The Photo Phantom

The Human Torch and Toro are called to the mansion of wealthy John J. Curtis. When they arrive at the mansion they meet John's daughter Joyce and the family lawyer Kenneth Stanton. Going inside to speak with Curtis, he shows them a ransom note he obtained that threatened to show evidence that proved his daughter was responsible for murdering photographer Bruce Fearing if he does not pay up a $25,000 ransom. The Torch questions Joyce and learns that she was dating Fearing and that on the night he was murdered she had an argument with him over his drinking and gambling. Their argument got heated and Bruce dated Joyce to shoot him with the gun on his desk. Joyce suddenly felt faint and when she came around she had the gun in her hand and Bruce was dead.

The Torch decides to take up the case and tells John to follow the instructions on the ransom note. John meets with the Photo Phantom at an abandoned warehouse and the ransomer shows John a photograph that shows Joyce shooting Bruce Fearing. The Phantom accepts the ransom, but tells John that it is merely a down payment for future ransoms. The Torch and Toro then attack and the pair are easily stopped when the Photo Phantom douses them with a fire extinguisher, knocks out John and steals the money and escapes. The Torch and Toro then lead John out to the car where John's lawyer is waiting for him.

The Torch and Toro then decide to investigate Bruce's former place of employment the Hi-Style Studio. There they meet with the co-owner Armand Wright who allows them to look around. The Torch finds a negative of a special correspondence he made for a co-worker Lolita Hillson who was an item with Bruce. Just then Lolita enters the room and professes her innocence and storms off. Armand suddenly changes his tone and tells the two heroes that if they wanted to search further they would have to get a police warrant and leaves. Before they can leave Lolita calls them into the dark room but before they can enter there are gun shots.

Rushing in they spot the Photo Phantom fleeing the scene, and when they try to catch him he tosses flammable developing fluid forcing the heroes to flame off and allowing the Phantom to escape. They check on Lolita and find her dead, and in her hands she is clutching a torn piece of negative. It is a photograph of an old phone and the Torch realizes it's to mean "mouthpiece", and remembering the fire extinguisher at the warehouse realises who the Photo Phantom really is. However the Phantom gets the drop on the heroes, revealing that he is Kenneth Stanton and he has Joyce his hostage. They soon learn too late that Armand is working with Kenneth when he suddenly sneaks up behind them and knocks them out.

The Torch, Toro and Joyce come to and find themselves tied up to asbestos rope. Both men explain their motivations for murdering Bruce Fearing: Armand wished to own the entire company while Kenneth owed $10,000 in gambling debts to Fearing which he embezzled from the Curtis Trust fund, when Fearing threatened to expose him the two men collaborated to eliminate him. They used a camera that released a chloroform gas that knocked out Joyce and Bruce, then shot Bruce dead and made it look like Joyce had committed the murder by doctoring a photograph.

Seeking to eliminate the three captives, they point a camera at them that will shoot a strong Tryochtolene acid. However the Torch manages to flame on his foot and kick a fireball at it. The resulting blast knocks out Armand and Kenneth while freeing the captives. The Torch and Toro then turn the two men over to the police and return the stolen ransom money to John Curtis.

Recurring Characters

Human Torch, Toro

Mystery of the Haunted Pool

The city is rocked by a series of murders of society women that leaves the authorities stumped. The Sub-Mariner decides to investigate the case, but gets sidetracked when Betty asks him to accompany her to an aquacade. They witness wealthy Elaine Marsh, a former professional swimmer who retired after being married, put away a bunch of expensive jewels before putting on a rare show for the audience. While she is in the water a man grabs for her jewels and tries to make a run for it, Namor chases him down and easily captures him. However, Elaine scolds Namor for stopping the man, telling him that he planned for him to take the jewels and she departs with him. However, Namor notices a look of fear on the girl and decides to seek her out and learn the truth, and so he dives into the water and swims to her home. Meanwhile not far away in a car, the man who grabbed the jewels accuses Elaine of getting the Sub-Mariner to interfere, but she denies doing so.

When Namor arrives at Elaine's mansion, he is greeted by the maid who tells him that she has something to tell but wants him to hide until Elaine's husband leaves. However Namor confronts Mr. Marsh who dismisses the notion that his wife is in trouble and asks Namor to leave. Namor pretends to do so and doubles back and attempts to sneak into the house. When he does he spots some goons murdering the maid and when he tries to stop them is knocked out himself. When Namor revives he is confronted by Mr. Marsh who accuses him of murdering the maid, but Namor convinces him otherwise. Checking the maid he finds a crumpled article from the personals section of the newspaper. Finding that it is a coded message that coincides with a Bible verse, he finds that it is directing the reader to 38 Jordan Street.

Namor swims there and arrives just before the gang who has been threatening the wealthy women of the city before they can eliminate Elaine for "involving" the Sub-Mariner. However, despite his struggles, Namor is knocked out and both he and Elaine are shackled to some pipes in the boiler to be executed by one of the gangs men while they rest of the gang go to their new headquarters. Alone, Elaine confesses that she racked up a hefty gambling debts and was forced to pay them back by giving up her jewels so that they claim the insurance and pay it to the gang or face death. When their executioner comes down, Namor manages to knock the man out and get the keys to their handcuffs. Revitalizing himself with some water, Namor rushes to the insurance agency and learns that Mrs. Dorset recently made a claim of lost jewels. Namor swims to Dorset's home and watches her get into the gangs car. He follows it to the pier where they demand she pay over the money. Namor then attacks, easily rounding up the gang and turning them over to the authorities. He then returns the recovered insurance money and jewels to the women who have been exploited by the gang and warns them against the dangers of gambling.

Recurring Characters

Sub-Mariner, Betty Dean

Danger Trail

Continued from last issue...

Rex Herr sends Miss America and Ted Banning speeding down a mine shaft in a dynamite laden cart and flees to his new hideout. However, Miss America manages to free them with a sliver of metal which she uses to cut through her bonds and flies both herself and Ted to safety. However the resulting explosion causes a mine cave in that traps them inside. Miss America then uses the steel girders of the rails to support the cave in while they dig themselves out.

Meanwhile in a local hospital Elise Winters comes out of a coma after she had passed out behind the wheel from her earlier gunshot wound. After learning where her belongings are from the nurse, she breaks into the locker and sneaks out to try and recover the sun-ray formula. She returns to Velasquesa's hideout where she overhears him talking on the phone with someone about buying the sun-ray plans. Picking a phone in another room she overhears her sister Mary making the deal and is furious that she would double cross her. However, she is soon caught by Velasquesa, but before he can shoot her she throws the phone at him. The impact causes him to reel over backwards and fall down the stairs, breaking his neck at the bottom while Elise flees.

Meanwhile in the tunnel, Miss America and Ted manage to free themselves, but Ted is exhausted. Miss America carries Ted to safety and then leaves to pick up the only lead she has: Velasquesa, unaware that he is already dead.

This story is continued next issue...

Recurring Characters

Miss America, Ted Banning, Rex Herr, Mary Varnheim, Elise Winters, Velasquesa

Terror at Twilight

Toro rushes to the Young Allies club house with a letter from the mayors office. Reading it, Bucky learns that he has been awarded the position of mayor of the city for the day. While Bucky and the other Young Allies rush off to city hall to take up the position, Toro breaks off not wanting to give up on their lead on Gypper Jordan and his gang, whom they heard was planning on robbing the Acme Jewellery Store. Toro, jealous of Bucky goes alone and catches Gypper and his gang in the act. However, when he tries to stop them, the watchman hoses him down and knocks him out and allows Jordan and his gang to flee. When the police arrive, the watchman accuses Toro of being responsible of the robbery and he is arrested.

At the mayors office, Bucky, Tubby and Knuckles are settling in when they are visited by their friend Curly who tells them that Toro has been arrested. Visiting Toro in jail, the Young Allies learn that the night watchman was in cahoots with the gang and suggest that he is an inside man on the robbery jobs. Bucky uses his connections as mayor to learn that the watchman is supposed to be working at the Levitas Camera Concern next. With this information, Bucky then uses his power as mayor to have Toro freed from jail to clear his name. Although it is against policy, the jail warden has no choice but to accept.

The Young Allies arrive at the Levitas Camera Concern and easily round up Gypper and his men and turn them over to the authorities clearing Toro's name. Later at the mayors office Toro promises to no longer be jealous of Bucky again.

Recurring Characters

Young Allies (Bucky, Toro, Knuckles O’Toole, Tubby Tinkle)

Continuity Notes

• This story presents Bucky as though he is the original, aka James Barnes. However, as per Avengers #4, Bucky went MIA with the original Captain America in 1945. As explained in What If? #4 the United States government covered this up by recruiting successors. The Bucky here is actually Fred Davis.

• As revealed in Young Allies Comics 70th Anniversary Special #1 it was revealed that all of the Timely era Young Allies stories are comic book adaptations of real missions of the Young Allies as propaganda to support the war effort. However, it is unclear what elements of this story are real and which are fabrications or exaggerations. The only fact that is clear is that the Young Allies are depicted as adolescents here when, in reality, they were in their early 20s.

The Devil To Pay

At the "House of Cards", Deuce Wilde tells Johnson that he must pay him the fourteen thousand dollars he owes by midnight or face death. When Johnson returns to his home he finds a deuce of spades pinned to the door of his apartment. As midnight approaches, Johnson calls his friend Jeff Mace, however as he tries to explain what happened over the phone he is shot.

Jeff and Fred Davis change into Captain America and Bucky and race to Johnson's house. They spot a man fleeing the scene, but when they attempt to stop him he manages to escape in a getaway car. Going up into Johnson's apartment, they find Johnson dead among a pile of scattered cards and in his hand the Deuce of Spades.

Suspecting Deuce Wilde, Cap and Bucky race to the House of Cards to question him about the murder. Deuce tells them that Johnson owed him a lot of money, but with no evidence connecting him to the murder he tells the heroes to leave. However, Deuce's employee Miss La Plante feels guilty about Johnson's death and confronts Captain America. Captain America agrees to help her catch Deuce and tells her that his friend Jeff Mace will come to the House of Cards and she should set it so he wins every round.

Eventually, Jeff's winnings are so big he is called into Wilde's office where he tells Jeff that he is going to eliminate him and La Plante. However, before his men can kill La Plante, Bucky stops them. Before they can grab Jeff the lights go out and he changes into Captain America and easily bests them. Chasing Wilde to the roof of the building, Cap and Bucky corner the crook on the edge of the roof. Suddenly, the edging breaks sending Wilde falling to his death, a fitting end for a notorious crook in Cap's opinion.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Bucky

Continuity Notes

• This story presents Captain America Bucky as though they are the originals, aka Steve Rogers and James Barnes. However, as per Avengers #4, Bucky went MIA with the original Captain America in 1945. As explained in What If? #4 the United States government covered this up by recruiting successors. The Bucky here is actually Fred Davis.