The Return of the Vulture

The Human Torch and Toro are dispatched to a rocket testing site where the United States is about to test a new rocket that will take man to the moon when the facility is attacked by spies. While the Torch and Toro round up the invaders, they are too late to stop them from sabotaging the rocket, but there is a spare available. When interrogating the spies, when interrogating the spies one of their shirt sleeves is torn open revealing a tattoo of the Vulture's insignia. With the initial rocket destroyed in the attack, Chief Wilson the Torch and Toro are taken by the military to the secret site of the spare rocket, telling the chief's daughter Betty to stay behind because the location is top secret. However as they fly there, the Torch discovers that Betty has stowed away on the ship and it is too late to turn back around. At the site of the new rocket, the Torch and Toro uncover another spy for the Vulture when they notice that the blue prints have tack marks on them and correctly deduce that they had been photographed. Questioning the Vulture's spy they learn that the Vulture used the stolen plans to build his own rocket which he as constructed in Canada.

Rushing up north to the secret location of the Vulture's secret hideout, the Torch and Toro ambush the criminal and his minions and destroy the rocket. The Vulture and his men attempt to escape by plane but the two heroes pursue after them. Before they can catch up with the plane, the Vulture unleashes a fire retarding chemical on them causing them to fall to the ground. However, the Torch and Toro manage to burn away t he chemical so they can ignite their flames at full power and recover their flying abilities.

With no trace of the Vulture, the Torch and Toro return to the United States to learn that the rocket launch was a failure: That once the rocket left Earth's atmosphere they lost radio contact and then the ship suddenly landed. They recover the pilots who have no memory of what happened in space and suggest that humans cannot survive the rigors of space. Suddenly the Vulture appears and takes Betty hostage and boards the ship, intending to reach the Moon first. They blast off in the rocket, but the Torch and Toro follow after them, boarding the ship through the rocket thrusters. They make short work of the Vulture and his men knocking them out.

Suddenly the ship is stopped by aliens calling themselves the Guardians of Space. They tell the Torch that mankind is not ready for travel into space until they forsake war. The Torch agrees and promises to keep the Guardian's existence a secret before landing the ship and telling the military officials on the ground that man cannot live in space.

Recurring Characters

• Human Torch

• Toro

• The Vulture

The Cargo of Death

On the waterfront Captain America and Bucky fight it out with smugglers bringing dope into the country from China. However during the fight the pair are knocked out and fall into the hold of a ship. They come to as the ship has begun it's voyage. When they climb out they are caught by the first mate who accuses them of being stow away and takes them to the captain of the ship. The captain, an elderly man whom the first mate hopes to replace is happy to have Captain America and Bucky aboard his ship. Unimpressed with the heroes the first mate tries to fight Cap, but is easily beaten. The captain stop the fight telling them that such strain could kill him and informs Cap and Bucky that he is bringing supplies to South Africa.

Suspecting that the first mate might be up to something, Cap and Bucky hide out and later on they catch him as he and the crew are about to beat the captain into submission and take over the ship. Cap and Bucky break up the fight and they soon arrive in South Africa. There they unload their supplies however they learn that the captain of the ship is really a communist agent and with the help of the first mate defeat the captain and his army of communist agents. After turning them over to the authorities the first mate takes Captain America and Bucky back home.

Recurring Characters

• Captain America

• Bucky

Continuity Notes

• Although this story refers to Captain America and Bucky as Steve Rogers and James Barnes here, as per Captain America #153, these appearances are actually attributed to William Burnside and Jack Monroe.

The Land Below the Sea

Returning to the waters of the Antarctic the Sub-Mariner spots a group of communist agents using charges to blast through the ice that is over his home of Atlantis, threatening to damage it as his father's vessel did to his home decades earlier.

Swimming to Atlantis, he finds the guards at the gate will not let him through and openly mock him. Fen then appears and explains to Namor that the King has turned everyone against him for his aiding the surface dwellers in the past. The Sub-Mariner pays a visit to his grandfather who confirms this and exiles Namor for helping out their sworn enemies the surface dwellers and he refuses to listen to Namor's warnings.

With no other choice, the Sub-Mariner decides to save on his own, and enlists the aid of Dorma to create a distraction for the Communist agents while he deals with them. As the communists set off charges causing untold damage to Atlantis, it appears that Dorma has created a distraction by posing as a ghost walking on the surface of the ice, frightening the crew of the ship.

Namor then deflects a number of the charges and then sinks the Communist ship and saving his people. For his heroic actions, the the King welcomes Namor back and he is hailed as a hero by the people of Atlantis. When Namor thanks Dorma for her help, she confesses that she wasn't present in the battle after falling through a break in the ice and injuring her leg. This leaves Namor to puzzle over who had aided him, while on the surface of the ice, a mysterious female ghost continues to stalk the frozen wasteland.

Recurring Characters

• Sub-Mariner

• Lady Dorma

• Holy One

Continuity Notes

• This story marks the return of Emperor Thakorr (aka “The Holy One”) who was apparently killed in Sub-Mariner Comics #1. This discrepancy is explained in Saga of the Sub-Mariner #5 which states that Thakorr did not die in Sub-Mariner Comics #1 but was in a death-like coma for a number of years.