to follow after him but trip over a snare. Although the Sandman manages to escape, Jeff finds that their foe has left a train of sand for them to follow. However, the trail goes cold in some nearby hills. Deducing that the Sandman must be hiding out somewhere nearby, the Young Allies decide to split up to look around.

Bucky, Knuckles, and Whitewash soon come across a Japanese spy guarding the mouth of a cave. Bucky whistlers for the others before they rush the spy. After they deal with the guard, Bucky decides they can’t wait for the others and trio go inside. Unfortunately, Whitewash trips in the dark making enough noise to alert the Sandman and his minions to their presence. They quickly knock out the youths and dump them in a huge box which they begin to fill with sand in an effort to drown the intruders.

Meanwhile, Jeff, Tubby, and Toro arrive at the mouth of the cave and rush inside. There, Toro uses his flame powers to free Bucky and the others but his flames are doused once again, allowing the Sandman and his men to flee once more. Knowing that the Sandman and his men are going to target a ship on the pier, the Young Allies stake out the docks. When the Sandman and his men try to attack the ship, the Young Allies are there to stop him. Unfortunately, the youths are overpowered again and are left tied up in a room full of boxes of dynamite. To eliminate their foes, the Sandman lights the fuse on a bundle of dynamite and leaves the Allies to die. When the Sandman leaves, Bucky takes a risk by knocking one of the crates of explosives down on the lit fuse. His gamble pays off as the fuse is snuffed out before it can detonate the explosives.

Getting free, the Young Allies ambush the Sandman and his men, and this time manage to defeat them in the ensuing fist-fight. With the battle over, the Young Allies turn the spies over to the authorities and disappear into the night.

Recurring Characters

Young Allies (Bucky, Toro, Jeff Vandergill, Tubby Tinkle, Knuckles O’Toole, Whitewash Jones)

The Wings of Death

The city of Berlin is once again attacked by Allied bombers causing untold damage. Watching the destruction is the Destroyer who is confident that Berlin won’t be able to withstand further bombings for long. After the bombing, Herman Goering emerges from one of the bomb shelters unscathed. As he enters a waiting limo, he overhears a woman calling him Meyer and shoots her dead. Goering vows that no further bombs will fall on Berlin and the people will stop calling him Meyer. Witnessing this act of cruelty, the Destroyer decides to hitch a ride on the back of Goering’s car to find out what the Nazi commander means.

The car soon arrives at a secret laboratory, and when the Destroyer begins sneaking around he is spotted by a guard. Dispatching the guard, the Destroyer hides among some machinery and overhears Goering talking to a scientist named Doctor Schmaltz. Schmaltz shows off the device he has created to stop the bombings. Pleased that the device is complete, Goering leaves the doctor to his work. The Destroyer decides to do something about this and knocks out and disguises himself as one of Doctor Schmaltz’s technicians. Asking how the device works, the Destroyer almost gets Doctor Schmaltz to reveal its secret when the Nazi scientist sees right through his disguise and calls for the guards.

Discarding his disguise, the Destroyer easily deals with the guards, but by this point, Doctor Schmaltz has gotten to his machine and threatens to electrocute the hero with a million volts of electricity. The Destroyer is tied to a chair and is forced to watch as Doctor Schmaltz activates his device when the air raid sirens begin going off again. A large device emerges from the ground and emits a magnetic pulse that sends the Allied bombs flying back up at the planes. Fearing for the lives of Allied bombers, the Destroyer breaks free from the bonds and as he runs for cover, the soldiers open fire. Unfortunately for the Nazis, the bullets hit the weapon causing it to explode killing Doctor Schmaltz and the enemy soldiers. With the device destroyed, the Destroyer rushes outside and watches as the Allies finish their bombing run without further opposition.

Recurring Characters

Destroyer, Nazis (Herman Goering)

A Sweet Case of Blackmail

Willard Kane decides that he is going to be working late into the evening and decides to send his secretary, Dorothy, home for the night. As she leaves, Dorothy Kelly, can’t help but think that Mister Kane is acting strangely as though he is expecting something dangerous to happen. As she leaves, a man named Roberts sneaks into Willard’s office. Roberts threatens Kane to give in to his demands or he will reveal to the world that Willard Kane was once a convict. At that moment, Dorothy Kelly realizes that she forgot her purse and heads back to the office.

Later that evening, Detective Mike Trapp gets a phone call informing him that Willard Kane has been murdered. Soon, Detective Trapp and Officer Ryan arrive at the scene of the crime. There they question Dorothy and she tells him what happened earlier that evening. She explains that when she came back for her purse she heard an argument in Mister Kane’s office and peeked through the door to see what was going on. Inside, she saw Willard had put on his coat and hat and was threatening to go to the district attorney instead of giving into Robert’s blackmail demands. When Roberts pulled a gun, Dorothy rushed into the office to try and stop him, but Roberts pushed her aside and fled after shooting Kane. Suspicious, Detective Trapp orders Ryan to bring in Roberts. Roberts, Willard’s former business partner, admits that he threatened Kane but didn’t kill him.

Examining the body, Detective Mike Trapp accuses Dorthy of murdering her boss. Soon enough, Dorothy writes a full confession saying that she had planned to murder Willard Kane for months. This is because Kane was paroled for murder after he killed her father in an act of self-defense. Later, Officer Ryan asks Mike how he figured out who killed Willard. Trapp explains that he knew the Kelly woman was lying because there was a bullet hole in the right side of Willard’s hat, yet the wound on Willard’s head was on the left temple. He figured that she shot Willard while he was sitting in his chair and then staged the scene. In an attempt to solidify her alibi, Dorothy fired a second shot into Willard’s hat but her mistake was in shooting the wrong side of the hat, thus giving her away.

Recurring Characters

Detective Mike Trapp, Officer Ryan

The Monster of the Sharks

Somewhere in the Atlantic, a fleet of Allied ships are trying to evade a deadly attack from Nazi forces. In mortal danger, the captain of one of the ships sends out a radio call for the Sub-Mariner to help them. The Sub-Mariner arrives and is quickly assessed of the situation. The American convoy is trying to get through a 500 mile wide stretch of water between the United States and England and cannot patrol the area because of enemy U-Boats. Looking through the telescope, the Sub-Mariner sees the area is being patrolled by miniature Nazi submarines. Gathering some torpedos, the Sub-Mariner dives into the water and uses them to start destroying the enemy subs.

When one of the subs tries to escape, the Sub-Mariner grabs ahold of the vessel and follows it down to a secret underwater base. Once the sub gets inside, the Sub-Mariner is quickly spotted by a Nazi’s leader, the hideous Shark-Man. Shark-Man quickly subdues the Sub-Mariner with a wire gun. Shark-Man gloats that it was Nazi science that turned him into the fearsome creature he is today and intends to show his superiority by destroying the Sub-Mariner in his own element, water. However, instead of a battle underwater, the Shark-Man injects Namor with a serum that makes him afraid of water. Satisfied that his foe is too afraid to stop him, the Shark-Man then reveals his master scheme. The Nazis have developed a massive suction machine that they intend to use to pull all the Allied ships in the area down to the ocean floor.

After explaining how they will destroy the ships and loot their cargos, the Shark-Man then imprisons the Sub-Mariner in a cell that is slowly starting to fill with water. Namor begins to panic satisfying the Shark-Man who then leaves the hero to his demise. Once his foe has left, the Sub-Mariner stops pretending he’s afraid of water, as the serum he was injected had no actual effect on him. Breaking out of his cell, the Sub-Mariner fights his way to the massive suction device. After incapacitating the Shark-Man’s guards and setting the suction device to reverse, the two fight it out in a vat of water. Namor proves to be the superior fighter. With the battle over, the Sub-Mariner then flees the undersea base as it floods and eventually implodes under the crushing weight of the ocean.

Recurring Characters

Sub-Mariner