Marvel Mystery Comics #72
Conquest of Death
FBI Agent Jeffers goes on vacation to his remote cabin in the woods. There he is attacked by a group of escaped Nazis, who demand that he provide them the location to the formula to create the atom bomb. When he refuses, the Nazis tie him down and inject him with a truth serum and then take him prisoner.
Meanwhile, at FBI headquarters the Human Torch and Toro arrive after nabbing a counterfeit ring and need Jeffers to identify them. When they are advised that Jeffers has gone on vacation, the two heroes pay a visit to his cabin and find a sign of struggle. Among the clues they find traces of chloroform and a book about the discovery of the atom bomb pegged to a wall. Realizing that someone might be forcing Jeffers to reveal the location of the the bomb's secret formula, they race off to its secret hiding place. They arrive just as the Nazis have managed to crack the safe, but when they try to stop them from stealing the formula, they are knocked out from behind. When the Torch and Toro come around, they are horrified to realize the implications of the theft.
At the Nazis; secret hideout, the villains tell Jeffers that they intend to use the atom bomb to make themselves dictators of the world, and accomplish what Hitler failed to do and set off in a secret submarine. The Torch and Toro report back to the FBI and begin a month long search for Jdffers' kidnappers with no luck. Then one day, a broadcast is picked up from the Nazis demanding the free world surrender to them or face annihilation. The FBI track the general location of the transmission as coming from somewhere out on the Pacific, and the Torch and Toro go out on a search.
They find the boat and attack it just as the Nazi's leader, Grunwig, orders that their super-plane be loaded with nuclear bombs to be dropped on every American city. The Torch and Toro storm the island the Nazis are building their bombs on, getting past high powered water cannons, but are caught in a vacuum vortex and left to suffocate. As Grunwig and a crew take off in their plane, some of the Nazis that the Torch and Toro knocked out during their initial assault rush back into the hideout and ask Jeffers what happened. Jeffers tricks them into thinking that the Torch and Toro trapped Grunwig in the vacuum, and the Nazis unwittingly free the heroes. The Torch and Toro then knock out the spies and free Jeffers.
Going after the super-plane, the Torch uses his flame powers to weld the bomb bay doors shut. Entering the plane, the flaming duo force their way into the cockpit and take control of the plane. They then send it on a collision course with the island and bail out just in time to see the nuclear bombs blow up the island, killing the Nazis and destroying the atom bomb factory.
Recurring Characters
Human Torch, Toro, Nazis
Pawns of Destiny
Namor and Betty Dean are investigating a series of strange accidents and deaths in the sports world. When they learn that a swimming meet featuring speed swimmer Marr Wilson is that day, they decide to go and keep an eye on things. While they are watching the competition, they are unaware that local hypnotist Sardu the Mystic has set plans in motion to insure that Marr does not win the race. When Marr does not surface from the water, Namor dives in and spots a pair of divers in the bottom of the pool attacking Marr. Namor is knocked out and fails to stop them preferring to save Wilson and the divers escape through a drain pipe that leads into the sewers. Having lost them, Namor finds a part of one of the divers torn suits and a fragment of a newspaper article. With it, Betty takes Namor to the newspaper office where they find the story in the morgue file.
Reading the complete article, they learn that Captain Jonas, a yacht racer, is holding a party on his boat with Sardu the Mystic as a guest. Unaware of Sardu's connection, Namor prepares to join the party while Sardu and his men make preparations of their own. As Namor boards the ship, he overhears Sardu's men talking about how the mystic is going to use his hypnotic powers to make Jonas crash his boat during the race so that the gambling syndicate can cash in. Namor quickly defeats the thugs and rushes to Sardu's isolated room and catches Sardu just as he has finished hypnotizing Jonas so that he will crash his ship during the race. Despite Namor's efforts, he is knocked out when Sardu activates a hidden trap, and the mystic then uses his hypnotic powers to order Namor to shoot himself in the head when he is returned to the mainland.
Sardu's men then dump Namor on shore and give him a gun, but before he can shoot himself in the head he is stopped by Betty Dean who pushes him into the nearby water snapping him out of his condition. Namor then rushes out to the yacht race, which is being watched by Sardu from another boat. Sardu and his men fail to shoot Namor as he prevents the yacht from crashing into the rocks. Then in order to stop Jonas from continuing to try to crash his boat, Namor knocks him out. Diving back into the water, Namor then swims over to Sardu's ship and smashes it to bits, killing Sardu and his crew, breaking his hold on Jonas.
Recurring Characters
Sub-Mariner, Betty Dean
Cyclops
Madeline Joyce is in Washington D.C., as she pulls into her hotel she is almost side swiped by a hearse. In the back of the Washington Hotel, the hearse pulls over and out come a group of Nazi spies lead by their leader, a man known as Cyclops. They intend to capture a bunch of visiting WAAF's visiting from Britain who are going to be attending a dinner at the White House. Cyclops sends his men up disguised as flower delivery men carrying a reef that contains a powerful knock out drug. When the four women get the flowers, the drugs knock them out and the Nazis carry them out. Witnessing this from her room, Madeline doesn't like the look of it and changes into Miss America to intervene.
When Miss America tries to stop the Nazi spies, she is knocked out from behind by Cyclops. When Madeline revives, she goes to the FBI and learns how the WAAF's were captured. Seeing the flowers were prepared on a funerary reef and remembering the hearse from earlier, Miss America realizes where the Nazis are hiding and track them to a cemetery outside the city limits.
Inside, the Cyclops punishes some of his men for being so easily taken out by Miss America by burning them alive in an incinerator, just the fate he has in store for the WAAF's. Miss America suddenly bursts in and fights off the Nazis, and frees the WAAF's who join in the fight. During the course of the battle, the Cyclops is knocked into the incinerator and is burned alive. With the other Nazis defeated, Miss America leaves the girls to turn them over to the authorities.
Recurring Characters
Miss America
A Farewell To Larceny
Jeff Mace is hanging out with his fellow reports when a call comes in from Judge Brandon. He asks Mace to seek the Patriot to assist in keeping an incorrigible criminal out of trouble as under Baum's Law, he stands to face life in prison if convicted on more time. Jeff agrees to do what he can, and quickly slips away to change into the Patriot.
The Patriot, knowing Judge Brandon's lenience towards young criminals and sternness with the older element, believes that he is going to be given charge of a young man. However, he is surprised when his charge turns out to be Larceny Andy, an old con who just cannot stay out of trouble. The Judge believes that Andy is a generally good person who just needs to be kept on the straight path, and the Patriot agrees to help out.
Talking to Andy, the Patriot learns that Andy constantly slips into crime because nobody gives him a break or a job. The Patriot tells him to go home and that he will check up on him in a few days, but secretly tails Andy to make sure he keeps out of trouble. Around the corner from the Judge's home are two mobsters named Whack and Ears. Overhearing that Larceny Andy is going to reform, they refuse to let him "double-cross" them and decide to get him busted one more time. To this end, they attempt to make it look like Andy stole a watch, however the Patriot catches them in the act and fights them off before they can frame Andy for the theft. However, before the Patriot can bust Ears and Whack, Andy gets in the way allowing the two crooks to get away, leaving the Patriot to wonder if Andy did it on purpose and decides to continue watching.
Back at their hideout, Ears and Whack decide to frame Andy for the bank job they are about to do. Whack then calls Andy pretending to be the Patriot and asks him to meet on the 14th floor of the Chimes Building. Andy goes, unaware that he real Patriot is following him. Andy arrives just as Ears and Whack have finished robbing the safe and trapped the guard in the vault. Knocking Andy out, they hope that when the authorities arrive in the morning they will catch Andy, and with the guard suffocated in the vault, nobody would be able to clear his name.
However, this plan falls apart when the Patriot enters the room and quickly subdues Ears and Whack. He then calls the police who bring an expert safe cracker to try and open the safe and save the guards life. However, the safe cracker cannot open the safe. Having come around, Andy then gives it a shot and saves the guard trapped inside. Thanks to his skill, Andy is offered a job to work for the safe cracking company and thanks the Patriot for keeping him on the straight and narrow.
Recurring Characters
Patriot
The Adventure at the White Rabbit Inn
One day while taking the bus, the Angel overhears a young woman talking about strange noises that she has been hearing at the White Rabbit Inn, owned by her uncle, and that she is frightened by them. The Angel decides to give the girl peace of mind by investigating the situation. Under an assumed name, he gets a room at the White Rabbit Inn and retires to his room for the night. That evening, as the Angel changes into his costume, he hears a strange rumbling noise coming from somewhere and goes through the Inn to investigate.
Through his search, he runs into the girl he overheard earlier and the two search around the Inn to try and find where the noise is coming from, but cannot find its source, the Angel promises her that he will solve the mystery, putting her mind at ease. The following morning at breakfast, the Angel is approached by a group of rough looking men who warn him that it's not healthy to stay in the area too long, but the Angel insists that he is going to stay the duration of his visit. Taking a walk later that day in the nearby woods, the Angel finds that a state prison is near the hotel. He is suddenly met by a man with a gun who tells him that he hunts for rabbits, another thinly veiled threat. Returning to the Inn, he spots another man in a strange hurry.
That night, changing back into his costume, the Angel hears the rumbling noise again and decides to investigate the office. Picking the lock he spots the man he saw earlier tied up to a chair. Removing the man's gag, he tells him that he can find what he is looking for in a shack down the street. Suspecting a trap, the Angel leaves the man tied up and goes to investigate. Going down the road, the Angel cannot find this shack and is knocked out from behind. Waking up later, he rushes back to the office at the Inn and finds that the captive man is gone. He is ambushed by some armed goons and knocked out again.
When he comes around he learns that the thugs are digging a tunnel with TNT beneath the inn. When he is left alone, the girl finds him and tosses him a knife to cut through his bonds. Taking a gun, the Angel goes down into the tunnel and catches the thugs just as they finished springing their leader George Brink from the state prison. Keeping them at gun point, the Angel forces them to the surface and then has the girl and her uncle call the authorities.
Recurring Characters
Angel
