Kid Komics #8
Terrible Doom
A detachment of Chinese troops passes through a native village. One of the elderly residents tells them that the Ssu-Shi will soon appear. However, this is dismissed as the soldiers believe Ssu-Shi is nothing more than a legend. The old man insists that the dragon is real and that his return has been foretold by a voice of thunder. As the soldiers prepare to press on, one of the villagers sneaks away. Suddenly, a man they believe is Ssu-Shi arrives with three dragons which then devour the villagers, leaving none alive.
A few weeks later the Young Allies are at the Allied headquarters for the Chinese theater of war. They are told about entire villages are being massacred, allegedly by the legendary Ssu-Shi. Believing this, many Chinese soldiers have deserted or refused to fight this menace. They have called in the Young Allies because adult agents would not be able to expose this fraud. The military brass turns things over to Doctor Kung, an expert on the legend of Ssu-Shi. He explains that while many people in China don’t believe that Ssu-Shi has returned, many of the poorer villages are very superstitious. The Young Allies are to infiltrate the Temple of Dragons and unmask the impostor. When Bucky[1] asks why they don’t just bomb the temple, Doctor Kung explains that the temple is considered sacred to his people.
Soon the Young Allies — disguised as peasants — are taken upriver to the temple. However, along the way, their ship is attacked by a Japanese fighter plane that guns down the men piloting the ship. When the plane turns around for another attack, Toro flames on and destroys the plane causing it to crash in the river. However, Toro is hurt and lands in the river as well. Bucky dives in and rescues him and when the Young Allies get to shore they discover that Toro’s suffered an injury to his scalp. They are then ambushed by the man claiming to be Ssu-Shi and his dragons. When the Young Allies try to fight back they are quickly knocked out by the fumes that emanate from the dragon’s nostrils. When they wake up, the Young Allies find themselves prisoners inside the ancient temple. The man claiming to be Ssu-Shi then confirms their suspicions, that he is really a Japanese agent posing as the legendary figure and that the dragons are nothing more than machines. He goes on to say that he planned to kill them all but was impressed with the loyalty they showed for their injured comrade. Instead, the Japanese spy intends to send Bucky back to the Americans to tell them that Ssu-Shi murdered his comrades. When Bucky points out that the military won’t believe him, the Japanese spy doesn’t care as his story will be believed by the villagers and more Chinese soldiers will defect. To ensure that Bucky doesn’t tell the truth, the spy threatens to slowly torture his friends.
Bucky is then brought outside by one of the Japanese troops, however, he manages to turn around and knock out the soldier before he knows what’s happening. Dressing himself up in the soldier’s uniform, Bucky picks up his gun and rushes back into the temple. At that moment, the spy posing as Ssu-Shi orders his men to submerge Toro in liquid asbestos to prevent him from flaming on again. That’s when Bucky comes running in with guns blazing. With the guards dead, Toro flames on and uses his powers to free the rest of the Young Allies. When Ssu-Shi runs at Bucky with his sword, the youth impales the spy with the bayonet on the end of his rifle. With the battle over, the Young Allies then ride the mechanical dragons back to base as proof of the Japanese deception.
Recurring Characters
Young Allies (Bucky, Toro, Knuckles O’Toole, Jeff Vandergill, Tubby Tinkle. Whitewash Jones)
Continuity Notes
Per What If? #4, the appearance of Bucky here is attributed to Fred Davis, Jr.
Mission Completed
Jap Buster Johnson returns to base after shooting down a number of enemy fighters, although his plane is in pretty rough shape. He’s then told that the commanding officer wants to speak with him. There the Colonel gives him a message ordering Johnson to report to Clark Field in the Philippines. Without a moment to spare, Johnson jumps back in his plane and takes off, ignoring the repair crew’s warning that the left-wing hasn’t been repaired.
En route to the Philippines, Johnson is ambushed by two wedges of Japanese fighter planes. Outnumbered, Johnson tries to evade them but the left-wing of his plane snaps off. Aiming his plane for a nearby island, Johnson manages to eject safely. While Japanese ground forces rush to the site where his plane crashed, Johnson slips into the jungle to assess his situation. Spotting a Japanese naval officer walking the beach, Johnson kills the man and steals his uniform as a disguise. Keeping his face obscured and using his knowledge of the Japanese language, Johnson manages to get to the submarine that is waiting on the beach. Taking control of the vessel, Johnson manages to use it to get closer to the Philippines.
When he receives a radio transmission from the Japanese asking for orders, Johnson once again tricks the Japanese, ordering them to send two men in a boat to come to greet him at the submarine. After setting the submarine to sink, Johnson ambushes the two men in the boat and beats them into submission. Later, when he arrives at Clark Field with his two prisoners he is commended for capturing the two men, as they had just recently escaped with some stolen plans. Sure enough, one of the Japanese spies has a sachel that contains the stolen plans.
Recurring Characters
Jap Buster Johnson
I Have an Alibi
At the apartment of Louie the Quill, a forgery expert, he tells his current client that it will cost two grand to forge a postmark as doing so involves the added risk of involving the FBI if caught. Later the residence of lawyer James Kindel, a man named Madison has come to petition Kindel to take his brother’s case as he is set to go on trial in one week. Mrs. Kindel is the only one home and she tells Madison that her husband only represents people he believes are innocent. That’s when her husband comes home and tells Madison the same thing before ordering him to leave his home. Mrs. Kindel is surprised her husband is home so early and he tells her that he has to go out of town for a week on business and advises her wife that if Mister Madson comes back to call the police.
Two days later it is reported that Kindel’s wife has just been murdered. Assigned to the case is Detective Mike Trapp who goes to investigate the crime scene with his assistant Pepper Burns. There, Pepper tells Mike that James was out of town and just recently learned that his wife has been murdered. Two hours later, Mike Trapp interviews James and he tells the detective that he thinks that Madison was the one who killed his wife. Madison is brought in for questioning but he insists that he has an alibi while the murder was taking place.
Questioning James Kindel again, Mike asks the lawyer where he was when his wife was murdered. He explains he was in Massachusetts on business and mailed a letter to his wife while he was there warning her about Madison again. They find the letter waiting in the mailbox and upon close examination, Mike Trapp deduces that Kindel never left town at all and arrests him for murdering his wife. Realizing he’s caught, Kindel confesses that he killed his wife and asks Trapp how he figured it out. Trapp explains that while the postmark on the envelope is a clever forgery, it also gave him away as it was dated April 31st, an obvious mistake since there are only 30 days in April.
Recurring Characters
Detective Mike Trapp, Pepper Burns
A Lesson in Justice
In the middle of class, Tommy Tyme is caught cutting paper dolls when he should be listening to the teacher’s lecture on ancient tyrants. As punishment, she tells Tommy that he is to give an oral presentation about Shen Tsung the tyrant who lived in the year 1069. He goes to the library to read up on Shen Tsung but finds it too boring. Instead, he uses his Clock of the Ages to travel back in time to the year 1069. He appears in the court of Shen Tsung where he witnesses a group of starved villagers being forced to suffer. An elderly Chinese man tells Tommy that they are his people who are suffering under the tyranny of Wang-Anchih the minister to the emperor who forces his people to starve even though there is plenty of grain to feed them. When Tommy asks why the people don’t revolt, the elderly man tells him that one person did resist, Ssu-Ma-Kung, and he is about to stand trial for his crimes against the emperor.
Tommy goes to watch the trial and is angered when Shen Tsung orders Ssu-Ma-Kung to be beaten to death before him. Tommy tackles the man beating Kung. When the guards are ordered to capture the boy, Tommy manages to steal a sword from one of them and then run for cover under a wooden platform. This turns out to be the stage where enemies of the state are beheaded as punishment for defying their ruler. Tommy frees SSu-Ma-Kung and this encourages the people to revolt and soon Wang-Anchih is killed by the people. Tommy then tells those fighting for their freedom to take their fight to Shen Tsung.
When the people corner Shen Tsung, he tells them all that his judgment was clouded by Wang-Anchih. Now that Wang has been killed he now sees the truth and proclaims that he will grant all his people’s demands and will grant peace and justice for all. With his job done, Tommy uses the Clock of the Ages to return to his own time. The next day in class, Tommy is able to give a perfect oral presentation for his teacher.
Recurring Characters
Tommy Tyme
The Will of Death
Millionaire Peter J. Gawford has invited his niece and nephews to his home to tell them that he is dying and that the will in his hand will reveal which one of them will inherit his fortune. Later that night, Peter Gawford is found dead and Detective Mike Trapp has been sent in to investigate. One of the nephews claims that his uncle committed suicide. He claims that earlier that evening he saw his uncle with a gun to his head and tried to stop him. Tragically, the nephew was too late and his uncle Peter shot himself in the head and the heart. Trapp knows the man is lying and has him arrested.
Later, the nephew admits to killing his uncle. He explains that he went snooping in his uncle’s room to learn who was going to inherit his fortune. Although he discovered that he was the lucky benefactor, he was caught but his uncle and murdered him before the Gawford could change his will. He then asks Trapp how he was able to figure out he was lying. Trapp explains that it was a simple deduction since the nephew said his uncle shot himself twice, once in the head and once in the heart. However, both would have been fatal shots and could not have been self-inflicted.
Recurring Characters
Detective Mike Trapp
