Highway of Mystery

The Human Torch and Toro decide to pay a visit to the Topper Tank company in Pittsburgh, suspecting that there could be trouble there soon. The Torch's hunch is correct as Nazi agent N-4 has set up a hideout in the location and is attempting to halt production of a new tank. To this end, the spies led by N-4 have set up operations in a secret base hidden below the newly constructed highway between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg. To this end, they set ablaze a near by oil well, however when the Torch and Toro attempt to rescue the workers N-4 causes an explosion that is blamed on the two heroes.

Following the shipment of the new experimental DX tanks, the Torch and Toro follow their transport and are shocked when they fail to reach the other side of a mountain tunnel. The Torch leaves Toro to investigate the location while he goes back to the tank plant to investigate there. When the Torch searches the companies offices he spots a secret radio/television transmitter being used in the secretaries desk. However before he can confront her he is caught by security and is blamed for a pain or tanks that have just been melted. Before he can explain himself a blaze is started in the secretary's office that destroys the transmitter device before he can reveal it. Unable to get the secretary to talk, the Torch flees and decides to go check to see how Toro is doing.

Arriving at the mouth of the tunnel, the Torch finds a trail of flame beacons that lead into the mountains and follows them to a secret road where he spots the tanks being shipped. However they are lead to the Nazi hideout and the soldiers transporting the new tanks are knocked out by gas. The Torch sneaks into the enemy hideout and finds Toro has been captured and taken prisoner. The boy is strapped to a metal drum that is about to crush him, but the Torch uses his flame powers to save his sidekick's life.

The Nazi agents flee while prompting the Torch to chase after them. Following after them, the Torch easily stops the stolen tanks and traps the spies with flames before going back to rescue Toro. There, the Torch is pistol whipped from behind by N-4. The Nazi leader attempts to blow up the Torch and Toro with explosives however as N-4 attempts to flee the spy is caught in a bear trap. As fate would have it, a stalagmite was loosened by the extreme heat of the Torch's flames earlier in the conflict and it falls on the burning fuse dousing it and saving them all from the lethal explosion. When the Torch and Toro revive, they alert the authorities and reveal N-4's true identity: that of the Topper Tank company secretary.

Recurring Characters

Human Torch, Toro, Nazis

The Case of the Vanishing Convicts

The Sub-Mariner is driving his jeep through the state of Oregon when he stops to fill up his gas tank. While he is filling it up, he is spotted by local scientist Professor Dorn who is shocked to see the aquatic hero and flees. Curious, he learns from the station attendant that Dorn is an eccentric who lives nearby and decides to pay the scientist a visit. As Namor sneaks onto Dorn's property, Dorn tells his colleague Ramon about the Sub-Mariners presence in the area. They decide that the Atlantean would be perfect for their experiments and they send out their female companion Mona Lake to seduce the hero so that they might incapacitate him.

Mona goes out onto the property and finds the Sub-Mariner and invites him in to speak with the professor. With the hero's guard down, Mona drugs his tea and Namor soon passes out from the drugging. He is then tied up and taken down to Dorn's lab. There he is tossed into a water tank where he is forced to fight a number of men who have been surgically altered to be able to breathe underwater. This group of artificial sub-mariners are part of Dorn's insane plan of taking over the world. Namor, still reeling from his drugging is easily overpowered by the artificially enhanced men.

Strapped to an examination table, Dorn and Ramon prepare to experiment on the Sub-Mariner to learn more about his unique biology. However Namor has had the chance to fully recover and breaks free. During the struggle, Professor Dorn is knocked over and sent falling to his death and Ramon is kicked into the activation switch of a green ray device. Seeing that there is danger, the Sub-Mariner grabs Mona and flees Dorn's home just moments before it explodes killing everyone inside.

Recurring Characters

Sub-Mariner

Swastikas Over Europe

Jeff Mace and his friends are premiere of the anti-Nazi play "Swastikas Over Europe", where one of the actors is truly shot dead on stage, prompting the play to abruptly end for the night. Changing into the Patriot, Mace investigates the scene and finds that the prop rifles had their blank rounds replaced with live ammunition. Deciding to bluff out the killer the Patriot pretends to find a defective slug that might have a fingerprint on it. Upon this claim, the lights are doused and the Patriot struggles with the man responsible for the death.

When the lights are turned back on everyone is shocked to see that the killer is Howards, the theater's stage director. The Patriot chases Howards through the theater and up onto the roof of the building. There the Patriot knocks Howards out with a single punch and brings him downstairs to the authorities. There, the revived Howards reveals that he is a Bundsman who wanted to stop the play because it was against the Nazi regime. With the killer arrested, the Patriot changes back into Jeff Mace and tells his colleagues Mary Morgan and Jack Casey that during the commotion he attempted to grab Howards and was knocked out in order to cover for his double identity.

Recurring Characters

Patriot, Mary Morgan, Jack Casey

The Vision Speaks

The Vision addresses readers and tells them that he comes from the Smoke Dimension. In his home dimension he was a police officer under the command of the Law-Giver. He tells on the day he captured a murderer his people were contacted by a scientist named Markham Ericsohn. Getting an audience with the Law-Giver, Markham asked for help ridding the Earth of evil. A brilliant scientist, Markham had developed a device that would allow the people of the Smoke Dimension to travel to Earth. The Vision was selected, but unfortunately a miscalculation sent the Vision and the murderer to the planet Jupiter instead. Returned to his home dimension, the Vision left the killer on Jupiter to live in exile. The Vision then goes on to talk about how excited he was when he finally came to Earth and remarks on the differences between society on his world compared to those found on Earth.

Continuity Notes

• Although the Vision breaks the fourth-wall to address the audience this story is considered part of continuity as the details of this text story are recounted in the Vision profile found in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #12. Since the Vision does no traditionally break the fourth-wall, readers could presume that his doing so here was merely a narrative device.

• This story doesn’t really get into the circumstances of how the Vision ended up on Earth, nor does it explain that he was actually tapped. These details were all covered in his first appearance in Marvel Mystery Comics #13.

• However, the origins provided here are at odds with the events of Avengers/Invaders wherein the Vision states that his people are shepherd Cosmic Cubes.

Cult of the Shark God

In the Zambiji region of Africa, the Zambiji tribe worships Kai-Mak, a humanoid shark creature that they feed human sacrifices to. An American explorer and his daughter who are exploring the region are soon captured by the Zambiji and are prepared to be the next sacrifice to Kai-Mak. Their plight attracts the attention of the Vision who comes to their rescue.

First the Vision attempts diplomacy but he is overpowered and tied up with the others. When Kai-Mak appears to take his offerings, the Vision plays into the so-called god's arrogance and challenges him to a duel stating that the shark creature was too afraid to fight a worthy opponent. Enraged by this, Kai-Mak agrees to fight the Vision and the two dive into the waters near the tribe. In a one-on-one battle the Vision overpowers Kai-Mak and kills the so-called shark god with his bare hands.

Returning to the surface the Vision tells the Zambiji tribe that Kai-Mak is dead. Thankful to be free from the control of the evil shark-god, the Zambiji begin to worship the Vision as a "smoke god" and champion of justice. The Vision then frees the explorer and his daughter before once more disappearing into smoke.

Recurring Characters

Vision

Neutralizing the Nazis

Continued from last issue...

In a stolen Italian tank, Ka-Zar is attempting to free natives who have been enslaved and forced to build bases for the Axis Forces in the area. Ka-Zar uses the tank to destroy the Italian base and then flees into the jungle before the forces can shoot him. Stripping off the stolen uniform, Ka-Zar finds Trajah and orders him to warn the animals in the jungle of the Nazi planes that are dumping lethal chemicals on the jungle.

Spotting one of these planes, Ka-Zar manages to climb up into the trees and jump on board. Tossing the co-pilot out of the plane, Ka-Zar then forces the pilot to shoot down the other Nazi craft. He then forces the pilot to bail out and uses his plane to dump the poison gas on the Nazi ground forces below, choking them to death with their own chemicals, ending the threat to of the Axis Forces in the region.

Recurring Characters

Ka-Zar, Trajah, Nazis

The Mystery of the Green Diamond

Deadline Dawson invites Terry Vance to join him to a party happening at the mayor's house, and the two wonder if any criminal activity might happen there given how the mayor's wife had recently purchased an expensive green diamond. Terry agrees to tag along, and when they arrive at the mayor's house they are forced to leave Dr. Watson outside as pets are not allowed inside. Sure enough, when the mayor's wife appears wearing the green diamond, someone turns out the lights and steals the expensive gem.

The chief of police then begins a search for the stolen gem. While the search is going on, the butler fetches the mayor's wife a glass of water while she goes outside to get some fresh air. With her chauffeur taking her elsewhere, the glass of water is brought out to her. Terry, suspecting something is up tries to follow after them but is stopped by the authorities. Terry explains to the chief that the diamond is outside and convinces him to follow after the car the mayor's wife left in.

When they stop it the chauffeur is searched and the diamond is found in his pocket, having been smuggled out in a piece of ice that was in the glass of water. Before the chauffeur can be arrested he knocks the chief of police over the head with a wrench he hidden in his driving glove and attempts to flee in his car. However he suddenly crashes and when Terry checks in he finds that he was cold cocked from behind by Dr. Watson who smuggled himself into the car. The chauffeur is then taken into police custody.

Recurring Characters

Terry Vance, Doctor Watson, Deadline Dawson

Death on Inferno Isle

A boat carrying a expedition of American scientist is passing by Inferno Isle, and one of its passengers - the heroic Angel - decides to investigate it, which confirms his suspicions: that it is the secret base of Nazi spies. Spying on a meeting, the Angel overhears that the Nazis intend to use the natives to attack the boat and take the crew to the island to be sacrificed in order to undermine Americans' potential to use these scientists for their war effort.

The Nazis send natives to attack the boat and take its crew prisoner. Scientist Diane Mason is the first to be brought before the natives' leaders who decides that she must be sacrificed to their flame god. The Angel steps in and knocks the tribal leader out and steals his ceremonial mask, rescuing Mason before the natives realize that he is not their leader. Taking her away from the temple they come across a Nazi U-Boat that is hiding in the area. When a Nazi searching party starts looking for them as well, the Angel knocks out their leader and dresses him in the ceremonial garb of the natives' leader. When the natives find him, they think the Nazi commander is an impostor and beat him senseless and kick him into the nearby river.

As the Angel and Diane search for her fiancé George Hill, the Angel falls through a pit and has to fight off an alligator before finding a means to swim back up where the U-Boat is. He then trips up all the Nazis in the area and rendezvous with Diane who has found George, although George has been wounded by a bullet. Luck would be on their side as George managed to steal some TNT which they rig all over the island.

As they attempt to escape, they are cornered by the natives, who are about to slay them when the Angel plays into their superstitions. He tells them that he is a god more powerful than their Nazi allies and gives them a show of "power" by pointing at the areas where they placed the TNT at the moment they are about to explode, making it appear to the natives that the Angel has magical powers. The subsequent explosions cause the Nazi U-Boat to be sunk and the volcano on Inferno Isle to erupt. The Angel and his friends manage to make it to the ship and witness the island suddenly sink. The surviving natives, having abandoned their island are brought aboard the ship to be taken to a new island where they can start a new life.

Recurring Characters

Angel, Nazis