Marvel Mystery Comics #31
Scuttle the Japs
Following the attacks on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese army sends bombers to attack San Francisco. Hearing of this danger, the Human Torch and Toro race to California to stop the attack. They destroy all the bombers except for one and follow it back to the battle ship it came from. Melting their way inside, the two flaming heroes beat up the pilots and gunners and send the flaming plane crashing into the water and attack the ship.
Fighting off some sailors, the Human Torch sends Toro down to the hull of the ship while he clashes with the rest of the crew including their leader Admiral Nodope, wrecking the ships weapons in the process. Jumping overboard, the Torch swims to the part of the hull where Toro is located and begins banging on it. Melting through the hull, Toro pulls the Torch through and the two sabotage the ship, forcing it to return to the Japanese coast.
There the two heroes attack Japanese forces, freeing some captured American soldiers. Admiral Nodope attempts to stop the two heroes and the freed Americans, however he and his minions prove to be no match for the flaming duo. Leading the American soldiers to an escape ship, the Torch leaves a symbol to the Japanese people, a massive flaming "V" for victory, telling them that a free people will always fight for freedom.
Recurring Characters
Human Torch, Toro, Imperial Japan
The Case of the Jilted Japs
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor and Americas entry into the war, the Sub-Mariner decides to lend his aid to the United States. Visiting his friend Colonel Watson, he gets permission to use an ice-battalion to battle the Japanese military. This offer of aid is welcomed by Colonel Watson who allows Namor to proceed with the plan. Swimming back to Atlantis, the Sub-Mariner gathers troops and leads them to the middle of the Pacific Theater to battle Japanese ships and bombers.
Arriving on the scene in their flying aero-subs, the Sub-Mariner leads his men on the attack. Shooting down a Japanese fighter plane, the Sub-Mariner captures its pilot and takes him aboard his aero-sub, there he interrogates the soldier to know what the Japanese are planning.
Under pressure, the soldier reveals that the Japanese intend to launch an attack on San Diego. With this information, Namor tips off the American Navy and sends his aero-sub fleet to attack the approaching Japanese battleships. Leaving the Japanese pilot in under the supervision of Folma, the Sub-Mariner drills through the hull of a Japanese ship with his aero-sub so he and his other soldiers can invade it.
Quickly taking the ship by surprise, the Sub-Mariner and his men easily take command of the vessel and order its captain to fire upon the other Japanese battleships. Meanwhile, aboard his aero-sub, Folma is knocked out by his prisoner who takes control of the sub and pulls it out of the hull of the Japanese ship. This causes the Japanese ship to start to sink. Fleeing the sinking vessel, the Sub-Mariner gets back aboard his aero-sub and kills the Japanese pilot before he can do some real damage. With an American fleet arriving on the scene, the Sub-Mariner and his minions depart to leave the Americans to finish the job that they had started.
Recurring Characters
Sub-Mariner, Imperial Japan, Folma
The Plague of the Jelly Men
A Japanese zeppelin makes into the US air space over the state of New York and drops a lethal biological weapon called the "Jelly Man", a mass of protoplasm that eats everything in its path. When it reaches an oil storage facility it causes a massive explosion that separates the "Jelly Man" into component parts that continue their own paths of destruction. The explosion also allows the Vision to appear through the smoke and try to stop the creature.
Spotting the Japanese zeppelin, the hero clashes with the soldiers there and learns that the creature is directed by a special whistle. Fighting the soldiers, the Vision grabs the leader when he uses his whistle to summon one of the components of the Jelly Man to the area. Overpowering the man, the Vision tosses the soldier into his own creation killing him instantly. With the whistle, the Vision calls all the components of the Jelly Man back and uses an oil truck to douse the massive weapon and burn it. The flames also destroy the Japanese zeppelin, ending the Japanese threat.
Recurring Characters
Vision, Imperial Japan
The Insects of Sudden Death
When a series of war games turn lethal due to the sudden inclusion of live rounds in the battle. Jack Casey, Jeff Mace, and Mary Morgan decide to investigate the story for their newspapers and arrive at army headquarters to oversee another series of war games. When the same incident appears to happen again, Jeff sneaks off to change into the Patriot, suspecting that some foul play is involved.
Searching the nearby bushes the Patriot comes across a number of Nazi soldiers who are using insects that can fly at the speed of bullets that have lethal stings. Attacking the Nazis, the Patriot is thrown off a cliff but his fast reflexes manage to allow him to save himself before he can fall to his death. When the Nazi leader Otto attempts to use the "bullet bugs" against the Patriot, he uses a rock to shield himself. Fighting Otto one-on-one, the Patriot throws him off the cliff to his death and beats the other Nazis into submission.
When the army command arrives to round up the Nazis the Patriot slips away so that he can change back into Jeff Mace unnoticed. Once more his disappearance is dismissed as cowardice by Mary Morgan.
Recurring Characters
Patriot, Jack Casey, Mary Morgan, Nazis
The Mystery of the Murdered Ghost
Terry Vance and Deadline Dawson are the guests of Tex, a rodeo cowboy at the local rodeo where they meet the star attraction the famous horseman known as the Ghost Rider. When they marvel at his talents they hear his manager bitterly state that he taught the Ghost Rider everything he knew. During the Ghost Rider's performance, the famous cowboy daredevil is shot dead.
Investigating the scene, Terry finds the lens of a magnifying glass embedded into the wooden fence and suspects the Ghost Rider's manager as the killer. Investigating the managers trailer, he finds a magnifying glass without its lense proving the managers guilt. Struggling with Terry, the manager flees the scene with the boy detective on his heels. Terry chases him into a subway where their struggle takes them onto the tracks where the manager accidentally trips onto the third rail and is electrocuted to death.
Going back to the scene of the crime, Terry reveals that part of the fence was constructed out of paper mache and had a flintlock revolver hidden inside (stolen from Tex) and that the manager rigged the magnifying glass to reflect the heat from the show lights to make the gun go off and kill the Ghost Rider.
Recurring Characters
Terry Vance, Doctor Watson, Deadline Dawson
In The Land of the Fun People
Hoping to get her son to forget about the imaginary land of Nowhere, Jimmy Jupiter is sent to the amusement park by his mother. While on a roller coaster, Jimmy suddenly finds himself carried away to the land of Nowhere once more. There he come across an amusement park where the patrons are all made out of candy.
After an initial misunderstanding when Jimmy attempts to eat one of the candy people and realizes they are alive, they are attacked by a group of men called the Gloomy Gusses. The Gusses poke the candy people with pitchforks that cause them to melt. Capturing Jimmy, the boy realizes their weakness is that they are ticklish and manages to drive the Gloomy Gusses away.
Sending the Gloomy Gusses fleeing, Jimmy is hailed as a hero and the melted candy people are restored by a giant freezer.
Recurring Characters
Jimmy Jupiter
Cargo of Death
The Angel is helping the war effort by helping with aerial patrols of the California area. Spotting a massive fire near where an experimental aircraft is being constructed, the Angel realizes it is signaling the location to spies. Using gasoline, he redirects the flames away from the site of the secret plane and then parachutes down to the surface. There he clashes with the Japanese spy who caused the blaze. Noting a distinct form of road clay and fluff from the ticking of a coffin, the Angel decides to investigate things further.
The clues lead him to the Gondor funeral parlor where he is caught snooping around and ordered to leave by the owner. Staking the place out as the Angel, the hero waits for a funeral service for an American soldier killed in the war to end. To his surprise, a Japanese spy pops out of the coffin. Attacking the spy, the Angel is soon overwhelmed by Gondor and the other spies. He learns that the Japanese spies were being smuggled in by Gondor — a Nazi agent — in the coffins of dead soldiers.
Stuffed in the dead soldiers coffin, the Angel is about to be buried in the ground, but the hero bangs his head on the wall alerting those officiating the funeral to free him. Gondor attempts to flee the scene, but the Angel catches him and forces him to expose everything about his operation. Leading a bunch of Navy soldiers back to the funeral parlor, the Angel rounds up all the Japanese spies that are hiding.
Recurring Characters
Angel
