Marvel Mystery Comics #60
Death Spins the Wheel
In a large midwestern town, a local gambling den is thriving by using rigged games to take advantage of its patrons. However when one of the local factory workers realizes that he is being swindled he tries to call out the owners of the house and gets thrown out onto the street. There he is clubbed over the head by the illegal casinos bouncers and then dumped in the river. When the local papers rule the man’s death as a suicide, the Human Torch and Toro decide to investigate it.
They decide to pay a visit to the dead man's wife, who tells them she suspects that the local gambling crowd had something to do with her husband’s death. Deciding to check out the dead man’s corpse, the Torch and Toro visit the local morgue where they are refused entry by the mortician. Busting in, the Torch knocks out the mortician and checks out the body. He shows Toro what really killed the man: A sharp object jammed into the ear canal straight into the brain.
Deciding to sniff out his killers, the Torch and Toro go undercover as factory workers. Finding one of the gambling dens called Joe's, the Torch and Toro pay the place a visit. There, they call out a man who is cheating at cards and find themselves tossed out of the building. Deciding to go to the chief of police with their suspicions, the chief quickly dismisses the idea that there was a murder or the city has any illegal gambling problems. Deciding to use their powers to coerce the casino owners to talk, the Torch and Toro flame on and fly back to Joe's. But when they are about to get a confession out of one of Joe's killer, someone shoots him in the back from behind. When the shooter gets away clean, the Torch suspects that the leader of the illegal gambling operation is the local chief of police and they fly back to his office.
There, they are ambushed by the chiefs men, who are wearing asbestos-lined suits to protect themselves from their flames. They are then coated with a fireproof paint and tossed into a large oil tank which will be pumped with exhaust fumes in order to kill them. However, the Torch uses the exhaust hose to siphon gasoline out of the engine its attached to. The gas then washes off the fire-proof paint from their bodies and the two heroes then are able to flame on, causing the gas to explode, freeing them from their would-be death trap. The resulting fires from the explosions then consume the illegal gambling house. As the chief and his men attempt to flee town in a car, the Torch and Toro chase after them. The chase abruptly ends when the getaway car experiences a sudden blowout causing a fatal crash. With the gambling racket eliminated, the Human Torch and Toro are thanked for their assistance.
Recurring Characters
Human Torch, Toro
Human Bombs of Horror
At a nearby munitions factory, a worker is busy trying to shut a window when a sudden rainstorm begins. The worker suddenly explodes into flame, the resulting fire causes the ammunition in the factory to explode killing everyone inside. Elsewhere, a group of sailors walking in the rain suddenly burst into flames as well. With similar incidents happening all over, the military called in the Sub-Mariner to investigate and he agrees to lend a helping hand.
Deciding to start his investigation in New York, the Sub-Mariner swims past a train bridge where a passenger train carrying American troops is passing. To his surprise, he witnesses as a bunch of men suddenly jump onto the train and start smashing open the windows. As the rainwater begins to fall into the passenger cars the soldiers inside start bursting into flames causing the train to derail and kills nearly everyone aboard. Swimming down into the waters, Namor pulls out those who are still alive and is attacked by the men who smashed the windows. When one of them tosses a blanket that suddenly begins to light on fire, Namor dives into the stream but it only makes the fire worse. Namor attacks the men, and they kill themselves to avoid capture.
Seeing a troopship suddenly catching fire, Namor swims to it just as the crew manages to put the flames out. Learning that the fire started from one of the soldier’s sweaters, Namor questions the young man and learns that he obtained the sweater from a woman he met while on leave who wanted him to have it as a gift.
Learning the woman confronted the soldier at the Waterfront Cafe, Namor goes there with the sailor and Betty Dean. Spotting the woman attempting to hand another sweater to yet another sailor, Namor intervenes and is attacked by some men. The fight takes him out into the water outside the cafe where one of the attackers kills himself rather than face capture. Returning to the cafe, he finds that all the men had escaped, taking Betty with them. Finding a sweater in the ruins of the cafe, Namor finds a business card for the Ajax Pharmacy. Going to the pharmacy, he learns that the owner put in an order to treat sweaters with white metallic sodium by some men who claimed to be a traveling magician troupe. When some of the Nazis arrive to silence Namor and the pharmacist, Namor easily bests them and then forces one of them to reveal the location of their secret hideout.
There, Namor arrives just as the spy leader is threatening Betty. During the fight a chemically treated blanket lights on fire and Namor knocks out the spies, leaving them to burn alive while he and Betty flee the scene, swimming to safety as the house burns to the ground.
Recurring Characters
Sub-Mariner, Betty Dean, Nazis
Murder, Inc.
A local community mission for the homeless opens in New York City with much fanfare for its wealthy creators. However there is a dark and sinister motive behind the mission, the owners secretly take out insurance policies on the homeless men and then send them on errands, causing "accidents" so that they can claim the insurance money.
While Madeline Joyce is out walking she spots as one of the men behind "Murder, Inc." pushes a homeless man named Ole Daffy into the path of a speeding car to be run over. Slipping into an alley, Madeline changes into Miss America and swoops onto the scene. There she catches the pusher and when she tries to stop the car responsible for the hit-and-run, the driver panics and causes a serious crash. Ditching the pusher, Miss America then flies high into the air and frightens the driver into revealing the purpose of their operation and tells her that she'll find proof at the local mission.
After dropping the driver off at the local police station, Miss America races toward the local mission. She arrives just as some of the men who run the mission are about to strap an ill patron to a bed to be showered with ice water. When one of the other homeless men realizes what's going on, he is knocked out. When Miss America arrives and tries to stop the killers she is knocked out from behind and the leader dumps her chained up body into the East River. Breaking free from her bonds, Miss America flies back to the mission where she rounds up the members of Murder Inc., and turns them over to the authorities.
Recurring Characters
Miss America
What Price Freedom?
One day at the newspaper office, Jeff Mace gets a phone call from a prisoner who recently broke out of prison. The man tells him that he needs to speak to the Patriot about something fishy going on at the prison and Jeff agrees to meet with him. Suspicious, Jack Casey and Mary Morgan follow after him when Jeff shrugs off the phone call as a "pretty blond" asking him out on a date. When Jeff meets with the escaped prisoner, he tells Jeff that he has stumbled upon the story of the century that will also throw the war effort off-kilter. Before the man can explain it, Jack and Mary burst in on Jeff frightening the escaped con away. Jeff decides to take up Jack's suggestion to go on "vacation".
Without knowing what is going on, Jeff decides that its best he investigate the case closer and goes to the local prison alone and convinces the local FBI to allow him to pose as a prisoner in order to learn the secret operation within the prison. Jeff is placed in a cell with a crook named "Slit" Lifer. Jeff tells Slit that he is a Nazi spy, to which Slit wearily tells him that he should have no problem in prison since the spies seem to have the run of the place. Hearing this and learning that Slit -- despite being a prisoner -- is a patriotic American, decides to confide in the crook and get him to help with his plan to expose the prison as being controlled by Nazi operatives. He learns from Slit that the Nazi spies are plotting a huge jailbreak so that they can return to their subversive activities.
That night, Jeff changes into the Patriot and knocks out one of the prison guards. Stealing the keys and snooping around the prison, Jeff catches two of the guards giving the Nazi salute, confirming Slit's story. Catching one of the Nazi's running the prison speaking to his fellows on the outside through a radio, the Patriot forces him to call the prison break right at that moment. The Patriot then gathers the loyal American guards and prisoners to attack the spies attempting to escape, rounding them up before they can complete their operation. Later, back at the paper, Jeff acts coy about how he was able to get such a sensational story while on "vacation" when Mary and Jack begin questioning him about how he managed to get it.
Recurring Characters
Patriot, Mary Morgan, Jack Casey, Nazis
Angel
Following the robbery of a diamond necklace from a railroad car at the Railway Express Agency, the owner has a railway detective investigate the incident, suspecting some sort of organized crime. The detective is assigned to guard a mail car. When he spots a hooded man he is shot dead. When his body is discovered by the staff, the owner of the company decides to all in help from the Angel.
Assuming the identity of Mr. Taylor, the Angel gets a job working at the freight yard to learn who is responsible for the robberies and murder. When the Angel begins asking around about who might have killed the detective, he gets the attention of the workers responsible who plot to eliminate him before he can ask too many questions. When their leader learns of the Angel's snooping around he orders the squealer who agreed to meet with the Angel in secret to be eliminated.
The Angel arrives just as a hooded man kills the stooley who is waiting for him. Chasing after the killer, the Angel is ambushed by two more masked men who knock him out and tie him to two freight cars, hoping to crush him when they are linked together. Before they can do that, the Angel manages to flip himself to safety before he can be crushed alive. Examining the crime scene, the Angel finds the setting of a insignia ring and decides that it can help him solve the crimes.
Asking to have all the workers gathered together, the Angel soon spots that the yard foreman is the one missing his ring setting. Exposed, the foreman orders his men to attack the Angel. As the hero fights off his attackers the foreman attempts to escape by jumping out one of the windows. The Angel catches up to him and knocks him out with a single punch, and turning him over to the authorities.
Recurring Characters
Angel
