Marvel Mystery Comics #22
The Invasion of Alslavia
The small European nation of Alslavia is threatened with Nazi invasion and the ambassador appeals to Torch and Toro for aid. They take a freighter to the country and when they arrive they encounter the secret Nazi invasion wall, a large armored wall mounted on tank treads. The firebugs destroy this monstrosity, and then the Torch heads out over the ocean to see if the Germans have devised a means of attack from that direction. Torch and Toro spot a Nazi sub, but when they investigate, they determine that there is no one aboard. Diving down below, they discover the terrifying Nazi undersea fortress lying in wait to destroy the British and Alslavian cruisers that are sent out to sink the sub. Torch destroys the fortress and all aboard her perish.
Recurring Characters
Human Torch, Toro, Nazis
Namor's Flying Bantam Car
Namor has been searching the midwestern United States for subversive activities in the area. Deciding to lure out spies following the news of a new Bantam car developed by the military, Namor purchases scrap material and uses his Atlantean engineering abilities to create an even better version of the Bantam car.
Sure enough, after completion of the device and taking it out for a test drive, it is spotted by Nazi spies who seek to steal it and learn its secrets. When two spies attack Namor in the woods, he easily overpowers them. When they claim to be nothing more than simple thieves Namor lets them go making them think he believes them so that he might follow them back to their base.
Suspecting this, the Nazi spies allow Namor to follow them back to their hideout where they call their commander and leave a misleading message. When Namor is otherwise distracted staking out the house, the two spies steal his Bantam car and speed off. The two spies manage to make off with the vehicle, however Namor manages to follow them back to their master's headquarters. Listening from the chimney, he learns that they intend to disassemble the car and ship it to Salt Lake City so that they might learn its secrets.
Namor flies ahead and finds the Nazi hideout by posing as an employee of the Census bureau. When he is angrily ejected from the property he waits until the smuggled Bantam car is brought to the site. There it is reassembled and the Nazi spies bring it to the docks where they intend to ship it to their leader. Namor then makes his move, but despite his surprise attack he is overpowered and taken prisoner.
Brought to the Nazi leader, Namor is questioned about his invention, however the Sub-Mariner breaks free and fights his way through the Nazi forces. Recovering his vehicle, the prince of the deep escapes and gets to a phone where he contacts the authorities and alerts them of the Nazis' location.
Recurring Characters
Sub-Mariner, Nazis
The Nazi's Death Gas
The Nazi have begun dumping chemicals on the jungles that are part of Ka-Zar's domain so that they can clear it of plants and animals to build airfields to attack Allied Forces located in Africa. When Italian forces enter the region to clear the land and begin construction they begin enslaving the native population to do the dirty work. One of the local chiefs tracks down Ka-Zar and petitions him to free his people.
Ka-Zar agrees and that night he stakes out the Italian base. He is spotted by an Italian sentry, however in their scuffle the soldier falls to his death. Ka-Zar steals the man's uniform and uses it to infiltrate the base and snoop around. Spotted by a commanding officer but not discovered, he is given a communique detailing a plan to take over Central Africa. Wishing to stop this, Ka-Zar first begins searching around to find the captured slaves.
He is discovered by a guard while snooping around the stockade and the two get in a scuffle. Ka-Zar's cover is blown when the guard's gun goes off alerting the others on the base. Seeking a means to defend himself, Ka-Zar runs away from his attackers and finds an idling tank which he hops into and decides to use to defend himself.
This story is continued next issue...
Recurring Characters
Ka-Zar, Nazis
The Mystery of the Phantom Killer
Terry Vance and Deadline Dawson are checking out the local circus parade when suddenly a young girl riding a chariot loses control of her horse. Terry races after her on his bike and saves her from injury, to which the young girl is thankful. When Dawson goes to call in the story, he is told by his paper that there was another in a series of phantom robberies, this time someone was murdered as well.
When they arrive on the scene, the police tell them that the victim was robbed of a diamond and believe that he was so distraught at losing his property he committed suicide as evident by the number of failed attempts. Terry and Deadline are not quite sold on this theory and decide to investigate further. Deducing that the string of robberies coincide with the length of time the circus has been in town, Terry decides to explore and see what he can find.
When snooping around he is caught by a circus worker who knocks him out and tosses him into the lion's cage. Witnessed by Dr. Watson, the ape alerts Deadline of Terry's trouble. When Dawson attempts to free Terry he is attacked by the same man. Meanwhile, Dr. Watson finds a number of monkeys and frees them from their cage and rallies them to come to Dawson's rescue.
Deadline then rescued Terry from the lion's cage and the two try to make a break for it. They are cornered by circus staff but the police soon arrive. Terry explains that the man who attacked him had something to hide and reveals that he is the thief. When the crook attempts to shoot Terry, the girl he saved earlier clubs the man from behind, knocking him out. Later, when asked how the robbed and killed his victims without a trace, Terry points out that he was the man in charge of the trained monkeys and that he had the apes do the dirty work for him.
Recurring Characters
Terry Vance, Doctor Watson, Deadline Dawson
Tank Production Menaced
Jeff Mace decides to investigate a series of suspicious accidents that have been occurring at a tank manufacturing plant. Posing as a prospective employee, he gets a job at the company and on his first day on location witnesses an accident. Later while working he comes across an anonymous note that suspects him of being a spy. Realizing that there is more going on here than meets the eye, Mace puts the note back and sees who goes for it.
When the employee who reads the note corners Mace, he tells him that he is part of a Nazi spy network headed by Smitty, the man who hired him, to sabotage the plant's tank building operations. In the ensuing struggle the man ends up falling into one of the machines and dies much like many of his previous victims.
Seeking out Smitty, Mace changes into the Patriot and finds out that he is putting a completed tank on a test run for some military brass. Instead, he begins attacking the soldiers on site. The Patriot rushes the tank and fights his way in, easily knocking out Smitty and learning the truth of his operation. With the plot foiled, the Patriot calls the story into the local paper for his friend Jack Casey to cover.
Recurring Characters
Patriot, Jack Casey
Dunkirk Incident
A text story in which the Human Torch and Toro read a magazine article about the Battle of Dunkirk. Although the article does not mention it, the duo recall how they and the Sub-Mariner assisted British forces repel the Nazi invaders.
Recurring Characters
Human Torch, Toro, Sub-Mariner, Nazis
Khor, the Black Sorcerer
The crew of the S.S. Olympus is the most recent in a series of exploration ships that have gone missing off the Antarctic coast. This attracts the attention of the Vision who goes there to investigate. He is confronted by Khor, the Black Sorcerer. Khor gets the drop on the Vision and transports him to his home dimension, a lush tropical world. Khor explains to the extra dimensional hero that he was a French sorcerer banished to this timeless land in the year 1245 AD. Trapped until the end of time, Khor finally found a means of trapping others in this realm with his magical powers and has vowed to enslave all those he traps in this realm.
When the Vision attempts to attack him, Khor uses his magical powers to shrink the Vision down to size. However the Vision manages to slip away and upon contact with smoke resumes his normal size. Catching Khor off guard while he is torturing his slaves, the Vision overpowers Khor knocking him into a nearby lava flow, killing him.
With Khor dead, the Vision uses his powers to transport Khor's former slaves back to their home dimension before departing once more.
Recurring Characters
Vision
Continuity Notes
The “Land Where Time Stands Still” in this later confirmed to be the Savage Land in Marvel Atlas #1
The Revenge of Sphinx Henchel
A crucial surgery being conducted on Judge Lind is interrupted when a seeming mad man rushes into the room and distracts the surgeons long enough for Lind to die on the table. With the mad man escaping, the Angel decides to investigate as the entire situation is suspicious. He finds footprints that lead him to unique tire marks for a vehicle that could only belong to a crook named "Sphinx" Henchel, a racketeer whom Lind sent to jail a number of years ago.
Following the footprints to a garage, the Angel attacks some of Henchel's men as they attempt to change the car's tires. In the melee, Sphinx briefly appears and attempts to shoot the Angel, but only succeeds in grazing the hero's head, knocking him out momentarily. Reviving shortly after, the Angel follows Henchel through a trapdoor that leads to the sewers and then out to the river. Following after the crook to his hideout, he finds that Henchel has the District Attorney responsible for sending him to jail as his prisoner.
When Henchel's henchmen arrive, Sphinx has the D.A. brought out to the city where they intend to force him to walk out into traffic and into the path of a speeding vehicle to make his death look accidental. The Angel, having followed the crooks, attacks and saves the D.A. from harm. Ironically enough, the car that was supposed to strike the District Attorney ends up swerving and striking Sphinx dead. After the police arrive to arrest the rest of the gang, the D.A. turns to thank the Angel only to find that the hero has already departed.
Recurring Characters
Angel
